Mid-Ohio AMA Superbike: Race 1 Results

2011 AMA Superbike

The Mid-Ohio round of AMA Superbike began somewhat sour for the reigning champion Josh Hayes.

For the first time this season, Hayes didn’t place his Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R1 on the pole position. Then while maintaining the lead, the race was red-flagged on lap 6 due to a nasty high-side at the circuit’s keyhole involving Chris Peris on the Iron Horse BMW S1000 RR (stay tuned for a report).

On the restart, Hayes would start from the pole position, and lead until eight laps remained. The man who would steal the lead from Hayes was also the man who stole the pole position, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Blake Young. And after swapping the front position a few times, Young would beat Hayes to the line by 0.177 of a second.

Taking the final spot on the Mid-Ohio AMA Superbike race-one podium was Young’s teammate, Tommy Hayden.

During the opening six laps before the red flag, Jordan Suzuki’s Roger Lee Hayden got to turn one first, but Young captured first lead on Turn 2. Behind, Hayes held third, with Ben Bostrom (Jordan Suzuki), Larry Pegram (BMW S1000RR) and Tommy Hayden in tow.

On the second lap, Hayes moved from third to first, and retained the position until the red flag.

Upon the restart, the order was Hayes, Young, Hayden and Bostrom. Hayes got out front, followed by Roger Hayden, Young, Tommy Hadyen. Bostrom, who was looking very competitive before the restart, struggled, falling back to 14th.

Young and Tommy Hayden soon got pass Roger, and the Suzuki duo began chasing down Hayes. With five laps remaining, Young took the lead from Hayes. The two would swap the position a few times, but Young held it, taking the checkered flag over Hayes. Tommy Hayden would finish third, with his brother Roger arriving 3.583 seconds behind Hayes.

The other big race was for fifth, with M4 Suzuki’s Marting Cardenas holding off Pegram and Chris Fillmore on the KTM RC8R. Steve Rapp would finish eighth, followed y David Anthony on the ADR Fly Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000.

Rounding out the top 10 was JD Beach aboard the Attack Kawasaki ZX-10R; Beach held off a charge from Geoff May on the Amsoil EBR Racing Buell 1190RS.

After the race, Hayes would lead 14 laps, Young seven. The American Superbike riders will be back on the Mid-Ohio circuit Sunday for race 2, which is slated for 3:30 p.m.

Mid-Ohio AMA Superbike Podium Quotes

Tommy Hayden (Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike) says: "I knew it was going to be tough. I felt pretty good picking them off slowly, but then red flag came out. Once we got going (on restart) I felt pretty comfortable. Last couple of laps Josh (Hayes) was sneaking away. I had to trail brake hard and front was pretty greasy. But overall I thought the race was pretty good."

Josh Hayes (Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R1) says: "I put in a couple good laps and the red flag came out. I tried to ride smooth on restart, but I really struggled on the right side. I don’t know if I had ever had the front end move around that much. Every time Blake and I got side-by-side, there were many areas he had an advantage; I think tomorrow we have to sort out a solution for the front-end of the bike. Maybe we’ll put a better race together."

Blake Young (Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000) says: "It was a tough race. Hats off to Josh, he rode really, really good. Before the break we were running a lot better, but I was being a bit antsy. I wanted to race Josh a little more. Overall, we were better off without the red flag but everything worked out."

2011 Mid-Ohio AMA Superbike: Race 1 Results