Anthony Gobert edged Nicky Hayden in a hard-fought, back-and-forth Superbike battle at Sears Point. The race drew a record crowd in perfect conditions.

On the podium and again in the post-race press conference, third-place Aaron Yates praised “God and Sears Point” for the Air Fence he hit during the 600cc Supersport race. Yates said that if there hadn’t been Air Fence in the corner where he fell, he probably couldn’t have made the Superbike race.

Yates went on to say that, after the experience, he was looking forward to Road Atlanta and seeing the new Air Fence “that John Ulrich and roadracingworld.com have been working on getting for us.”

Nicky Hayden said he feels like he needs to start winning races if he is to have a shot at the Championship, which is his goal.

Anthony Gobert missed the post-race press conference and was being treated in the track medical center for heat exhaustion, where he was being given IVs.

AMA press officer Larry Lawrence took a tape recorder and got a quote from Gobert before being escorted from the care center by the police.

“It was great,” Gobert said. “Probably the best feeling I’ve had for victory in my whole life. I got a bad start. All weekend we were fastest on race tires. (But) After the start I knew I had my work cut out for me.

“After the 600 race, I pushed so hard trying to beat Aaron Yates I was pretty tired and pretty dehydrated. In the Superbike, the last 10 laps I was just dying, but I wanted to win so bad. Nicky put up one hell of a fight but luckily I had enough for him.”


The race marked Yamaha’s first AMA Superbike win since 1998 at Daytona with Scott Russell and Yamaha’s first win at Sears Point since 1994 with Colin Edwards. The victory was Gobert’s sixth in AMA Superbike competition.


Results follow:

1. Anthony Gobert, Yamaha
2. Nicky Hayden, Honda
3. Aaron Yates, Suzuki
4. Mat Mladin, Suzuki
5. Jamie Hacking, Suzuki*
6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda
7. Eric Bostrom, Kawasaki
8. Doug Chandler, Kawasaki
9. Steve Rapp, Ducati
10. Larry Pegram, Ducati
11. Kurtis Roberts, Honda
12. Pascal Picotte, Harley-Davidson
13. Tommy Hayden, Yamaha
14. Jordan Szoke, Harley-Davidson
15. Andreas Meklau, Ducati
16. Mike Smith, Harley-Davidson
17. James Randolph, Suzuki
18. Robert Mesa, Suzuki
19. Tony Lupo, Suzuki
20. Tony Meiring, Suzuki
21. Jim Doerfler, Suzuki

*According to monitored radio communications between AMA officials, Hacking jumped the start and would be docked a lap for failing to respond to a blue flag for a stop-and-go penalty.