Young completes Daytona SuperBike sweep

From Daytona International Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – In the second round of the National Guard SuperBike Championship at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, defending champion Graves Yamaha’s Josh Hayes led every lap except the last lap as Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider Blake Young pulled the slingshot at the start/finish line to complete the sweep of both rounds of the SuperBike at Daytona. The margin of victory was 0.072 seconds.

“I’m happy for my guys,” Young said. “I want to be a contender this year for the championship and get through all of the rounds. It’s nice to get out of here with a couple of wins and get some points.

“I saw Josh put his head down. He rode a really smart and tough race. More than once in that race, I thought he was gone. He was getting around that infield really, really well. It was everything I could do to stay near him.”

Hayes’ strategy was to be the leader and try to breakaway from the field.

“I did my game plan,” Hayes said. “I told the guys at the truck that I’m going to try to do .37s. Hopefully that’s enough to breakaway from these guys and they won’t be able to catch me. I got away with it for 14 laps. I rode the best I could. The last lap was a good lap. I did everything right. I did exactly what I was wanting and trying to do. You get beat sometimes.

“That’s a hard pill to swallow. I had done everything right for so long. To get nipped at the line was pretty tough. But this is glorious compared to how I left Daytona last year.”

While Hayes led five riders jostled for podium position behind him, Tommy Hayden (Rockstar Makita Suzuki), rookie Martin Cardenas (M4 Suzuki), and Young swapping spots several times before the Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammates managed to shake Cardenas. Roger Hayden slid out of the infield on lap seven, leaving Ben Bostrom to rep for the Jordan Suzuki squad.

With two to go Hayes’ lap-led record was still unblemished, but he was under increased pressure from Young and Hayden, the teammates now in position to help each other in the upcoming drafting battle — though only up to a point, of course. The trio stretched out as they readied for the final pass across the banking, but when Young drew close enough to Hayes to go fishing, he caught the draft he wanted and soared past the blue bike just before the line by a margin of .072.

Cardenas brought his M4 Suzuki home several seconds later, followed at a significant distance by Bostrom, Foremost Insurance Pegram Racing’s Larry Pegram, Y.E.S. Pat Clark’s Chris Clark, Cycle World/Attack Performance Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom, ADR Fly Racing’s David Anthony, and Team Iron Horse BMW’s Chris Peris of Calgary.

In the 10-lap SuperSport race, it was a 1-2 Colombia finish with David Gaviria nipping Tomas Puerta at the start/finish line by 0.048 seconds.

Canadian Emerson Connor placed fourth on his Ducati 848, leading a four-rider pack across the line at the finish. Fellow Canuck Ben Young failed to finish on his Yamaha YZF-R6.

Superbike Race Results
1. Blake Young (Rockstar ·Makita ·Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 15 Laps
2. Josh Hayes (Monster Energy Graves Yamaha) Yamaha YZF-R1 +0.071
3. Tommy Hayden (Rockstar ·Makita ·Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +0.209
4. Martin Cardenas (M4 Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +3.801
5. Ben Bostrom (Jordan Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +14.778
6. Larry Pegram (Foremost Insurance ·Pegram Racing) BMW S1000RR +31.089
7. Chris Clark (Yamaha Extended Service, Pat Clark Sports, Graves, Yamaha) Yamaha YZF-R1 +36.730
8. Eric Bostrom (Cycle World Attack Performance) Kawasaki ZX-10 +44.319
9. David Anthony (ADR Fly Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +45.650
10. Chris Peris (Team Iron Horse BMW ·ESP) BMW S1000RR +47.417
11. Chris Ulrich (M4 Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +47.751
12. Geoff May (Erik Buell Racing) Buell 1125R +52.255
13. Jeremy Toye (San Diego BMW Racing Powered by Lees Cycle) BMW S1000RR +58.312
14. Shane Narbonne (DASPerformance.com) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +58.467
15. Roger Hayden (National Guard) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1:24.059
16. Eric Haugo (Viking Moto) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1:24.147
17. Trent Gibson (Seven Sports) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1:28.448
18. Jeffrey Lampe (Kissimmee Motorsports Kawasaki) Kawasaki ZX-10 +1:28.456
19. Jordan Burgess (ADR Fly Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 14 Laps
20. Johnny Rock Page (ADR Fly Racing) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +22.364
21. Skip Salenius (Run 1 Racing Motorsports) Yamaha YZF-R1 10 Laps
22. Eric Pinson (Go 4 One) BMW S1000RR 1 Lap
23. Bostjan Skubic (Inotherm Yamaha Racing Team Slovenia) Yamaha YZF-R1 DNF
Race Time: 24:33.514
Margin of Victory: 0.071
Best Race Lap: Blake Young (1:37.561)