Princesskiwi Interviews Attack Kawasaki's Josh Hayes

May 17, 2005, 09:27PM. By Bikeland Staff

Princesskiwi Interviews Attack Kawasaki's Josh Hayes at Infineon Raceway for the Kawasaki AMA Superbike Showdown May 13th - 15th

Sunday was an overcast day and the rain had pulled the riders off the track and back to the pits once already. The track was somber, as no official news had been released on Vincent Haskovec's condition after his crash. There were a lot of people at the track that weekend saying prayers; prayers for Vincent, for the rain to hold off, for their favorite racer to do well and have a safe race. On my way through the pits I bumped into Josh Hayes outside his truck and had a chance to ask the Attack Kawaski rider a few questions...


PK: What do you do the night before a race?
JOSH: Usually try to make it an early nite. Get some sleep. Just get ready, daydream about the race I have coming up the next day. After de-briefing at the track, I go back to the room, and just think about how the day went- what I can do to improve the next day. Visualize some laps in my head, take a shower and get some sleep.

PK: Do you have a specific pre-race breakfast?
JOSH: I'm not much of a breakfast eater, so my biggest concern is making sure I eat breakfast.

PK: What can your fans expect from you this weekend, how do you expect to do today?
JOSH: I don't know, we had a pretty tough day yesterday, being the first day, but the race kinda came our way - but you can't count on it to be like that every time. So, we just worked to make a couple of improvements and hopefully the pace will be a little faster and we will be able to maintain a higher pace. Rather than being hung out there racing by myself for the whole race, hopefully I will have someone I can race around with. Be fine if that was some of the factory boys.

PK: Do you think it will rain for your race and how will that affect you?
JOSH: I don't know. They are not going to race here if it's wet. Everybody is in the same boat - if the track is wet - we are not going to be on the track. So, at least here we know that it will be a dry race, if we race. We already have all of our set up. We are not going to be scrambling too much trying to put rain tires on the bike. So, I just keep my mind set on a dry race.

PK: What do you like/dislike about Infineon Raceway?
JOSH: The track itself is a lot of fun to ride. It's got a lot of variety. It is definitely a rider's track. There are a couple of safety concerns in a couple of turns that are pretty fast around this track. Infineon has put a lot of money into improving it and they have definitely improved the race track 10 fold from what it used to be and hopefully they will continue and fix up a couple of these spots that are still of some concern and have it safer the next two years or so.

PK: What advice would you give someone coming to the track to do a track day for the first time?
JOSH: I would say just remember it's not a race weekend, just go out and have a little bit of fun. It's a beautiful track to ride and you'll have a lot of fun. Keep your cool and take your time and remember it is not a race.

PK: What is your favorite color?
JOSH: I guess that would be red, no green. I don't know that I have a favorite. I like blue, red, black, kinda like them all.

PK: Favorite pizza?
JOSH: I don't eat pizza too often, but when I do it's usually pepperoni or pepperoni and mushroom.

PK: Do you have a Lucky Charm?
JOSH: No - no lucky charm. The only thing I've got is a gold St. Christopher that I wear. I guess it is something that I've always thought has brought me some luck. My Mom and Grandmother are back home, saying a lot of prayers for me, kinda goes along with that.

PK: How do you think you will do at Laguna?
JOSH: I don't know. It's a long way between now and Laguna. I guess we will wait and see when we get a little closer to that one.

PK: Is there anything you want to say about ATTACK RACING?
JOSH: The team kinda pulled me out of the muck a couple of years ago and brought me on when I was going through a rough time and I came back to win my very first AMA Championship with this team. So there is a lot of history here with me and this team. This is my third year here. I have a hundred percent confidence and faith in these guys that they can make good things happen. So we will just keep working towards that.

PK: Thank you.
JOSH: Your welcome.

How Josh did that weekend

Sunday Superbike Results:

1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki)
2. Aaron Yates (Suzuki)
3. Ben Spies (Suzuki)
4. Jake Zemke (Honda)
5. Neil Hodgson (Ducati)
6. Miguel Duhamel (Honda)
7. Eric Bostrom (Ducati)
8. Josh Hayes (Kawasaki)
9. Marty Craggill (Suzuki)
10. Larry Pegram (Honda)

More Josh Hayes Facts:

2004 Superbike - 8th
1000 Superstock - 8th

2003 750 Superstock - 1st
Formula Xtreme - 4th

2001 Supersport - 5th
Formula Xtreme - 5th

1999 Formula Xtreme - 3rd

Source: Bikeland.org