INTERVIEW
P106
AMA SUPERBIKE CHAMPION JOSH HERRIN
CHAMPION
EXILED
Josh Herrin is
headed to Moto2
after winning the
AMA Superbike
crown
AMA Superbike
Champion Josh
Herrin stands
on his family's
Supermoto track
near Dublin,
Georgia. He lives in
an apartment over
the main garage/
workshop, so he
needs only to step
out his front door
to find one of the
greatest training
facilities any racer
could hope for.
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAWRENCE, GOLD & GOOSE
AND ANDREA WILSON
B
y his own admission Josh Herrin got a little lucky this year,
but the 23-year-old racing phenom makes no apologies
for winning the AMA Superbike Championship over his
Yamaha teammate Josh Hayes and Yoshimura Suzuki's Martin
Cardenas.
The 2013 season was a coming of age of sorts for Herrin.
He was still not on par with Hayes in a head-to-head matchup,
but he improved enough to take full advantage when breaks
went his way. He finished off of the podium only twice in 14
rounds, scored four race wins and his racecraft and fitness level
increased by leaps and bounds. Now he vacates the AMA Superbike number-one plate to race in the Moto2 World Championship with Caterham Racing.
Herrin will be the first rider in years to come out of AMA Pro
Racing to compete full time in Moto2. He knows being the
only American in the series and coming in as the AMA Superbike Champion puts a little extra pressure on him, but he says
he's ready for it.
"My goal is to make people realize that the AMA series can
still produce world-class riders," Herrin said. "I don't think any
of the GP teams are really looking over here for riders and
