AMA Superbike News
The battle for the checkered flag was intense at race 2 in Mid-Ohio for Round 6 of the AMA American Superbike series, but it was Tommy Hayden who held off a charging Josh Hayes. Joining the two on the podium was Foremost Insurance Ducati rider Larry Pegram.
The Rockstar Makita Suzuki, Hayden’s victory shrinks Hayes’ championship lead to only four points, as Hayden has 281 points. Hayden took the preliminary pole on Friday, but qualified second on the grid behind Hayes.
The 31-year-old Hayden finished third at Race 1 on Saturday, but made some improvements to his GSX-R 1000 overnight, which gave him the win on Sunday.
Tommy Hayden says: “We made a few changes to the front of the bike, and I give my hats off to my team. I told them what I needed the bike to do different and they made the correct changes.”
“A lot of times it doesn’t work like that and takes more than one shot, but it did today. That was the key difference between yesterday and today. I had a really good rhythm today, and rode as hard as I could. The race was hard and it feels good to get this one back after yesterday.”
Josh Hayes was very aggressive on his Team Graves Yamaha R1, and lead two laps of the race. But once Hayden got out front, Hayes would get close but couldn’t catch him, especially on the last 11 laps that Hayden lead. Hayes’ bike was not performing as smoothly as it did at race 1, which he won.
Josh Hayes says: “The plan changed today because Tommy went faster. I didn’t get a great start, and starting from the inside on the pole at this track is kind of tough. Tommy was aggressive. I thought I was really good, but I was wrong. On turn 1 I passed Pegram. Seemed to get Tommy back to me fairly quickly. It didn’t seem too bad but he had his parts of the racetrack, especially the keyhole.”
“I had to do it perfect every time. I did the best I could, made a few mistakes, run wider, bring it back in. I had to go with my game plan. I made a few mistakes, but I had nothing for him. He had my covered in six. Like I said on my Twitter yesterday, Damn you T Hayden.”
Pegram got out the front first and lead the first lap, but his 1098 R was not quick enough to keep up with the Hayden and Hayes, who, unlike Pegram and his family-run team, are both backed heavily by their manufacturers. Pegram said he had a better setup than yesterday, but his tires were greasy.
Pegram also says he had two third-place finishes this weekend in his mind because Ben Bostrom jumped the line at Race 1 Saturday, which Pegram says gave him the final podium spot in that race.
Larry Pegram says: I got out front quickly today. Ben rode good but he redlined it at the start. I could run their pace (Hayden and Hayes) but I can do absolutely nothing with them. Most of the time I was just hanging onto them. But I got really hot. Sometimes when I push like that I forget to breath, which I did today. I was hyperventilating there, and thankful it was the last lap.”
“Good race today, my crew really worked there butt off today. We’re a small, family-run team and have to work our butts off to keep up with these guys. Really hot half way through, had to breathe. Tires were greasy but it was a good race.
Pegram also offered his thoughts on the current state of AMA Pro Racing, which came under new management last year.
Larry Pegram says “Compared to last year, the organization is running much smoother. This year its like you found that new girl, you get home the house is clean, the dinner is cooked, etc. The old regime, there was way too many egos. We started with a clean slate and some good people. The series has a platform and we can go somewhere good with it. But they should have penalized Ben yesterday.”
Rounding out the top five were Pat Clark Motorsports Yamaha rider Ben Bostrom and Jordan Suzuki rider Brett McCormick.
2010 AMA Superbike: Mid-Ohio Results, Race 2
1. Tommy Hayden, Suzuki GSX-R 1000
2. Josh Hayes, Yamaha YZF-R1
3. Larry Pegram, Ducati 1098R
4. Ben Bostrom, Yamaha YZF-R1
5. Brett McCormick, Suzuki GSX-R 1000
6. Jake Zemke, Suzuki GSX-R 1000
7. Taylor Knapp, Suzuki GSX-R 1000
8. Chris Ulrich, Suzuki GSX-R 1000
9. Geoff May, Buell 1125 R
10. Kurtis Roberts, Yamaha YZF-R1
Current Point Standings (after six of 10 rounds):
1. Josh Hayes, 285
2. Tommy Hayden, 281
3. Jake Zemke, 245
4. Larry Pegram, 209
5. Blake Young, 197
6. Ben Bostrom, 192
7. Chris Ulrich, 150
8. Taylor Knapp, 131
9. Brett McCormick, 99
10. Chris Clark, 99
