Josh Hayes rebounded from Blake Young's spectacular Saturday win by racing away at the front on Sunday at Road Atlanta.
SPEED Staff
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Posted April 22, 2012
Braselton, GA
AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike
Martin Cardenas, riding the GEICO Suzuki, took his 18th career class win in the race-long battle with Tommy Hayden on the Y.E.S. Graves Yamaha. Cardenas had his hands full with Hayden but the Colombian pulled away in the last two of 20 laps as he eased a slight gap of 1.220 seconds to sweep Road Atlanta's Daytona SportBike races.
"Today's race was a lot tougher than yesterday,” said Cardenas, who now leads the points. “Tommy was on my back the entire race and he wasn't backing up. I rode as hard as I could to try to put some gap between us but it wasn't possible. So I tried to maintain a very good rhythm to the end. Two laps to the end we found some lappers. I was in front so I passed them first and they held him a little bit. It gave me a little gap and it was enough to secure the position and win the race."
Hayden upped the ante and had a quicker pace throughout after conceding he could not hang with the Suzuki rider on Saturday.
Dane Westby (M4 Broaster Chicken Suzuki) earned another podium finish when he took third. Westby had a good fight with Jake Zemke (Ducshop Ducati) around the scenic Georgia circuit, with Westby earning the spot with another late-race push. After a Saturday crash, Jake Gagne (RoadRace Factory/Red Bull) managed to earn the top five finish that eluded him. Bobby Fong (Meen Motorsports) took the top spot in a three rider pack that included JD Beach (RoadRace Factory/Red Bull) and LTD Racing's Huntley Nash.
AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport
Jake Lewis won his first AMA Pro race when he was declared victor in the AMA Pro MotorcycleSuperstore.com SuperSport race at Road Atlanta. Lewis, who battled with James RIspoli yesterday, was engaged in another fight 'til the end. Lewis and RIspoli traded places several times and looked to be even around the 2.55-mile circuit. Rispoli happened to be leading when the race was red-flagged on lap 12, but Lewis had led the last completed lap and thus took the victory.
Dustin Dominguez (Castrol Triumph) took third place less than six seconds back, ahead of Hayden Gillim (RoadRace Factory/Red Bull) and Kneedraggers.com rider Stefano Mesa.