Hayes Earns First Career Win at Infineon Raceway
SONOMA,
Calif. (May 16, 2009) - Josh Hayes (No.
4 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) claimed
his first career win in AMA Pro National Guard
American Superbike presented by Parts
Unlimited competition in the opening round of
the doubleheaders of this weekend's Kawasaki
Superbike Showdown presented by Supercuts at
Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California.
The race saw three manufacturers take the to
the top of the podium.
Front row pole-sitter Mat Mladin (No. 7
Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-1000R),
Hayes, Tommy Hayden (No. 22 Rockstar/Makita
Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-1000R) and Ben Bostrom
(No. 2 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1)
started the race from the front row and took
the green flag joined at the hip into Turn 1.
Mladin led the first and second laps before a
dramatic pass of Mladin by Bostrom going into
Turn 1 on Lap 3 gave the Petaluma, California
native the lead.
Hayes quickly followed Bostrom past Mladin and
the Yamaha duo continued their third-lap drive
through Turn 10 before Bostrom low sided at
Turn 11 and handed the lead over to his
teammate. Hayes led the remainder
of the 22-lap race before finishing 6.135
seconds ahead of the field. Despite the
wreck, Bostrom recovered to finish ninth.
"It was a pretty good day,"
said Hayes. "I think the pace was
slower than any of us expected and the heat
played a role. I was feeling things out
(at first) and I saw Ben (Bostrom) being
aggressive and then he had his miscue. Mat had
some problems; it was not his race today.
We all have bad races and Mat had his. I
expect tomorrow that will not be an issue for
Mat."
Hayes' win was the first for a non-Suzuki in
AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike in
55 races, since Jake Zemke won on a Honda on
June 18, 2006 in race two at Miller
Motorsports Park, and was the first win for
Yamaha at Infineon since 2001.
Second place finisher Tommy Hayden never lost
sight of the front runners and after losing a
position to eventual third place finisher
Larry Pegram (No. 72 Foremost Insurance/Pegram
Racing Ducati 1098R) on Lap 11 in Turn 6.
Hayden was able to pass Pegram in Turn 9A on
Lap 18 and made the pass stick but could never
close the gap on Hayes to less than six
seconds by the end of the race.
"It went pretty well for me," said
Hayden. "I got a good start behind
Mat and I was happy with that. I thought
I would sit there and let him try and pull me
along for a while. That's usually a good
plan. But it looked like he was fighting
things hard today. Ben (Bostrom) came by
quick and I knew he had a little bit more
speed (than Mladin). As the race
went on it got hot and greasy, but it didn't
get a whole lot worse. I was able to do
the same lap times and it looked like it got
easier for me. I just got through it and
wanted to bring it home second. Josh
(Hayes) had a big lead and I didn't have
anything for him today."
For Pegram, the result equaled his season best
finish of third in race two at Fontana.
"The race went good, everybody was
sliding around and greasy," said Pegram.
"Everybody had to dial it down a notch.
I passed Tommy (Hayden), and then had the best
pass of my life when I passed Mat (Mladin) on
the outside of Turn 6 in the carousel.
After that, things got pretty slippery and I'm
really happy to be up on the podium
today."
Aaron Yates (No. 23 Jordan Suzuki GSXR-R1000)
ran in the top five all day and finished
fourth, his second highest finish of the
season coming after his podium finish at
Barber Motorsports Park. Mladin, the
only winner in the American Superbike
competition before this weekend, faded to
fifth on Lap 12 and was able to maintain the
position until the finish.
"Obviously, I've had better days,"
said Mladin. "That's racing. We
just didn't hit on the set-up today.
We've had seven wins in a row, and we can't
complain. We've done a fantastic job.
We'll try to keep it together and get back up
there tomorrow. "
The green flag for Sunday's AMA Pro National
Guard American Superbike race two will drop at
4:00 p.m. local time.