Cycle News

AMERICAN ROAD RACING CHAMPIONSHIP VOL. 52 ISSUE 15 APRIL 14, 2015 P89 to the season." Although it came down to Beaubier and Hayes in the end, before Beaubier was challenging Hayes, it was Hayden putting the pressure on. The pair took turns in the lead, but ultimately Hayes would take it. Then after having a few moments due to a front tire issue, Hayden lost the posi- tion to Beaubier, and again to Superstock rider Jake Gagne on the Road Race Factory Yamaha. Ultimately Hayden was able to get back in front of Gagne to join Beaubier and Hayes on the podium. "Beginning of the race was pretty good," Hayden said. "I knew right away I was having a problem after the first lap with the front tire a little bit. It just got a little bit worse and I was just trying to pass Josh in the back straightaway and hold him up as much as I could… But finally he got by me. I had a bunch of moments there with the front and I just didn't want to throw it down the road." Although the end result was disappointing, Hayden was hopeful because he felt that the bike his crew has prepped for him this season will be competi- tive with the Yamahas. "I'm pretty disappointed be- cause I thought this weekend we could have ran with these two guys," Hayden said "Especially after the warm-up went pretty good, but the front tire just didn't want to cooperate. It's disap- pointing, but I've got to thank my team, Yoshimura Suzuki. They spent a lot of time this winter trying to match the power with these two guys. I think that defi- nitely showed today on the back straight. And I'm sure it's early days for these guys right now with their engine still but it's a big improvement and I'm looking for- ward to next weekend already." Hayden's teammate Lewis had a much better day in the dry, getting the holeshot and finish- ing fourth in Superbike. Round- ing out the top five in the Su- perbike class was KTM's Chris Fillmore, who also had a much better Sunday after Saturday's technical issue. Although Gagne wasn't able to get the much-desired third overall on a stocker, he repeated yesterday's performance with a fourth overall and the Super- stock 1000 win. "This new R1 is just amaz- ing and it's a pleasure to ride," Gagne said. "I'm having a blast MYERS MAKES HISTORY Elena Myers has already es- tablished herself as a trailblazer by way of her previous Super- sport victories. She furthered her place in history at COTA by earning the highest ever result by a female rider in AMA Su- perbike history with a seventh in Sunday's race. She topped her own record on Sunday by finishing sixth. The previous best by a female rider in AMA Superbike happened 35 years ago with Wendy Epstein racing a Suzuki GS1000 to 10th in Talladega, Alabama in April of 1980. "Overall we had a great weekend," Myers said. "I didn't go in with a lot of expectations, just to keep im- proving and making progress and we did just that. With seventh and sixth-place finishes, I'm quite happy with my results. This was my second time on the 1000 and I know we're just going to keep making progress as I understand the bike more and get more comfortable with it. I'm looking forward to more progress next weekend in Atlanta." Pioneering racer Wendy Epstein was reached for reac- tion to Myers' record-setting weekend. Instead of being disappointed that her record was broken, Epstein seemed thrilled with the progress women are making in motorcycle racing in general. "I'm so proud of the girls," Esptein said of today's generation of female racers. "I've met a couple of them and they're very talented. I'm just so happy for the whole sport that women are making an impact." Larry Lawrence Elena Myers (21) breaks Wendy Epstein's record of top finishing female in AMA Superbike.

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