Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha SuperBike Champ Hayes Plays Beat The Clock To Win SuperBike Race 1 At Barber Motorsports Park

2013-06-22 18:34
After a confusing start to AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike Race 1 at Barber Motorsports Park--due to a number of riders who jumped the start when the race went green--three-time defending SuperBike Champ Josh Hayes faced a challenge from AMA Pro Racing Timing & Scoring as much as he was challenged by his competitors on the track. Despite the adversity, however, Josh won his fourth race in a row, and his fourth out of six races so far this season to move up to third place in the Championship points standings, and only 23 points out of the lead with lots of racing left to go in the season.

Josh, who rides the #1 Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha YZF-R1, was one of the riders who left the start line just a bit early. He checked up on the first lap and slotted himself into fourth place on the track, but it apparently wasn’t enough of a concession to avoid being assessed a five-second penalty by Timing & Scoring. Realizing that he was racing against the clock as well as the other riders, Josh managed to put himself into the outright lead just before the halfway point, and he stayed there for the rest of the race, which gave him another valuable bonus point for leading the most laps in the contest.

“That was a really fast race,” Josh commented. “I made it kind of a challenge right from the start. I wasn’t really looking at my laptimes in the beginning, and I was just racing the guys around me. I figured there was going to be a penalty, and I had that in my mind. So, in the second part of the race, I knew what I had to do, which was to pull a gap that would make up the time (from the penalty).”

Josh Herrin, rider of the #2 Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha R1, got a good start from his front-row position on the grid, avoided the penalty, and stayed in the lead pack for the first part of the race. He faded a bit toward the end of the race, but still managed to hold onto his fourth-place position when he took the checkered flag. Josh is currently in second place in the Championship points standings, just 16 points out of the lead.

SuperBike Race 2 will go green on Sunday at 3:00 PM CST. For more news, results, and other team info, be sure to check out Yamaha’s Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @YamahaMotorUSA.

Source: Yamaha

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