Infineon Raceway American Superbike Race 1 Results
When the flag dropped on race one of the weekend’s doubleheader, the ambient temperature was 100 degrees- with a track temperature of 124. Despite the heat the Superbike grid got off to a smooth start with Pegram retaining his fifth on the grid position. The surprise of the day was Suzuki rider Mat Mladin’s lack of pace, which the other riders immediately sought to capitalize on.
Hayes Breaks Suzuki Winning Streak / Pegram puts the Ducati 1098R on the Box
Josh Hayes won Race 1 of the Infineon Raceway round of the American Superbike Championship yesterday from Tommy Hayden. Larry Pegram once again put the Ducati 1098R on the podium. The result marked the first time in 53 races that a Suzuki had not won the event. Mat Mladin commented on his blog about the end to this remarkable winning streak.
As Josh Hayes took the lead and Ben Bostrom crashed out, Pegram and his Ducati settled comfortably into fourth position. Larry then began calculating his next overtaking maneuver, which came on lap seven when he passed Tommy Hayden for third. Pegram then gave chase to Mladin and passed him for second position. The heat made riding the Ducati difficult, with the front tire pushing in nearly every corner and ambient temperature placing intense physical demands on Pegram.
“We were able to run a great race today. The torque on the Ducati made it really easy to go through corners slowly then whack the gas open for a good corner exit. If I can fault anything it would be the track being really greasy and I was sliding the front tire all over the place. We haven’t had a chance to practice in this kind of heat yet so I also came away with few ideas for our setup in tomorrow’s race,” said Pegram.
After a five corner battle with Hayden, Pegram fell to third and wisely spent the rest of the race managing tires and stamina in order to regain seventh position in the championship. Mladin ultimately finished 5th.
1. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1)
2. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000 K9) -6.135
3. Larry Pegram (Duc 1098R) -8.054
4. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000 K9) -9.249
5. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000 K9) -24.755
6. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R1000 K8) -29.522
7. David Anthony (Suz GSX-R1000 K8) -36.688
8. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000 K9) -49.130
9. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1) -51.251
10. Cory Call (Suz GSX-R1000) -82.985
Source: Ducati Press Release
Try These Related Posts:
