Hayes And His Brand-New R1 Star In “Act 1 & 2” Of MotoAmerica Superbike Passion Play At VIR

2015-05-17 11:11
In a MotoAmerica Superbike race that included an unplanned intermission, four-time and defending Champ (and main protagonist) Josh Hayes delivered a flawless performance to win his 50th career Superbike race--all with Yamaha. And win number 50 was even sweeter because Josh got the victory aboard his brand-new #1 Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike.

A red flag caused by a couple of downed riders was the reason for the two-part race. And, despite the restart, Josh got an equally good jump off the line to mirror his holeshot at the beginning of the race. In both legs of the race, the “Mississippi Madman” was completely on his game and turning laps that no one else in the field could match.

Josh’s Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha teammate Cameron Beaubier had a good battle with Roger Hayden for second place before the red flag, and the battle picked up again after the restart. Cameron was able to get around Roger, and he worked hard to close the gap to Josh, but he couldn’t quite catch Josh, who was absolutely on rails throughout the race.

“To get my 50th win here at VIR is special because I really like this track,” Josh said. “It was a tough race. Having my teammate Cameron right behind me doesn’t make it easy for me. Hats off to my guys and to Yamaha. All 50 of my Superbike wins have come while riding an R1, so I’m really proud of that.”

When asked about finishing second to Josh, Cameron commented, “Josh is riding really well. As for me, I feel like I can put together a couple of quick laps here at VIR but, in terms of consistency, I’m struggling a little bit. I need to get better on my starts, too, because Josh gets a good jump on us, and he makes it so tough to close the gap.”

MotoAmerica Superbike Race 2 starts at 4:00 PM EST. Go to www.MotoAmerica.com, click on “Streaming” under the “LIVE” header in the top-left corner of the page, and then click on “WATCH SUPERBIKE” to see the race live online.

Source: Yamaha

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