Hayes takes third straight Superbike win

From AMA Pro Racing

MILLVILLE, NJ - Josh Hayes (No. 4 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) won his third straight and sixth overall AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike race of the year in the opening day of AMA Pro Road Racing competition at the AMA Pro Superbike Championships on Thunderbolt Raceway at New Jersey Motorsports Park on Saturday. 

Hayes waged a great duel with recently crowned 2009 American Superbike Champion Mat Mladin (No. 1 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) from the drop of the green flag. Mladin led the first seven laps from the pole, Hayes took the top spot for the first time on lap 8 only to have Mladin return to the front on lap 12. Hayes kept the pressure on Mladin and took the lead for good one lap later when the seven-time American Superbike Champion had a rare lowside going into Turn 1. Mladin was uninjured but done for the day and Hayes finished out the race with an unchallenged run to the checkered flag.

Hayes now has his highest championship ranking of the season in second place with 375 points, two ahead of Tommy Hayden (No. 22 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000), who finished second on Saturday. Hayden crossed the finish line 1.419 seconds behind Hayes while Aaron Yates (No. 23 Brand Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000) capped another competitive run with a third-place finish.

Hayden has an impressive record of 10 top-three finishes in the year's first 19 races but made it clear he is more than ready for his first career American Superbike victory.

"It's alright, second again, it's not super exciting for me, but I feel like I rode pretty good," Hayden said. "I was having a little bit of trouble getting going and got shuffled back to fifth or sixth. I was able to fight back there at the end. The bike was good and hopefully tomorrow we'll have one more chance to make something happen."

Yates hit the podium for the fifth time this season.

"I was definitely trying," Yates said. "When Mat went down, I was a little surprised but it was nice, like 'okay now we're second and we're going to have to dice it out here, looks like these guys are hanging on.' Then Tommy got by me and we raced it to the end. I thought there were a couple of spots I could try to get under him but it was really tough, really hard. I couldn't quite get in there. Our gearing is a little bit different on our bikes, I could tell. He was getting off a few turns a bit better than me."

Ben Bostrom (No. 2 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) capped a good day for Yamaha with a fourth place finish. He also moved to fourth in the championship with 333 points.

Larry Pegram (No. 72 Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing Ducati 1098R) finished fifth and is also fifth in the championship with 329 points.

Sunday's American Superbike race will close the AMA Pro Superbike Championships and the 2009 American Superbike season at 4:20 p.m. ET.

Race Results
1. Josh Hayes (Yamaha Motor Corp. USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 23 Laps
2. Tommy Hayden (Rockstar ·Makita ·Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1.418
3. Aaron Yates (Jordan Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1.613
4. Ben Bostrom (Yamaha Motor Corp. USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 +4.549
5. Larry Pegram (Foremost Insurance ·Pegram Racing Ducati) Ducati 1098R +5.906
6. Taylor Knapp (Taylor Knapp Racing) Buell 1125RR +11.302
7. Blake Young (Rockstar ·Makita ·Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +11.671
8. Cory West (Erik Buell Racing) Buell 1125RR +16.290
9. Damian Cudlin (Celtic Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +23.307
10. Geoff May (National Guard Jordan Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +23.564
11. Jake Holden (Holden Racing) Honda CBR1000RR +23.649
12. Chris Ulrich (Roadracingworld.com ·Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +27.013
13. Neil Hodgson (Corona Extra Honda) Honda CBR1000RR +44.477
14. Scott Charlton (Aussie Dave Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1:03.999
15. Shane Narbonne (Shane Narbonne ·DASPerformance.com) Suzuki GSX-R1000 22 Laps
16. Ricky Corey (RCR Yamaha) Yamaha YZF-R1 +0.171
17. Mark Crozier (Four Feathers Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +4.957
18. Shawn Higbee (Higbee-Racing.com) Buell 1125R +5.675
19. Scott Jensen (Moto Garage Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +6.482
20. Skip Salenius (Run One Racing ·Marietta Motorsports) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +18.766
21. Eric Haugo (Liberty Waves Racing 2) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +36.047
22. Johnny Rock Page (Johnny Rock Page ·944 Magazine) Suzuki GSX-R1000 21 Laps
23. Tim Hunt (Team Hooters Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +20.265
24. Mat Mladin (Rockstar ·Makita ·Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 13 Laps
25. Dominic Jones (Moto Garage Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 8 Laps
Race Time: 31:39.995
Margin of Victory: 1.418
Best Race Lap: Mat Mladin (1:21.163)

Point Standings (Top 20)
1. Mat Mladin 428
2. Josh Hayes 375
3. Tommy Hayden 373
4. Ben Bostrom 333
5. Larry Pegram 329
6. Blake Young 278
7. Aaron Yates 269
8. Geoff May 223
9. Taylor Knapp 198
10. Jake Holden 180
11. Neil Hodgson 151
12. Chris Ulrich 148
13. David Anthony 120
14. Scott Jensen 99
15. Michael Laverty 98
16. Aaron Gobert 87
17. Hawk Mazzotta 69
18. Mark Crozier 57
19. Shawn Higbee 57
20. Ryan Elleby 55