SUPERBIKE SHOOTOUT SERIES
VOL. 51 ISSUE 17 APRIL 29, 2014 P113
tus Racing's Bobby Fong.
Veteran Jake Zemke on the
GEICO Honda got the holeshot,
but it didn't take long for Fong to
take the lead and build a healthy
gap on the rest of the pack.
"Really I never really ran up
front by myself before," said Fong
about his race. "There's been
one other time and I crashed.
Just setting your own pace and
pacing yourself and just racing
your pit board basically. I thought
I did a pretty good job with just
maintaining the gap the whole
race."
Equally impressive was the
comeback kid - Yamaha Y.E.S.'s
Garrett Gerloff.
Gerloff made an error after the
start and his bike cut out. Fortu-
nately for Gerloff, it got back go-
ing again but he had his work cut
out for himself in coming from the
back of the pack. The youngster
from Texas put his head down
and started back through the
pack, eventually passing Benny
Solis – who was running a solid
second up until then.
"Luckily it was the first lap and
everybody was still bunched up
and I had a better shot at getting
up to the podium," Gerloff said.
"But I feel like if I hadn't messed
up I could've run up here with
Bobby [Fong] and maybe made a
more exciting race. I'm still happy
to be on the podium. My first po-
dium of the season. But I'm still
searching for that first win."
Behind Solis was Zemke and
Gerloff's teammate JD Beach.
Privateer Chad Lewin finished
sixth, just ahead of Zemke's
teammate Joe Roberts. Priva-
teers Jason Aguilar, Andre Ochs
and Michael Gilbert rounded out
the top 10.
>>'OLE FONTUCKY HOME
Yes on most days it either smells
like smog or manure – depend-
ing on how the wind shifts. And
with the exception of the moun-
tain backdrop – if there's not too
much smog and you can see it -
it's a concrete jungle and not go-
ing to win any postcard contests.
But the Auto Club Speedway has
the right location – right in the
backyard of the U.S. motorcycle
industry. So after a four-year ab-
sence, most seemed happy to
have professional road racing re-
turn to Southern California.
Add to that it's been the site for
some great racing over the years.
So what is it about this 2.36-
mile road course that for all in-
tents and purposes is a parking
lot track with a stretch of banking
added to it that makes for such
great racing?
"I think sometimes there are
areas of this racetrack where tim-
ing is so crucial that it is easier
to follow than to lead," Hayes an-
swered. "So that is going to cre-
ate good racing, because when
you are behind someone it allows
you to put it together just a touch
better. Because if you try too
hard in one section it can cost
you a little bit and if you relax and
are just okay engaging off of him -
boom, boom, boom - you're right
back on him. So it keeps us to-
gether as a good group and then
you have good passing oppor-
tunities at several places around
the racetrack."
Thinking about the race,
Hayden wasn't sure exactly
why, but thought maybe they all
weren't quite up to speed yet.
"You know I think a lot of it is
because nobody is really up to
speed yet," Hayden said. "So
(Left to right) The Pro Sportbike
podium of Garrett Gerloff, Bobby
Fong, and Benny Solis.
