HAYES, YAMAHA END SUZUKI’S SUPERBIKE DOMINANCE AT INFINEON RACEWAY

SONOMA, California — Josh Hayes ended Mat Mladin's bid for a record eighth straight AMA Superbike victory Saturday, winning for the first time in his Superbike career, capturing Day 1 of the Kawasaki AMA Superbike Showdown, presented by Supercuts.

Hayes started second on his Yamaha and was fourth after two laps. But he passed Mladin's Suzuki at the bottom of the Carousel (Turn 6) on Lap 3 and never looked back. He coasted home with a six-second margin, leading 20 of 22 laps on Infineon Raceway’s twisting, 12-turn, 2.28-mile circuit.

"I never would have imagined my first one would have come so easy," said a jubilant Hayes.

The win brought the 34-year-old his first podium of the season and ended a long string of dominance for Suzuki; the last Superbike win by a make other than Suzuki came in June 2006. Mladin had won seven of the last 12 Superbike main events in the Sonoma wine country.

"Obviously, I've had better days," Mladin said. "That's racin'. We just didn't hit on the setup today. ... We've had seven wins in a row and we can't complain. We've done a fantastic job. We'll try and keep it together and get back up there tomorrow."

Hayes was followed to the checkered flag by Mladin's Suzuki teammate Tommy Hayden. Third place went to Ducati's Larry Pegram, followed by Suzuki rider Aaron Yates and Mladin in fifth, nearly 25 seconds back of the winner and battling mechanical problems with his front end.

"I guess he was having some pretty big problems because for Mat he didn't really put up a lot of fight there," Hayes said of his pass of Mladin, who started on pole.

The result was Mladin's worst since finishing 23rd in August 2008 following a disqualification for a technical infraction.

Petaluma native Ben Bostrom was the first to take advantage of Mladin's vulnerability. Bostrom passed the six-time AMA Superbike champion at the outset of the second lap, claiming the inside position in the sprint to Turn 1.

But Bostrom crashed his Yamaha in Turn 11 while leading on Lap 2 and finished ninth.

It was the first Yamaha Superbike win at Infineon Raceway since 2001. Hayes' triumph also marked the first non-Suzuki Superbike win at Infineon since 2004 when Miguel Duhamel won on a Honda.

Mladin's series lead was cut to 69 points. Hayes, who entered the weekend in sixth place overall, moved to third in the standings. Hayden maintained his hold on second.

The win was the high point in a roller-coast year that saw Hayes crash out of the season-opening Daytona 200. Since then the two-time AMA Formula Xtreme champion (2006, '07) has been working out the kinks in his first Superbike campaign with Yamaha. His previous best finish this year was fourth.

Despite starting seventh on the grid, Colombia’s Martin Cardenas won the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike event. The victory was the third straight for the Suzuki rider and fourth this season.

Jamie Hacking was second on his Kawasaki followed by Oakland native Steve Rapp in third on a Yamaha. Cardenas led 10 of 22 laps. Jason DiSalvo started on pole but finished 16th.

Action concludes on Sunday in Sonoma with the second main events for Daytona SportBike (2 p.m.) and Superbike (4 p.m.). There will also be a main event for SuperSport (3 p.m.), plus a full day of Supermoto racing (XTRM AMA Supermoto National Championships). Gates open at 8 a.m. and tickets are available.