The Michael Jordan Motorsports team put in a true team effort at the 2013 AMA Pro National Guard Superbike Championships at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah at the weekend.
MJM's Roger Hayden was on top of his game and raced his Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000 to two second-place results, while MJM teammate Danny Eslick brought home two top-five finishes.
The weekend saw National Guard Jordan Suzuki's Hayden turn in two valiant efforts in Saturday and Sunday's 16-lap Superbike races. On Saturday, he got a good start on his Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000 and battled for the win right down to the wire before finishing second. On Sunday, Hayden again got a good launch and took over the lead within several laps. He put his head down and held off the competition until the last few laps when he suffered bike issues and wound up finishing second.
"I felt like I had the pace to win today," said Hayden after Sunday's race. "Obviously I'm about as disappointed as you can get. The Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000 was working great for most of the race and I had the pace to run up there by myself. I felt good. But about the last four turns, I don't know what it was. Now I'm just looking forward to New Jersey and hoping for some better results."
Meanwhile, Jordan Suzuki's Eslick continued to be the picture of consistency at Miller. After putting himself through the paces all weekend, he and the team found a good set-up for the Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000. The outcome was that Eslick rode two smart races and brought home a fifth-place result on Saturday and a fourth-place finish on Sunday.
"This weekend, we pretty much did the same thing we've been doing all season," said Eslick. "But we made some progress with the feel of the bike. The Jordan Suzuki team has worked hard to find something good for me and Sunday was better than Saturday. I got a good start and was right up there, but with about four laps to go, I lost the front brake and I faded back a little bit. Now I'm just looking forward to New Jersey. I've done pretty good there in the past and I'm ready to get back to it and hopefully get up on the podium."
In the 600cc classes, National Guard Celtic Racing Suzuki's James Rispoli captured two sixth-place finishes in AMA Pro Daytona Sportbike. In AMA Pro SuperSport, team-mate Corey Alexander suffered some bad luck in Saturday's race and retired early. On Sunday, he finished 12th.
In the 2013 AMA Pro National Guard Superbike Championship series rider point standings, Hayden is now fourth while Eslick sits in fifth. In AMA Pro Daytona SportBike, Rispoli is sixth, while Alexander leads the AMA Pro SuperSport East.
The Michael Jordan Motorsports team's next event of the 2013 AMA Pro National Guard Superbike Championship series is at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, New Jersey on September 13-15th.
Miller Superbike Results, Race 1:
1. Josh Herrin (Yamaha) 2. Roger Hayden (Jordan Suzuki) 3. Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 4. Martin Cardenas (Yoshimura Suzuki) 5. Danny Eslick (Jordan Suzuki) 6. Larry Pegram (Yamaha) 7. David Anthony (Suzuki) 8. Chris Fillmore (KTM) 9. Geoff May (EBR) 10. Taylor Knapp (KTM)
Miller Superbike Results, Race 2:
1. Martin Cardenas (Yoshimura Suzuki) 2. Roger Hayden (Jordan Suzuki) 3. Josh Herrin (Yamaha) 4. Danny Eslick (Jordan Suzuki) 5. Geoff May (EBR) 6. Aaron Yates (EBR) 7. David Anthony (Suzuki) 8. Taylor Knapp (KTM) 9. Chris Clark (Yoshimura Suzuki) 10. Dustin Dominguez (EBR)
