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AMA Pro Superbike
AMA SBK: Mid-Ohio Review
Josh Hayes overcame the determined challenge of his rivals to extend his historic run of AMA Pro Superbike success at Mid-Ohio.
(Photo: Brian J Nelson/AMA Pro Racing)
While in the end Josh Hayes managed to keep his impressive collection of streaks intact, the biggest story coming out of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course from the Buckeye Superbike Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire was the on-track action, not just the continued accumulation of staggering statistics.
The Monster Energy Graves Yamaha ace walked away with his four consecutive perfect points haul weekend in AMA National Guard Superbike competition but was seriously pressed along the way.
On Saturday, Hayes' archrival, Blake Young, somehow managed to slot his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 into the lead in the race's second corner following an early red flag and restart, despite having qualified down in eighth position.
Never an easy man to overtake, Mississippian Hayes had to work hard to find a way past Young on the slippery, one-lined circuit. Once in front, Hayes found himself pressured from close behind. Believing Young to be his pursuer, the Yamaha man was actually being trailed by his rookie teammate, Josh Herrin, who demonstrated an uncanny ability to latch on and push from second at the series' previous round at Barber Motorsports Park.
Herrin actually reeled in Hayes at certain points, but the vastly more experienced Hayes eventually did his younger opponent in with a succession of inch perfect laps around the tricky circuit. One small mistake laid the groundwork for a larger one and Herrin hit a false neutral just short of half distance and crashed in the Carousel.
Young had fallen into a spirited battle for third (which became second with Herrin's fall) with National Guard Jordan Suzuki's Roger Hayden. Controlling the pace in his trademark manner, Young proved impossible to get around and ditch, and despite arguably having inferior pace on this day, the Wisconsin native won out in the fight to the flag as he's down so many times.
The following day Hayes' challengers were even more determined not to let him have things go entirely his way. Herrin pounced from the outset and led a succession of laps in the contest's early stages.
The youngster made a mistake on lap 7 of 21, running wide at the end of the back straight, which knocked him out of contention for the win. That didn't mean Hayes could breathe easily however as Hayden was in rare form on Sunday.
Again, Hayes was initially confused, thinking Herrin was the +0 on his board before finally realizing it was the Suzuki-mounted Kentuckian.
A long-time Mid-Ohio master, in '11 Hayden scored his first premier class podium at the circuit. This year he was hoping to claim his first-ever Superbike victory and had Hayes in his sights. Hayden posted the weekend's fastest lap during his chase (1:25.278), fought past Hayes more than once, including a breathtaking overtaking maneuver on the race's final lap deep on the brakes at the end of the fast back straight.
However, despite Hayden admirably pulling his GSX-R1000 back in line, Hayes had a superior angle into the subsequent corner and just laid his Yamaha YZF-R1 over the top of Hayden's bike and reclaimed the position.
From there he defended the position and won one of those 'close ones' of the sort that had slipped through his fingers so many times over the past two seasons.
"I was pretty sure (Hayden) would try on the last lap at the end of the back straight," Hayes said. "I was pretty slow in the middle of the Keyhole to make sure I didn't spin up and make a mistake on the exit. I felt like I got out of there pretty good, but probably because I was slow in the middle, it allowed him to do the same thing behind me. When he came by he was moving pretty quick; I was actually surprised he got it stopped as well as he did. Whenever I came back up the other side of him I didn't know if I was going to be able to get him. I wasn't trying to bump him but I was trying to crowd him a little bit. All I needed was an instant for him to get off the throttle to get in there. It worked out and at that point it was just ride around the inside line of the racetrack to the finish line.
"I'm really glad I was able to pull it off. It's fun. It was exciting racing and I'm glad to come out on top of one of those."
Having escaped with yet another victory, the burgeoning numbers were allowed to come back into focus. Hayes has now registered seven straight victories, which ties the all-time single season record, previously posted by National Guard Superbike legends Mat Mladin and Ben Spies.
The Monster Energy Graves Yamaha ace walked away with his four consecutive perfect points haul weekend in AMA National Guard Superbike competition but was seriously pressed along the way.
On Saturday, Hayes' archrival, Blake Young, somehow managed to slot his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 into the lead in the race's second corner following an early red flag and restart, despite having qualified down in eighth position.
Never an easy man to overtake, Mississippian Hayes had to work hard to find a way past Young on the slippery, one-lined circuit. Once in front, Hayes found himself pressured from close behind. Believing Young to be his pursuer, the Yamaha man was actually being trailed by his rookie teammate, Josh Herrin, who demonstrated an uncanny ability to latch on and push from second at the series' previous round at Barber Motorsports Park.
Herrin actually reeled in Hayes at certain points, but the vastly more experienced Hayes eventually did his younger opponent in with a succession of inch perfect laps around the tricky circuit. One small mistake laid the groundwork for a larger one and Herrin hit a false neutral just short of half distance and crashed in the Carousel.
Young had fallen into a spirited battle for third (which became second with Herrin's fall) with National Guard Jordan Suzuki's Roger Hayden. Controlling the pace in his trademark manner, Young proved impossible to get around and ditch, and despite arguably having inferior pace on this day, the Wisconsin native won out in the fight to the flag as he's down so many times.
The following day Hayes' challengers were even more determined not to let him have things go entirely his way. Herrin pounced from the outset and led a succession of laps in the contest's early stages.
The youngster made a mistake on lap 7 of 21, running wide at the end of the back straight, which knocked him out of contention for the win. That didn't mean Hayes could breathe easily however as Hayden was in rare form on Sunday.
Again, Hayes was initially confused, thinking Herrin was the +0 on his board before finally realizing it was the Suzuki-mounted Kentuckian.
A long-time Mid-Ohio master, in '11 Hayden scored his first premier class podium at the circuit. This year he was hoping to claim his first-ever Superbike victory and had Hayes in his sights. Hayden posted the weekend's fastest lap during his chase (1:25.278), fought past Hayes more than once, including a breathtaking overtaking maneuver on the race's final lap deep on the brakes at the end of the fast back straight.
However, despite Hayden admirably pulling his GSX-R1000 back in line, Hayes had a superior angle into the subsequent corner and just laid his Yamaha YZF-R1 over the top of Hayden's bike and reclaimed the position.
From there he defended the position and won one of those 'close ones' of the sort that had slipped through his fingers so many times over the past two seasons.
"I was pretty sure (Hayden) would try on the last lap at the end of the back straight," Hayes said. "I was pretty slow in the middle of the Keyhole to make sure I didn't spin up and make a mistake on the exit. I felt like I got out of there pretty good, but probably because I was slow in the middle, it allowed him to do the same thing behind me. When he came by he was moving pretty quick; I was actually surprised he got it stopped as well as he did. Whenever I came back up the other side of him I didn't know if I was going to be able to get him. I wasn't trying to bump him but I was trying to crowd him a little bit. All I needed was an instant for him to get off the throttle to get in there. It worked out and at that point it was just ride around the inside line of the racetrack to the finish line.
"I'm really glad I was able to pull it off. It's fun. It was exciting racing and I'm glad to come out on top of one of those."
Having escaped with yet another victory, the burgeoning numbers were allowed to come back into focus. Hayes has now registered seven straight victories, which ties the all-time single season record, previously posted by National Guard Superbike legends Mat Mladin and Ben Spies.
AMA SBK Homestead-Miami
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