The first race of the 2011 Superbike was an exciting one, with the top three riders finishing within .05 seconds of one another. Josh Hayes led the way around the track, but a last minute dash by Blake Young and Tommy Hayden left Hayes clinging to the final spot on the podium at Daytona.
"What an awesome race," Hayes said. "First race of 2011, I love it. I rode a good race, but these guys just beat me today. We'll see if we can come back and get them tomorrow."
Rockstar Makita Suzuki riders took the top two spots on the podium, and both thanked the Suzuki GSX-R1000 for the final push.
"The GSX-R1000 is just the best bike to be on right now," said Young.
Hayden claimed his third consecutive second place finish at Daytona today, and was a little disappointed with the result.
"A little disappointed, this is my third second place finish here in a row. But we've got another race tomorrow so we'll see what happens," Hayden said.
"It's a good solid start to the season. But when you're right there and you feel like you have a good chance. It's frustrating to loose a close one. But the bike was good, I was in a good position, and it could have gone either way."
Ben Bostrom led another pack of Suzukis across the line. Bostrom, Roger Hayden, and Martin Cardenas made it 5 Suzuki motorcycles in the top 6.
Larry Pegram rode the fastest BMW, followed by Jeremy Toye, Chris Ulrich, and David Anthony to complete the top 10.
AMA Superbike Results – Race 1 – Daytona
- Blake Young
- Tommy Hayden
- Josh Hayes
- Ben Bostrom
- Roger Hayden
- Martin Cardenas
- Larry Pegram
- Jeremy Toye
- Chris Ulrich
- David Anthony
