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AMA Pro Superbike
AMA SBK: The Legacy Of Josh Hayes
Josh Hayes talks about staying motivated, that lingering world championship dream, and his ultimate legacy in AMA Pro Superbike racing.
Monster Energy Graves Yamaha's Josh Hayes (Photo: Evan Williams)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: The AMA Pro Road Racing action from Barber Motorsports Park will air on SPEED Sunday night at Midnight ET.
Josh Hayes was caught off guard in 2011.
The Mississippian made himself the odd-odd favorite to claim the 2010 AMA Pro Superbike crown with his remarkable closing of '09 and then lived up to those expectations with a seven-win championship triumph.
But the Monster Energy Graves Yamaha ace came into 2011 feeling in serious need of a new challenge; he posted a public goal of 10 wins, perhaps just to keep himself interested in what some saw taking shape as even more convincing campaign in his favor.
It didn't quite work out that way. Hayes still managed to hold onto his crown but was pushed to the brink to do so. The Yamaha ace rode to the maximum every single time he took to the course and that consistent effort was ultimately rewarded with his second straight AMA Pro Superbike Championship but only just. His second title was built on just three wins, while his Suzuki-mounted rivals racked up the checkered flags, particularly Blake Young, who seemingly matured from a talented yet mistake-and-injury prone rider into a physics-defying phenom and late-race magician overnight.
Fortunate to walk away with his familiar #4 still tucked away in the corner of the #1 plate on his R1, Hayes was determined to do his part to better meet the challenge in 2012.
He explained, "Basically, I worked really hard (during the offseason) to make sure I had everything right and working. 'Complacent' was not exactly the right word -- I just felt like I had raced everybody I am racing in Superbike in the undercard classes and I've beat them in those realms. I've got undercard championships on 600s and 750s that I've won against these guys. And now I've got Superbike titles and I've beat these guys.
"(Going into 2011) there was a bit of a challenge of 'what's next?'
"And last year, all of the sudden Blake started steamrolling me, and once it happened, I didn't really know how to fight my way back out of it. And because of that, I probably showed up at New Jersey thinking, 'well, I've already won this championship once. If I lose it that's okay. I'm going to come back and race for it again.'
"I didn't really feel the pressing pressure of the championship, really, like I probably should have, but it worked in my favor. It definitely hurt Blake when the cards we down. He had to do it and he didn't. On Sunday, he had nothing to lose.
"If you're second in the championship, what does it matter? If you fall down trying, I can sleep with that at night. I can't just riding around to finish second.
"But the beating I took last year in race wins, I really used that as motivation."
However, his success has been so great in that regard that the challenge of finding a worthy challenge is threatening to rear its ugly head again, as he's already ripped off six lopsided victories less than halfway through the 2012 season.
Most riders who accomplish what Hayes has during his relatively short time aboard a factory Superbike are practically assured of an opportunity to compete at the world championship-level. And make no mistake, Hayes still carries that dream. Last year at this time he was making the full-court press to make sure that World Superbike teams understood he was interested in riding overseas. And those aspirations were only stoked by his surprise, late-season MotoGP replacement ride aboard a Tech3 Yamaha M1 in which he did his fellow AMA Pro riders proud by finishing seventh in his GP debut.
Josh Hayes was caught off guard in 2011.
The Mississippian made himself the odd-odd favorite to claim the 2010 AMA Pro Superbike crown with his remarkable closing of '09 and then lived up to those expectations with a seven-win championship triumph.
But the Monster Energy Graves Yamaha ace came into 2011 feeling in serious need of a new challenge; he posted a public goal of 10 wins, perhaps just to keep himself interested in what some saw taking shape as even more convincing campaign in his favor.
It didn't quite work out that way. Hayes still managed to hold onto his crown but was pushed to the brink to do so. The Yamaha ace rode to the maximum every single time he took to the course and that consistent effort was ultimately rewarded with his second straight AMA Pro Superbike Championship but only just. His second title was built on just three wins, while his Suzuki-mounted rivals racked up the checkered flags, particularly Blake Young, who seemingly matured from a talented yet mistake-and-injury prone rider into a physics-defying phenom and late-race magician overnight.
Fortunate to walk away with his familiar #4 still tucked away in the corner of the #1 plate on his R1, Hayes was determined to do his part to better meet the challenge in 2012.
He explained, "Basically, I worked really hard (during the offseason) to make sure I had everything right and working. 'Complacent' was not exactly the right word -- I just felt like I had raced everybody I am racing in Superbike in the undercard classes and I've beat them in those realms. I've got undercard championships on 600s and 750s that I've won against these guys. And now I've got Superbike titles and I've beat these guys.
"(Going into 2011) there was a bit of a challenge of 'what's next?'
"And last year, all of the sudden Blake started steamrolling me, and once it happened, I didn't really know how to fight my way back out of it. And because of that, I probably showed up at New Jersey thinking, 'well, I've already won this championship once. If I lose it that's okay. I'm going to come back and race for it again.'
"I didn't really feel the pressing pressure of the championship, really, like I probably should have, but it worked in my favor. It definitely hurt Blake when the cards we down. He had to do it and he didn't. On Sunday, he had nothing to lose.
"If you're second in the championship, what does it matter? If you fall down trying, I can sleep with that at night. I can't just riding around to finish second.
"But the beating I took last year in race wins, I really used that as motivation."
However, his success has been so great in that regard that the challenge of finding a worthy challenge is threatening to rear its ugly head again, as he's already ripped off six lopsided victories less than halfway through the 2012 season.
Most riders who accomplish what Hayes has during his relatively short time aboard a factory Superbike are practically assured of an opportunity to compete at the world championship-level. And make no mistake, Hayes still carries that dream. Last year at this time he was making the full-court press to make sure that World Superbike teams understood he was interested in riding overseas. And those aspirations were only stoked by his surprise, late-season MotoGP replacement ride aboard a Tech3 Yamaha M1 in which he did his fellow AMA Pro riders proud by finishing seventh in his GP debut.
AMA SBK Miller Motorsports Park
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