An amazing year just got even better for Monster Graves Yamaha’s Josh Hayes, who won his record-tying seventh consecutive AMA Superbike race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Sunday, July 15. The weekend also brought Hayes’ seventh consecutive pole and 10th race win of the year – including a win in Saturday’s Superbike race one – and the success further boosted his lead in the championship over rival Blake Young, who finished second on Saturday but crashed on Sunday. Aboard another YZF-R1, Hayes teammate Josh Herrin had a mixed weekend, crashing in Saturday’s Superbike race one and then turning things around to finish on the podium on Sunday.
Hayes and his R1 have now earned the pole position in every Superbike race this year, posting a time 0.4 sec. quicker than nearest competitor Roger Hayden on Saturday. But it was Young who took the early lead in the first 21-lap Superbike race later that day, holding off Hayes and Herrin for the first couple of laps. Soon though, the Yamaha pair muscled by their rival and opened up a comfortable gap, lapping just fractions of a second apart. It was a classic intra-squad duel, with two-time Superbike champion Hayes holding off aggressive rookie Herrin. Unfortunately, Herrin missed a shift, ran off the track and fell on lap 11, handing Hayes a comfortable lead over Hayden and Young. At that point, all Hayes really had to do was match his rivals’ pace from the front to secure the win. And he did just that, taking a comfortable 5.7-sec. victory.
With a big points lead and each race drawing Hayes closer to a possible third consecutive AMA Superbike title, it’s easy to imagine him racing conservatively from here on. But that’s not what drives Hayes’ championship spirit. And so on Sunday, he fought tooth and nail with rival Hayden throughout Superbike race two, swapping places late in the race even though he could have settled for second and protected his points lead. Hayes reclaimed the lead with a gutsy pass with five laps remaining, put his head down, and reeled off a blistering final few laps to take the flag 0.2 sec. ahead of his rival – and tying the AMA Superbike consecutive-win record in the process. As well, taking 10 Superbike wins in a year was also a longtime personal goal for Hayes. "No Superbike win is easy and to get 10 at this point of the season is huge,” Hayes said. “But then again I'm greedy -- I want them all!” Yamaha road-race team manager Tom Halverson added, “Congratulations to the Monster Graves Yamaha team on their 10th Superbike victory of the year. It’s a big accomplishment and a true
VIDEO: Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha Team
In Action At Mid-Ohio
| SuperBike Race 2 Results |
| 1 |
Josh Hayes - YAM |
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| 2 |
Roger Lee Hayden |
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| 3 |
Josh Herrin - YAM |
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| 4 |
Steve Rapp |
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| 5 |
Geoff May |
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| 6 |
Larry Pegram - YAM |
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| 7 |
Danny Eslick |
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| 8 |
Taylor Knapp |
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| 9 |
Chris Clark |
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| 10 |
Chris Ulrich |
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| SuperBike Standings |
| 1 |
Josh Hayes - YAM |
383 |
| 2 |
Josh Herrin - YAM |
225 |
| 3 |
Roger Lee Hayden |
204 |
| 4 |
Geoff May |
190 |
| 5 |
Larry Pegram - YAM |
182 |
| 6 |
Steve Rapp |
151 |
| 7 |
Danny Eslick |
147 |
| 8 |
Chris Clark |
146 |
| 9 |
Ben Bostrom |
146 |
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| SuperBike Race 1 Results |
| 1 |
Josh Hayes - YAM |
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| 3 |
Roger Lee Hayden |
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| 4 |
Steve Rapp |
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| 5 |
Larry Pegram - YAM |
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| 6 |
Geoff May |
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| 7 |
Ben Bostrom |
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| 8 |
Taylor Knapp |
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| 9 |
Danny Eslick |
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| 10 |
Chris Ulrich |
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In the Daytona Sportbike class, Cameron Beaubier podiumed on Saturday before adding a win on Sunday – his third of the season – aboard his Y.E.S. Graves Yamaha YZF-R6, with Meen Motorsports’ Bobby Fong coming home third.
VIDEO: Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha Team At Mid-Ohio
| Daytona SportBike Race 2 Results |
| 1 |
C. Beaubier - YAM |
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| 2 |
Dane Westby |
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| 4 |
Martin Cardenas |
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| 5 |
Tommy Hayden - YAM |
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| 6 |
Cory West |
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| 7 |
Huntley Nash - YAM |
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| 8 |
JD Beach - YAM |
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| 9 |
Joey Pascarella |
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| 10 |
Austin Dehaven - YAM |
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| Daytona SportBike Standings |
| 1 |
Martin Cardenas |
287 |
| 2 |
Dane Westby |
247 |
| 3 |
Tommy Hayden - YAM |
213 |
| 4 |
C. Beaubier - YAM |
204 |
| 5 |
Jason DiSalvo |
194 |
| 6 |
JD Beach - YAM |
166 |
| 7 |
Jake Zemke |
166 |
| 8 |
Cory West |
143 |
| 9 |
Joey Pascarella |
141 |
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| Daytona SportBike Race 1 Results |
| 1 |
Dane Westby |
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| 2 |
Martin Cardenas |
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| 3 |
C. Beaubier - YAM |
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| 4 |
Tommy Hayden - YAM |
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| 5 |
Jake Zemke |
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| 6 |
JD Beach - YAM |
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| 7 |
F. Amantini - YAM |
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| 8 |
Cory West |
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| 9 |
Derek Wagnon |
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| 10 |
Michael Beck - YAM |
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Road Race Factory’s Hayden Gillim added a Supersport podium for Yamaha on Sunday, also aboard an R6.
| SuperSport Race 2 Results |
| 1 |
Dustin Dominguez |
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| 2 |
James Rispoli |
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| 3 |
Hayden Gillim - YAM |
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| 4 |
Stefano Mesa - YAM |
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| 5 |
Elena Myers |
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| 6 |
Ryan Kerr |
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| 7 |
Travis Wyman |
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| 8 |
Jake Lewis - YAM |
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| 9 |
Corey Alexander |
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| SuperSport Standings |
| 1 |
Jake Lewis - YAM |
161 |
| 2 |
Dustin Dominguez |
161 |
| 3 |
Stefano Mesa - YAM |
138 |
| 4 |
Tomas Puerta - YAM |
111 |
| 5 |
Corey Alexander |
106 |
| 6 |
Ryan Kerr |
87 |
| 7 |
Travis Wyman |
80 |
| 8 |
Miles Thornton - YAM |
71 |
| 9 |
Zach Herrin - YAM |
58 |
| 10 |
Eric Stump II - YAM |
49 |
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| SuperSport Race 1 Results |
| 1 |
Dustin Dominguez |
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| 2 |
James Rispoli |
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| 3 |
Stefano Mesa - YAM |
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| 4 |
Ryan Kerr |
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| 5 |
Tomas Puerta - YAM |
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| 6 |
Hayden Gillim - YAM |
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| 7 |
Corey Alexander |
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| 8 |
Elena Myers |
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| 10 |
Travis Wyman |
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