Source: Supplied.

Yoshimura Suzuki duo Roger Hayden and Toni Elias shared a win apiece at Barber Motorsports Park’s MotoAmerica Superbike Championship round in Birmingham, Alabama, over the weekend.

Hayden’s victory in race one was impressive as he was hounded throughout by Elias, but withstood the pressure to beat the Spaniard to the line by 0.210 of a second for his first of the season.

“I’m just really happy to get this win, finally,” said Hayden, who last won at New Jersey Motorsports Park in 2013. “It’s been a long time and 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, they need this win too. We all want to win. We were all getting tired of getting second all the time.”

For Elias the win in race two was his fourth of the season and it ended a win-less drought that dated back to Road Atlanta. He dedicated his victory to Luis Salom, the Spanish Moto2 racer who lost his life last weekend in the Catalunya Grand Prix.

MotoAmerica Superbike Champion and points leader Cameron Beaubier ended the day with two third-place finishes on the Monster Energy/Graves Yamaha. In race one, Beaubier ran off in turn one and completed lap one buried in the pack, but he turned in an heroic ride to climb back to third, ending up almost nine seconds behind the Suzuki duo.

In race two, Beaubier matched the pace of the two Suzukis, but could never make a pass. He chased them across the line just 0.841 of a second behind for his second third-place finish of the day and the points that went with it.

The two third-place finishes actually extended Beaubier’s points lead over teammate Josh Hayes, the four-time Superbike Champion finishing fourth in both races. Beaubier now leads the title chase by 13 points over Hayes, 208-195.

Hayden, meanwhile, made a big jump and now trails Hayes by just a single point with Elias five points further behind. That means the top four are now separated by only 19 points with three rounds and six races remaining.

In the three-round Honda Superbike 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.

Meen Motorsports’ Josh Herrin finished fifth in both Superbike races and that earned him victory in both Bazzaz Superstock 1000 races. It also gives him the championship points lead over Bobby Fong by 18 points. Aussie Dave Anthony went 6-DNF.

The second of two Supersport races at Barber Motorsports Park was a thriller with Y.E.S. Graves Yamaha’s JD Beach winning for a second day in succession. Beach fought through from fifth place in the early laps to take the lead with the top four in a bitter dispute for the lead.

Once he got there, Beach stayed there, but he was hounded throughout and passed once by this teammate Garrett Gerloff. In the end, however, Beach prevailed for this third win of the season and a doubleheader sweep at Barber. Meen Motorsports’ Joe Roberts finished third.