Spaniard Toni Elias captured the win in Superbike Race One at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday. The former Moto2 World Champion and MotoGP race winner filled in for Yoshimura Suzuki’s injured rider Jake Lewis, and the win was in his first ever MotoAmerica race.
Yoshimura teammate Roger Hayden dominated the early laps of Race One after grabbing the lead from the pole. Hayden only temporarily lost the lead to Monser Energy/Graves Yamaha’s Cameron Beaubier before the defending champion crashed out on the second lap.
Hayden proceeded to take the lead and steadily increase it, building a gap of over two seconds to second place.
Trouble struck for Hayden when Kyle Wyman blew his engine and spread oil across the track, bringing out the red flag as his bike erupted in flames. Oil cleanup caused a lengthy stoppage, and race officials decided to restart the race with five laps remaining.
The second part of the race saw Hayden’s dominance put to the test, as his tire grip problems created a heated three-way battle for the lead with Elias and Monster Energy/Graves Yamaha’s Josh Hayes.
Elias took the lead and Hayden pushed, but was faced with pressure from Hayes for second. Elias gained some breathing room and eased through the final portion of the last lap, while Hayden faced one final charge from Hayes in the last turn, but denied him the spot, completing a one-two sweep for Yoshimura Suzuki.
Broaster Chicken/Roadrace Factory’s Jake Gagne took fourth, and Latus Motors Racing’s Bobby Fong finished fifth overall, winning the Superstock 1000 class on his Kawasaki ZX-10R.
Texas native Garrett Gerloff won the Supersport race after he and Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha teammate J.D. Beach pulled away from the field early in the race.
