Hayes says it’s a major accomplishment to be leading a series with so much talent. “You’ve got Jamie [Hacking] who is a two-time champion of this class, ” Hayes said. “And Roger Lee [Hayden] who’s won a ton of races in the last few years, not to mention his brother Tommy who’s won this thing twice as well. There’s so much depth in this field I have no doubt that it’s going to be a long a tough season. It sounds like PR, but Honda really has stepped up to the plate this year with its new bike and given me a really good weapon to go out and try to win this championship. ”
Honda has more Infineon Supersport wins than any other manufacturer, but hasn’t won the title since 2000 when Kurtis Roberts took the honors.
Roger Hayden hopes to join his brothers Tommy and Nicky as former Infineon Supersport winners. “This track is a lot more physical and a lot tighter with more elevation changes than most other tracks, ” Hayden said. “You have to be pretty aggressive to pass here and it’s not easy, so that can be pretty exciting. ”
Jamie Hacking, who won this race in 2003, survived a spectacular crash at Barber Motorsports Park and is hoping to continue his momentum on this West Coast swing of the series.
“All I can do is go out there and win races at this point, ” said Hacking, who comes into Infineon sixth in the standings – 26 points out of the lead. “The good thing is that we have a lot of racing left in this championship and a lot can happen. I’ve always really liked this track configuration and the lines here [at Infineon]. I’ve really come to like this track even more over the years and it’s become one of my favorites. I like a track with a lot of rolling hills, so this suits me. ”
Steve Rapp, who learned to road race at Infineon as an AFM club racer, comes to his home track third in the standings. He scored a podium at Barber and is hoping to do the same Sunday. A local rider has won this race only once before – in 1988 when David Deveau from Sebastopol, scored the upset win. Rapp, originally from Lafayette, is hoping to become the second.
Tommy Hayden won the Supersport race at Infineon in 2005. He’s the top Suzuki rider in the class, ranked fourth. Floridian Michael Barnes is the veteran of the class, but even at 38 he’s still one of the best in the series. Barnes is fifth in the series on his M4 EMGO Suzuki and is aiming to earn his first podium of the year this weekend.
There will be a number of Bay Area riders competing in this weekend’s Supersport race including Chris Siglin, of Bay Point, riding for Arclight Suzuki; Bobby Fong, of Stockton, racing with Safety First Suzuki and Grant Riggs of Burlingame racing the Jelly Belly Suzuki to name a few.
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