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MARTIN: Bravo Josh. Mat Will Be Back
Written by: Chris Martin   
05/17/2009
Sonoma, CA
 
Yamaha USA's Josh Hayes (Photo: Brian J Nelson) ยป More Photos

The streak is over. Actually, a whole host of streaks… Mat Mladin's perfect seven-for-seven opening to the DMG/AMA Pro American Superbike era, Yoshimura Suzuki's 53-race consecutive unbeaten mark, and on-and-on depending on how deep you want to dig into the minutia.

And it was quite poetic who actually stepped up and closed that chapter. With Josh Hayes running away to triumph at Infineon Raceway on Saturday, you couldn't have chosen a more popular or deserving winner. Here was a man who struggled so mightily just to get his chance in the big leagues finally earning that first career Superbike victory that he once openly worried he'd never even get a realistic shot at gunning for.

From one perspective, the win actually came quite quickly -- eight races into his factory Superbike career to be exact. Even Mladin had to wait until his second AMA Superbike season to finally break through and climb atop the podium for the first time.

But
from another, more accurate, perspective, it was a long time in the making. Far too long.

The Mississippian has proven his talent, desire, and work ethic beyond any shred of doubt over the years, steadily improving at his craft well into his thirties. At the same time, he's stood as a true ambassador for the sport, a perennial underdog favorite, and an obviously gifted rider, but for some reason -- unknown apparently to all but those who make the final decisions -- he could never quite break into Superbike racing at the factory level.

After going unrewarded with that much-sought after opportunity following his epic 2007 undercard season, Hayes wondered what exactly he'd have to do to finally get his shot. 2008 opened with a swift kick to the gut, his Daytona 200 victory stripped due to a technical infraction and his season quickly going into a tailspin as he suffered with confidence issues before coming on strong late in the year.


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