Cycle News

VOL. 51 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 16, 2014 P139 so many things wrong with the whole situation that it was really hard for me to see past. I think it was pretty obvious in the moment if you were there to see, I just couldn't fathom what was actually going down. Not just how it hurt me, but how it hurt the series. What a great final race it could have been. So that was a tough pill and one that I carried for a long time." After Daytona there was almost a three-month gap between races that was filled with John Ul- rich's three-race Superbike Shootout Series on the west coast. Hayes did not look like him- self. His rookie teammate Cameron Beaubier was giving Hayes fits. The kid was fast and clobbered Hayes at Sonoma Raceway (formerly Infineon, formerly Sears Point), a track where Hayes shines. Hayes was able to pull off the Shootout title after a Beaubier error, but he didn't head into the second round of the season at Road America at ease. The pair, once again, split wins. It was a few races into it that everything started to fall into place for Hayes. "I knew the two-day format worked in my favor over Cameron racing on the first day for sure," Hayes said. "But you can't take anything away from him. He was competitive in the first session every weekend and battling for the wins every weekend. Fortunately there were a few habits that I've devel- oped over the years that worked in my favor. My riding style being a little different, maybe a little safer, it definitely paid dividends for me and ended up hurting Cameron in the end." The other thing in Hayes' favor was continuity with his team of five seasons. "Where I'm fortunate is how much of it was fa- miliar. The motorcycle, my crew—we've been to- gether my entire Yamaha career. We really work well together. It's really easy for me when I get to the racetrack and things are going tough. "And if I want to be a little self-loathing about things. I don't forget how hard my crew has worked and I don't want to let them down. More than any- thing in the world that weighs on me, is letting my guys down. They work too hard. I have six guys whose life is about building me two bitchin' mo- torcycles. The last thing I'm going to do is go out there and give them anything less than everything that I have for the effort that they put into it." Also, for Hayes, racing mo- torcycles is a form of therapy. A way to ease his troubled mind. It's been my escape from all the problems I have in the world," Hayes explained. "Any- thing that's ever gone wrong in my life, bad break ups, or hur- ricanes, or anything, motorcy- cle racing's been my escape from that." So yes, 2014 was a bit rocky, but it ended well with another Superbike championship. "All in all I was really proud of the year," Hayes said. "To win eight races, and Cameron was incredible competition. I was very proud to be able to beat him. I still remember what it felt like when Cam was going really fast and trying to figure out how I was going to dig my way out of the hole. I was going through a rough time at that time, so it was hard to figure out how I was going to dig my way out of it. Now I feel like I'm a little better pre- pared for the challenge next year." HOME SWEET YAMAHA HOME Being a racer obviously isn't your normal nine-to- five, but still, it has to be a bit unnerving, and un- derstandably so, a bit distracting when the state of the series is so grim that everyone's wondering if they are going to have jobs next year. But Hayes "I DON'T KNOW WHAT MY FUTURE'S GOING TO HOLD. I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO START EXACTLY PLANNING IT OUT BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE THE DAY I START DOING THAT IS THE DAY I BECOME THAT INSTEAD OF A MOTORCYCLE RACER."

• Cover