Hayes dominates VIR Superbike

From AMA Pro Racing

ALTON, VA - Josh Hayes (No. 4 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) dominated in AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited for his fourth win of the year Saturday at Virginia International Raceway in the opening round of the Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals.

After winning his second Superpole of the season Friday in qualifying, Hayes took the lead at the start and never looked back. He led all 23 race laps and crossed the finish line a comfortable 10.062 seconds ahead of Mat Mladin (No. 7 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000).

Hayes' teammate Ben Bostrom (No. 2 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) prevailed in a thrilling race-long duel with Aaron Yates (No. 23 Brand Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000) to finish third.

"I think these types of wins are rare to come by, few and far between, except for what Mat's done the last several years," Hayes said. "I was fortunate. We worked really hard; we have a really good motorcycle. It was the right bike to be on and we made the right tire choice. We were able to put together good laps from the beginning and I feel real fortunate to be here. I'm sure that these guys are going to up their game tomorrow."

Hayes won his first race of the season in May at Infineon Raceway where he broke a season-opening streak of seven straight wins by Mladin, who came up just short in his bid to win a seventh AMA Pro American Superbike Championship on Saturday. Mladin will clinch the crown Sunday if his only remaining challenger Tommy Hayden (No. 22 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000), who is winless in his American Superbike career, doesn't take the victory in Sunday's final. 

"Josh has been fast all weekend," said Mladin, who is retiring at the end of the season. "He did a great job today. We got out to a bit of a gap so on the podium the boys have sort of quietly been trying to tell me to think about the championship in their passing comments. Sometimes you have to just do what you have to do, but today it wouldn't have mattered really what I did. Even if I pushed as hard as I could, I don't think I had anything for Josh. He was just too fast today. We'll try and get through tomorrow and New Jersey and that's it."

Bostrom rebounded from starting 12th after missing Friday's Superpole to take the final podium spot. The third-place showing was his seventh podium of the year.

"Honestly, Aaron was doing a fantastic job and once we got up into third he actually got me back," Bostrom said. "Fun racing today. It's not fun from the third row, it's hard. I saw [Jake] Holden and Hayden, and a bunch of good riders there as well, so it was pretty cool to look forward and see Mat, Josh and everybody come back and see three rows of great riders there. I just have to step up tomorrow, obviously the boys here are out riding us and it's time to get a little nastier off the starting line and get it up there and hold on."

Yates swapped third place with Bostrom several times in the race and ended up finishing fourth after a great battle. The final position in the top five also came down to a thrilling conclusion with Hayden nipping his other teammate Blake Young (No. 79 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) at the line.

Sunday's American Superbike final is scheduled to start at 4:20 p.m. local time for 23 laps/50 miles and will close the Big Kahuna weekend.

Race Results
1. Josh Hayes (Yamaha Motor Corp. USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 23 Laps
2. Mat Mladin (Rockstar ·Makita ·Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +10.062
3. Ben Bostrom (Yamaha Motor Corp. USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 +12.160
4. Aaron Yates (Jordan Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +12.225
5. Tommy Hayden (Rockstar ·Makita ·Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +15.677
6. Blake Young (Rockstar ·Makita ·Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +15.685
7. Jake Holden (Holden Racing) Honda CBR1000RR +24.491
8. Taylor Knapp (Taylor Knapp Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +27.265
9. Michael Laverty (Celtic Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +28.123
10. Jeff Wood (Higgins Powersports ·Roadracingworld.com) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +37.291
11. Neil Hodgson (Corona Extra Honda) Honda CBR1000RR +37.931
12. Larry Pegram (Foremost Insurance ·Pegram Racing Ducati) Ducati 1098R +39.204
13. Chris Ulrich (Roadracingworld.com ·Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +53.175
14. Scott Charlton (Aussie Dave Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1:05.193
15. Shane Narbonne (Shane Narbonne ·DASPerformance.com) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1:21.231
16. Scott Jensen (Moto Garage Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1:24.815
17. Mark Crozier (Four Feathers Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 22 Laps
18. Shawn Higbee (Higbee-Racing.com) Buell 1125R +0.247
19. Ricky Corey (RCR Yamaha) Yamaha YZF-R1 +33.817
20. Skip Salenius (Run One Racing ·Marietta Motorsports) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +34.043
21. Dean Mizdal (M Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +35.280
22. Eric Haugo (Liberty Waves Racing 2) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +35.425
23. Robertino Pietri (Team Hooters Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 8 Laps
24. Tim Hunt (Team Hooters Aprilia) Suzuki GSX-R1000 6 Laps
25. Dominic Jones (Moto Garage Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 5 Laps
26. Geoff May (National Guard Jordan Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 3 Laps
Race Time: 33:11.265
Margin of Victory: 10.062
Best Race Lap: Josh Hayes (1:24.941)