Parts Unlimited Riders Tear Up Road Atlanta
9/5/2006
Braselton, GA (September 1-3, 2006) — The tenth stop of the AMA Superbike Championships were held at Road Atlanta in Braselton, GA over Labor Day weekend and Parts Unlimited riders made sure everyone knew they were a force to be reckoned with.
Josh Hayes catapaulted into first place in the Formula Xtreme title race with a perfect timing race win at Road Atlanta. Jason DiSalvo jumped off the line first and grabbed the holeshot but it was Hayes who would exit turn one first. Early on DiSalvo pressured Hayes before being overtaken by Eric Bostrom. The remainder of the race saw Bostrom pressure Hayes until the finish. With Hayes earning pole position, leading the most laps and the win moved him from three points back to three points ahead in the championship title run with only one race left.
Remarkably, Hayes' win was his first AMA win at Road Atlanta, a home circuit for the nearby southerner. "I've had some great races and some close ones here. After all these years it's good to finally get one in front of all my fans and all my family and friends from back home. It's just great. It's been good to show up and be able to show authority from the beginning."
The first Superbike race of the weekend saw Miguel DuHamel grab the holeshot with series point's leader, Ben Spies, Neil Hodgson, Aaron Yates, Jake Zemke and Mat Mladin in tow. Of all the top runner's, Madin was the one that put on the charge and had moved into second on lap three. On lap five, Mladin made his way around Spies and the two would eventually distance themselves from the rest of the pack. The best battle of the day occurred between Aaron Yates and Miguel DuHamel with Yates finally getting the best of DuHamel with one lap to go. At the end it was Mladin, Spies and Yates rounding out the podium.
Jaime Hacking wrapped up his second title with a wire to wire triumph in the Repsol Superstock race but was hounded by Eric Bostrom the entire race. Hacking and Bostrom jumped out to the lead right off the gate and the two never looked back. The pair crossed the line only .225 seconds apart, Bostrom said, "Jamie's pace from the start of the race was really quick. I knew if I made a pass I could not have improved the pace at all. We were running as good as we could and the guys behind were doing a good job hanging on. I didn't even expect the pace to be as good as it was." The final position on the podium turned out to be an epic battle between Jason DiSalvo, Josh Hayes and Steve Rapp. As the three battled back and forth, DiSalvo was able to put the two others behind and hold on for third while Hayes and Rapp finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Sunday's Superbike race was an almost exact duplicate of Saturday's affair. Mladin rounded lap one in seventh while Spies grabbed the early lead and tried to open up a lead. In four laps, Mladin had rapidly charged through the pack and sat in second behind Spies. Two laps later, Mladin had moved around Spies and proceeded to open a 10 second lead by checkers. Behind Mladin and Spies, Yates put together another come-from-behind ride to secure another podium spot. With Hodgson, Zemke and Hayden in his way it didn't make things easy. Yates was able to get by Hodgson in turn 12 which is considered one of the scariest corners in the world.
With one round away, Ben Spies looks to lock up his first AMA Superbike Title at Mid-Ohio.
Superbike Race One Results
- Mathew Mladin
- Ben Spies - Parts Unlimited
- Aaron W Yates
- Miguel Duhamel
- Neil Hodgson - Parts Unlimited
- Jake P Zemke - Parts Unlimited
- Tommy Hayden
- Jason R Pridmore
- Steve Rapp
- Jake Holden
Superbike Race Two Results
- Mathew Mladin
- Ben Spies - Parts Unlimited
- Aaron W Yates
- Neil Hodgson - Parts Unlimited
- Miguel Duhamel
- Roger Lee Hayden
- Ben D Bostrom - Parts Unlimited
- Jake P Zemke - Parts Unlimited
- Tommy Hayden
- Jake Holden
Formula Xtreme Results
- Joshua Hayes - Parts Unlimited
- Eric Bostrom - Parts Unlimited
- Jason Disalvo
- Aaron Gobert - Parts Unlimited
- Michael F Barnes
- Ryan L Andrews
- Ty Howard
- Eric C Wood
- Brian Stokes
- Tony Meiring
Superstock Results
- Jamie A Hacking
- Eric Bostrom - Parts Unlimited
- Jason Disalvo
- Joshua Hayes - Parts Unlimited
- Steve Rapp
- Jake Holden
- Aaron W Yates
- Aaron Gobert - Parts Unlimited
- Geoff May Gainesville
- Damon S Buckmaster