AMA SuperSport - Hayes wins SuperSport thriller at Road Atlanta 2007

AMA SuperSport: Hayes wins thriller at Road Atlanta

(AMA Pro Racing Release) Erion Honda’s Josh Hayes pulled off a thrilling victory in Sunday’s Pro Honda Oils Supersport contest at Road Atlanta to keep his ’07 title hopes alive heading into the Laguna Seca finale.

Hayes battled a fierce dogfight throughout the 15-lap contest with rival Monster Energy Kawasaki Jamie Hacking, the two championship hopefuls trading the lead countless times as they jockeyed for position with Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas right on their heels pushing them the entire time.

As Hayes and Hacking repeatedly swapped positions title leader Roger Hayden put his head down and came from more than three seconds back to turn the race into a four-rider showdown on the race’s final four laps.

Hayes made a decisive maneuver just prior to the white flag, dicing past a slower rider coming down the Turn 12 hill and grabbing almost a half second’s padding for the final dash to the checkered flag. The Mississippian’s job was made a bit easier when Cardenas challenged Hacking for second in Turn 1 but the British-born reigning class champ immediately took the position back on his factory ZX-6RR.

The Colombian didn’t back down however, diving into 10 alongside Hacking as they approached the checkered flag. Hacking had better positioning, however, and continued on in second. Hayden took maximum advantage of the late clash, stealing third away from the former World 250 Grand Prix rider at the checkered flag.

“I tell you, that was such a fun race,” said Hayes, who now boasts four wins on the season, two more than any other rider. “I was really having a good time racing with Jamie. I’ve been saying for a long time I wanted a heads-up race with Jamie and that was a pretty good one for me. I had some advantages -- what can I say? I’m on a Honda. And that bike is just so, so good.

“I felt like I was stuffing him and probably slowing up our progress in 1 from time to time but the front of my motorcycle was working really well and I’ve been fast in the first split all weekend. If I could keep doing that because I needed to try and lead the most laps. I was making all the moves I could and thought if I could just put one lap together really, really well, maybe I could break his spirit and make him work too hard to catch back up. He was just doing a good job hanging on.

“The goal for this weekend was to maximize everything I could and I let Roger get one of those points (pole). I just want to get close enough that the pressure is on those guys. If I can show up and ride well, it’s up to them. The only position I have is to put pressure on them and see if they fold or if they’re going to stand up and take their championship. I feel like I’ve done everything I could possibly do given the circumstances. I’m just ready to go racing and do this one more time at Laguna.”

Graves Yamaha’s Josh Herrin won a big pack battle for the final spot in the top five, edging MPT Racing’s Blake Young, Attack Kawasaki’ Steve Rapp, and Topline Printing’s Chris Peris.

Team Hunter’s Cory West and Cardenas’ teammate, Michael Beck, completed the race’s top ten.

Heading into the season finale, Hayden still leads the tightened points chase with 271 with Hacking (262) and Hayes (260) still in contention.