Page 31 - ISSUE2GRIDFINAL

JOSH HAYES
MOTUL SUPERBIKE
He looked incredibly comfortable on the tricky and technical circuit from the start of practice on Friday, easily advancing into Superpole. Hayes was one of the front runners throughout the entire session, eventually clocking a bizarre 1:25 flat on his way to the front of the second row of the grid. The four-time champ is no stranger to leading races and is admittedly most comfortable at the front of the field
-- a mindset that determined his strategy in the opening race. Hayes was able to make his way past his teammate
on the opening lap, cooly stalking the Suzuki duo ahead of him. The Yamaha rider decided to make his move on the third lap as he pounced past Roger Hayden at the end of
the back straight away, securing the primary line through the turn ten chicane. As soon as he hit the front, Hayes
put his head down and ran metronomically consistent lap times while the action popped off behind him. The four-time champion showed his experience as he utilized defensive lines and years of track knowledge in order to maintain the lead all the way until the final portion of the race. He wasn’t able to run the pace of his rivals in the closing stages as Cameron Beaubier and Toni Elias came knocking with only three laps to go. Although he did everything that he could
to keep them at bay, Hayes wasn’t able to defend the lead and he fell back to third position by the checkered flag, claiming his first podium of the year. Hayes went back to the drawing board overnight in an attempt to keep his YZF-R1 out front for the entirety of the second race, but he got a little overzealous in the early laps and ended up throwing
it into the gravel trap. Although he wasn’t able to rejoin the race and pick up any points, there were many positives to draw from the weekend as the four-time champion had no problem matching the pace of his main rivals, providing him with something to build off of heading into the third round of the series at VIR.
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JOSH HAYES
ROAD ATLANTA
“FOR THE MOST PART I RODE A REALLY GOOD RACE AND I
FEEL LIKE
I HAD A BIKE THAT COULD WIN”