Hayes takes FX pole, eyes double-double

April 27, 2007

Chris Martin

Erion Honda’s Josh Hayes overcame a high-speed practice crash at a track he’s never felt particularly comfortable on to score his second straight Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme pole position.

The Mississippian lapped the California Speedway circuit with a fast lap of 1:26.338, some three-tenths quicker than teammate Aaron Gobert, the second qualifier for tomorrow’s 17-lap final.

Afterwards Hayes commented, “I’m really excited about it; this is a really tough track for me. If I can put the pieces together at a track that’s been notoriously rough for me than I think the rest of the season should be even better.

“I’ve just never had any luck at these flat speedway tracks. Just how the track shapes together doesn’t suit my style very well. I like the blind corners and going over rises. I like bumpy tracks and this one is not too bad really. We come here and we test but last year’s podium was the best race I’ve ever had here and it was a third. And that was a very hard race for me.”

Hayes again managed to claim the pole aboard his CBR600RR without the aid of the super-sticky Dunlop ‘Q’s. He explained, “Again, we didn’t have any qualifiers; we had to use race rubber. They’re telling me that’s not going to be the case all year. It’s pretty important to Dunlop to go out there and beat up on the other guys. We’ve been able to do it so far, but…

“We have a really good motorcycle. Hopefully the race kind of plays the same way. After that crash this morning it took me a while to get my nerves back up about me in the faster sections of the racetrack. It was a fifth-gear fall. Luckily nothing was hurt and the bike was okay; we actually rode our ‘A’ bike in this qualifying session and the boys did a really good job. For me to put it back on pole again for Parts Unlimited, Kevin (Erion), and Dunlop is really good. We’re trying to make this Honda look good, you know?”

Coming off his double win weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, the reigning FX champ is also the shining light for Honda’s renewed Supersport efforts. Hayes was strong again in the class this morning, laying down a 1:27.465, the fourth best lap of the practice session.

“We were P4 this morning and I didn’t think it was too bad,” Hayes remarked. “We were able to put some splits together. It’s unbelievable the number of people on the racetrack. I got to ride a little bit yesterday and I got to see that a lot of them had never been here before. I don’t think I did a single lap where I had to pass less than two people. It’s really hard to get some clean laps. Maybe after qualifying we’ll be able to get settled in better and be able to put some pieces together a little bit better.”

With the defending class champion, Jamie Hacking, and 2006 runner-up, Geoff May, taking a major hit in the points race due to their spectacular BMP incident, the Supersport title is up for grabs. Hayes understands that it’s going to be a dogfight regardless, especially with Hacking’s Monster Energy Kawasaki teammate, Roger Hayden, lurking about.

“Rog is no joke,” Hayes said. “When he’s healthy, he’s winning races, period. Last week was a tough race for me because I was so amped up and ready to race with Jamie. I really got myself fired up for it so when we restarted and he wasn’t there I was kind of lost out there. Our lap times were slower than they were in morning warm-up. I struggled a bit. I think come Sunday, I’ll get FX out of the way and I can focus on Supersport and I’ll be pretty excited to get out there and battle with Jamie and Rog and couple of those guys again.”