Tommy Hayden has signed on to race the remainder of the 2012 AMA Daytona Sportbike season with  Yamaha Extended Service Graves Yamaha after joining the team as a substitute for the injured Garrett Gerloff.

Hayden joined the YES Graves Yamaha team as a last-minute replacement after Gerloff got injured in the first practice of the Daytona 200. While Gerloff continued his recovery from a broken femur suffered in the high side crash at Daytona International Speedway, Hayden has raced his way to fourth overall in the championship standings after five rounds with two podium appearances. At 140 points, Hayden is two back of M4 Suzuki’s Dane Westby. Reigning champion Martin Cardenas of GEICO Suzuki sits in the lead at 66 points with 11 races to go.

So far this season, Hayden has been racing with Gerloff’s #8 on his Yamaha R6 but he will now switch to his traditional #22 for the rest of the season. Pictured below is Hayden with the #22 on the 1999 Yamaha R6. Continue Reading »

Tommy Hayden has signed on to race in the 2012 Daytona 200 for the Graves Yamaha team as an replacement for injured rider Garrett Gerloff.

Gerloff broke his right femur in the first Daytona Sportbike class practice session for the Daytona 200, leaving Yamaha little time to find a replacement. Hayden had raced for Yamaha before, and those old ties reconnected quickly in time for the season opening race.

“The last thing a rider wants to do is replace an injured rider,” says Hayden. “But, I rode for Yamaha a few years back, and they have always treated me like a special member of their family. I couldn’t be happier to be back!” Continue Reading »

Yamaha released a video looking back at Josh Hayes’ 2011 AMA Superbike season culminating with his second consecutive championship.

The video takes a round-by-round look back at the season as Hayes and his Yamaha R1 duked it out with essentially a phalanx of Suzuki GSX-R1000 riders led by seven-race winner Blake Young.

Highlights include the hard-fought duel between Hayes and Young at Mid-Ohio, Hayes and Tommy Hayden swapping the lead on the final lap at Laguna Seca and the title-clinching finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Continue Reading »