This year’s Triumph SuperBike Classic at Barber Motorsports Park left no doubt that three-time AMA Pro SuperBike champion Josh Hayes is till the man to beat. The 39-year-old has been making up for lost time ever since he was awarded a relatively late opportunity to do the business in the premier class. Over the past five-plus seasons, he has etched his place in the SuperBike annals, and now owns sole possession of second place in almost every meaningful class statistic.
Although his three SuperBike crowns tie him with fellow icons Reg Pridmore, Fred Merkel, Doug Chandler and Ben Spies, he missed a chance to make history with an unprecedented four consecutive title victories last season when he was beaten by an unexpected combination of mistake, misfortune and the emergence of teammate and eventual champion Josh Herrin.
Hayes has a shot at redemption this season and would move into sole possession of second with a fourth title, which would leave him trailing only seven-time king Mat Mladin. He boasts a 29-point advantage over second and is 35 points up on reigning GoPro Daytona SportBike champ Beaubier – a remarkable 61-point swing – with just five races remaining on the season slate.
While Beaubier and Hayes’ other primary pre-season title threats – Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing teammates Roger Hayden and Martin Cardenas – have been inconsistent as of late, Hayes has been perfect over the last three races, including a pair of dominating wins in Alabama.
“I think things have shaken up a bit differently than I expected,” Hayes admitted. “I’m doing my best to prepare for the worst. I don’t think you typically see such a big momentum swing in one weekend, so this weekend was pretty rough on a lot of people and I managed to get through unscathed. We just have to be smart and keep doing what I’ve practiced doing for so many years and see where we end up.”
While Hayes was the undisputed big winner of the weekend, the Barber Motorsports Park round also served to underline the continued emergence of two of the season’s pleasant surprises, ADR Motorsports/Sic/Motul Fly Racing’s David Anthony and third Yoshimura pilot Chris Clark.
Anthony capitalized on the mistakes of Beaubier, Cardenas and Hayden on Saturday to claim a second straight runner-up result. And on Sunday he continued his run of impressive string of results with a fourth-place finish, one spot ahead of Hayden. Anthony has been in the top five all season long is now sits second in the points chase.
“I think everyone will say the same – it was a matter of attrition out there,” the Australian said following his podium on Saturday. “I was just trying to keep it on two wheels – it was pretty slippery out there. That was my goal – just bring it to the end. I knew some people would go down and a few of them did.”
The stars of AMA Pro Road Racing will share the spotlight with world-class company as the GEICO Motorcycle U.S. Round of the FIM Superbike World Championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is up next. The joint AMA Pro-FIM event will take place on July 11-13 in Monterey, California.
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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