Monster Energy Graves Yamaha's Josh Hayes (Photo: Evan Williams)

Something worth pointing out… when Hayes first hopped on the Yamaha, he wasn’t that quick. It took his team a little while to find his form before he won seven races that year. Hayes has actually gone through what his rivals need to do to catch up.

“When I first got on the Yamaha in 2009, I had to sacrifice a few races that first year to try some things,” he said. “I remember thinking ‘maybe we could get fifth today if my bike is really good,’ and we leave it exactly the same because we’re afraid to make a change. Or we could try something and hope to get up in there for the race for third and fourth and if we go backwards and finish seventh or eighth, who cares? Let’s learn something. Then the next racetrack we show up at, we are racing for third and fourth.”

Another thing Hayes did in those days was to simplify things. They took some of the “good stuff” off the bike while he/they figured out how it worked, then the crew led by crew chief Jim Roach put it back on when it could actually help instead of confuse.

Where Hayes really makes his hay is in practice. It may seem obvious, but he views the sessions for seat time. He laps. He tries to only come in twice during the hour, maybe one more time if he wants another fresh tire to try for a fast lap.

“The most adjustable thing on the motorcycle is the wing nut behind the handlebars. I just give myself the best opportunity to go out and ride,” said Hayes. “I could come in after three laps and say, ‘It’s a little soft here,’ or ‘We need some engine brake strategy fixed here,’ but if I just ride the bike and get into a groove, it sure seems like things sort themselves out. “

Another thing that gets Hayes is quick changes to the bike. “We do two days of testing to come up with a setup. If you show up with that setup or something where you’ve progressed since then, and you change it in the first 30 minutes you’re seeing the racetrack, you’re not doing yourself a good service.”

A factor in those changes has to be Hayes’ quick laps turned early in the sessions.

“You’ve got a lot of experienced guys that think (they) know how to ride the motorcycle so there must be something wrong,” he added.

These are the types of things that happen when riders have their confidence beaten down. Over the winter, these guys need to bear down and be ready for next year.