News - Barber
Blake Young Victorious In Final Race of the AMA American SuperBike Season
• Blake Young took his third win of the season at the final race at Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday.
• Tommy Hayden finished fourth on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000.
• Hayden finished second overall in the championship, and Young finished sixth despite missing three rounds due to injury.
Rockstar Makita Suzuki made it a winning weekend as Blake Young finished the series on Sunday with a hard-earned and heart-pounding victory on a wet racetrack in Alabama. The win marks Young's third victory of the season, and he also qualified fastest for the weekend and earned the pole position. Teammate Tommy Hayden, after a victory on Saturday, finished the wet race on Sunday in fourth place, putting him second overall in the 2010 AMA American SuperBike Championship points.
Young was determined after his fourth-place finish on Saturday to improve his results on Sunday. "I watched Saturday's race on my DVR this morning before the race," Young said. "Right then and there I decided that today I needed to ride really, really hard and show these guys what I'm made of." A rainstorm haunted Barber Motorsports Park for most of the morning, and though the clouds started to roll out right before the start of the SuperBike race, the track remained wet.
"Coming into the weekend, I was optimistic," Young said. "I've had more bad luck here than good, but we did our homework and the GSX-R1000 was the bike to be on today. I guess I had a little more Rockstar in my tank than everyone else did and I took the win."
Young took the lead in the race off his pole position start and ended up leading all but two laps of the race. Another GSX-R1000 rider, John Hopkins, was battling Blake for the first spot through most of the rain-soaked race, but Young kept his focus and finished 1.306 seconds ahead. "My guys on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki team are awesome, and I thank them very much for working so hard for me. The best way I knew to thank them was to put my head down and get them a win before the end of the season."
Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Tommy Hayden started in fourth place off the grid, and by holding the race line and riding smart, he put together a consistent race effort and finished in fourth. Hayden went into Sunday's race 18 points behind in the championship points chase, and though the gap was insurmountable, he used his skill and the predictable power of his Suzuki in the wet 21-lap race to finish strongly. Tommy ended the 2010 AMA American Superbike series in second place overall, just 14 points back from the leader, and vows to use this experience to fuel his bid for the championship in 2011.
Overall, the Rockstar Makita Suzuki duo of Hayden and Young won eight races in 2010 aboard their race-ready GSX-R1000s, the first wins of their SuperBike careers, and earned 12 additional podium finishes
Hayden fights his way to fifth superbike win
• Tommy Hayden rode his GSX-R1000 to his fifth win of the season on Saturday at the penultimate race of the AMA American SuperBike season.
• Blake Young earned the pole position in the early morning qualifying session aboard his Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000.
• After his victory, Hayden is now only 18 points out from the championship lead with one race left on the schedule.
Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Tommy Hayden fought to the very finish for his fifth win of the 2010 AMA American Superbike series on Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. Hayden won with a margin of .052 in a heart-stopping finish as he battles for points toward the championship. Tommy is now only 18 points back from the leader, and Hayden will be on track Sunday for the final race ready to fight for the win. His teammate Blake Young started the day off right, getting the pole position after an impressive morning qualifying session. Young finished fourth in the race.
"I was able to get a good jump off the start and put myself in a good track position," Hayden said after his victory lap. "I just tried to put my head down and not let the gap between me and the leader get any bigger. Then I just chipped away at it." Hayden drag raced to the checkered flag, where the horsepower of his Suzuki allowed him to get to the finish line in first. "I'm really happy with how today went, how my bike and my team worked, and that Suzuki horsepower got me the win," Hayden said. "I wanted to win the race. Maybe I'll get a lucky break and end up with a championship tomorrow, but if not, I want to go out trying my hardest."
Young put together a solid race effort, and his best lap of the race was only two tenths of a second behind Hayden's best lap. Young earned the pole position point for the weekend and will be hunting for a podium finish on Sunday
