With MotoAmerica set to bring AMA Superbike racing back to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, August 16-18, we’re taking a closer look at past Superbike races at the iconic racetrack in Lexington, Ohio.
It was a good weekend to be Blake Young at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2011. It was also a good weekend to be Suzuki. In Saturday’s race one, it was an emotional Young taking the win over championship rival Josh Hayes after a battle that went the duration and on Sunday the Wisconsinite padded his points lead a bit more over Hayes. On Sunday, it was a Suzuki sweep of the Superbike podium.
“Today is the fifth anniversary of my dad’s passing and that put a little bit extra on me today,” Young said after race one. “This place is pretty special to me. I won my (AMA) 2005 Horizon Award here with him, and I really wanted to get the win today and dedicate it to him. Hats off to Josh (Hayes), he rode really, really good. When I was back in fourth place, I thought, ‘Is this one of those days when we ride aggressive to the front, or do we let him go?’ But I came into this race just really wanting to win it for my dad’s fifth anniversary, and that’s what we did.”
The win was by no means easy as he finished just .177 of a second ahead of Hayes with the closing laps featuring lead changes between the two in the red-flag interrupted race.
“I rode a little rough in the beginning and made a lot of mistakes,” Hayes said. “The restart was probably the best start I’ve gotten all year, but I don’t know if I’ve ever had a front end move around that much in a race, and I just didn’t have the confidence to stick it in there. So that’s what we had today, and I think tomorrow we’ll try to sort out a solution for the front end to be a little bit stronger. Our strengths are different, and right now he seems to have the trump card. So, we’ll keep working to come up with something we can beat him with.”
Third place went to Young’s Rockstar Makita Suzuki with National Guard Jordan Suzuki’s Roger Hayden finishing fourth.
Sunday’s race two was all about Suzukis with three of them sweeping the podium. At the end of the battle, it was Tommy Hayden taking his second win of the year with his teammate Young taking second to extend his points lead in the 2011 AMA Superbike Championship. Behind those two came Roger Hayden who in the process earned his first career Superbike podium with his third-place finish.
What of Hayes? The defending Superbike Champion finished a close fourth – the first time all season that he’d finished off the podium.
Tommy Hayden topped Young by just .120 of a second with Roger Hayden 1.1 seconds behind.
Young left Mid-Ohio with an 11-point lead over Hayes in the fight for the 2011 AMA Superbike title.
