Hayes
looking for 3 Xtreme wins in a row
(AMA Pro Racing Release)
Josh Hayes has a two-race winning streak coming into Saturday’s Lockhart
Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series presented by HMR. The Erion Honda
rider from Gulfport, Miss., is hoping to make it three straight at the
famous Northern California circuit in round four of the 10 race series.
Hayes is the defending Formula Xtreme Champion and he’s bounced back
after bike problems at Daytona to win last month at both of the
Birmingham, Ala., and Fontana, Calif., rounds. Those victories have moved
Hayes into the series lead, 10 points ahead of Bay Area native Steve
Rapp, of Attack Kawasaki. Rapp won the series opener, the Daytona 200, in
March.
Hayes gives much of the credit to his early season success to his Erion
Racing Honda CBR600RR.
“The bike I rode to the championship last year was great and this year’s
bike is everything that one was and more,” said Hayes, who won the last
round in Fontana by over six seconds. “I hope I can build leads like that
at some of the other races this year, but I don’t expect to. I’m sure the
other guys in this class are going to step up to the challenge. There’s a
lot of talent in this field. Infineon is the one track where I didn’t
earn a podium finish last year. We had a very successful test there and
my confidence is building after these two wins, so I’m looking forward to
the race.”
Hayes’ teammate Aaron Gobert continues to climb rapidly up in the series
standings. After scoring no points at Daytona, Gobert has scored
consecutive runner-up finishes and has climbed to fourth in the
championship. The determined Australian will be looking to continue his
rise in the standings at Infineon.
Daytona winner Rapp is looking forward to returning to his home track and
turning the momentum in his favor this weekend. “Hopefully Infineon will
be the turning point for me,” Rapp said. “I’m 10 points behind Josh
(Hayes) in the championship, so hopefully I can start earning some points
there. It is my home track. I started racing there, and I feel
comfortable there.”
One other rider to watch for in Saturday’s race will be Ducati’s Larry
Pegram. Pegram scored his first podium finish of the season at Fontana
and the Ducati 749R Formula Xtreme bikes seems to be getting better each
weekend.
There will be a new Infineon Formula Xtreme winner this year since no
former winners are in the field.
In the AMA Superstock Series presented by Dynojet the story is a battle
of former teammates. Ben Spies and Aaron Yates were together on the
Yoshimura Suzuki squad for the last few years, but Yates was released by
the team and picked up by Jordan Suzuki. Yates has given the team owned
by basketball legend Michael Jordan its best results to date. He took the
series lead with a victory at Barber Motorsports Park in April, but Spies
stormed back to win in Fontana at the end of April and took back the
series lead. Only nine points separate the former teammates coming into
Infineon Raceway.
Spies is seeking his first Infineon Superstock win, while Yates has won
the race twice – in 1996 and 2005.
Yates’ Jordan teammate Jake Holden was runner up to Spies in the last
round and cracked the top 10 in the series standings. The Eatonville,
Wash., rider will be looking to continue to move up in the rankings on
Sunday.
Bay Area native Ben Bostrom is hanging tough in the series on his Graves
Motorsports Yamaha. One of the few non-Suzuki riders in the series,
Bostrom enters this Sunday’s race third in the standings. He is looking
for his first win of the year. History could be on Bostrom’s side -
Yamaha riders have taken two out of the last three Infineon Superstock
races.
The Infineon Raceway rounds of Formula Xtreme and Superstock will
broadcast on SPEED on Tuesday, May 22 at 12:00 pm Eastern.
The Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme presented by HMR and AMA
Superstock Series presented by Dynojet races are part of the Kawasaki AMA
Superbike Showdown presented by Supercuts, which runs May 18-20.
Tickets for the event are still available. Visit
www.InfineonRaceway.com for addition information.
