The AMA Supersport Championship has long been sponsored by Pro
Honda Oils, but it’s been four years since Honda has seriously
contested the highly competitive series. Last week at Barber
Motorsports Park Josh Hayes rode to a convincing victory on his Erion
Honda CBR600RR in the second round of the Pro Honda Oils Supersport
Championship presented by Shoei.
This Sunday, April 29 the Supersport series moves to California
Speedway in Fontana with Honda’s Hayes tied atop the standings with
Daytona winner Roger Lee Hayden, of the Monster Energy Kawasaki team.
Hayes not only won last weekend, but he ran away and hid from the rest
of the field. It was Hayes’ first Supersport victory and marked the
first win in the class for Honda since 2003. It was a surprising turn
of events in the class that saw the Kawasaki’s of Hayden and Jamie
Hacking dominate the field in the Daytona season opener.
“My expectations were really high coming into the season,” Hayes
said. “There are so many fast guys. This class has a really deep
field this year. Winning last week and to do it for Honda for the
first time in a long time, and to do it on this new motorcycle was
fantastic. I think it’s great that we have Jamie [Hacking] and me,
champions in two different classes going head to head this year.”
Hayes will try to give Honda its first Fontana Supersport win.
Hacking, the defending and two-time series champ and last year’s
winner at Fontana, was involved in spectacular chain reaction crash at
the end of the first lap at Barber. The melee was triggered when
Hacking high-sided his Kawasaki coming onto the front straight. As he
was sliding, M4 EMGO Suzuki's Geoff May had nowhere to go, hit
Hacking’s bike and launched his motorcycle high into the air. The
rest of the field did an outstanding job missing the downed Hacking
and May. Both riders were unable to make the restart. Hacking dropped
from second to 11th in the standings. May from ninth to 18th. Both
were banged up in the crash, but are expected to race in Fontana.
Hacking’s teammate Roger Lee Hayden is tied for the series lead with
Hayes. Hayden suffered a practice crash last week and rode injured.
Hayden was still able to score a fifth-place finish. "I wasn't
feeling 100 percent, but I put in as much as I could to get the most
points as possible," said Hayden after the race.
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden is another two-time Supersport
champion. He comes to Fontana third in the standings. “We were
definitely competitive [at Barber] but we just had a few issues that
held us back a little bit. I think we can resolve those before the
race at Fontana next weekend.”
Attack Kawasaki’s Steve Rapp proved he is also a contender for the
Supersport championship this year by scoring his first podium in the
class last weekend. The same can be said for 16-year-old phenom Josh
Herrin of Graves Yamaha. Herrin was second in Alabama and Rapp third.
Rapp is fourth in the standings, one point ahead of Herrin.
Sunday’s Pro Honda Supersport final is part of the AMA Suzuki
Superbike Challenge at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif., on
April 27-29. The Supersport race will be shown on SPEED Sunday, May 6
at 3 pm Eastern.
Tickets for the AMA Suzuki Superbike Challenge are available online at
www.californiaspeedway.com.
Admission is free for ages 12 and under with a paid adult General
Admission.
