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2012 AMA Pro Racing
AMA Pro Road Racing conducted an official test at Homestead-Miami Speedway this week which gave more than 50 riders an important opportunity to prepare their motorcycles in advance of the Big Kahuna Miami, scheduled for Sept. 21-23, 2012.
With many of AMA Pro’s top teams in attendance, riders and crews went to work perfecting their racecraft on a track that hasn’t been on AMA Pro Road Racing’s calendar since 1996.
Setting the bar high, the Michael Jordan Motorsports team left nothing on the table in the final day of on-track activity. The team’s AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike riders Ben Bostrom and Roger Hayden posted impressive lap times in the final session that locked them in at the top of the charts.
Bostrom, who pilots the team’s No. 23 Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000, posted successively faster lap times over the course of the two-day test before ripping off a final session flyer with a time of 1:21.445 around the Speedway’s 2.21-mile motorcycle road course.
The former National Guard SuperBike champ is one of the few riders in the Series with experience at the South Florida venue, having won the AMA SuperTwins race 16-years ago in AMA Pro’s inaugural race at the venue.
Ben Bostrom (Jordan Suzuki GSX-R 1000 Superbike) says: "I’ve been here before, I like it. In 1996 I won the Harley race here, so the track was semi-good to me then too. My first lap around here this year, I said ‘I don’t even remember this track.’
"It’s crazy, I didn’t remember it. But the bike is fantastic, nice comeback after Daytona; we had a really tough time there. Actually it sucked, let’s admit it. I know for the rest of the tracks, especially these twisty tracks, we have an awesome handling machine. My engineer Darren has found something again, so it’s been one of the most successful tests we’ve ever had actually, as far as speed goes."
Teammate Hayden turned in the second overall fastest lap of 1:21.526 in the same session aboard the team’s No. 54 National Guard Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000. The Big Kahuna Miami brings motorcycle road racing back to one of the country’s biggest entertainment markets and Hayden took this testing opportunity to combine work with pleasure during his brief time in South Florida.
Roger Lee Hayden (National Guard Jordan Suzuki GSX-R 1000 Superbike) says: "I came here right as the 200 was ending; probably before it was even done I was on my way here. Me and my girlfriend came here for a few days and hung out by the beach. It’s been a long couple of months getting ready for the season so it’s kind of nice to take a few days off.
"I’m a huge sports fan and I’ve always wanted to see LeBron James play. I went to the Miami Heat game on Sunday night when they played the Orlando Magic, so I got to see Dwight Howard, Dwayne Wade and LeBron play. It was one of those things I get to check off the list."
Defending AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike Champion Josh Hayes turned the test’s third fastest lap time of 1:21.647 on his No. 1 Monster Energy Graves Yamaha YZF-R1, followed by yesterday’s fast man, Blake Young. Young’s No. 79 Yoshimura Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 was often the fastest rider in each National Guard SuperBike session, the Wisconsin posting a time of 1:21.844, good for fourth overall.
Larry Pegram rounded out the top five with a lap time of 1:22.266 on the No. 72 Foremost Insurance Pegram Racing BMW S1000RR. With one of the paddock’s busiest racing schedules, Pegram left the Miami area bound for Florida’s West coast to participate in this weekend’s Grand Prix of St. Petersburg with the Star Mazda Championship.
Larry Pegram (Foremost Insurance Pegram Racing BMW S1000RR) says: "We had a lot of stuff to run through when we were here. Right here at the end of the day we threw some tires at it to see what we could do and we did a 1:22.2. I’m not ecstatic with that but that’s a lot better, we made some good improvements here this weekend. We found some things out, we’re still learning. We’re getting the bike better all the time. I feel a lot better leaving here than I did leaving Daytona, as far as our competitiveness."
The 2012 AMA Superbike grid will be back on the track April 20-22 for Round 2 at Road Atlanta.
