In an intense weekend of road racing at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., YZF-R1 mounted Monster/Graves/Yamaha’s Josh Hayes earned a pole and a victory in the first AMA Superbike race on Saturday, May 5. Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha’s Cameron Beaubier added a podium in AMA Daytona Sportbike on his YZF-R6 on Saturday, Y.E.S./Monster/Graves/Yamaha’s Tommy Hayden and Graves/Yamaha’s Joey Pascarella took Daytona Sportbike podiums on Sunday, and RoadRace Factory/Yamaha’s Tomas Puerta grabbed a Supersport podium on Sunday, also aboard an R6. Uncharacteristically, Hayes then crashed in Sunday’s Superbike race two but recovered to finish seventh, and now trails rival Blake Young by four points in the standings. Meanwhile Hayden moves up a position to second in Daytona Sportbike points.
If Saturday was a dream day for Hayes, Sunday proved a trial for the two-time Superbike champion. He again took the early lead with the goal of escaping from Young and the rest of the pack, but suffered a rare fall on the second lap. After remounting, Hayes spent the remaining 20 laps playing catch-up, passing rider after rider in pursuit of the lead pack. To Hayes’ credit, he rode his R1 from last place all the way up to seventh, and finished the race just 8.9 sec. off the podium. “I was glad to get a good start,” Hayes said after Saturday’s race. “I’ve been getting beat up on the starts so far this year but got a good run at the line and had a clear track.” Yamaha roadrace team manager Tom Halverson added, “It’s a testimony to Josh’s fitness, focus and drive – and the R1’s toughness – that he could go from being on the ground to finishing that close to the podium in just 20 laps.”
| SuperBike Race 2 Results |
| 1 |
Blake Young |
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| 2 |
Roger Lee Hayden |
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| 3 |
Geoff May |
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| 4 |
Ben Bostrom |
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| 5 |
Chris Fillmore |
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| 6 |
Danny Eslick |
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| 7 |
Josh Hayes - YAM |
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| 8 |
David Anthony |
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| 9 |
Robertino Pietri |
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| 10 |
Larry Pegram - YAM |
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| SuperBike Standings |
| 1 |
Blake Young |
166 |
| 2 |
Josh Hayes - YAM |
162 |
| 3 |
Roger Lee Hayden |
114 |
| 4 |
Josh Herrin - YAM |
84 |
| 5 |
Larry Pegram - YAM |
82 |
| 6 |
Geoff May |
77 |
| 7 |
Steve Rapp |
73 |
| 8 |
Danny Eslick |
71 |
| 9 |
Chris Fillmore |
66 |
| 10 |
Chris Clark |
66 |
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Hayes’ weekend in Superbike started in perfect fashion. He was fastest in practice on Friday, and then fastest in both qualifying sessions to win his third consecutive pole position this year by nearly a second over Roger Hayden. When the first of the weekend’s two 22-lap races started, Hayes well and truly checked out, gapping the field until his advantage had grown to almost 12 seconds. At this point, Hayes simply put the R1 on cruise control and maintained the advantage instead of risk trying to grow it further. He ultimately took the checkered flag with a 10.958-sec. margin of victory, with teammate Josh Herrin just off the podium in fourth. Hayes’ 20th career Superbike win was especially meaningful because it ties him for fourth on the all-time AMA win list.
| SuperBike Race 1 Results |
| 1 |
Josh Hayes - YAM |
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| 3 |
Danny Eslick |
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| 4 |
Josh Herrin - YAM |
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| 5 |
Geoff May |
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| 6 |
Steve Rapp |
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| 7 |
Ben Bostrom |
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| 8 |
David Anthony |
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| 9 |
Larry Pegram - YAM |
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| 10 |
Roger Lee Hayden |
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| Daytona SportBike Race 2 Results |
| 1 |
Jason DiSalvo |
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| 2 |
Tommy Hayden - YAM |
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| 3 |
Joey Pascarella |
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| 4 |
Cory West |
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| 5 |
JD Beach - YAM |
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| 7 |
Dane Westby |
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| 8 |
Jake Zemke |
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| 9 |
Michael Beck - YAM |
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| 10 |
Benny Solis |
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| Daytona SportBike Standings |
| 1 |
Martin Cardenas |
113 |
| 2 |
Tommy Hayden - YAM |
101 |
| 3 |
Dane Westby |
94 |
| 4 |
Joey Pascarella |
88 |
| 5 |
Jason DiSalvo |
86 |
| 6 |
Jake Zemke |
75 |
| 7 |
JD Beach - YAM |
65 |
| 8 |
Cory West |
60 |
| 9 |
Michael Beck - YAM |
48 |
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| Daytona SportBike Race 1 Results |
| 1 |
Martin Cardenas |
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| 2 |
Jason DiSalvo |
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| 3 |
C. Beaubier - YAM |
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| 4 |
Dane Westby |
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| 5 |
Tommy Hayden - YAM |
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| 6 |
Cory West |
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| 8 |
JD Beach - YAM |
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| 9 |
Joey Pascarella |
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| 10 |
Jake Zemke |
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| SuperSport Race 2 Results |
| 1 |
James Rispoli |
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| 2 |
Dustin Dominguez |
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| 3 |
Tomas Puerta - YAM |
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| 4 |
Jake Lewis - YAM |
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| 5 |
Hayden Gillim - YAM |
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| 6 |
Stefano Mesa - YAM |
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| 7 |
Corey Alexander |
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| 8 |
Garrett Wllis |
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| 9 |
Travis Ohge |
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| 10 |
Colter Dimick - YAM |
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| SuperSport Standings |
| 1 |
Jake Lewis - YAM |
82 |
| 2 |
Stefano Mesa - YAM |
67 |
| 3 |
Tomas Puerta - YAM |
59 |
| 4 |
Dustin Dominguez |
56 |
| 5 |
Corey Alexander |
53 |
| 6 |
Travis Wyman |
39 |
| 7 |
Ryan Kerr |
37 |
| 8 |
Jacob Morman - YAM |
34 |
| 9 |
Zach Herrin - YAM |
29 |
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| SuperSport Race 1 Results |
| 1 |
Dustin Dominguez |
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| 2 |
James Rispoli |
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| 3 |
Jake Lewis - YAM |
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| 4 |
Tomas Puerta - YAM |
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| 5 |
Garrett Wllis |
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| 6 |
Wyatt Farris - YAM |
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| 7 |
Stefano Mesa - YAM |
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| 8 |
Travis Ohge |
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| 9 |
Corey Alexander |
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| 10 |
Hayden Gillim - YAM |
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