Josh Hayes was either the fastest or the bravest rider during a damp AMA Pro Superbike practice session Saturday afternoon at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Riding his Monster Energy Graves Yamaha YZF-R1, the three-time former Champion lapped the 2.4-mile road course in a time of 1:31.889 – more than a second faster than anyone else. And Hayes led the field in spite of track conditions varying during the 40-minute session from many mostly damp at the start to damp only in some parts at the end. But traction was low throughout the session.
At Mid-Ohio in 2013, Hayes led the first Superbike practice session with a time of 1:26.839.
“It feels like you’re riding on a snake, like the track is moving underneath you,” Hayes told Roadracingworld.com. “I knew coming in and screaming and yelling about it wasn’t going to fix anything, so I just rode some laps to try and get ready for the race.”
“Very slippery, very bad track conditions,” said Yoshimura Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas, who was fourth-quickest in the practice with a 1:33.513. “I was just trying to get comfortable with the track. We couldn’t do anything with the setup or anything. There’s no point because we’re too far off the pace.”
Cardenas’ teammate Roger Hayden was the only rider known to have crashed during the session, falling in Turn One just after the halfway point. Hayden walked back to the pits and continued in the session on his back-up GSX-R1000.
AMA Pro Road Racing Series
Superbike
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Lexington, Ohio
July 19, 2014
Provisional Free Practice One Results (damp conditions at the start of the session, all on Dunlop tires):
1. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), 1:31.889
2. David Anthony (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:33.086
3. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R1), 1:33.133
4. Martin Cardenas (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:33.513
5. Frankie Babuska (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:34.829
6. Roger Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:35.236, crash
7. Chris Fillmore (KTM RC8R), 1:35.663
8. Larry Pegram (EBR 1190RS), 1:36.456
9. Chris Ulrich (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:36.948
10. Cory West (EBR 1190RS), 1:38.328
11. Bernat Martinez (Yam YZF-R1), 1:38.535
12. Chris Clark (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:39.438
13. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:40.261
14. Mathew Orange (BMW S1000RR), 1:44.721
15. Johnny Rock Page (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:45.552