Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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SUPERBIKE SHOOTOUT SUPERBIKE SHOOTOUT SERIES ROUND 2/MAY 4, 2014 SONOMA RACEWAY/SONOMA, CALIFORNIA P82 So yes, while embarrassing, he's not the first. And it happens to the best of them. But Beaubier still had some explaining to do. "So I wheelied down the hill [before turn eight]," Beaubier said. "Got on the brakes, backed it in a little bit. I don't know if I hit a false neutral or what happened, but it just bucked me off." "Those damn electronics," Hayes said under his breath, which made Beaubier laugh. "I feel pretty bad," Beaubier said in all seriousness. "That's definitely not the way I wanted to thank my team." At the end of the day, it just reminded everyone how human Beaubier was, even though on track he appears to be a ma- chine. JOSH "MIYAGI" HAYES? Hayes has been a mentor in the paddock for a lot of young guys through the years – teammates or otherwise. So what can the master teach the rookie? "If I can help it, nothing," Hayes said to make the room laugh. But then followed with more serious- ness that it was really just nu- ances of the machine, situational things, state of mind, etc. that just comes from his experience. "What I have to teach Cam [Beaubier] is not so much about riding a motorcycle," Hayes said. "His talent is apparent. There are guys that have it and guys that don't. And the kid's got it. The kid knows how to ride a motorcycle." It wasn't that long ago that Hayes was mentoring another young teammate, and that young teammate – Josh Herrin - put an end to Hayes' Championship streak last year. Beaubier's al- ready advanced on the Super- bike quicker than the reigning AMA Superbike champ, accord- ing to Hayes. "His approach is a lot different than Josh's [Herrin]," Hayes said. "Josh didn't ask many questions. He had it figured out for the most part. And when we talked about it sometimes I think he had a hard time applying it. Him [Beaubier]… you can plant a small seed and he grows it really quick and moves on. He doesn't need much help." And Beaubier's smart. He's paying attention and learning and with two Superbike wins in his rookie season, it's obviously pay- ing off. "Yeah, definitely riding this big bike is a lot harder," Beau- bier said about the transition from the 600. "I've just tried to adapt my riding style to the bike a little more and I see how Josh [Hayes] rides. He points and shoots and I'm trying to mix up my style and learn from this guy." HAYES ON BEAUBIER Journalists and armchair racers alike have been looking at this Beaubier kid for a while and the biggest hype of the season was to see how the rookie would