Sonoma: Series race two report

AMA Pro National Guard American SuperBike Race Two Report
West Coast Moto Jam - Infineon Raceway

SONOMA, CA (May 16, 2010)- Josh Hayes and his Team Graves Yamaha backed up his convincing Saturday win at Infineon Raceway with another display of superiority, as he took his second AMA Pro National Guard American SuperBike win in as many days and led all but five laps of Superbike competition at the 2.32-mile natural road course.

Hayes, who started on pole position, had to come from behind after some exceptional front-row starts from his competitors. Over the course of the first few laps, however, Hayes slowly picked off the riders in front and rode away to a 3.677-second victory over former teammate Ben Bostrom.

Ben Bostrom on his Pat Clark Motorsports Yamaha and an ever strong Larry Pegram on his Foremost Insurance Ducati both battled off Hayes to repeat their second and third place finishes from yesterday. Pegram led the first five laps of the race before being passed by a charging Hayes, who climbed back from fifth position to take the top spot on lap six, steadily maintaining his lead on the way to his ninth Superbike win.

"I felt like I had an advantage this weekend," Hayes said. "My bike worked really well and the boys did a fantastic job. I think we learned a few things and it will bode well for the rest of the season. If we keep our nose clean, we can compete for wins any given weekend."

All three riders commented that it was a different kind of race today, but at the end of the day, the top three matched the conditions perfectly and each rider was delighted with their results for different reasons.

Hayes was relieved that he was able to back up his result from yesterday. He felt that he had such an advantage with Saturday's clearly dominant performance of his Team Graves Yamaha that he was actually worried that he might not deliver on the advantage he felt that he had over the conditions and competition.

Bostrom was also pleased with his weekend. His new team, Pat Clark Motorsports, has been getting better and better and this is an indication that the team and rider are back up front where they belong and now feel that they can be contenders for the rest of the 2010 AMA Pro Road Racing season.

Pegram, who rides, manages and works on his family-owned Foremost Insurance Ducati team, felt that his performances at a track where he traditionally doesn't do well was a bonus. He did have more difficulty with slower traffic today, but overall he is leaving Infineon Raceway with a pair of strong results as he heads into the scene of his popular victory last year at Road America.

Behind the top three, Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammates Tommy Hayden and Blake Young enjoyed battling with each other and more as they also duplicated their fourth and fifth place finishes from yesterday. The duo had a close encounter in the turn nine complex on the final lap, which sent Hayden off course momentarily, but both riders retook their respective positions before crossing the stripe.

Young ran as high as second position early in the race before beginning his seemingly race-long battle with points leader Jake Zemke on his National Guard Jordan Suzuki, who did all he could to take sixth, giving no quarter as he fought all the way to the flag.

Jake Holden had another strong run on his M4 Monster Energy Suzuki with a seventh place run, ahead of his teammate Chris Ulrich on his M4 Monster Energy Suzuki. RidersDiscount.com Suzuki rider Taylor Knapp took another solid finish in ninth and Geoff May returned to fulltime National Guard SuperBike competition with a tenth place finish on his Erik Buell Racing Buell motorcycle.

Next up for the series will be the classic four mile road course through the Kettle Moraine country of Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin's Road America, June 4-6.

-source: ama pro racing