Wild Blue Yonder: Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha’s Josh Hayes Wins SuperBike Race 2 By Nearly 14 Seconds At Road America; Teammate Herrin Third

Elkhart Lake, WI June 2, 2012**** – Improving on the 11-second margin of victory by which two-time reigning AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike Champion Josh Hayes won yesterday's Race 1 at Road America, he crossed the finish line in today's Race 2 with his nearest competitor almost 14 seconds behind him. It was the sixth win for Josh so far this season and an epic win at that.

Similar to yesterday afternoon’s Race 1, Josh got another great start off the line aboard his crossplane-crankshaft #1 Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha YZF-R1, and he immediately started clicking off fast lap after fast lap to push his advantage early in the race. In fact, on just lap two of the contest, Josh laid down a blistering time of 2:11.216, which was actually faster than the record-breaking lap of 2:11.333 that he ran in Saturday morning’s final qualifying.

“Big thank you to an amazing crew and an amazing team,” Josh said after the race. “My bike was just great from the beginning. We’re just clicking, and I want to continue pushing my limits to see how far I can take this thing. Road America is just such a fun track to ride on. I really have a good time riding here.”

Josh earned another bonus point for leading the most laps, which, like yesterday, was all the laps in the race. He now leads his third SuperBike Championship by 20 points.

Josh Herrin, rider of the #2 Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha R1, had a race-long battle for second place, and the position was very much in contention all the way to the finish line. “It was a fun race for me,” Josh said. “Right now, Josh (Hayes) is riding in a class by himself, so I’m happy to be racing for second in my rookie SuperBike season. Not that I wouldn’t like to win, of course!” Today’s third-place finish was Josh Herrin’s fifth podium of the season, and he also sits solidly in third place in the season points standings.

The Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha team will travel to Birmingham, AL, for Round 6 of the AMA GoPro Daytona SportBike Championship at Barber Motorsports Park on June 22-24. For news, results, and other team info, be sure to check out Yamaha’s Facebook page.