Cycle News

VOL. 51 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 16, 2014 P145 Hayes was in hot water with his old man at the racetrack was when he had to turn down signing autographs for kids because he was running late to get changed to go on track. "Maybe that's a little bit of where the nice-guy per- sona kind of comes from," Hayes said. "Every deci- sion I make I probably look at it and go, 'would my dad be proud of how I handled this situation?' I think I'm pretty safe if I answer that question with a yes." STAYING MOTIVATED Hayes on the surface doesn't seem to have any motivation deficiencies. But no one is perfect. Is tough conditions that I had, I said, 'Herve, is there anything I can do?' And he said, 'I'm sorry, Josh. You're the right rider at the wrong time. You're just too old. Yamaha's not going to get behind bring- ing over a near 40-year-old guy who's starting his Moto GP career.' "And the same is true for World Superbike. People throw the example to me of Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa. Those guys were in the World Championship for over a decade and they knew the people within there and they were proven rid- ers. Those guys [teams] don't rate us. I'm not a proven rider to them, because I haven't raced against their guys." And as crappy as that sounds. Hayes' assess- ment is accurate. While the World Champion- ships could definitely benefit from a competitive American on the scene, they're not going to in- vest in someone who turns 40 in April. "My first real shot at the championship would be the second year," Hayes said. "Who's going to invest in that? A 40-year-old man trying to do that. There has been no opportunity for me to do that. Could I get on a team that can't win? Maybe. At what end? What would I sacrifice to do that?" Maybe if he had no choice. Ben Spies took the leap and a pretty big pay cut to go to World Super- bikes. But as Hayes points out, Spies was 25 and single. "I'm a married man with a couple of mortgag- es," Hayes said. "I have responsibilities. I'm a grownup. And I've got a few years left and then I've got to figure out how to get to 65. Just be- cause of my success, here I am with the paranoia again, doesn't mean I'm entitled to anything when racing's over. I could be a mechanic at a dealer- ship just like I was before racing. "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. Right now I've got to focus on trying to win motor- cycle races. That's the only thing I have the brain capacity to handle at this point." CN "I THINK HE'S [BEAUBIER] A GREAT KID. I WANT HIM TO GO ON AND DO GREAT THINGS. I DON'T WANT HIM TO BEAT ME. I THINK HE'S PROBABLY SUPPOSED TO THOUGH." it hard for Hayes to stay motivated after being on top? Especially since there's no better motivator than being the underdog, and he carried that man- tle for a lot longer. "Sometimes it is," Hayes said. "Knowing there was something else out there has been the tough- est thing. I've craved an opportunity in World Su- perBike or Moto GP like you can't imagine." As much as Hayes wants it. As much as fans push for it. Reality is a buzz kill. "There's no opportunity," Hayes said. "And most people think that's preposterous that you could win four AMA [Superbike] championships and not get a chance to go there, but it's just not there. "Even Herve Poncheral [Tech 3 team owner], after I did fairly decent on the Tech 3 bike in the

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