Team Hammer and M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Racing’s Joe Roberts concluded the 2014 AMA Pro Road Racing season on Sunday at New Jersey Motorsport Park.
Roberts came into the day still riding high after securing his best finish of the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike season the day before, however, Sunday’s contest would not prove quite as rewarding.
After the 17-year-old finished sixth in the rain the day before, Roberts and the team decided to take a chance on the set-up of his CBR600RR as they continued to seek a breakthrough setting that would allow the up-and-comer to ride with confidence and leverage the full depth of his considerable natural talent.
However, the roll of the dice did not pay off as hoped and he ultimately finished the season with a 14th place ride, less than a tenth of a second back of 13th.
“Of course, we’re not satisfied,” Roberts admitted. “Yesterday was a good confidence booster but running in the rain is different than running in the dry. Today I tried to see if we could make some progress on the bike and make some progress with it. We gambled a little and it didn’t pay off. It’s a bummer, but I’m looking to coming back stronger next year.”
Roberts collected 52 points on the season to complete the 2014 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike ranked 16th.
