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Blake Young wins & Tommy Hayden podiums in nail-biter of a race
Blake Young celebrates the win on the podium.
Team Rockstar Makita Suzuki celebrated in style this Memorial Day weekend at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. Blake Young piloted his Makita tools tuned Suzuki GSX-R1000 to victory in what was arguably the most exciting AMA Superbike race of the season. Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate Tommy Hayden was right there with Young, running up front and finishing in an impressive third place to round out the podium.
Because the AMA Series was running in tandem with the World Superbike Series at Miller, there was only one AMA Superbike race instead of the usual two. The Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammates certainly made the most of it. On race day, Young and was running with the race leader almost immediately. The Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider firmly slotted his GSX-R into second place and aggressively battled for the lead throughout all 16 laps. He passed for the lead on several occasions but was unable to make it stick until the final lap. At that point, Young made his move, got out in front, put his head down and brought home the checkers.
“My Rockstar Makita Suzuki was running great and I got up to the race leader pretty quick,” said Young. “At first, I was just trying to settle into a comfortable pace for me, but it seemed like every time I tried to relax, Josh would get away a little bit. So I just put my head down and did what I had to do. I wanted to put on a good show for the fans and I think we did that. I’m happy to come out of here with a win for my Rockstar Makita Suzuki team, and now we have just a few days until Road America in my home state. I’m looking forward to racing on that track and it’ll be great to race in front of my friends and family back home in Wisconsin.”
Meanwhile, Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate Hayden was right there in the hunt for the entire race. Like Young, Hayden quickly got up to speed and into the top three. In fact, he was less than a second behind his teammate throughout the event. After charging hard and riding flawlessly, Hayden brought home a solid third-place finish.
“Overall, I think the race went well,” said Hayden. “I felt comfortable on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 and I was able to get up front pretty quick. We’ve been on the podium at every race this year and we’ve been consistent, but I think we need to try and win a few more races. I’m looking forward to Road America – I’m glad it’s right around the corner. It’s one of my favorite tracks and hopefully we’ll have a good result there.”
The 2011 Rockstar Makita Suzuki team’s next event of the 2011 AMA American Superbike Championship series is at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on June 3-5, 2011.
Miller Superbike Class Results:
1. Blake Young
2. Josh Hayes
3. Tommy Hayden
4. Roger Hayden
5. Steve Rapp
6. Chris Clark
7. Geoff May
8. Ben Bostrom
9. David Anthony
10. Jeremy Toye
2011 Superbike Class Standings:
1. Josh Hayes – 134
2. Blake Young – 129
3. Tommy Hayden – 122
4. Martin Cardenas – 67
5. Ben Bostrom – 64
6. Larry Pegram – 64
7. Chris Clark – 60
8. Roger Hayden – 57
9. Steve Rapp – 49
10. Jeremy Toye – 47
Tommy Hayden charged hard to take 3rd place
Blake Young was engaged in an epic battle all the way to the finish
Blake Young came out on top with a victory
Media:
- Wayne Hart
- Sr. Communications Manager
- Makita U.S.A., Inc.
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