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AMA ROAD RACING REPORT
Pictures by Brian J. Nelson
Austin DeHaven takes you through his very first AMA Road Race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA.
 Hey everyone, I'm Austin DeHaven from Los Angeles, California racing in the AMA SuperSport Championship aboard my own 2009 Yamaha YZF-R6. I just got back from making my AMA Pro Racing debut at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA. Since everything was new to me, I had many challenges that I had to overcome throughout the weekend, from the crowds, the pressure of faster riders and the biggest challenge to me, the Dunlop 211GPA Spec Tires since I had always ridden with Pirelli tires before.
We worked throughout the first day and 1 hr practice and 20min qualifying on setup, trying to find a balance between the pros and cons of the things we liked in certain areas of the track. Towards the end of the session, I started to feel more and more comfortable, figuring it out and dropping my times. As the session came to an end I finished with a qualifying position of 6th. That night my crew chief Robert Ward, my Dad, and I talked about how we could improve the bike, and my riding.
For race one I was unsure where I would place or how I would compare but I was ready to go. AMA is the highest level of motorcycle racing in the USA so they do things like any other world level professional series with a sighting lap, a little time on the grid for the pre race festivities, then a warm up lap when we grid and get ready to go. AMA also uses a start light system, not a flag. So the red lights come on, then when they go off we go!! When the lights came on I jumped forward a little, and this messed me up just a bit so I got a bad start and came off the line somewhere outside the top 10. I had my work cut out for me, but I put my head down and worked my way back to 5th in a fairly uneventful race. The race came to a short end due to multiple red flags, leaving me with the final position of 5th. I was super nervous and although it was a decent result, I knew that it was not the end of the weekend, and that I could do better.
 Sunday was such an exciting and busy day; there were so many fans and so many people watching. Before the racing begins they do a fan walk, where we setup our bikes on the hot pit and I get into my gear so that the fans can walk up and down the pit lane and see their favorite riders, bikes, and get some autographs. It was fun and I took a bunch of pictures with many little kids and other fans. People are always so surprised to see me as a rider, being that I am so young. But they are also so supportive. It was a fun experience. Also from the notes I gave Robert as to how the bike handled in the first race we decided to make a few fairly big changes the night before trying to get the bike dialed for race 2 and find me that little extra bit of speed.
Race 2 began and I got a much better start this time, unfortunately about halfway through we had yet another red flag, causing a race restart due to a crash and some debris on track. After the restart, I got off the line well and was running in 5th again. I was in a pack of 4 riders running nose to tail, and it seemed that we were catching 4th and 3rd place. Scott Gilbert who was running in 4th crashed out on the last lap leaving me in 4th followed by Tyler Ohara running in 5th.
 Elena Myers was ahead of us by about 2 seconds and I knew this was my chance for a podium so I pushed as hard as I could to catch her but it was the last lap and I only had a few corners to do so. When we came over the rise into the turn 9 complex Tyler and I were right behind her and I noticed she got into a little wobble coming down the crest, I knew this was my chance. When we went into the turn 9 chicane I went as deep as I could on the brakes and I dove in to take 3rd. When I came out of the turn though I went into a little slide causing me to have to roll off the throttle and get the bike stable. The problem was with all the madness of the pass I went into the last turn unsure of what gear I was in. This allowed Tyler Ohara to make the pass on me into the last turn. I squared up the turn and got on the gas as hard as possible. I crawled over the front of the bike to keep the wheel down as we drag raced down the straight banging bars and elbows all the way to the line. I lost out on 3rd place by .014 of a second in my very first AMA Pro Race. I finished 4th.
The weekend was such a great experience and so many people showed us great support. The AMA paddock is such a great place, the competitors, teams, and fans are the best in the world and I can't wait for the next one!
#56 Austin DeHaven
AMA Pro SuperSport
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