Josh Hayes was the center of one of most subdued podiums in the history of AMA Superbike racing. In a controversial move, the race was stopped for rain, then restarted and declared a wet race. The track was mostly dry at that point and most riders ran slicks. Then the clouds opened up again and since the race was declared wet it wasn’t going to be stopped. Instead it continued at a snail’s pace and Josh Hayes held on to win by 19.9 seconds over ADR Motorsports Suzuki’s David Anthony, who scored his first podium. Roger Hayden took third on the Yoshimura Suzuki, 20.237 behind Hayes.
There was a major tightening of the championship chase. Cameron Beaubier, coming off a victory yesterday, crashed prior to the red flag and again after the race was restarted. He was credited with 13th and as a result is tied with Hayden atop the standings. Hayes, with the victory, moves to within five points of the series leader.
Chris Clark (Yoshimura Suzuki) and Chris Fillmore (HMC Racing KTM) rounded out the top five.
There were no smiles on Hayes’ face after the victory.
“It was not a happy podium,” Hayes said. “For my team I’m happy with the results, but in retrospect I’m not happy with my decision to finish the race. You’re in the heat of competition with your team wanting you to do well, but after it started pouring rain I should have just pulled in and damn the results. I should have been thinking about my fellow riders.”
It was ditto for the other podium finisher. Anthony showed no joy in his first podium and Hayden, in spite of now sharing the series lead, was critical of the official’s decision not to stop the rain when the downpour began.
Tomorrow the sun will rise and we will have a close and competitive AMA Superbike Championship, but on this day the series was under a dark cloud both literally and figuratively.
AMA Superbike results from Road America – June 1, 2014
1 4 Josh Hayes Monster Energy Graves Yamaha Yamaha R1 12 Laps
2 25 David Anthony ADR Motorsports, Sic, Motul Fly Racin Suzuki GSX-R1000 19.905
3 95 Roger Hayden Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 20.237
4 6 Chris Clark Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 23.973
5 11 Chris Fillmore KTM/HMC Racing KTM RC8R 24.782
6 72 Larry Pegram Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing EBR 1190RS 26.231
7 36 Martin Cardenas Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 29.313
8 76 Bernat Martinez Proto-Tech Spain Yamaha R1 38.420
9 17 Trent Gibson Seven Sports Kawasaki ZX-10 2:25.348
10 67 Francois Dumas Dumas Superbike Team BMW S1000RR 3:25.210
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