Erion Honda’s Josh Hayes defended his Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Championship, clinching the title with a victory at Road Atlanta on Saturday, Sept. 1. Hayes took home the title with one race remaining in the series.
Hayes needed only an 18th or better finish coming into Road Atlanta, but the 11-year racing veteran from Gulfport, Miss., would not settle for anything less than a victory. Starting from the pole on the Erion Honda CBR600RR, he led every lap of the final and took the checkered flag 0.412-seconds ahead of Attack Kawasaki’s Ben Attard to earn his seventh win in nine rounds.
Clinching the AMA Formula Xtreme Championship before the final round has only been done twice before (1998 Eric Bostrom & 2004 Miguel Duhamel).
Asked if he ever thought about just cruising to the crown, Hayes said, “Never once. I think after getting pole I only had to finish 20th, if I’m correct. You know, I had nothing to lose. Steve (Rapp) had to win it to even stay in the points. I figure if he didn’t finish on the box, I didn’t have to finish the race. So I had plenty of a gap. I’ve said all along, I want to win races. I want to rack up my tally of race wins and I’ve been very fortunate to be able to do that this year. ”
Hayes said he will carry on that mindset to the season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif., on Sept. 15-16, where he will to try to win his eighth Formula Xtreme race of the season.
The year started off rough for Hayes. His machine had fuel starvation problems in the season opening Daytona 200. His crew figured out the problem and Hayes was able to nurse the bike home to sixth-place with extra pit stops. From there Hayes went on a four-race winning streak, taking back the championship lead from Rapp at round three in Fontana, Calif., and never looking back.
“It’s a testament to the motorcycle, ” Hayes added. “My team has made my job extremely hard because they’ve given me such a good motorcycle that if we don’t win it’s 100 percent my fault. I felt the pressure and I wanted to make sure I did it right and I rode with all my heart in every race. ”
For Hayes the championship marks his second in Formula Xtreme, and his third overall. He also won the crown in the 2003 AMA Superstock Series. Hayes moved from tenth to fourth on the all-time Formula Xtreme wins list. The Road Atlanta victory was the tenth of his career. For Honda it marks the fourth straight Formula Xtreme Championship. The manufacturer has won eight Formula Xtreme titles since the class was launched in 1997.
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