Beaubier takes the double at Road America

Cameron Beaubier takes the double & Championship lead

Valentin Debise and JD Beach share Supersport wins

Cameron Beaubier had an amazing weekend at MotoAmerica’s Road America round, winning not only both Superbike races, but also overtaking Eli Tomac in the standings, with Tomac’s Saturday crash putting a dent in his hopes for the weekend.

In Supersport Valentin Debise took the Saturday win, while JD Beach was the winner on Sunday, with Beach retaining a strong lead in the Supersport standings.

Alex Dumas took the Junior Cup Race 1 win, while it was Ashton Yates who took the Race 2 win, leaving the two topping the standings, with Yates just two points behind.

The single Twins Cup race saw Jason Madama victorious from Chris Parrish, while Stock 1000 was won by Shane Richardson Jr.

Superbikes Saturday – Race 1

Cameron Beaubier beat Josh Herrin by just .002 of a second in the Dunlop Championship at Road America after a dramatic last lap that saw the Motul Superbike Championship points leader Toni Elias crash out of the race with just a handful of corners to go.

Those three fought for the duration and it wasn’t always clean with the trio being called to race direction after the race. It started in turn one on the final lap with Elias running his GSX-R1000 into Beaubier’s YZF-R1 and forcing the two-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion wide.

With a bit of red mist, Beaubier fought back and went for an inside pass at Canada Corner on Elias, who was closing the door on the inside line. The two hit and Elias went down, the Spaniard sliding into the gravel trap. Herrin was suddenly in the catbird seat, took over at the front and led Beaubier as the two came up the hill on the long front straight. Beaubier, however, got the perfect draft and slid past Herrin at the checkered flag.

The win was Beaubier’s first of the season and the 25th of his Superbike career. It also came at a time when he needed it most as Elias came into Wisconsin holding down a 35-point lead in the title chase. With Beaubier’s victory and Elias’ non-finish, that gap closes to just 10 points with race two at Road America set for tomorrow. Elias now leads Beaubier, 138-128, after seven races.

Herrin was impressive in finishing second, the privateer leading nine of the 13 laps and coming up oh-so close at the finish.  For Elias, it was a day of disappointment after a tough battle left him in the gravel trap and without any championship points.

Beaubier’s teammate Garrett Gerloff ended up third, his third podium finish in his rookie season of Superbike racing. After a moment early in the race, the Texan settled into fourth place and took advantage of Mathew Scholtz’ crash to put his R1 on the podium.

Fifth place ended up being a battle of Kentucky with Jake Lewis besting his neighbor Roger Hayden and his Suzuki by just .004 of a second. Then came a big gap back to Danny Eslick in the Oklahoman’s best finish of the season thus far.

Bobby Fong finished seventh after starting the race from pit road, the Californian some five seconds clear of Kyle Wyman. Cameron Petersen and David Anthony rounded out the top 10 finishers.

Motul Superbike Race 1

1. Cameron Beaubier
2. Josh Herrin
3. Garrett Gerloff
4. Jake Lewis
5. Roger Hayden
6. Danny Eslick
7. Bobby Fong
8. Kyle Wyman
9. Cameron Petersen
10. David Anthony

Superbikes Sunday – Race 2

Cameron Beaubier came into Road America winless, 35 points behind Toni Elias. He left Wisconsin with pole position, two Motul Superbike wins, a two-point lead in the championship and feeling pretty good about things.

With his double win combined with Elias’ crash on Saturday and fourth-place finish on Sunday, Beaubier takes over at the top of the MotoAmerica Motul Superbike Championship, 153-151, over Elias.

Beaubier had his hands full in Sunday’s race with Elias, Josh Herrin and Roger Hayden early in the red-flag-interrupted race. Then Elias ran wide and lost touch with the top three, the MotoAmerica Superbike Champion holding off Bobby Fong by less than a second for fourth place.

Following Elias’ miscue, that left three at the front: Beaubier, Herrin and Hayden. Hayden made a mistake on the final lap, leaving it down to Beaubier and Herrin, and then Herrin erred in the final corner and that was all Beaubier needed to streak to his second win of the season and the 26th of his AMA Superbike career.

Cameron Beaubier

“I’m really, really happy with how the weekend went. My bike felt perfect from the first session on. I think we were able to lead all the sessions this weekend too, which I’m really happy about. We’ve been working so hard just trying to get that first win this year. We finally got it and we were able to back it up today. I was a little nervous there after the red flag because Josh (Herrin) and I had got into a position where I felt pretty confident for the rest of the race before the red flag. Once we lined up again, I was on the second row and I kind of got shuffled back like I did before at the beginning of the race. I was able to make my way through a little bit. The last few laps I just put my head down and pushed as hard as I could. I was trying to be a little protective because I know Josh is really good on the brakes. We were able to get it done. I was a little nervous going into Canada Corner behind him because I knew he had the last section dialed. I was able to sneak up the inside of him when he went a little wide. I thought I was pretty protective going into the last corner and somehow he found a way up the inside. That was a really fun race, that second half. Really, really happy that I was able to get it done for the Yamaha boys.”

Herrin ended up second again, just .195 of a second behind Beaubier after finishing .002 of a second behind yesterday. That’s an average margin of victory of .098 in the two Motul Superbike races.

Josh Herrin

“I think the biggest mistake was just running into Canada Corner hot, I think I might have had a shot if I hadn’t have done that. The last corner was kind of like one last effort because I knew I couldn’t draft by Cam (Beaubier) to the line. I tried every lap to get a good run at it just to line him up to see if I could. I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to. I was getting real good drives out of there and I couldn’t keep the front wheel down. Super happy with the double podium. We’ve been working super hard to try and get this bike up to par with the rest of the field. I think we’re getting to the point now where we’re about even with them. I think we still got a lot to go. Richard’s (Stanboli) working night and day to try and get this thing going and ready, especially for the World Superbike race.”

Hayden held on for third, his first podium in a difficult year thus far.

Roger Hayden

“Yeah, it was a pretty good race for me, I’ve been struggling a little bit with my confidence. Every race so far this year I haven’t really made it past the third lap. Yesterday’s race was really intense, and I was just glad to get a finish and kind of get some momentum. Felt pretty good today. Made a big mistake with two to go in turn six and these guys got a little bit of a gap on me. They were quicker than me anyway, but I was just kind of hanging on. I feel really good. I needed this podium to kind of get my season going and get a little bit of momentum. Got some work we have to do. These guys are riding good, but definitely a good start.”

Then came Elias and Fong in fourth and fifth and 1.7 seconds clear of Beaubier’s teammate Garrett Gerloff. M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis was seventh.

Toni Elias

“For us it’s back to the office this week and we have some work to do. We are having some problems with the bike under acceleration, so we must solve this. But our crew is dedicated, and we will figure it out and come to Laguna Seca and start again to fight for this championship.”

Danny Eslick rode the Scheibe Racing BMW to eighth with Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda’s Cameron Petersen and Excelsus Print Solutions/KWR’s Kyle Wyman rounded out the top 10.

The red flag came out on the second lap when Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz crashed with his bike ending up on the racing line. Scholtz escaped injury but it was his second non-finish of the weekend for the rider who came into the race tied for second in the points with Beaubier. Scholtz is now fourth in the series standings with Herrin moving to third behind Beaubier and Elias.

Motul Superbike Race 2 P2

1. Cameron Beaubier
2. Josh Herrin
3. Roger Hayden
4. Toni Elias
5. Bobby Fong
6. Garrett Gerloff
7. Jake Lewis
8. Danny Eslick
9. Cameron Petersen
10. Kyle Wyman

Motul Superbike Standings

1. Cameron Beaubier 153
2. Toni Elias 151
3. Josh Herrin 115
4. Mathew Scholtz 105
5. Jake Lewis 77
6. Garrett Gerloff 74
7. Kyle Wyman 66
8. Danny Eslick 57
9. David Anthony 50
10. Bobby Fong 48

Supersport Saturday – Race 1

Saturday’s Supersport race was a bit of a French Revolution as Valentin Debise, who was injured in a crash while racing in the Daytona 200 prior to the start of the MotoAmerica season, returned to the series this weekend, promptly won the pole in Saturday morning’s final qualifying session and won Supersport race one after a fierce battle with JD Beach, who finished second.

Hayden Gillim didn’t get a great start, but he made up for it in short fashion, caught up to Beach and Debise, and was in the mix for a win until he faded slightly towards the end of the race, but still crossed the finish line in third.

Supersport Race 1

1. Valentin Debise
2. JD Beach
3. Hayden Gillim
4. Cory West
5. Bryce Prince
6. Braeden Ortt
7. Nick McFadden
8. Anthony III Mazziotto
9. Miles Thornton
10. Michael Gilbert

Supersport Sunday – Race 2

Sunday’s Supersport race looked to be a carbon copy of Saturday’s race, with Valentin Debise and JD Beach battling at the front again. This time, the script was flipped, though, as Beach held off Debise at the checkers to win his fourth race of the season.

Debise, who was Saturday’s race winner in his first weekend back from an injury prior to the start of the MotoAmerica season, barely missed out on a perfect weekend when he crossed the finish line just a little more than three one-hundredths of a second behind Beach. Hayden Gillim finished third for the second day in a row to complete the podium.

JD Beach

“With the rule change for this year, this is the first year that, being on the Graves bike, we don’t have the most power. It’s weird, but that’s racing. I know a few years ago that’s how it was. I could tell when I would pass (Debise). I was riding hard and I couldn’t make any kind of gap at all. Every time he did draft by me, he had some speed. It was a lot of fun racing. We were racing hard. I knew with the speed I had, I had to try something coming out of the last turn. I just tried to do a different line than what I had been doing, so it would kind of surprise him. It was a good race. It was fun.”

Supersport Race 2

1. JD Beach
2. Valentin Debise
3. Hayden Gillim
4. Cory West
5. Nick McFadden
6. Richie Escalante
7. Bryce Prince
8. Braeden Ortt
9. Anthony III Mazziotto
10. Miles Thornton

Supersport Standings

1. JD Beach 140
2. Hayden Gillim 97
3. Cory West 79
4. Braeden Ortt 60
5. Nick McFadden 59
6. Anthony III Mazziotto 54
7. Richie Escalante 52
8. Bryce Prince 48
9. Valentin Debise 45
10. Miles Thornton 39

Liqui Moly Junior Cup Saturday –  Race 1

In the Liqui Moly Junior Cup Series, additional balancing measures were mandated by MotoAmerica prior to the weekend, and Saturday’s race one results indicate that parity has been achieved with the top-four finishers aboard three different brands in the new class.

Alex Dumas notched his fourth victory out of five races thus far with Kawasaki-mounted Ashton Yates finishing second. Sean Ungvarsky also stood on the podium in third, while Gavin Anthony was fourth, and Cory Ventura rounded out the top five.

Liqui Moly Junior Cup Race 1

1. Alex Dumas
2. Ashton Yates
3. Sean Ungvarsky
4. Gavin Anthony
5. Cory Ventura
6. Jackson Blackmon
7. Cameron Jones
8. Jamie Astudillo
9. Kevin Olmedo
10. Gauge Rees

Liqui Moly Junior Cup Sunday –  Race 2

In Liqui Moly Junior Cup, Alex Dumas, who was Saturday’s race winner and the winner of four out of the five races so far this season, looked like he was headed for the top step of the podium again on Sunday as he got the holeshot and was running a fast pace at the front. Unfortunately, Dumas’ pace proved to be a little too fast as he crashed out unhurt and handed the lead to Ashton Yates.

The Kawasaki rider pressed his advantage at the front and went on to take the checkers by nearly eight seconds. Second went to Cory Ventura while Sean Ungvarsky matched his third-place result from yesterday with another third today.

Ashton Yates

“Unfortunately, I got a bad start, then, I knew I needed to get to the front and make something happen. I was pushing really hard when I got to the front of the group. I rode my butt off. I got by most of the guys and back to the front going into the infield, or after turn five and through the turns. I was able to make up a decent gap to take off and run away with it. I’m happy with it.”

Liqui Moly Junior Cup Race 2

1. Ashton Yates
2. Cory Ventura
3. Sean Ungvarsky
4. Gavin Anthony
5. Jackson Blackmon
6. Jay Newton
7. Jamie Astudillo
8. Gauge Rees
9. Dallas Daniels
10. Dylan Deutschlander

Liqui Moly Junior Cup Standings

1. Alex Dumas 100
2. Ashton Yates 98
3. Sean Ungvarsky 79
4. Cory Ventura 68
5. Gavin Anthony 66
6. Jay Newton 58
7. Jackson Blackmon 53
8. Jamie Astudillo 46
9. Dylan Deutschlander 43
10. Kevin Olmedo 40

Twins Cup Saturday

After two races and two wins by Suzuki SV650 riders in the Twins Cup Series, a Yamaha FZ/MT-07 rider prevailed in Saturday’s race. Jason Madama notched the victory after race leader Chris Parrish ran wide and almost crashed on the final lap.

Parrish recovered quickly and rode his Suzuki across the finish line in second. Third-place finisher was Dustin Dominguez, the Oklahoman making his return to professional road racing at Road America.

Jason Madama

“The plan was just suck into the bubble and wait it out. I’ve never really been here (at Road America). I’ve only raced an electric bike here last year, and it was very limited practice because the e-bikes run out of juice. I kind of had a strategy to stay in the bubble and wait until a straightaway where I could muscle around him, but obviously it wasn’t working out very good because he was able to suck in my draft and pass me down the straightaway. It ended up being a really good battle. If it wasn’t for his mistake, it would have been a lot tougher. So he made it easier on me. It was a great race. I’m super-pumped to be up here. First MotoAmerica win. No complaints.”

Twins Cup Race

1. Jason Madama
2. Chris Parrish
3. Dustin Dominguez
4. Joseph Behlmann
5. Ryan Roth
6. Ray Hofman
7. Jonathan Champ
8. Keith Buras
9. Samuel Wang

Twins Cup Standings

1. Andrew Lee 60
2. Travis Wyman 50
3. Shane Richardson Jr. 38
4. Timothy Bemisderfer 34
5. Stephen Incledon 26
6. Alastair Hoogenboezem 21
7. Melissa Paris 19
8. Andy DiBrino 16
9. Samuel Smathers 16
10. Felipe MacLean 15

Stock 1000 Sunday

In Stock 1000, Shane Richardson got his first win in the class, and it was also the first MotoAmerica victory of his career. The New Zealander bested fellow Kawasaki rider Andrew Lee, who finished second for the third time in three races. Newcomer-to-the-class Andy DiBrino brought his EDR Performance/DiBrino Racing Yamaha home in third.

Lee now leads the point standings by virtue of the fact that Weir Everywhere Racing’s Travis Wyman, who was the previous points leader, crashed out of the race on the fifth lap, and was fortunately unhurt.

Shane Richardson Jr

“It’s been a really good weekend, this is my first win in MotoAmerica since coming here last year, so we’re pretty stoked with that. It’s been a long year and a bit for us, but we’re happy to finally stand on the top step. The weekend’s been pretty good. It started out slow in the first session, but we improved more and more in the two qualifying sessions, so I was feeling pretty confident for the race to run up front with these guys. Luckily, lap five went my way. Obviously, a bad lap for Travis (Wyman) going down. I was right behind him. After that, Andrew (Lee) got behind me. I could see him on the TV screen heading down to turn three. So I knew he was right there every lap. I just tried to put together the best laps I could, lap by lap. I was waiting for the fight to come, but luckily I got away with it.”

Stock 1000 Race

1. Shane Richardson Jr.
2. Andrew Lee
3. Andy DiBrino
4. Dustin Dominguez
5. Garrick Schneiderman
6. Alastair Hoogenboezem
7. Melissa Paris
8. Timothy Bemisderfer
9. Stephen Incledon
10. Felipe MacLean

Stock 1000 Standings

1. Andrew Lee 60
2. Travis Wyman 50
3. Shane Richardson Jr. 38
4. Timothy Bemisderfer 34
5. Stephen Incledon 26
6. Alastair Hoogenboezem 21
7. Melissa Paris 19
8. Andy DiBrino 16
9. Samuel Smathers 16
10. Felipe MacLean 15