Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden Wins at VIR and Toni Elias Retains Series Lead
- May 22, 2017
The weekend started with rainy conditions on Friday but dried out progressively throughout the rest of the weekend. Hayden’s win came on mixed track conditions in the first Superbike race of the weekend at VIR on Saturday. “I wanted to be more aggressive at the beginning, I felt like I had the pace to get away,” Hayden said after his win. “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.”
The Saturday race was not as positive for Hayden’s teammate Toni Elias. As Hayden was pulling away with the lead, Elias was in a battle for second with Josh Herrin. Herrin made an error entering a fast right-hand turn and crashed, taking Elias with him in the process. “It was a mistake and Josh ran over to apologize,” Elias said. “This is racing and these things happen over the course of a long season and fortunately we have another race Sunday.” The veteran Elias rebounded well from the first-race mayhem with a hard-fought second place in Sunday’s Superbike race. Late in the race, Hayden and Elias were once again running in the top three. The K&N-sponsored Suzuki teammates were battling for second on the final lap when Hayden ran wide and off the track going into the first turn. He was able to get back on the track and finish sixth, earning valuable series points. Elias held off rival Cameron Beaubier for second place. Elias’ finish allowed him to retain his series lead after his bad luck on Saturday.
“It was good to get back on the podium today,” Elias said. “This was important for the championship and now I will start again and try to rebuild our lead. Our team worked very hard this weekend after I suffered some crashes and it paid off for us.” If you are interested in increasing the performance of your Suzuki, K&N makes the SU-1009 for the 2009-2016 Suzuki GSX-R. MotoAmerica Superbike Points Standings 1. Toni Elias, Barcelona, Spain, Suzuki – 115 2. Cameron Beaubier, Roseville, California, Yamaha – 105 3. Roger Hayden, Owensboro, Kentucky, Suzuki – 104 4. Josh Hayes, Gulfport, Mississippi, Yamaha – 69 5. Bobby Fong, Stockton, California, Kawasaki – 65 6. Mathew Scholtz, Durban, South Africa, Yamaha – 51 7. Jake Lewis, Owensboro, Kentucky, Suzuki – 51 8. Josh Herrin, Dublin, Georgia, Yamaha – 49 9. Kyle Wyman, Macedon, New York, Yamaha 45 10. Danny Eslick, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Yamaha – 40 | |||
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