Cycle News

VOL. 51 ISSUE 37 SEPTEMBER 16, 2014 P41 and Hayes now with four, have moved past that once magical number of three. The 2014 championship will be remembered for looking early like the torch would be passed to Superbike rookie Cameron Beaubier, but Beau- bier faltered, ultimately battling to come to terms with how to re-learn to ride a road race bike after losing confidence with the front end upon the arrival of the newest spec-rubber from Dun- lop. Hayes, on the other hand, used his vast depth of experi- ence to figure out best how to race with the new tires. He went on a mid-season tear that saw him open up a big lead in the championship - one he would never relinquish. So Hayes added yet more impressive stats to his already splendid resume. In spite of winning just about everything set in front of him, at one point Hayes appeared fated to be an under-appreciated champion winning in a period of one of the lowest ebbs of AMA Super- bike, diminished by recession and the related fall of the motor- cycle industry. Perhaps now his sheer numbers, including four championships and 48 wins (so far), and beating a young tal- ent like Beaubier, will begin to recast the image of the likeable and conversational Mississippi native. In spite of running in rainy and puddled conditions, Sat- urday's Superbike race one turned into a classic battle be- tween pole winner Hayes and Briefly... on a Mo- b i b u f f / I r - nie Racing BMW in Sat- urday's rain race. "It was my first time finishing in an AMA race and I took a sixth, so that was awesome," said Canadian Su- perbike regular Irnie. "I was soaked, but I enjoyed it. We had experience at Mosport with CSBK in the same conditions so that really played a factor. Riders were going down left and right throughout the whole race, I was just amazed. I was like, 'Stay steady, don't do anything crazy, just hold your pace.' Chris Clark got back by me and I figured I'd just follow and boom I got by Clark and Cory West on the last two laps." Irnie raced at Laguna Seca where he qualified ninth and crashed out while running 10th in the race. Newly crowned Canadian Su- perbike Cham- pion Jodi Christie, 22, also raced at NJMP. He crashed out of Saturday's rain race, but came back with a solid sixth on his Honda Canada CBR1000RR entry on Sunday, edging out factory riders Chris Clark and Larry Pegram at the finish. Christie (no relation to New Jersey's governor) said he was pretty happy about Sunday's race. "I lost a knee slider after David Anthony got by," Christie said. "I collected my- self and put together as smooth laps as I could without that slider. It really "Cameron's speed is blinding," Hayes gushed. "He's having one particular thing he's having a hard time coming to grips with and that's the new front tire we've been working on this year. This is, unfortunately, a really difficult part of developing for Dunlop while we are running a spec tire in our series. His growing pains with that have been much more difficult than mine and I put that down to experience. "There's no question in my mind how fast Cam is. Under different circumstances… I've seen many times where I'd never see him again once he got clear. I think this is just a bump in the path and he's going to get another year on frontline equipment to continue working on that, figure it out and show what he can do. I hope he doesn't totally outpace me next year. I hope we can run together and he can learn and then move on to the World Championship, because I think he can and believe whole-heartedly that he will." Larry Lawrence Cameron Beaubier didn't have the season many expected, but Josh Hayes still expects great things from his young teammate. continued on next page

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