2012 AMA Pro Road Racing Laguna Seca Results
Train Kept A Rollin': Hayes Breaks GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing Record in National Guard SuperBike at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix
[caption id="attachment_14402" align="alignright"
width="300"] Josh Hayes established a new
single-season record with his eighth win in a row at Laguna Seca -
Photo: Brian J. Nelson[/caption]
Josh Hayes
established a new single-season record for consecutive AMA Pro
National Guard SuperBike victories with a crushing performance to
secure his eighth in a row on Sunday at Mazda Raceway Laguna
Seca.
The defending two-time champion was once again in a class of his
own as he notched up yet another dominant victory. The Monster
Energy Graves Yamaha superstar pulled his rookie teammate,
Josh Herrin,
clear of the chasing pack in the race's early stages before
breaking Herrin's pursuit as well by lap 5 of the 23-lap
affair.
Once free Hayes put it in cruise control early and still managed to
take the checkered flag with a 9.084-second margin of victory.
The Mississippian continues to stake his claim in the GEICO
Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing record books. In addition to the
historic win streak, Hayes has now notched up 11 victories this
season, just one shy of Mat Mladin's all-time record with six races
still remaining on the '12 slate. Sunday's victory also sees Hayes
move into a tie for third place on the all-time SuperBike wins list
at 28, tying three-time champion Ben Spies, who
was in attendance to watch Hayes' conquering ride following the
day's MotoGP World Championship race.
"Good things are happening right now," Hayes said. "I'll ride the
train as long as I can. If I get into a battle in a hard race,
you're going to see me fighting for it for that individual race; it
has nothing to do with streaks or race wins or anything like that.
It's for that race win. I'm in a position where I can try for every
single one of them. I don't have anything to worry about. I've got
a points situation that I don't even think about at this point in
the season. I'm just focused on winning every race that I can. If I
toss one down the road -- or two down the road -- then I'll
reevaluate how I'm going to approach it. But, right now, I just
want to win everything.
"I'm still riding like I have a little bit of a chip on my
shoulder. I still remember last year very clearly. I remember if
more clearly than I remember winning eight races in a row. It seems
like things have happened pretty quickly and it doesn't feel like
that to me. I'll just keep focusing, and trying hard, and pushing
myself."
While Hayes was out of reach, the battle for second still proved to
be a thrilling affair. Herrin's early tow saw him race out to an
immediate three-second advantage over a heated scrap for third,
which involved National Guard Jordan Suzuki's Roger Hayden,
Yoshimura Suzuki's Blake Young,
Jordan Suzuki's Ben Bostrom,
Team Amsoil/EBR's Geoff May and Team Hero EBR's Danny
Eslick.
[caption id="attachment_14398" align="alignleft"
width="200"] The battle for second proved to be a
thrilling affair, with Blake Young ultimately on top - Photo: Brian
J. Nelson[/caption]
As Hayden went backwards and fell from the fight, Herrin faded as
well and fell into the clutches of Young and company.
The race's final lap saw Young and Herrin trade second position
multiple times with hard and tight passes. The nod ultimately went
to Suzuki ace Young by a scant 0.023 seconds, thanks to a superior
drive out of the final corner in the sprint to the flag.
Young said, "It was a pretty good race for us today. I was making
it harder on ourselves by not having great qualifying. It seems
like we've let it slip a little bit this year, and I'm just finding
myself getting it together at the beginning of the weekend, but I
guess the good thing is, we definitely get it together by the end
of the weekend in time for the race. I'm obviously happy with
second, but I want to get back up to the front and get racing with
Josh where I feel we belong.
Herrin said of his late duel with Young, "It was a great last lap
-- it was fun. I wish I could have held him off but I just
couldn't. He kind of outsmarted me there a little bit. We'll be
back at the next race to try to beat him next time."
Eslick and Bostrom finished just fractions of a second behind in
fourth and fifth, respectively.
After running as high as third, May dropped to a lonely sixth at
the flag, while Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki's Taylor Knapp also
managed to work past the struggling Hayden, who ultimately finished
a disappointing eighth on the heels of his Mid-Ohio breakthrough
and subsequent strong weekend form here at Laguna Seca.
KTM/HMC Racing's Stefen Nebel won out in a fight for ninth with
Foremost Insurance Pegram Racing's Larry Pegram,
who completed the race's top ten.
Hayes continues his march to a third AMA Pro National Guard
SuperBike title as he'll head to New Jersey Motorsports Park on
September 7-9 boasting an imposing 74-point advantage.
Source: AMA Pro Racing
Beaubier Takes AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike Victory at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
[caption id="attachment_14397" align="alignright"
width="300"] Cameron Beaubier won a fantastic
three-way fight, besting series points leader Martin Cardenas -
Photo: Brian J. Nelson[/caption]
Cameron
Beaubier won a fantastic three-way fight for another GEICO
Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing victory at Mazda Raceway Laguna
Seca, taking his fourth victory in the past five races in the AMA
Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike class with a bold last-lap move over
series points leader Martin
Cardenas. The Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha pilot battled for 20 laps
with his teammate Tommy Hayden
as well as Cardenas in a real thriller.
Beaubier showed Cardenas a wheel on several occasions, but the
Colombian did not give the young challenger any opportunity to pass
heading into the final lap. The young standout made a move to the
outside of turn one, an unlikely passing area, then surprised
Cardenas on the inside of turn two and made the move stick.
Cardenas was able to hold off the charging Hayden but couldn't
counter Beaubier in the final turn or the run to the line.
Beaubier's margin of victory was 0.092 over Cardenas and 0.425 over
Hayden.
"Martin made a little mistake coming out of the last corner and I
was able to pass him into two," said Beaubier. "I was riding a
little impatient in the middle of the race, trying to get around
Tommy and showing Martin a wheel here and there. I felt like I
could get in there pretty good but to tell the truth I did not plan
that move. I saw the opportunity."
[caption id="attachment_14401" align="alignleft"
width="300"] Tommy Hayden took third, and is now tied
for third in the points standings - Photo: Brian J.
Nelson[/caption]
Jake Zemke took
fourth place, just 2.555 seconds back as the Ducshop Ducati rider
once again ran a strong race.
Jake Gagne of Roadrace Factory/Red Bull earned fifth. The young
rider has recovered from arm pump surgery and had a trying race but
was able to finish even after a collision with second place points
man Dane Westby,
who had highsided just in front of him.
Cardenas now leads Westby by 64 points in the GoPro Daytona
SportBike point standings, 314-250, with Beaubier and Hayden tied
for third 16 points back at 234 a piece.
Source: AMA Pro Racing
Laguna Seca Overview And Point Standings
2012 AMA Pro Road Racing Laguna Seca Image Gallery (Click for full size images)
SuperBike Results
- Josh Hayes
- Blake Young
- Josh Herrin
- Danny Eslick
- Ben Bostrom
- Geoff May
- Taylor Knapp
- Roger Hayden
- Stefan Nebel
- Larry Pegram
SuperBike Class Standings - ( Round 8 of 11 )
- Josh Hayes - 415
- Blake Young - 341
- Josh Herrin - 246
- Roger Hayden - 217
- Geoff May - 205
- Larry Pegram - 193
- Danny Eslick - 165
- Ben Bostrom - 162
- Chris Clark - 152
- Steve Rapp - 151
Daytona SportBike Results
- Cameron Beaubier
- Martin Cardenas
- Tommy Hayden
- Jake Zemke
- Jake Gagne
- Cory West
- Benny Solis
- Joey Pascarella
- JD Beach
- Fernando Amantini
Daytona SportBike Class Standings - ( Round 8 of 11 )
- Martin Cardenas - 314
- Dane Westby - 250
- Cameron Beaubier - 234
- Tommy Hayden - 234
- Jason DiSalvo - 194
- Jake Zemke - 184
- JD Beach - 178
- Bobby Fong - 162
- Cory West - 158
- Joey Pascarella - 154
Next GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing Event
The AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series will take its turn sharing
the spotlight with the MotoGP World Championship superstars in
three weeks time for the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix on August
17-19.
The full tour will resume on September 7-9 at New Jersey
Motorsports Park.
AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.