Hayes Wins MotoAmerica Superbike/Superstock 1000cc Superpole At VIR

Hayes Wins MotoAmerica Superbike/Superstock 1000cc Superpole At VIR

© 2015, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

MotoAmerica AMA/FIMNA Mid-Atlantic Superbike Road Racing Championship

VIRginia International Raceway

Alton, VA

May 16, 2015

Provisional Superbike/Superstock 1000cc Superpole One Results (top two advance to Superpole Two, all on Dunlop tires):

1. Huntley Nash (Ducati), Superbike, 1:27.733

2. Frankie Babuska (Suzuki), Superstock, 1:27.881

3. Chris Ulrich (Suzuki), Superbike, 1:27.908

4. Bernat Martinez (Yamaha), Superbike, 1:27.908

5. Dustin Dominguez (Aprilia), Superstock, 1:28.217

6. Stefano Mesa (Honda), Superbike, 1:28.506

7. Tyler O’Hara (Yamaha), Superstock, 1:28.897

8. Tony Leong (Yamaha), Superstock, 1:28.914

9. Elena Myers (Suzuki), Superbike, 1:29.560

10. Barrett Long (Yamaha), Superstock, 1:30.119

Provisional Superbike/Superstock 1000cc Superpole Two Results (all on Dunlop tires):

1. Josh Hayes (Yamaha), Superbike, 1:24.868

2. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha), Superbike, 1:24.898

3. Roger Hayden (Suzuki), Superbike, 1:25.411

4. Jake Gagne (Yamaha), Superstock, 1:25.810

5. Josh Day (Yamaha), Superstock, 1:26.196

6. Danny Eslick (Honda), Superbike, 1:26.367

7. Jake Lewis (Suzuki), Superbike, 1:26.557

8. Taylor Knapp (Yamaha), Superstock, 1:27.057

9. Mark Heckles (Yamaha), Superstock, 1:27.300

10. Shane Narbonne (Yamaha), Superstock, 1:27.351

11. Huntley Nash (Ducati), Superbike, 1:27.468

12. Frankie Babuska (Suzuki), Superstock, 1:27.890

Provisional Combined Qualifying Results:

1. Josh Hayes (Yamaha), Superbike, 1:24.868

2. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha), Superbike, 1:24.898

3. Roger Hayden (Suzuki), Superbike, 1:25.411

4. Jake Gagne (Yamaha), Superstock, 1:25.810

5. Josh Day (Yamaha), Superstock, 1:26.196

6. Danny Eslick (Honda), Superbike, 1:26.367

7. Jake Lewis (Suzuki), Superbike, 1:26.557

8. Taylor Knapp (Yamaha), Superstock, 1:27.057

9. Mark Heckles (Yamaha), Superstock, 1:27.300

10. Shane Narbonne (Yamaha), Superstock, 1:27.351

11. Huntley Nash (Ducati), Superbike, 1:27.468

12. Frankie Babuska (Suzuki), Superstock, 1:27.890

13. Chris Ulrich (Suzuki), Superbike, 1:27.908

14. Bernat Martinez (Yamaha), Superbike, 1:27.908

15. Dustin Dominguez (Aprilia), Superstock, 1:28.217

16. Stefano Mesa (Honda), Superbike, 1:28.506

17. Tyler O’Hara (Yamaha), Superstock, 1:28.897

18. Tony Leong (Yamaha), Superstock, 1:28.914

19. Elena Myers (Suzuki), Superbike, 1:29.560

20. Barrett Long (Yamaha), Superstock, 1:30.119

More, from a press release issued by Westby Racing:

Josh Day Qualifies Second Aboard The #00 Yamalube/Westby Racing Yamaha R1 In Superstock 1000 Superpole Qualifying At VIR

Alton, VA – May 16, 2015 – In just his second race weekend with the Yamalube/Westby Racing team, Josh Day continues to raise eyebrows with how quickly he has been able to get up to speed on the #00 YZF-R1 in MotoAmerica’s Superstock 1000 class. In Saturday’s Superpole event at VIRginia International Raceway, Josh qualified in second position. He was also the fifth-fastest rider on the track in the combined Superbike/Superstock 1000 session, which puts him solidly on the second row for Sunday’s two races.

“Our last lap was our fastest one,” Josh commented. “But I made a couple of little mistakes, and I didn’t think the time was going to be that great. I was surprised that it moved me up to second in the class and fifth overall. I feel like there’s a lot more in the bike, and we’re working to get more out of it.”

Speaking of working, the Yamalube/Westby team will use tomorrow’s warmup session to try a few changes to the setup. “It’s going to be even hotter tomorrow, and we’ve got both races in one day. Josh said. “I’m confident in my own fitness, but we’d like to get the bike a little bit easier for me to ride. Hopefully, the adjustments we make in warmup will do the trick for us.”

MotoAmerica Superbike/Superstock 1000 will race twice on Sunday at VIR. Race 1 goes green tomorrow at 12:00 Noon EST, and Race 2 starts at 4:00 PM EST. Go to www.MotoAmerica.com, click on “Streaming” under the “LIVE” header in the top-left corner of the page, and then click on “WATCH SUPERSTOCK 1000” to see the races live online.

More, from a press release issued by Geiger Media Global:

GEICO Suzuki racer Chris Ulrich moving forward at VIR

ALTON, Va. (May 16) — Chris Ulrich continues to make progress with his new GEICO Suzuki bike, and he looks for a good day in the third round of the MotoAmerica Mid-Atlantic AMA/FIM Road Racing Championship on Sunday at Virginia International Raceway.

Ulrich qualified 13th Saturday in the Superbike/Supersport 1000 category, missing out on a shot to improve that position in Superpole 1 qualifying by .027-second. The top two from Superpole 1 join the fastest 10 from practice in Superpole 2 to set the field.

After a crash earlier Saturday morning, Ulrich ended up with a best lap of one minute, 27.908 seconds in Superpole 1 to snare the No. 13 starting spot.

“We made progress yesterday, we made progress today,” Ulrich said. “We’re learning a few things as the sessions progress. We had a little setback this morning, of course, but that’s what Advil is made for. We’re moving forward, making progress with the bike, and we’re looking forward to two 25-lap races to gather more data and try to improve on the results.”

Ulrich’s progress is proven by his lap times, as he was more than two-tenths quicker than his opening laps Friday. The team switched to Suzuki for 2015, and while they are making progress, developing a new bike is difficult.

“We’re not far off, one- or two-tenths here,” Ulrich said. “Sometimes in racing it’s really hard to find those tenths, so we’re going to keep grinding away. It’s not like we’re miles and miles away from a top-seven, top-eight finish overall. We’ve just got to put a couple pieces of the puzzle together and not have any more setbacks.”

Ulrich and his team chased electrical gremlins at the first two races of the season, but they’ve been focused on tuning the bike at VIR.

“We’re just trying to get to the point where we can leave the bike alone and ride,” Ulrich said. “We’re almost there. Once you can do that — it’s never going to be perfect — the bike is developed to a good baseline, and then you can start working on your riding week in and week out, like all the guys who are ahead of me.

“We’ll get there. I’d rather be there soon than later, but we’ll get there.”

Ulrich suffered a crash in practice Saturday, going off the track in Turn 3 at nearly 100 mph. While his driving suit and bike had damage, Ulrich is ready to tackle 50 laps around VIR’s 2.25-mile road course in what is expected to be nearly 90-degree temperature.

“I look forward to tomorrow’s two races,” Ulrich said. “It’s 50 laps of racing, and it’s going to be a hot day. I feel like my fitness is pretty good, so we’re going to be able to compete the whole way.

“I train hard and sacrifice a lot to be able to be in good shape. Beating myself up today with that crash didn’t really help, but we’ll be OK.”

More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:

V Is For VIR Victories For Herrin And Roberts

Josh Hayes on pole for Sunday’s two MotoAmerica Superbike races

ALTON, VA, MAY 16 – JD Beach led almost every lap of the 23-lap Supersport final at VIRginia International Raceway today. Unfortunately, for Beach, it was Josh Herrin who led the lap that counted most. The last one. The win, Herrin’s second in four races, allowed the Georgian to claw his way back into early season championship contention as the 2015 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship got round three rolling under brilliant sunshine in Virginia.

It was Yamalube/Y.E.S./Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Beach who led the field away at the start from pole position, with Herrin and his Wheels In Motion/Motosport.com/Meen Motorsports Yamaha R-6 matching his every move. The two stayed locked together for the duration with Beach always in front, Herrin always his shadow in second place. But on the final lap, Herrin made his move, putting his R-6 up the inside of the similarly mounted Beach in turn 10 and leaving him no time for any sort of retaliation. At the finish line, Herring was a scant .100 of a second ahead of Beach.

“Road Atlanta was a different story,” Herrin said of his first win a month ago in Georgia. “I was really confident going into the race. Today, when JD [Beach] threw down that lap in qualifying and I couldn’t match it… to be honest, I was kind of worried going into the race. When I saw we were doing low 27s [1:27 lap times] and I’m sure a couple of laps he did high 26s, there was nobody showing me a wheel and we were all just comfortable there and waiting. Like I said before, there’s no points for most laps led anymore so there’s no point wasting my tire trying to battle with him and letting the guys behind us catch up. We’re both real aggressive riders and we’d pass each other back. I was trying to play it smart and get some points. If we could get him at the end, we’d celebrate, but if we didn’t we’d get some points.”

The championship leader coming in to VIR was Beach’s Yamaha teammate Garrett Gerloff. And it was Gerloff who still led the series after the first of two Supersport races here today – thanks to a gritty performance with the Texan racing with a badly broken pinkie finger on his left hand. The injury was a result of a crash on Friday, but Gerloff wrapped it up and stuffed it in his glove and went racing, besting M4 Suzuki/SportTrackGear.com’s David Anthony by just .200 of a second to finish third. Latus Motors Racing Triumph’s Bobby Fong was also in that battle for most of the race, eventually finishing fifth.

Gerloff’s effort kept him in the championship lead heading into tomorrow’s second race. Gerloff has 81 points, two more than Herrin’s 79. Beach is just another two points behind with 77 points.

When Herrin won on Saturday at Road Atlanta, his Meen Motorsports teammate Joe Roberts also came away victorious in the Bazzaz Superstock 600 final. Today the team did the double again, with Roberts keeping his perfect 2015 season intact with his third win in three starts on his Yamaha R-6. This time, Roberts had it a bit tougher with Escalante Racing’s Richie Escalante chasing hard until coming out on the bad end of a run through lapped riders. That allowed Roberts to open a lead that resulted in a margin of victory of 2.427 seconds.

“At the start of the race, I didn’t know he was there,” Roberts said of Escalante. “I thought I saw plus two [seconds]. I was trying to work out to keep that pace and see if I could pull away and all of a sudden down the front straightaway he came blowing by me. So it was point-two [of a second], not plus two. It was a great race. I wasn’t expecting him to be that close by looking at the qualifying times, but he definitely stepped it up for the race. It will definitely be a battle tomorrow.”

Roberts and his perfect points tally of 75 leads the series over Escalante by 22 points. Kyle Wyman Racing’s Travis Wyman, who scored his third podium of the season in three starts today with his third-place finish, is third in the title chase – just a point behind Escalante, the Mexican National Champion in his first full season of racing in the U.S.

Saturday at VIR also featured qualifying for the premier MotoAmerica Superbike class and when the heated 15-minute Superpole 2 session was complete it was four-time AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes taking pole position for tomorrow’s two races. For Hayes it was career pole position number 37 and it was one he definitely earned, ending the session just .030 of a second faster than his Monster Energy/Graves Motorsports Yamaha teammate Cameron Beaubier.

“Right from the get-go I was pushing pretty hard and I wasn’t too far off,” Hayes explained. “I was definitely making a few mistakes and I’d do one [lap] and think, ‘Oh, that’s going to be the one.’ And it would be within a 10th of the previous one. I’d put together another one [lap] and I’d be like, ‘I’ve got it this time.’ Nope. I found myself in a group of people and then cruised around. Everybody wanted to ride with me I think, so I rode through pit lane and rode back out with some clear racetrack. During my last lap I was riding around going, ‘Man, it’s not working that good. I I hope it’s a 25.’ It ended up being a pretty decent 24 [a 1:24.868].”

Both of the factory Yamaha men encountered their share of troubles on Friday. Hayes was lucky to walk away uninjured from a big crash that destroyed one of his motorcycles, and Beaubier missed almost an entire session when both of his R-1s had mechanical woes. Both, however, bounced back today, setting up what should be two thrilling battles tomorrow.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden, meanwhile, will also likely be in the mix as he fills row one for Sunday’s two races, the Kentucky resident admitting that he was having troubles with “the rider and not the bike.”

Row two will be led by Superstock 1000 class riders Jake Gagne on the Roadracing Factory Yamaha and Westby Racing Yamaha’s Joshua Day. They will be joined there by returning Superbike racer Danny Eslick on the Turbo Turtle Racing Honda CBR1000RR.

More, from a press release issued by LTD Racing:

NASH IMPROVES HIS TIME IN VIRGINIA QUALIFYING

Alton, VA (May 16, 2015) — Huntley Nash qualified sixth in the Superbike class and will start 11th overall in Sunday’s MotoAmerica Superbike doubleheader at Virginia International Raceway. The Georgian improved his lap times on Saturday and made progress with the new LTD Racing Ducati in just the team’s second pro race weekend.

Nash earned a spot in the faster Superpole session in the afternoon with the tenth overall best time in the morning practice hour.

“We dropped half a second from yesterday’s time and that was pretty good progress,” said Nash. “We also stiffened up the bike and it feels really good, especially for race conditions. It’s comfortable to ride and we haven’t reached a point where I feel like I can’t go any faster on it. We’re still developing our electronics and we’re not there yet with that part of the package, but the bike feels like it will be really good in the races. The guys right in front of us are separated by a tenth or so, so if there’s a group of riders fighting for position, I feel like we can be competitive. I’m hoping for some good battles out there.”

Nash will race twice on Sunday.

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