ROAD RACE
2017 MOTOAMERICA AMA/FIM NORTH AMERICAN ROAD RACING
ROUND 3 / MAY 12-13, 2017
VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY / ALTON, VIRGINIA
P78
just 1.2 seconds from Hayden
at the flag. Behind Fong came
Josh Hayes (Monster Energy/
Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Rac-
ing) with impressive South Afri-
can Mathew Scholtz (Yamalube/
Westby Racing) fifth and second
in Superstock 1000.
"It was a long shot to repeat
Beaubier knew the magnitude
of his ride and despite being an-
noyed at his mistake, could revel
somewhat in his performance.
"The entire field was long
gone when I got back on the
track, I just put my head down
and rode my heart out," the
24-year-old said. "I feel like a
ride like that is what wins cham-
pionships, but at the same time
a mistake like that is what loses
them."
Third went to a sensational
Bobby Fong. The Kawasaki rider
is showing that his speed from
round one where he took the
double win at COTA is no flash in
the pan, as he ended the outing
Yet to finish first, first you must
finish, as the old racing saying
goes. That meant win number
one for Hayden in 2017, and the
Kentucky rider was more than
pleased with his trouble-free run
to the flag.
"I want to be more aggressive
at the beginning, I felt like I had
the pace to get away," Hayden
said. "The team was giving me
the board and I could see my
lead kept growing, but I decided
to back it down the last three
laps since water was running
onto the track in a few spots. I'm
happy to finally get this win after
coming up short several times
earlier in the season."
(Top left) Roger Hayden's race one
win came after he moved clear of
the carnage behind and rode a fast,
sensible race. (Above) Josh Herrin
(2) was, once again, at the front at
VIR, but a crash involving title leader
Elias (24) soured his weekend.
Kyle Wyman (33) led his first-ever
MotoAmerica Superbike race for a
brief spell in race one.
