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(Above) Ivan Linton backed up his 2015 Lightweight TT success with another win on the Ninja 650-based machine.

(Above right) John Holden and Andrew Winkle took the first Sidecar TT victory after race favorites Ben and Tom Birchall struck trouble.

(Above) Bruce Anstey’s only win in the TT fortnight came in the controversial electric Zero TT, a race that saw only five starters take to the grid.

(Left) William Dunlop took America’s Victory to second in the Zero TT after John McGuinness dropped out of contention when his kill switch was activated early in the race. McGuinness got the bike going again to finish fourth.

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ROAD RACE MOTOAMERICA AMA/FIM NORTH AMERICAN ROAD RACING CHAMPIONSHIP

ROUND 6 / JUNE 12, 2016BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA/BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK P68

ROGER HAYDEN FINALLY GOT THE MONKEY OFF HIS BACK AT BARBER, TAKING HIS FIRST WIN SINCE 2013 AND CLOSING RIGHT UP IN THE POINTS STANDINGS

BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOKPHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J. NELSON

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden finally turned his almost customary finish-

ing position of number two into a big fat number one at Barber Motorsports Park for round six of MotoAmerica 2016, taking race one and backing that up with second in race two behind team-mate Toni Elias.

Josh Herrin doubled up on wins in the Superstock 1000 class, as did JD Beach in Su-

persport and Bryce Prince in Superstock 600, while Brandon Paasch and Anthony Mazziotto III split the KTM RC Cup wins.

SUPERBIKE In temperatures more suited to mojito drinking than motorcycle racing, current championship leader and defending title-holder Cameron Beaubier (Monster Energy/Graves Motorsports Yamaha) went almost a full second under his pole time from last year to stop the clock at 1:24.601 seconds to steal the

vital P1 on the Barber grid. Despite a small crash at turn

two in Superbike practice three, the Californian took the top spot not from teammate Josh Hayes or the two Yoshimura Suzukis, but Taylor Knapp, the rider filling in for the injured Josh Day at Yamalube/Westby Racing on the team’s Superstock 1000 ma-chine. Knapp freely admitted to following Beaubier to clock the time but the result was nonethe-less impressive, as he headed Elias and thus scored the first Superbike front row position for

Hayden (95) throws the Suzuki on its nose and heads for the flag. It was the veteran’s first win since 2013.

MONKEY >> BUSINESS

MOTOAMERICA AMA/FIM NORTH AMERICAN ROAD RACING CHAMPIONSHIP

VOL. 53 ISSUE 23 JUNE 14, 2016 P69

ROGER HAYDEN FINALLY GOT THE MONKEY OFF HIS BACK AT BARBER, TAKING HIS FIRST WIN SINCE 2013 AND CLOSING RIGHT UP IN THE POINTS STANDINGS

a Superstock 1000 machine. Fourth on the grid mattered

little for Hayden, as the young-est of the Hayden clan marched steadily towards the front in race one, first disposing of Beaubier and then Elias with Josh Hayes (Monster Energy/Graves Motor-sports Yamaha) in fourth.

Hayden, in front of the en-tire Hayden family with broth-ers Nicky and Tommy making a paddock appearance, held his nerve against persistent pressure from Elias, taking the race-one win and his first P1

since New Jersey Motorsports Park in 2013 by the slight margin of 0.126 seconds. Third went to Beaubier with Hayes fourth.

“I’m just really happy to get this win, finally,” said Hayden. “It’s been a long time. I’m glad my family’s here: my dad and my mom and brothers and a bunch of people from home, so it makes it a little more special. My guys (Hayden’s crew), they need this win, too. We all want to win. We were all getting tired of getting second all the time, so it’s good for them.”

Elias’s second place was a sign of good things to come for the diminutive Spaniard, as he went one better in race two for the win over Hayden for another Yoshimura Suzuki one-two, their third of the season. Beaubier and Hayes rounded out a tough weekend for the factory Ya-maha team with third and fourth places.

“We needed to improve the traction,” Elias said. “We did today in the last moment. I’m happy. We are doing a really great job. And finally a mistake

ROAD RACE MOTOAMERICA AMA/FIM NORTH AMERICAN ROAD RACING CHAMPIONSHIP

ROUND 6 / JUNE 12, 2016BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA/BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK P70

Toni Elias (24) got the jump in race two and held on for another victory to close back up in the standings. Cameron Beaubier (1) limited the title damage with a pair of thirds.

MOTOAMERICA AMA/FIM NORTH AMERICAN ROAD RACING CHAMPIONSHIP

VOL. 53 ISSUE 23 JUNE 14, 2016 P71

to Utah, which is closer to my home.”

In the three-round Honda Su-perbike Showdown, meanwhile, Beaubier leads by four points over Hayden and Elias, 82-78. Hayes is fourth with 58 points. The winner of the series within a series will win a 2016 Honda Civic Sedan.

In the overall standings, Beau-bier leads Hayes 208 to 195. Hayden’s 2-1 finishes at Alabama see him only one point behind on 194 and Elias fourth with 189. There’s just 19 points separating the top four with three rounds and six races to go.

Race One1. Roger Hayden (Suz)2. Toni Elias (Suz)3. Cameron Beaubier (Yam)4. Josh Hayes (Yam)5. Josh Herrin (Yam)

Race Two1. Toni Elias (Suz)2. Roger Hayden (Suz)3. Cameron Beaubier (Yam)4. Josh Hayes (Yam)5. Josh Herrin (Yam)

in the first race and Roger (Hayden) did a great, great race. But I didn’t want a mistake for the second, and leading all the time, only two laps. And finally I tried to give my 100 percent the last two laps and win this race. It worked. I’m happy to have this feeling again. To win again is nice.”

For Beaubier, the 3-3 result increases his lead in the cham-pionship over Hayes, so even though there were no wins this time around, it wasn’t an entirely bad weekend for the current American number one.

“I was struggling pretty bad driving off the corners, and I just couldn’t get close enough to the front,” Beaubier said. “Normally, I’d be pretty bummed about two third-place finishes, but Toni and Rog really had the pace today. I’m looking forward to going