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/145534
ROUND 9/JULY 21, 2013 MAZDA RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA/MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA AMA SUPERBIKE P82 AMA NATIONAL GUARD SUPERBIKE SERIES ing aggressive early, but he failed to make a pass stick. Then he decided to sit and wait for a bit. "I just couldn't get by him and then I thought, 'Okay, maybe I'll sit behind him for a few laps and maybe he can reel Josh in,' " Hayden said. "After that I was just struggling to get by him and finally I got past him and managed a little bit of a gap and then my front end was feeling weird and it just got worse and worse." The problem with the front end on the National Guard Suzuki was a broken The Monster Tech 3 MotoGP team watched the race and congratulated Hayes on his victory. steering damper. On the 12th lap he was out of the race as his streak of bad luck of late continues. "We're having a little stint of bad luck," said Hayden, who had a bad tire and an off-track excursion and two eighth-place finishes the week before at Mid-Ohio. "We've got a good bike, good speed, but can't buy a break right now." With Hayden out, Yo- My Own Race: #11 CHRIS FILLMORE 5TH Chris Fillmore battled with his teammate Taylor Knapp for most of the race, the two KTMs going back and forth as they tried to reel in the Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki of Danny Eslick. Knapp crashed, but Fillmore ended up a season-best fifth. "It was okay," Fillmore said. "We were both just talking and we were okay with going back and forth. I'd make a little mistake and he'd get me, he'd make a mistake and I'd get him. I didn't actually know he went down. I could see that we were catching Danny [Eslick] and I felt pretty comfortable. I ended up catching him and passing him, but he passed me right back on the straightaway and he seemed to wick it up a little bit after I showed him the wheel. I stuck there and then with three or four to go, he got by a lapper and I thought the lapper saw us and was going to let us both by but the guy turned in and I almost crashed trying to not hit him. I ended up on the rumble strips on the inside of turn four so I didn't come in on him. I went in to turn five and the rear end came around and I almost highsided so I just kind of put it on cruise control. A few scares and I thought fifth was better than crashing while trying to get fourth." #20 AARON YATES 7TH If he didn't get stuck behind Larry Pegram who was suffering with severe arm-pump, Aaron Yates might have had a better chance of beating his teammate Geoff May. As it was, the veteran ended up seventh. "It's going pretty de- cent," Yates said. "We've got a bike that's handling really good and I can ride it like I want. Definitely need some power, some acceleration. We'll be a big step ahead with that. We're going to work on some things in this next week before Utah and hopefully we can do something. They say there's lots of grip there [Miller Motorsports Park] and this bike likes grip. My bike has been pretty good since we got here. We made some changes at Mid-Ohio to the chassis and I'm really happy with it. I can push it and get around the track well. I just can't be close enough at the end of the straightaway to make a move. I got stuck behind Larry [Pegram] and I was just there until he ran wide and I got by. I wanted to go with the KTMs and chase down Danny [Eslick], but it just took so long to get around Larry. He slowed down and I had to slow down with him cause he was in the way." #72 LARRY PEGRAM 8TH Nearly an hour after the race, Larry Pegram's right arm still looked like Popeye's, the Ohioan's race ruined by arm pump. "My arm pumped up so bad I couldn't hold on," Pegram said. "I haven't had arm pump in 10 years. I woke up this morning sick with a sore throat and I felt like crap. Then the arm pumped up. I don't know if it's from being sick. It's half the size it was. You should have seen it when I came in. I couldn't feel my hand. I've never had it that bad. I felt good in the beginning and I was catching Eslick. I was running him down and then by the fifth or sixth lap I couldn't even pull the brake anymore. Then it was a long race.