ROAD RACE
A AIMBNA SUPERBIKE
M
N
ATIONAL C A
H MPIONSH
IP
By Paul Carruthers
•
Photos by Henny Ray Abrams
LEXINGTON,OH,JULY19
he hardest thing that Aaron Yates
faced at th e Mid-Ohio Sports Car
Course was the tem pta tion to look
back. So, instead , he focus ed on the task
a t hand , aggressively knifi ng his way
through traffic to captu re his second
straig ht AMA Superbike Nationa l victory and the third of his caree r.
Yates was the man to beat from the
tim e wheels were firs t turned in anger at
the Mid-Ohio Sp orts Ca r Co u rse. H e
was fast in practice, he qualified on pole
positio n (see si d eb ar) and he led th e
fina l from start to finish, jum ping awa y
from the pack in an uncharacteristic fast
start . From ther e it was just a mailer of
n o t looking over h is shou lder as he
stormed to his seco nd .win of the seaso n
and his secon d in succession. Th e last
two races are ind ica tive of how Yates
has made a full comeback from the wrist
injury that forced him to miss three
rounds of the series earlier in the yea r.
"All the way fro m the first lap, I was
curious as to w ho was back there, "
Yates said after his victory. "I wanted to
look back there, but I jus t kept my se lf
from looking back - until the last lap. 1
think th a t was a good thin g . I d id n't
want to think about who was there."
Behind Yates came the factory Yarna-
T
6
Reurrd 10: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
