2011 Laguna AMA Superbike | Results

2011 AMA Superbike

Spoiler Alert: Laguna Seca AMA Superbike results below

The penultimate round in the 2011 AMA Superbike series got underway with MotoGP at Laguna Seca this past weekend.

The 23-lap race came down to a race-long battle between the two of three riders on top in points – Team Graves Yamaha’s Josh Hayes and Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden. By the Kentuckian held off the reigning AMA Superbike Champion by 0.232 of a second, with Hayden’s teammate and the other man on top in the points, Blake Young, taking the final podium position.

This was Hayden’s third race win of the 2011 AMA Superbike Championship besides one each at Infineon and Mid-Ohio. This was a special win for Hayden, considering he took the only AMA SBK race at Laguna with his MotoGP brother, Nicky Hayden, spectating.

Tommy Hayden (Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike) says: "We were going pretty fast. It definitely wasn’t an easy pace. Once he took his rhythm, I just settled in and followed him around for a while. The last lap was obviously pretty intense – I couldn’t have crossed over by more than an inch or something [on the last pass], then I got it picked up and just tried to hold him off.

"I think I’m maybe fighting a little harder at the end [in recent races]; being a little more aggressive. I feel like I had the speed all year – like I could have easily won five or six races this year – so I’m just going to go to New Jersey and try to keep it going."

When the Superbike race got underway, two battles ensued – Hayden and Hayes up front, and Young and Roger Lee Hayden (Michael Jordan Suzuki Superbike) for third. M4 Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas was with the main pack, but ran off the track, re-entering in 10th.

Hayes was in the lead with five laps remaining, but after he had a mishap in the Corckscrew, Hayden took the lead. Hayes would shortly take the lead back, but Hayden would be back in front, holding it to the checkered flag.

Josh Hayes (Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike) says: "I really thought that if I could get up to top of Turn 5 ahead of him, I had a pretty good shot. But out of the Corkscrew he got a little gap on me, and I tried to get the best drive I could, but at that point it was pretty much his race once we got in the last turn. I tried really hard, but I came out second today."

Behind, the final podium spot would come down to the line, with Young taking Roger Lee Hayden by a mere 0.045 of a second. Finishing a lonely fifth was Michael Jordan Suzuki’s Ben Bostrom, who made his debut in MotoGP as a wildcard earlier in the day.

Blake Young (Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike) says: "Roger rode a very good race. He definitely didn’t give it to me at all. On the last lap I thought he might be a little defensive and ride the inside line of the last turn, like is pretty typical here, and that’s what he did. So I just really buried it into the turn pretty deep, got it squared up, and I think he got a little bit of a wheelie that slowed his drive. And with that, I ended up bringing home the third."

Rounding out the top 10 were Larry Pegram (Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing), Steve Rapp (San Diego BMW), Cardenas, Clark, and Geoff May (Amsoil EBR Racing).

Following Laguna Seca, Young retains the lead with 311 points, only five ahead of Hayes. Tommy Hayden is in third with 263 points.

AMA Pro Racing will be present at Red Bull Indy MotoGP, but with only the XR1200 class representing the series.

As for AMA Superbike, it culminates at New Jersey Motorsports Park Sept. 2-4. Because of the cancellation of VIR, the AMA SBK series will only have eight rounds this year.

2011 AMA Superbike: Laguna Seca Results