AMA SuperSport - Herrin gets first win, Hayden gets first title

AMA SuperSport: Herrin gets first win and Hayden first title

(AMA Pro Racing Release) Roger Hayden joined older brothers Tommy and Nicky in the prestigious ranks of Pro Honda Oils Supersport championship winners on Sunday afternoon at Laguna Seca. The vastly popular Monster Energy Kawasaki ace did exactly what he needed to in the wild, once-stopped affair, securing the title by a scant three points with his fifth-place ride.

The action at the front of the crucial race was unrelenting right from the start. Title hopefuls Jamie Hacking and Josh Hayes jockeyed for position as they kept race leader Josh Herrin firmly in their sights, while championship leader Hayden sat close behind in fourth.

The Graves Yamaha pilot’s speed was exactly what Hayes was hoping for, needing a win and a fourth-place from Hayden in order to steal away the crown in the season’s final race. But the talented 17-year-old was dropped out of the lead when he and Hacking came together while the British-born star made a close pass exiting the corkscrew. Herrin slowed, his R6 damaged with a bent front brake lever due to the clash, and Hacking and Hayes took control of first and second, respectively.

Meanwhile Hayden hung tough in third with Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas and Attack Kawasaki’s Steve Rapp applying the pressure from close behind, breathing down the Kentuckian’s neck and threatening to steal away that vital third place position.

The contest took a dramatic turn moments later. Hayes got wide on his CBR600RR while chasing Hacking up the hill and was sent tumbling off his machine in a scary, high-speed crash just a day removed from the terrifying highside that broke his feet the day before.

A red flag was thrown, stopping the action momentarily after the leaders had completed six of the scheduled 17 laps. Hayes was transported to the Salinas Valley Memorial hospital and unable to make the restart, creating a two-rider duel for the title.

The red flag allowed Herrin time to repair his machine and he made the most of the opportunity. The young gun stormed into the lead early and never looked back, claiming the first victory of his fast developing career.

The rising star said, “It feels really good. I came in and was actually really emotional. I wasn’t expecting that. Every time I see somebody do that it’s unexpected. I came in and the emotions were really high.

“When Jamie made that pass on me, it hit my brake lever and bent it forward. It was really scary actually because I thought I was going to go down. I ended up getting lucky with the red flag. If it wasn’t for that, we’d have been in trouble.”

Hayden appeared to be safe in second, but a bold move by Cardenas, who dove under both Hayden and Rapp entering the corkscrew, balked the title hopeful badly, forcing him to come to nearly a complete stop. As a result, he was dropped down to fifth position and behind championship rival Hacking. The following group of riders took evasive action, and the situation was made even worse when Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Geoff May and Topline Printing’s Chris Peris crashed out of the race moments later in the same area.

Hacking worked his way all the way up to second and even made up some ground on Herrin, but could get no higher than that at the checkered flag. Colombian Cardenas continued on to finish in third, followed by Rapp’s teammate, Ben Attard, and new champ Hayden.

Afterwards a reflective Hayden remarked, “It was a lot of hard work, a lot of sleepless nights. I’m just glad to get that monkey off my back, I’ve been runner-up so many times. I had a lot of races where we gave a lot of points away this season; we had a few problems that nobody really knows about.

“I’m just glad for the team. Like I’ve said countless times today, four years ago I didn’t have one contract. I talked to my dad about working back at Second Chance, and then (Kawasaki team manager) Mike Preston called me and asked me if I wanted to ride. Here I am today. He saved my career, so I’m glad to repay him. My whole team -- them guys -- if sleeping with the bike at night would get me a tenth quicker the next day, I think every one of them would be sleeping on the bench. Winning championships is a team effort, it’s not about me.

“I’m just happy -- my whole family has been behind me, my sisters, my brothers. I know I can be hard to deal with. When I was younger they’d always push me. They hung in there with me when they probably should have given up too. They were training and I was goofing off. They helped lead me in the right direction. My parents gave up everything for me to go race. It feels good for them. I think my dad was more nervous than I was. Hopefully now that it’s over, he can go settle down.”

MPT Racing’s Blake Young, Erion Honda’s Aaron Gobert, former class champ Tommy Hayden, Graves-backed Garrett Carter, and Rapp rounded out the race’s top ten.

Roger Hayden concluded his successful Supersport title bid with 297 points, followed closely by exiting class king Hacking who accumulated 294 points over the course of the season. Two-time FX king Hayes remained ranked third despite leaving the finale with zero points.

While his future has yet to be officially announced, Hayden hinted strongly that he’ll be back, running the #1 plate in 2008.