SuperBike Report
Rockstar Suzuki earned three podium spots at Round 5 of the AMA American SuperBike series at the Road America doubleheader in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
Tommy Hayden got his second career SuperBike victory on Sunday after a spectacular race to the finish line.
Hayden also made it to the podium on Saturday with a second-place photo finish where he nearly made it across the finish line first.
His teammate Blake Young also made an appearance on the podium on Saturday, taking the third spot.
Hayden has his Yoshimura-prepped GSX-R1000 finetuned and it showed on Saturday when he put in the second-fastest qualifying time.
Young qualified third, so both Yoshimura riders were on the front row of the grid for both races. Saturday’s race went down to the wire with a photo finish, and Hayden came in just shy of first place, taking second place by a mere fraction of a second.
Tommy Hayden says: “The race was just a little bit too long for me,” Hayden said after the race. “This is the third time this year I’ve been on the backend of a close finish, but I have some ideas for changes to get out front tomorrow.”
Young was not far behind the leaders and put himself in position to take the third spot on the podium.
On Sunday, Hayden and his crew did make some small changes to the bike’s setup that proved worthy. Hayden again battled for the lead with the pole sitter, but this time was able to push his Yoshimura-powered GSX-R1000 across the finish line first.
Hayden coninuted: “I can say that it feels better to be on the winning end of a close one,” Hayden said. “We’re going to keep working to get back up here again.” The win marks Hayden’s second victory of the 2010 season and his SuperBike career, and puts him in the lead of the series at the halfway point of the season.
Blake Young battled on Sunday with other racers and was in third on the technical course. After a slight miscalculation in a turn, Young lost his position and succumbed to the pack, ending his day in seventh place.
Young is still holding the fourth spot in the series standings and is looking forward to Mid-Ohio in July for another chance at the podium.
Look for the Yoshimura racers to be vying for more podium appearances July 16-18 in Lexington, Ohio, for Round 6 of the AMA American SuperBike series.
