Photography by Larry Lawrence
Alton, Va. (Sunday, May 17, 2015) – Josh Hayes methodically pulled away from the other 18 bikes in Sunday’s Superbike Race 2 from VIR. In the end Monster Energy/Graves Yamaha’s Hayes had 13.368-seconds on second place finisher Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden. Cameron Beaubier finished third having tried to challenge Hayden, but coming up short. It marked a sweep for Hayes at VIR and moved him up in the series standings to second, 16 points behind Beaubier.
Jake Lewis improved to fourth in race two and Jake Gagne won the Superstock 1000 portion of the race, finishing fifth overall on his RoadRace Factory Yamaha.
Hayes led into one followed by Hayden and Beaubier. Hayes gradually began to gap Hayden. He had a one-second lead after just two laps. Beaubier was slow starting but started to narrow the gap on Hayden by lap three. Jake Gagne led the rest of the field, followed by Jake Lewis and Josh Day in the early going.
Huntley Nash’s Ducati blew up dramatically on the second lap, the bike billowing smoke.
At lap five Hayes was ahead by 3.5 second and was showing great skill in the heat on a track that gets a bit greasy at these temperatures.
There was a good three-way battle for sixth with Danny Eslick, Taylor Knapp and Josh Day. Knapp made an inside pass on Eslick on lap seven to go to the head of that group.
Has Hayes pulled away the battles behind him included a tussle over second with Beaubier trying close the gap on Hayden, a fourth-place battle between Gagne and Lewis and Eslick and Knapp continuing to tug back and forth for sixth.
In the closing laps Hayes was on cruise control. Hayden held on for second with Beaubier third. Jake Lewis got around Gagne late to get fourth. Eslick took sixth, Day seventh and Knapp dropping to eighth. Mark Heckles and Tyler O’Hara rounded out the top 10.
MotoAmerica Superbike Race 2 Results from VIR – May 17, 2015
1. Josh Hayes, Yam.
2. Roger Hayden, Suz.
3. Cameron Beaubier, Yam.
4. Jake Lewis, Suz.
5. Jake Gagne, Yam.
6. Danny Eslick, Honda
7. Josh Day, Yam.
8. Mark Heckles, Yam.
9. Tyler O’Hara, Yam.
10. Chris Ulrich, Suz.
