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AMA Pro Superbike
AMA SBK: The Sniper And The Knife Fighter
Josh Hayes and Blake Young have completely different styles and yet are perfectly matched. But what direction is this showdown headed?
AMA Pro Superbike title rivals Josh Hayes and Blake Young (Photo: Evan Williams)
Based on what we observed last year and what we've now seen in the opening two rounds of the 2012 AMA Pro Superbike Championship, the season has immediately taken shape as if poured from concrete.
Last year's protagonists, Josh Hayes and Blake Young, remain the focus; they're once again up to their same old tricks, splitting wins in their own distinctive styles.
As I tweeted following Saturday's drama, Young now stands an astonishing 10-0 vs. Hayes in duels for the checkered flag decided by less than a second.
While on the surface that sounds somewhat damning of Hayes, it's only fair to consider the other side of the coin as well. And during the '11-'12 seasons, on five occasions the Yamaha pilot has broken free of the Suzuki rider to beat him for the win by more than a second. It hasn't happened a single time in reverse.
The opening four races have fallen into that trend perfectly. Hayes dominated once at Daytona and once at Road Atlanta, while Young won out in a pair of dramatic lunges to the stripe in the remaining Daytona and Atlanta finales.
At some point, it's no longer a trend -- it's a rule.
But why?
The results suggest Hayes is the series' sniper with Young serving as its resident knife fighter. Give Hayes a bit of space and it's all over. Stick 'em in a phone booth and it's a completely different story.
And if you think about it, a sniper and a knife fighter are only such because of the weapons they wield.
That analogy probably holds true in the case of Hayes. If you look at the Mississippian's career, you'll find that he's a pretty cagey racer who can skillfully execute a late-race strategy. On Last season he felt that he rode exactly to plan in the close races on numerous occasions -- he just didn't have the right weapon to win the fight. His YZF-R1 can rail around an open racetrack like no other but it was beaten silly by the GSX-Rs on corner exit. Young and then-teammate Tommy Hayden took full advantage of this fact, jumped on Josh early, squared him up over and over again, contained him, and ultimately defeated him with regularity in tight contests.
There's a good chance that reality no longer exists in 2012 even if the results scream otherwise. In what may be a first, Young didn't beat Hayes at Daytona so much as Hayes beat himself. The champ simply mistimed his slingshot (and tire issues didn't exactly help). Hayes had the race wrapped up for the entire distance minus the final 200 meters when he helplessly realized that he had started his charge to victory approximately 0.003 seconds too late.
And at Road Atlanta, following Young's crash and charge from the back of the pack, the Suzuki ace was pushed along by aggression and adrenaline (even more than usual) and maybe even a little bit by fate. Even though Hayes later denied it (and his post-restart overtaking maneuver down the hill does back up his claim), I can't help but think that Josh might have given Young perhaps a millimeter or two room to work with following their clash to avoid a potential repeat.
The R1 is stronger this year than in years past. I doubt Hayes is going to continue to get victimized every time Young clings on and takes the fight full distance.
Hayes is aware of the stat. After his Sunday runaway, he joked that my tweet "hurt him" and that he considered slowing up at the end to allow Blake back within a second at the flag just to erase that streak. While the remark was obviously made in jest, putting a stop to that trend/rule has to be of considerable importance to Hayes.
Last year's protagonists, Josh Hayes and Blake Young, remain the focus; they're once again up to their same old tricks, splitting wins in their own distinctive styles.
As I tweeted following Saturday's drama, Young now stands an astonishing 10-0 vs. Hayes in duels for the checkered flag decided by less than a second.
While on the surface that sounds somewhat damning of Hayes, it's only fair to consider the other side of the coin as well. And during the '11-'12 seasons, on five occasions the Yamaha pilot has broken free of the Suzuki rider to beat him for the win by more than a second. It hasn't happened a single time in reverse.
The opening four races have fallen into that trend perfectly. Hayes dominated once at Daytona and once at Road Atlanta, while Young won out in a pair of dramatic lunges to the stripe in the remaining Daytona and Atlanta finales.
At some point, it's no longer a trend -- it's a rule.
But why?
The results suggest Hayes is the series' sniper with Young serving as its resident knife fighter. Give Hayes a bit of space and it's all over. Stick 'em in a phone booth and it's a completely different story.
And if you think about it, a sniper and a knife fighter are only such because of the weapons they wield.
That analogy probably holds true in the case of Hayes. If you look at the Mississippian's career, you'll find that he's a pretty cagey racer who can skillfully execute a late-race strategy. On Last season he felt that he rode exactly to plan in the close races on numerous occasions -- he just didn't have the right weapon to win the fight. His YZF-R1 can rail around an open racetrack like no other but it was beaten silly by the GSX-Rs on corner exit. Young and then-teammate Tommy Hayden took full advantage of this fact, jumped on Josh early, squared him up over and over again, contained him, and ultimately defeated him with regularity in tight contests.
There's a good chance that reality no longer exists in 2012 even if the results scream otherwise. In what may be a first, Young didn't beat Hayes at Daytona so much as Hayes beat himself. The champ simply mistimed his slingshot (and tire issues didn't exactly help). Hayes had the race wrapped up for the entire distance minus the final 200 meters when he helplessly realized that he had started his charge to victory approximately 0.003 seconds too late.
And at Road Atlanta, following Young's crash and charge from the back of the pack, the Suzuki ace was pushed along by aggression and adrenaline (even more than usual) and maybe even a little bit by fate. Even though Hayes later denied it (and his post-restart overtaking maneuver down the hill does back up his claim), I can't help but think that Josh might have given Young perhaps a millimeter or two room to work with following their clash to avoid a potential repeat.
The R1 is stronger this year than in years past. I doubt Hayes is going to continue to get victimized every time Young clings on and takes the fight full distance.
Hayes is aware of the stat. After his Sunday runaway, he joked that my tweet "hurt him" and that he considered slowing up at the end to allow Blake back within a second at the flag just to erase that streak. While the remark was obviously made in jest, putting a stop to that trend/rule has to be of considerable importance to Hayes.
AMA SBK Miller Motorsports Park
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