In a word, Josh Hayes was perfect at VIRginia International Raceway. The Monster Energy/Graves Motorsports Yamaha rider chalking up two dominating Superbike wins during round three of the 2015 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship. At day’s end, the four-time AMA Superbike Champion had w on the 50th and 51st Superbike races of his stellar career.
Starting from pole position, Hayes had his head down from the get-go in both races, storming away from the field to win the red-flag interrupted race one over his teammate Cameron Beaubier by 3.2 seconds. In race two, the gap was even bigger, with Hayes turning quicker laps to beat Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden by 13.368 seconds. In race one, Hayes’ best lap w as a 1:24.994. In race tw o, he did a 1:24.895 on the 2.25-mile North Course.
With Beaubier splitting second- and third-place finishes w ith Hayden, the Californian managed to keep his championship points lead intact and he leaves Virginia with a 16-point lead over his teammate Hayes, 131-115. Hayden’s young teammate Jake Lew is is still third in the title chase with his fifth- and fourth-place finishes on the day, with Hayden jumping to fourth w ith 68 points after his two podiums.
“I thought it was possible,” Hayes said when asked if he came into VIR thinking he could have such a dominant weekend. “This is a racetrack that has been very good to me. I’ve alw ays enjoyed racing here. I’ve gotten some good results here. I guess it just suits me well to the style that I ride with. I have a lot of fun riding around here.”
