Cycle News

VOL. 50 ISSUE 31 AUGUST 6, 2013 years. To get my first win without Josh [Hayes] being out of the race feels really good too, especially at Miller, because Miller was my first podium and I have a lot of good memories here." Hayden again did what he could LADY SUPERBIKE BY LARRY LAWRENCE Marie-Josee Boucher didn't make history by qualifying for the AMA Pro Superbike race at Miller Motorsports Park, but she certainly put herself in elite company of just a handful of women who have raced the series in its 37-year history. Boucher, or MJ as her friends call her, is the first female road racer to run in an AMA Superbike race in 24 years. Finding records on historic female AMA Superbike racers is not an exact science, but records indicate that Boucher is only the sixth female rider ever to race in an AMA Superbike race. AMA records show that Carter Alsop was the first woman to qualify and race an AMA Superbike P89 to put himself in a position to win - by already pushing beyond the limits his Suzuki wants to give him. He said some additional top speed also helped his cause. "It's a little bummer to be that close to winning," runnerup Hayden admitted. "But I felt good. I made some attempts there on the last lap. I was watching the lap before to see where I was stronger. I really thought I got the bike stopped enough in turn five and I didn't want to outbrake him and overshoot it, but I got just wide enough that he was able to sneak back by me. "I've got to really thank the team. We've struggled with top speed for a while. I think this is the first time in a while that I've drafted one of the blue bikes. All of their hard work paid off today and made the race a lot more fun. I'm going to make a few changes and try to do a little better tomorrow." Hayes made no excuses, although he did admit in retrospect after Saturday's race his tire choice might have not been the best. He also said the way Herrin and Hayden were banging on that last lap that he might have a shot at sneaking past had things turned out just a little differently. "It was a good race - it was a fun race," Hayes said. "I had a good bike and rode as hard as I could. These guys had my number in a couple of areas, and I knew once we really got to racing and dicing around it was going to be tough. I rode the best that I could and they just beat me today. I have an idea for tomorrow and I think I can give myself a better shot at it. I'm going race. She finished 17th at Loudon in 1978 aboard a Suzuki GS750. San Franciscan Wendy Epstein ran a handful of AMA Superbike races on a Suzuki in 1979, '80 and '81 with a solid 10th at Talladega in 1980 (to date the best result by a female rider in AMA Superbike). Then came the Canadian teammates Kathleen Coburn and Toni Sharpless in the late 1980s. Coburn scored the best result of the two with a 16th at Brainerd in 1987. The last woman Superbike rider found in the record books was Suzanna Brightbill, who made a couple of races in 1989. Boucher comes out of Canada, where she's been racing in that country's Superbike series. She turned some heads at Miller with her fine performance. She scored 18th in Saturday's race and then improved to 15th on Sunday. "It's a full-time hobby and not a job," Boucher laughed. "Big expenses." In 2010 Boucher raced a couple of Daytona SportBike races on a Honda. She also had a wildcard at Miller in World Supersport a few years ago, but missed qualifying for the race by just .3 of a second. She was justifiably proud of her debut in AMA Superbike this weekend. "I'm happy to have done it," she said. "It was a dream come true. Being from Montreal, a nobody with my little team and my dad helping me out, and come here and do good times I'm really glad, especially here at Miller. It's a very fast track and these guys are very fast."

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