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AMA Pro Superbike
AMA SBK: Main Attraction Remains The Same
Josh Hayes versus Blake Young is reason enough to pay attention to this weekend's AMA Pro Superbike battle at Road Atlanta.
(Photo: Evan Williams)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Round 2 of the AMA Pro Road Racing season from Road Atlanta will air Saturday, April 21 at 8:30pm ET and Sunday, April 22 at 11:00pm ET. on SPEED.
Road Atlanta makes a welcome return to the AMA Pro Road Racing slate this weekend after sitting out 2011. M1 Powersports is pulling out all the stops to ensure that it makes a big splash in its return, promoting the bejeezus (to use the technical term) out of the event with an endless stream of announcements in the lead-up to this weekend.
And while their efforts will hopefully help return the original 'Big Kahuna' event to its former glory, it doesn't really matter that bikini girls, tigers, birthday parties, tattoo artists, and heck, even Santa Claus, will be vying for customers' attention; the main attraction remains the same -- the same as it was two years ago, and the same as it is at just about every race on the calendar.
Fortunately, it's a damn good attraction.
Little did we know that the '10 Road Atlanta doubleheader would provide a peek into the thrilling future awaiting AMA Pro Superbike racing. At the time, the pair of Josh Hayes-Blake Young heavyweight bouts felt more like a big league version of an earlier 600cc battle in Utah. However, in hindsight their dual showdowns stood as a preview of what would soon make AMA Superbike racing the most intense and reliably competitive major two-wheeled racing series on the planet.
Young missed much of the remainder of '10 due to injury and only finally returned to full strength around the time Hayes was in position to cruise to his maiden Superbike title.
But in '11 their rivalry finally took root. The two rarely took the checkered flag more than a fraction of a second apart last season, taking their fight down to the final lap on eight separate occasions.
They opened '12 in a similar style, Young responding to a walkaway win by Hayes on Friday at Daytona with a 0.002-second victory over the defending double champ the following day.
I don't see why we shouldn't expect more of the same this weekend.
Their styles and respective equipment encourages further fireworks -- Hayes eager to stay in front of Young so that he can continue to rack up bonus points and Young anxious to win each corner to prevent Hayes from running his preferred lines and making a break.
There are both gifted overtakers, and as they simultaneously increase their trust in one another's abilities and take umbrage with each successive hard pass, the maneuvers will only become more daring and more brutal.
As Evan Williams previously commented at SPEED.com, there has been a potential shift in the balance of power during the offseason as the Yamahas looked considerably more stout at Daytona than they did throughout 2011.
While that would be bad news for Young if you think that a bit more grunt might allow Hayes to better leverage his superior open track speed and escape at the front, I'm not so sure I expect all that much to change, at least on a race-by-race basis.
Road Atlanta makes a welcome return to the AMA Pro Road Racing slate this weekend after sitting out 2011. M1 Powersports is pulling out all the stops to ensure that it makes a big splash in its return, promoting the bejeezus (to use the technical term) out of the event with an endless stream of announcements in the lead-up to this weekend.
And while their efforts will hopefully help return the original 'Big Kahuna' event to its former glory, it doesn't really matter that bikini girls, tigers, birthday parties, tattoo artists, and heck, even Santa Claus, will be vying for customers' attention; the main attraction remains the same -- the same as it was two years ago, and the same as it is at just about every race on the calendar.
Fortunately, it's a damn good attraction.
Little did we know that the '10 Road Atlanta doubleheader would provide a peek into the thrilling future awaiting AMA Pro Superbike racing. At the time, the pair of Josh Hayes-Blake Young heavyweight bouts felt more like a big league version of an earlier 600cc battle in Utah. However, in hindsight their dual showdowns stood as a preview of what would soon make AMA Superbike racing the most intense and reliably competitive major two-wheeled racing series on the planet.
Young missed much of the remainder of '10 due to injury and only finally returned to full strength around the time Hayes was in position to cruise to his maiden Superbike title.
But in '11 their rivalry finally took root. The two rarely took the checkered flag more than a fraction of a second apart last season, taking their fight down to the final lap on eight separate occasions.
They opened '12 in a similar style, Young responding to a walkaway win by Hayes on Friday at Daytona with a 0.002-second victory over the defending double champ the following day.
I don't see why we shouldn't expect more of the same this weekend.
Their styles and respective equipment encourages further fireworks -- Hayes eager to stay in front of Young so that he can continue to rack up bonus points and Young anxious to win each corner to prevent Hayes from running his preferred lines and making a break.
There are both gifted overtakers, and as they simultaneously increase their trust in one another's abilities and take umbrage with each successive hard pass, the maneuvers will only become more daring and more brutal.
As Evan Williams previously commented at SPEED.com, there has been a potential shift in the balance of power during the offseason as the Yamahas looked considerably more stout at Daytona than they did throughout 2011.
While that would be bad news for Young if you think that a bit more grunt might allow Hayes to better leverage his superior open track speed and escape at the front, I'm not so sure I expect all that much to change, at least on a race-by-race basis.
AMA SBK Homestead-Miami
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