2011 AMA Pro Racing
The Michael Jordan Motorsports (MJM) team worked through rain and cold temperatures to claim two top tens and make progress with their Suzuki GSX-R1000 superbikes at round three of the 2011 AMA Pro National Guard Superbike Championship at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.
Roger Lee Hayden, on the National Guard Jordan Suzuki, qualified fourth fastest in Saturday’s dry Superbike qualifying session and, like everyone else, was unable to better his time in Sunday’s wet qualifying.
Hayden got a good start from his front row starting position in Monday’s race and battled with rider J.D. Beach for many laps before pulling clear for fourth place near the end. Hayden remains eighth in the Superbike championship points race heading into the fourth round next weekend.
Roger Lee Hayden (Michael Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike) says: “The weekend was going pretty good up until the race,” Hayden said. “I was experiencing some problems that I hadn’t had all weekend. I think it was because the track was dirty.
“Nonetheless, it’s probably the most disappointing fourth place I’ve ever had. I was expecting so much more, and it just wasn’t there. We finished the race and we got some information. The Jordan Suzuki team worked hard all weekend. We had a better bike than it showed out there. I’m looking forward to Road America because we made some improvements this weekend to the bike to get closer to Tommy, Josh and Blake.”
Jordan Suzuki’s Ben Bostrom had to start on the fourth row after losing his chance to improve his time from Saturday because of rain in Sunday’s Superbike qualifying session. Bostrom persevered in the race, getting a good start and running in seventh position before slipping to eighth place at the finish. Bostrom moves up to fifth position in the championship points race.
Ben Bostrom (Michael Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike) says: “I love this place and that was a terrible performance. So all we could do was keep our head down, not get too down and go to Road America. Fortunately, I only have to wait four days to ride again. We learned a lot this weekend, so that part is good. We definitely learned a lot in that race (about) what not to do.”
The Michael Jordan Motorsports team’s next event of the 2011 AMA American Superbike Championship series is at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on June 3-5, 2011.