For the second time in as many races, Team Hammer and Joe Roberts showed tremendous potential but were ultimately unable to capitalize on that speed in the form of results.
Despite a painful crash in Saturday’s qualifying session, the M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Racing pilot fought his way into the top five of the GEICO Motorcycle Superbike Shootout Presented By Yamaha finale aboard his Honda CBR600RR at Miller Motorsports Park today in Toole Valley, UT.
Unfortunately, the 16-year-old would see his day end prematurely just past half distance of the 20-lap Dynojet Pro Sportbike contest after encountering difficulties while holding down fifth position.
“Our weekend didn’t go to plan,” said Roberts. “My finger still bothered me but I wanted to do well in the race. I didn’t get a good start and I was in sixth. It took me a while to get by that rider and by the time I did, the leaders were gone. I was battling for fifth and felt like I could take that position as well when we had a bike issue. I couldn’t continue and had to pull into the pits.”
Roberts and his Team Hammer crew won’t have to stew long over this one as they’ll be back in action next weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin when the AMA Pro Road Racing championship resumes for Round 2 of the 2014 season.
