Two weeks ago Josh Hayes took the AMA Superbike championship over Blake Young during the final round of the season at New Jersey Motorsports Park. It was without a doubt the race of the year. Hayes entered the weekend trailing by five points behind Young, but was able to put together two fantastic races to take the championship.
The New Jersey Motorsports Park round for me, was the highlight of the season. Which is really saying something since race in and race out the AMA Superbike riders put on a show for racing fans.
At the opening round of the 2011 AMA Superbike season at Daytona in March, Blake Young, Tommy Hayden, and Josh Hayes set the stage for a year of exciting races.
Hayes lost both races at Daytona by the thinnest of margins to Young. Hayes would get the point for most laps led and the pole position point, but Young would walk away with the win. It was the story of the season.
Young took 7 wins in 2011 to Hayes' 3, but the 2010 Superbike champion was able to rack up enough extra points to keep himself in the championship. And when push came to shove at the final round, Josh Hayes came out victorious to claim his second AMA Superbike championship.
But enough talk, here's a highlight video from the AMA Superbike season.
The AMA Superbike riders sit at the top of the AMA racing world, but the fan favorite has to be the Daytona Sportbike class. Why? Well, just about every race this year in the DSB came down to a final stretch charge between 5 or 6 riders.
In a word. It was insane.
Danny Eslick, Josh Herrin, Jason DiSalvo, Corey West, Tommy Aquino, Cameron Beaubier, Dane Westby... the list of potential winners goes on and on.
Somehow, Yamaha rider Josh Herrin was able to come out on top five times during the 2011 Daytona Sportbike season, but a few poor finishes kept Herrin from taking the title. That honor instead went to Danny Eslick, who after a 35th place finish at Daytona, managed to keep his Suzuki on the track and inside the top 7 for the remaining races.
Eslick would take 3 wins and an additional 6 podiums to claim the 2011 Daytona Sportbike championship.
Here are some highlights from the 2011 DSB season.
But the tightest competition of the year award has to go to the Supersport class. Nine riders took wins during the 2011 AMA Supersport season and each race was filled with crashes, passes, and runaway riders.
David Gaviria took the West Coast Championship while James Rispoli won the East. Rispoli also racked up enough points, thanks to his two wins and seven consecutive podium finishes to win the overall championship.
Here are some highlights from the 2011 AMA Supersport season.
You can see photos from the 2011 AMA Pro Road Racing season here.
