Yamaha M1, R1 and R6 racers were out in force at the U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in California over the July 23-24 weekend, capturing four podium finishes in four separate events. Y.E.S./LTD Racing’s Tomas Puerta started things off by taking second in Saturday’s AMA SuperSport event, which saw five of the top 10 places occupied by YZF-R6s. As well, Puerta’s teammate David Gaviria wrapped up the west coast SuperSport championship on his own R6. Then on Sunday, Jake Holden Racing’s Cameron Beaubier likewise finished second in the Daytona SportBike race, while Y.E.S./Pat Clark/Graves Yamaha’s Tommy Aquino finished fourth and Monster Graves Yamaha’s Josh Herrin unfortunately retired. In AMA Superbike, Josh Hayes finished second aboard his Monster Graves Yamaha YZF-R1, while in the weekend’s marquee event, the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo took a strong second on his YZR-M1.
The hallmark of AMA Pro Racing is relentlessly close competition, and Sunday’s Daytona SportBike event delivered, despite two red flags that shortened the event to 10 laps. After qualifying fourth, Yamaha’s Herrin closely hounded rival Jason DiSalvo for the lead, planning out a late-race attack for the win. But it was not to be, as a mechanical problem stopped his race just two laps from the end. Despite the DNF, however, Herrin maintains second in the points. Then in Superbike competition, Hayes took charge early in the weekend, scorching to his sixth pole of the year on his R1. He then battled it out all race long with rival Tommy Hayden before finishing a tantalizing 0.232 sec. behind Hayden at the flag. Most importantly though, Hayes beat series points leader Blake Young, who finished third, and is now just five points back with two rounds remaining.
The contest for the 2011 MotoGP crown is just about as tight as in AMA Superbike. Despite a big high-side crash in Saturday practice, Lorenzo qualified on the pole aboard his M1, then led most of the race before points leader Casey Stoner made a pass with six laps remaining that Lorenzo was simply too bruised and sore to answer. He still finished a strong second, while his fellow M1 pilots, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Ben Spies and Monster Tech 3’s Colin Edwards, finished fourth and eighth, respectively. Edwards’ teammate Cal Crutchlow crashed out, fortunately without injury. Considering his practice fall, Lorenzo was ecstatic with his runner-up finish – and the points it netted for his championship defense. “I’m lucky to finish in second position – for a little while after the crash yesterday I thought it wasn’t possible to race,” he admitted. “But second is okay; we are only 20 points behind Casey and we’ll try again next time!”
| SuperBike Results |
| 1 |
Tommy Hayden |
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| 2 |
Josh Hayes - YAM |
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| 3 |
Blake Young |
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| 4 |
Roger Lee Hayden |
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| 5 |
Ben Bostrom |
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| 6 |
Larry Pegram |
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| 7 |
Steve Rapp |
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| 8 |
Martin Cardenas |
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| 9 |
Chris Clark - YAM |
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| 10 |
Geoff May |
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|
 |
| Standings |
| 1 |
Blake Young |
311 |
| 2 |
Josh Hayes - YAM |
306 |
| 3 |
Tommy Hayden |
263 |
| 4 |
Martin Cardenas |
200 |
| 5 |
Larry Pegram |
169 |
| 6 |
Ben Bostrom |
168 |
| 7 |
Roger Lee Hayden |
163 |
| 8 |
Chris Clark - YAM |
132 |
| 9 |
Steve Rapp |
122 |
| 10 |
Geoff May |
114 |
|
| Daytona SportBike Results |
| 1 |
Danny Eslick |
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| 2 |
Cameron Beaubier - YAM |
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| 3 |
Jason DiSalvo |
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| 4 |
Tommy Aquino - YAM |
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| 5 |
Cory West |
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| 6 |
Dane Westby |
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| 7 |
Kev Coghlan - YAM |
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| 8 |
Taylor Knapp |
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| 9 |
Fernando Amantini |
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| 10 |
Tyler Odom |
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|
|
| Standings |
| 1 |
Danny Eslick |
244 |
| 2 |
Josh Herrin - YAM |
199 |
| 3 |
Jason DiSalvo |
196 |
| 4 |
Tommy Aquino - YAM |
185 |
| 5 |
Cory West |
182 |
| 6 |
Cameron Beaubier - YAM |
174 |
| 7 |
Dane Westby |
159 |
| 8 |
Taylor Knapp |
120 |
| 9 |
Tyler O'Hara - YAM |
102 |
| 10 |
P.J. Jacobson |
95 |
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| SuperSport Results |
| 1 |
Benny Solis |
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| 2 |
Tomas Puerta - YAM |
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| 3 |
Corey Alexander |
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| 4 |
David Gaviria - YAM |
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| 5 |
Elena Myers |
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| 6 |
Stefano Mesa |
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| 7 |
Travis Ohge - YAM |
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| 8 |
Dustin Dominguez |
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| 9 |
Colter Dimick - YAM |
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| 10 |
Sebastiao Ferreira - YAM |
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|
|
| Standings |
| 1 |
David Gaviria - YAM |
172 |
| 2 |
Benny Solis |
165 |
| 3 |
Corey Alexander |
144 |
| 4 |
James Rispoli |
143 |
| 5 |
Travis Ohge - YAM |
113 |
| 6 |
Tomas Puerta - YAM |
104 |
| 7 |
Elena Myers |
102 |
| 8 |
Hayden Gillim - YAM |
99 |
| 9 |
Sebastiao Ferreira - YAM |
80 |
| 10 |
Dustin Dominguez |
79 |
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