Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/133062
VOL. 50 ISSUE 21 MAY 29, 2013 P33 BETTER LATE THAN NEVER PHOTOGRAPHY BY: ANDREA WILSON A lot has happened in the three months since the AMA Superbike Series turned a wheel in anger at Daytona. March Madness has been replaced on your television screens by the NBA playoffs. Baseball has gone from Spring Training to its regular season. And spring has finally started to turn to summer. And Josh Hayes is still 48 points behind his Monster Graves Yamaha teammate Josh Herrin. But racing will resume this coming weekend in the second round of the series at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and after 75 days of inactivity motorcycles will get rolling again with practice on Friday. Last year's stop at Road America served as a prime example of Hayes' overwhelming form as the Mississippian notched up a one-sided, perfect-points weekend. Hayes grabbed pole by shattering Mat Mladin's old lap record while distancing himself from the remainder of the field by more than a second-and-a-half in qualifying. The races didn't prove any more competitive as Hayes rode his R1 to a pair of easy victories, winning by more than 10 seconds both times out. Hayes looked every bit as fast and motivated at Daytona as he opened his quest to become the first man to win four consecutive AMA Superbike titles. However, his unquestioned speed and racecraft couldn't prevent him Josh Hayes looks forward to rebounding from a bad Daytona when AMA Pro Road Racing finally returns to action at Road America. from leaving in 18th in the earlyseason championship chase after a pair of DNFs. He's been pounding pedals on his bicycle ever since. "I'm in the best shape of my life right now," Hayes said. "And I've got that 48-point deficit from Daytona to thank for it." His teammate Herrin, meanwhile, used the break to get surgery that he hopes will relieve the arm-pump that plagued him at Daytona. Last year at Road America, Herrin finished third in both races. The third man in the mix is Yoshimura Suzuki's Martin Cardenas. The Colombian finished second and first in the two races at Daytona – not a bad debut with his new team. He raced to a pair of fourths in his last Superbike outing there in 2011. This weekend will mark the debut of the series' broadcasts on CBS Sports Network as part of the CBS Sports Spectacular. This weekend's coverage includes live broadcasts of both AMA Pro National Guard Superbike races, and will begin Saturday at 2:30 p.m. (Eastern) 11:30 a.m. (Pacific) with an all-new weekend Preview Show. Live coverage of AMA Pro National Guard Superbike race one will air on Saturday at 4 p.m. (Eastern)/1 p.m. (Pacific) with race two slotted in for Sunday, June 2 at 4 p.m. (Eastern)/1 p.m. (Pacific).