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Round 4 AMA SUPERSPORT ~ P. . . . . . . By HENNY RAy ABRAMS PHOTOS BY BRIAN J. NELSON AND TOM RILES ommy Hayden isn't giving up the number-one plate without a fight. That was the message he sent by repelling the best of Yamaha in the Pro Honda Oils Supersport final at Infineon Raceway. "It was a battle the whole way," Hayden said after his second Supersport win of the season. "Those guys were pushing me really hard. I was doing all I could do." Yamaha's Jason DiSalvo finished second, 0.413 seconds behind, with teammate Jamie Hacking falling back on the final lap to take a less-close third. DiSalvo got the jump at tne start, with Hayden second and Hacking third, the trio already separated from the pack by lap three of 17. Hayden made his first snot for the lead in the turn-seven double rights on lap four. DiSalvo held him off, but only for a lap. On the next lap, in the same place, Hayden made it stick. By now, the lead trio of Hayden, DiSalvo and Hacking were well clear of the fight for third. The order at the front wouldn't change, and the intervals didn't change much either. The three rode as one, each looking for a mistake by the T other that never came. Hayden did make one major gaffe, running straight through the left in the second part of the turn-nine chicane on lap 14, but he didn't suffer. "I was coming pretty hot," Hayden said. "Maybe I could've made it, but tires we getting a little greasy. Figured I would take dle safe route and go th there and still try to the lead and keep that was just a qui sion I made. And rna could've made it, but I didn't really think the risk was worth it." On the final lap, DiSalvo kept probing but to no avail. "The last couple of laps I tried to step it up a little and not make any mistakes," he said. "I wanted them to have to pass me. , wasn't trying to step it up too much, but the tires were greasy, and I was pushing both ends pretty hard. Tried to drop it there the last couple of laps. I think we did some quick times. I definitely left it out there. I didn't have anything left. If I did, I used it the last couple of laps." DiSalvo said the only place he could make a pass was where he was passed, in turn seven. But every time he thought he had a chance, Hayden held him back, "so it just made my job that much harder," DiSalvo said. "So I was just riding around out there trying to do my thing and just glad to bring it home in second place and get those championship points." Hacking said he wasn't confident in the front end and front tire of his R6. '" was just hoping for a mistake out of the both of them, which they did [in the chicane on lap 14]. but I wasn't able to capitalize on it," Hacking said. "I just hung in there to the end of the race, and then right there, a couple of laps to go, I 24 MAY 25, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS Supersport champ toughens up with second win of the year just kind of backed off and brought it home, and that's the main thing: brought it home and getting the points right now." Hacking lost the points lead to Hayden. With four of 10 races run, Hayden has 14 I points, five up on Hacking. DiSalvo is third with 115. Hayden completed the 17-lap, 39.44mile race in 28 minutes, 7.180 seconds at an average speed of B4.1 S5 mph. The fight for fourth ended with a crash a few turns from the end of the race. Having chased Roger Lee Hayden for the final nine laps, Yamaha's Aaron Gobert tucked his front end in the final run through the esses and crashed. That gave Roger Lee a secure fourth. Yoshimura Suzuki's Ben Spies came fifth, in front of Yamaha's Damon Buckmaster. "I followed Damon [Buckmaster] for a few laps," Spies said. "I got around him, and he stayed on my wheel the whole way through. We got into some lappers, and I put a gap on him." Attack Kawasaki's Ben Attard held off the Team M4 EMGO Suzuki of Geoff May for seventh. Topline Printing's Chris Peris was ninth, safely in front of MPTRacing.com's Danny Eslick. eN INFINEON RACEWAY SoNOMA, CAUFORNIA RESULTS: MAY 15, 2005 (ROUND 4 OF 10) PRO HONDA OILS SUPERSPORT: I. Tommy Hayden (Kaw); 2. Jason DiSalvo (Yam); 3. Jamie Hacking (Yam); 4. Roger Lee Hayden (Kaw); 5. Ben 5pies (Suz); 6. Damon Buckmaster (Yam); 7. Ben Attard (Kaw); 8. Geoff May (Suz); 9. Chris Peris (Yam); 10. Danny Eslick (Suz); II. Nicky Moore (Yam); 12. Robert Jensen (Yam); 13. Chris Siglin (Suz); 14. Blake Young (Suz); 15. Barren Long (Yam); 16. Grant Riggs (Yam); 17. Aaron Gobert (Yam); 18. Nathan Hester (Yam); 19. Armando Ferrer (Yam); 20. Tristan Schoenewald (Han); 21. Chad Rolland (Yam); 22. Berta Woolridge (Suz); 23. Justin Filice (Han); 24. Victor Chirinos (Yam); 25. Jeremy Haiduk (Yam); 26. Eric Bateman (Yam); 27. Ryan Teixeira (Kaw); 28. Chris Siebenhaar (Han); 29. 5haun Summers (Yam); 30. Mark Degrass (Han); 31. Tamer Kekhia (Yam); 32. Matthew Weathers (Han); 33. Kenan Rappuchi (Suz); H. Anthony Manciu (Suz); lS. Andy Carman (Yam); 36. Shea Fouchek (Suz). Time: 28 min., 7.180 sec. Distance: 17 laps, 39.-44 miles Average speed: 84.155 mph Margin of victory: 0.4 I3 sec. PRO HONDA OILS SUPERSPORT C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 4 of 10 rounds): I. Tommy Hayden . (141/2 wins); 2. Jamie Hacking ~36n wins); 3. Jason DiSalvo (115); 4. Ben Spies (99); 5. er Lee Hayden (95); 6. Aaron Gobert (92); 7. Ben Attard (9 ); 8. Geoff May (89); 9. Robert lensen (88); 10. Chris Peris (86); II. Danny Eslick (78); 12. baman Buckmaster (69); 13. Nicky Moore (57); 14. Blake Young (48); 15. Nathan Hester (46); 16. Barren Long (42); 17. Chris Siglin (35); 18. Justin Filice (30); 19. Taylor Knapp (27); 20. Michael Barnes (24). UPCOMING ROUNDS Round 5: Founloin, Colorado, May 22 Round 6: Elkharl Lake, Wiscansin, June 5