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AMA Pro Superbike
AMA SBK: Herrin Claims Clutch Victory
Josh Herrin scored his first-career AMA Pro Superbike win in what proved to be an eventful AMA Pro Superbike season opener.
Monster Energy Graves Yamaha's Josh Herrin (Photo: Evan Williams)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: The AMA Pro Superbike season opener will air on SPEED on Friday, March 15 at 6:00pm ET with Race 2 airing Sunday evening at 9:00pm. The Daytona 200 will air on SPEED at 1:30pm ET on Sunday, March 17. The Vance & Hines HD race and the twin SuperSport races will air LIVE on SPEED2.
Just when things start to feel a bit too certain, the racing gods typically serve up a reminder of the unpredictable nature of the sport. And such was the case in the AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike season opener which capped off a thrilling opening day of GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing race action on Friday at Daytona International Speedway.
Josh Hayes' overwhelming pre-race advantage was rendered meaningless less than five laps into the contest and the day's glory was shifted over to his young Monster Energy Graves Yamaha teammate, Josh Herrin, who walked away with the first AMA Pro SuperBike victory of his career.
Hayes pushed hard to hold onto first at the green light after earlier earning pole position, but that would ultimately prove to be his undoing. Hayes fended off quick starts from Yoshimura Suzuki's Martin Cardenas and Herrin in hopes of making an early escape.
Meanwhile, National Guard Jordan Suzuki's Roger Hayden, one of the few riders thought capable of pushing Hayes, saw his race end less than one lap into the opener. The Kentuckian lost the front in the chicane while running third and was unable to continue.
Hayes proved unable to make break the pursuit of Herrin, who tucked his identically prepared R1 into the triple champ's draft and the factory Yamahas promptly stretched away from the pack while running in formation.
The building question whether Herrin would be able to make it a fight for the entire 15-lap distance became moot while working lap five as Hayes slowed dramatically and handed the lead over to his teammate. Hayes limped around for a period after that but eventually was forced to retire, the victim of clutch issues which he attributed to his aggressive launch off the line.
Hayes' misfortune didn't automatically hand the win over to Herrin, however. Despite building up a two-and-a-half-second advantage on Cardenas, without Hayes to lead the way and suffering from arm pump issues, Herrin was helpless as the Suzuki pilot gobbled up that gap. The reigning Daytona SportBike champ closed right in his former DSB rival slotting in directly behind on lap 8 of 15.
Their position and proximity would remain basically unchanged to the flag from that point on. Cardenas attempted to line Herrin up for a final slingshot maneuver on the last lap but a big wheelie coming onto the banking cost him just enough of drive to allow Herrin to hold him off by 0.135 seconds at the flag.
"It feels really good," new race winner Herrin remarked. "I thought for sure Martin was going to get me on the last lap. I was trying to get him to pass me and it didn't work. I don't want to beat up on myself, but it almost doesn't feel like a win because Josh was out, Roger crashed. But it's still a win and the Monster Energy Graves Yamaha was working good. They've been putting in a lot of hours to get it working even better. I'm really grateful that the thing was fast enough to keep Martin behind me because I knew Martin was right there."
Runner-up Cardenas said, "Herrin and Hayes got away a little bit and I started pushing and pushing. I caught back up to Herrin midway through the race. My plan was to stay there and attack on the last lap because it's Daytona and the draft is very important. But this time it didn't work for me -- I kind of did the chicane badly and he got me a little too much. But second place is a good start to the season and we'll try to go a good job again tomorrow."
Foremost Insurance Pegram Racing's Larry Pegram enjoyed a successful start in his new partnership with Yamaha. Bouncing back from a big (and costly) crash on Thursday, Pegram rode a steady race to the podium in third.
"It's been a while -- I haven't been up here since 2010," the multi-time class race winner said. "I wanted to do well here and yesterday kind of threw me for a loop. I've already crashed the thing and did kind of the same thing once while I was testing. Being that this is my program, you crash these bikes and they get expensive. I was kind of down in the dumps last night, but my guys stepped up for me and said don't worry about that crash. I knew I had to get a good start. I was fifth and Roger fell so I was fourth. Once I got into third I kind of wanted to get through the race and get a podium. Tomorrow will be a bonus so we'll be able to really go for it."
Danny Eslick piloted the Jordan Suzuki to a lonely fourth in his maiden ride aboard the #23 GSX-R1000.
Behind him, second Yoshimura Suzuki entry Chris Clark narrowed edged Team Moto Venezuela Kawasaki's Robertino Pietri and Team Hero EBR's Geoff May following a race-long tussle for fifth.
Motorsport.com Motul Fly Racing's David Anthony took eighth while another three-way battled decided ninth. KTM/HMC's Taylor Knapp claimed the position, finishing just 0.108 seconds ahead of teammate Chris Fillmore, with Team AMSOIL/Hero EBR's Aaron Yates another 0.002 seconds back in his debut on the EBR 1190RS.
The champ will have an opportunity to get his revenge and go to work on his early championship deficit on Saturday morning as the AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike stars return to the high banks at 11:00am tomorrow for the second race of the 2013 premier class campaign.
Just when things start to feel a bit too certain, the racing gods typically serve up a reminder of the unpredictable nature of the sport. And such was the case in the AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike season opener which capped off a thrilling opening day of GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing race action on Friday at Daytona International Speedway.
Josh Hayes' overwhelming pre-race advantage was rendered meaningless less than five laps into the contest and the day's glory was shifted over to his young Monster Energy Graves Yamaha teammate, Josh Herrin, who walked away with the first AMA Pro SuperBike victory of his career.
Hayes pushed hard to hold onto first at the green light after earlier earning pole position, but that would ultimately prove to be his undoing. Hayes fended off quick starts from Yoshimura Suzuki's Martin Cardenas and Herrin in hopes of making an early escape.
Meanwhile, National Guard Jordan Suzuki's Roger Hayden, one of the few riders thought capable of pushing Hayes, saw his race end less than one lap into the opener. The Kentuckian lost the front in the chicane while running third and was unable to continue.
Hayes proved unable to make break the pursuit of Herrin, who tucked his identically prepared R1 into the triple champ's draft and the factory Yamahas promptly stretched away from the pack while running in formation.
The building question whether Herrin would be able to make it a fight for the entire 15-lap distance became moot while working lap five as Hayes slowed dramatically and handed the lead over to his teammate. Hayes limped around for a period after that but eventually was forced to retire, the victim of clutch issues which he attributed to his aggressive launch off the line.
Hayes' misfortune didn't automatically hand the win over to Herrin, however. Despite building up a two-and-a-half-second advantage on Cardenas, without Hayes to lead the way and suffering from arm pump issues, Herrin was helpless as the Suzuki pilot gobbled up that gap. The reigning Daytona SportBike champ closed right in his former DSB rival slotting in directly behind on lap 8 of 15.
Their position and proximity would remain basically unchanged to the flag from that point on. Cardenas attempted to line Herrin up for a final slingshot maneuver on the last lap but a big wheelie coming onto the banking cost him just enough of drive to allow Herrin to hold him off by 0.135 seconds at the flag.
"It feels really good," new race winner Herrin remarked. "I thought for sure Martin was going to get me on the last lap. I was trying to get him to pass me and it didn't work. I don't want to beat up on myself, but it almost doesn't feel like a win because Josh was out, Roger crashed. But it's still a win and the Monster Energy Graves Yamaha was working good. They've been putting in a lot of hours to get it working even better. I'm really grateful that the thing was fast enough to keep Martin behind me because I knew Martin was right there."
Runner-up Cardenas said, "Herrin and Hayes got away a little bit and I started pushing and pushing. I caught back up to Herrin midway through the race. My plan was to stay there and attack on the last lap because it's Daytona and the draft is very important. But this time it didn't work for me -- I kind of did the chicane badly and he got me a little too much. But second place is a good start to the season and we'll try to go a good job again tomorrow."
Foremost Insurance Pegram Racing's Larry Pegram enjoyed a successful start in his new partnership with Yamaha. Bouncing back from a big (and costly) crash on Thursday, Pegram rode a steady race to the podium in third.
"It's been a while -- I haven't been up here since 2010," the multi-time class race winner said. "I wanted to do well here and yesterday kind of threw me for a loop. I've already crashed the thing and did kind of the same thing once while I was testing. Being that this is my program, you crash these bikes and they get expensive. I was kind of down in the dumps last night, but my guys stepped up for me and said don't worry about that crash. I knew I had to get a good start. I was fifth and Roger fell so I was fourth. Once I got into third I kind of wanted to get through the race and get a podium. Tomorrow will be a bonus so we'll be able to really go for it."
Danny Eslick piloted the Jordan Suzuki to a lonely fourth in his maiden ride aboard the #23 GSX-R1000.
Behind him, second Yoshimura Suzuki entry Chris Clark narrowed edged Team Moto Venezuela Kawasaki's Robertino Pietri and Team Hero EBR's Geoff May following a race-long tussle for fifth.
Motorsport.com Motul Fly Racing's David Anthony took eighth while another three-way battled decided ninth. KTM/HMC's Taylor Knapp claimed the position, finishing just 0.108 seconds ahead of teammate Chris Fillmore, with Team AMSOIL/Hero EBR's Aaron Yates another 0.002 seconds back in his debut on the EBR 1190RS.
The champ will have an opportunity to get his revenge and go to work on his early championship deficit on Saturday morning as the AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike stars return to the high banks at 11:00am tomorrow for the second race of the 2013 premier class campaign.
AMA SBK Miller Motorsports Park
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