The 2012 Laguna Seca SuperBike race seemed to be won by Josh Hayes long before the checkered flag fell. On his Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha, Hayes held the pole position, dominated throughout the race by leading every one of the 23 laps, and finished a full nine seconds ahead of second place.
In fact, there doesn't seem to have been any reason for any of the other riders to even show up to Laguna Seca this year except perhaps to fight it out for that second place spot. That's exactly what Suzuki's Blake Young, Buell’s Danny Eslick, Jordan Suzuki’s Ben Bostrom, and Hayes' teammate Josh Herrin did. In the end Blake Young barely got ahead of Josh Herrin, with Eslick taking fourth and Bostrom taking fifth.
Josh Hayes has enjoyed 28 SuperBike wins over the course of his career, with 11 coming so far in the 2012 racing season. He also holds the AMA Pro Road Racing record for consecutive victories in a single season at 8. Josh Hayes is currently so far ahead on points for the 2012 SuperBike season that he might be able to take one of these Sundays off and still be in an excellent position to win the Championship at the end of the season.
If you didn't have a chance to see the 2012 Laguna Seca when it originally aired, Yamaha has put together a nice video of highlights and behind-the-scenes action to show you what you were missing. Maybe next time you'll make a point of setting aside the time to watch...
