Elias & Beaubier split Utah MotoAmerica wins

Toni Elias & Cameron Beaubier win at Utah

JD Beach wins Supersport Races 1 & 2

Alex Dumas & Renzo Ferreira win Junior Cup

Chris Parrish victorious in Twins Cup

Chad Lewin wins Stock 1000

Images by Brian J Nelson

MotoAmerica Round 6 at Utah Motorsports Campus has seen Toni Elias and Cameron Beaubier split the wins across two days, leaving Beaubier continuing to lead in the standings, with Elias 49 points in arreas.

JD Beach took the Supersport double win, further extending his lead from next closest racers Gillim and West. Dumas and Ferreira split the KTM Junior Cup wins between them, while Chris Parrish took the Twins Cup win, and in the Stock 1000 it was Chad Lewin the victor.

Superbike Race 1 – Saturday

Toni Elias stalked Cameron Beaubier for 14 of the 17 laps of the Utah Motorsports Campus. Then he pounced, taking the lead with three laps to go and holding off the attacking Beaubier to win the Championship of Utah by .494 of a second on a hot sunny day on the outskirts of Salt Lake City.

Elias’ sixth win of the season was an historic one in that it marked Suzuki’s 200th victory in AMA Superbike racing. And it was an important one for Elias and the Yoshimura Suzuki crew in that it stopped Beaubier’s four-race win streak and showed that the team had fixed what ailed them in the previous two rounds at Road America and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

It also moved the Spaniard to within a race of Beaubier in the championship as the defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion now trails the two-time series champ by 24 points heading into tomorrow’s second Motul Superbike race at UMC.

The race at the front only featured Beaubier and Elias with Beaubier taking the lead from the Spaniard on the opening lap. He would hold that lead until the 14th lap before he was caught a little off-guard by Elias going into turn one. From there it was a dogfight, with Beaubier making a pass on Elias on the final lap that didn’t stick. The margin of victory at the flag: .494 of a second.

Toni Elias

“It is nice to get that 200th victory for Suzuki. We started off the weekend with a little Japanese-American barbecue, but at the end my team put the bike back together, so I could continue the plan. We worked well. We improved. We have the same situation that we had before. Good bike. We are comfortable that I can fight. But I found a tough guy (in Beaubier). He was fast. Very persistent. His pace was a little bit faster than mine. I was playing my cards at the end, and I found my moment. I could pass him. The last two, three corners, we had a little bit of trouble, but I could win the race. I am happy. My team deserves a lot of credit for this victory. We did it and now we have to continue like this. We will try to improve for tomorrow, and I will try to be more strong and more consistent.”

Beaubier admitted being surprised by Elias’ attack after leading so much of the race. The Californian starting from pole position after earning the spot during the Superpole qualifying session earlier in the day.

Third place went to Josh Herrin, the 2013 AMA Superbike Champion fighting off the advances of Beaubier’s teammate and Jake Lewis to earn the spot. At the finish Herrin was .974 of a second clear of Gerloff, with the Texan getting faster as the race wore on to put himself in position to challenge late. Lewis, meanwhile, had mechanical issues that slowed him in the closing laps. He ended up fifth, his sixth fifth-place finish of the season.

Mathew Scholtz ended up sixth, well clear of Kyle Wyman, who in turn was challenged from behind by Danny Eslick. Cameron Petersen and Geoff May rounded out the top 10 finishers.

Beaubier leads the title chase over Elias, 223-199, with Herrin third on 151 points. Scholz is now 12 points behind Herrin in fourth place with Gerloff holding down fifth, 28 points behind the South African.

Among the non-finishers were Roger Hayden, who suffered his fourth race crash of the season; Bobby Fong, who pulled out of the race on his Yamaha YZF-R1 early in the race; and David Anthony. Those three remained in ninth, 10th and 11th in the championship point standings as all of their points remained unchanged.

Motul Superbike Race 1

1. Toni Elias (Suzuki)
2. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
3. Josh Herrin (Yamaha)
4. Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha)
5. Jake Lewis (Suzuki)

Superbike – Race 2 Sunday

Cameron Beaubier learned a valuable lesson yesterday. Don’t let Toni Elias stay close to you if you have the pace to put him away. Today Beaubier and his YZF-R1 had the pace and he was pulling away from Elias when yesterday’s Motul Superbike race-one winner crashed out on the sixth lap of the Championship of Utah at the Utah Motorsports Campus.

From that point forward, Beaubier continued to stretch his advantage on the battle for second place between Jake Lewis, Roger Hayden, Garrett Gerloff and Mathew Scholtz. On the sixth lap, Beaubier had almost six seconds in hand. By the end of the race that gap was 4.2 seconds as he cruised to victory – his fifth of the season and the 29th of his Superbike career. The Californian now sits alone in fourth on the all-time list, having pulled out of a tie with former World and AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies.

Cameron Beaubier

“We’ve been working on our starts this year. A couple have been pretty bad. A couple have been decent. I felt like today was pretty good. I was pretty decent in the first section. I was able to get around Toni (Elias) in the first couple of corners. I just wanted to put my head down and try to go from the beginning. It’s pretty tough to race that guy (Elias) in the last couple laps. We were able to do it. I came around the last section and I saw yellow flags. I saw the pit board and it said I had a decent gap, so I backed it down. I was just trying to hit my marks and be consistent and take as little risk as possible. That was the most stressful for me, just try and make it to the finish. I feel really relieved after today to be able to win here and get a second place and come out with the points lead makes me feel really good going into the remaining races. Looking forward to getting back on the bike in a couple weeks’ time and try to continue on this roll.”

Second place ultimately went to Gerloff, the Texan getting faster as the race wore on and he took the runner-up spot by 1.5 seconds. It was the 22-year-old’s best Motul Superbike result in what is his rookie season in the class.

Garret Gerloff

“The first half of the race I felt decent, not too bad. Just kind of stayed with those guys, but then really the last half of the race something just was there. The bike was working just awesome, better than in the beginning with new tires. Really towards the end I felt great. I felt like I could put my bike wherever I wanted. I was trying to get around Roger (Hayden) because he’s got a pretty quick bike. Trying to set up a pass on him isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do. He had one spot in (turn) six though that he was a little bit weak. I tried it once and wasn’t able to make it stick. We got real close on the next one, but just waited until the last few laps to make my move and made it stick on Roger, which was key. Then getting by Jake (Lewis) on the straightaway. I was just trying to put my head down and just do my thing because I knew my bike was on point and I knew I had the pace to at least be there at the last lap, if not have a little bit of a gap. Luckily we had the gap.”

Third place went to Lewis and his Suzuki GSX-R1000, the Kentuckian scoring his first podium of year after a string of mostly fifth-place finishes.

Scholtz ended up fifth, the South African half a second behind Lewis at the finish line. Then came Roger Hayden on the second Yoshimura Suzuki. Hayden ended up some four seconds behind Scholtz but well clear of Kyle Wyman, the racer/team owner ending up sixth. Danny Eslick, Cameron Petersen and his teammate Jayson Uribe, and Bruno Silva rounded out the top 10 finishers.

Elias now finds himself 49 points behind Beaubier in the chase for the MotoAmerica Motul Superbike Championship with four rounds (eight races) remaining.

With his fourth-place finish and Josh Herrin’s non-start after the rider destroyed his bike in the morning warm-up, Scholtz moved back to third in the championship by one point over Herrin. Gerloff is fifth in the title chase, 20 points behind Herrin.

Motul Superbike Race 2

1. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
2. Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha)
3. Jake Lewis (Suzuki)
4. Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)
5. Roger Hayden (Suzuki)

MotoAmerica Superbike Standings

1. Cameron Beaubier 248
2. Toni Elias 199
3. Mathew Scholtz 152
4. Josh Herrin 151
5. Garrett Gerloff 131
6. Jake Lewis 122
7. Kyle Wyman 101
8. Danny Eslick 92
9. Roger Hayden 90
10. David Anthony 63

Supersport Race 1 – Saturday

When Valentin Debise had a mechanical problem on the startline for the Supersport race at UMC and was forced out of the race before it started, it seemed JD Beach might have been able to breathe a little easier. But that wasn’t the case as Hayden Gillim gave him everything he had before eventually coming up 1.3 seconds short at the finish line.

For Beach it was win number six on the season as he grew his championship lead over Gillim to 57 points, 190-133.

Third place went to Cory West, the Arkansas resident holding off the advances of Nick McFadden, Braeden Ortt and Bryce Prince in what was a four-rider battle for the final podium spot. Richie Escalante, Michael Gilbert, Anthony Mazziotto III and Benjamin Smith rounded out the top 10 finishers.

Supersport Race 1

1. JD Beach (Yamaha)
2. Hayden Gillim (Yamaha)
3. Cory West (Yamaha)
4. Nick McFadden (Suzuki)
5. Braeden Ortt (Yamaha)

Supersport – Race 2 Sunday

With Valentin Debise’s return from injury, the battles at the front of the Supersport field have been fought between the Frenchman, Hayden Gillim, and JD Beach, who currently leads the championship.

In Saturday’s race, Debise was unable to start due to a mechanical issue, and Beach held off Gillim for the victory. The tables turned a bit in Sunday’s race as Gillim crashed out, and Debise stuck close to Beach throughout the majority of the 15-lap contest.

But, as was the case yesterday, Beach once again prevailed. Debise finished second and Braeden Ortt finished third for his second podium result of the year. Beach now holds an 82-point lead over Gillim in the championship.

JD Beach

“It was a really good race. Val (Debise) was riding really good. He’s super-fast. Me and him kind of got a gap to third, to Hayden (Gillim). Then Hayden wasn’t able to bring the gap back. I thought we were going to have a three-rider battle until he went down. After about lap five or so, I started struggling with the front tire a lot. Val was able to get a little bit of a gap on me but, after about lap 10 or so, I think he made a little bit of a mistake. The front seemed like it got better. The last five laps, I felt like it was a whole new bike. I was able to get by him on the front straightaway, and I tried to put my head down the last three laps or so. I did my fastest lap on the last lap. I felt really good. I’m really looking forward to the next round. It’s a small track so I think we’re going to have a lot of guys up at the front. It should be a good battle.”

Supersport Race 2

1. JD Beach (Yamaha)
2. Valentin Debise (Suzuki)
3. Braeden Ortt (Yamaha)
4. Bryce Prince (Yamaha)
5. Nick McFadden (Suzuki)

MotoAmerica Supersport Standings

1. JD Beach 215
2. Hayden Gillim 133
3. Cory West 95
4. Nick McFadden 94
5. Braeden Ortt 87
6. Valentin Debise 85
7. Richie Escalante 84
8. Bryce Prince 80
9. Anthony III Mazziotto 79
10. Miles Thornton 51

Liqui Moly Junior Cup Race 1 – Saturday

In Saturday’s Liqui Moly Junior Cup race, championship points leader Alex Dumas notched his sixth victory of the season when he was able to hold off Ashton Yates. Jamie Astudillo, who got the holeshot at the start, appeared to finish third, but she was issued a penalty of one second for weaving as she maneuvered her Kawasaki to help maintain her position.

Astudillo was subsequently shuffled back to eighth in the official results, and Cory Ventura was awarded the third-place trophy.

The win gives Dumas a 32-point lead over Yates, 150-118.

Liqui Moly Junior Cup Race 1

1. Alex Dumas (KTM)
2. Ashton Yates (Kawasaki)
3. Cory Ventura (Yamaha)
4. Renzo Ferreira (Kawasaki)
5. Damian Jigalov (Yamaha)

Liqui Moly Junior Cup – Race 2 Sunday

The Liqui Moly Junior Cup class had a couple of new riders join their ranks for round six and Brazilian Renzo Ferreira, who finished fourth in Saturday’s race aboard his Quarterley Racing Kawasaki, came home with the victory in Sunday’s race.

AGVSPORT America/MonkeyMoto Yamaha rider Jay Newton finished second, and current championship leader Alex Dumas was third aboard his KTM Orange Brigade/JP43 Training machine.

Early race leader Ashton Yates jumped the start of the race aboard his Yates Racing Kawasaki, but he never served the ride-through penalty that was assessed, and he was subsequently black-flagged and was not credited with a finish. Also, Jamie Astudillo, who was one of the early front-runners in the race, crashed her Quarterley Racing/On Track Development Kawasaki out of the race.

Renzo Ferreira

“First of all, I want to thank Quarterley Racing for giving me this opportunity. It’s amazing being here again. I was racing in the KTM Cup in 2016, and I’m really happy to be here in MotoAmerica again. I just think, from now, I’m going to start practicing again and get into the championship again. Try to get a good bike, and do the whole season next year, maybe. I hope to be here again. I want to thank everybody. These two guys were really fast today. I really had to work hard for this win. Jay (Newton) today did a really great job passing me on the inside of that corner, in 13, I think.”

Liqui Moly Junior Cup Race 2

1. Renzo Ferreira (Kawasaki)
2. Jay Newton (Yamaha)
3. Alex Dumas (KTM)
4. Cory Ventura (Yamaha)
5. Cameron Jones (Kawasaki)

Liqui Moly Junior Cup

1. Alex Dumas 166
2. Ashton Yates 118
3. Sean Ungvarsky 105
4. Cory Ventura 97
5. Jay Newton 87
6. Gavin Anthony 80
7. Jamie Astudillo 67
8. Jackson Blackmon 57
9. Gauge Rees 54
10. Dylan Deutschlander 51

Twins Cup Race – Saturday

In Twins Cup, Chris Parrish, who hails from Tennessee, continues to enjoy his MotoAmerica nationwide summer adventure as he won his second race of the season and fifth podium in five starts. Parrish stretched out his championship lead to 27 points over Jason Madama, who was maintaining pace with Parrish until low-siding his FZ-07/MT-07 out of the race.

Danielle Diaz, competing in only her second Twins Cup race so far this season, rode her Danielle Diaz Racing/Kawasaki Ninja 650 – a bike she borrowed from MotoAmerica operations manager Niccole Cox – to second place.

Another series newcomer, Justin Filice, the son of American racing legend Jimmy Filice, ran a consistent race to bring his Suzuki SV650 home in third and reach the podium in his return to road racing after a near-decade-long hiatus.

Twins Cup Race

1. Chris Parrish (Suzuki)
2. Danielle Diaz (Kawasaki)
3. Justin Filice (Suzuki)
4. Aaron Tulchinsky (Yamaha)
5. Ryan Roth (Yamaha)

Twins Cup Standings

1. Chris Parrish 110
2. Jason Madama 83
3. Ryan Roth 36
4. Danielle Diaz 33
5. Curtis Murray 32
6. Xavier Zayat 25
7. Aaron Tulchinsky 22
8. Shane Perry 20
9. Carl Price 17
10. Justin Filice 16

Stock 1000 – Sunday

Sunday’s Stock 1000 race was full of sub-plots, two new-for-round-six riders making the podium, the current points leader stretching his lead, and series’ dominant race winner suffering his second-consecutive crash.

Full-time realtor and weekend-warrior road racer Chad Lewin notched the win in his very first MotoAmerica event as the Team Lewin Estates Yamaha rider was victorious by slightly more than half a second over championship leader Andrew Lee aboard his Kawasaki. Finishing third was local rider Oleg Pianykh, who literally built his OPR Yamaha just in time to compete in the event on a track at which he is a multi-time club-racing champion.

Travis Wyman, who has won half of the Stock 1000 races thus far this season, led much of the race before crashing unhurt and rejoining to cross the finish line in seventh. As a result, Lee now has a 21-point lead over Wyman in the standings.

Chad Lewin

“First off, I want to thank MotoAmerica. This was a fun weekend. I’ve gotten on a bike about four times in the last three years. I started riding it about six months ago because of my good friend Jason Pridmore. I’m kind of doing this race off a dare, but obviously I’m a racer at heart, and I didn’t want to get second so I just sent it in there and it worked out. I have so many people to thank. I lost both my parents just two and a half, three years ago. I had a leg injury. I was supposed to have it amputated. I was never going to walk. I didn’t plan on riding again. I’m a full-time realtor. I have a real estate team. It pays the bills, and that’s my full-time job so I came here to have some fun. When the helmet goes on, it’s a different Chad that shows up. I definitely sent it a little more than expected. There are so many people to thank. I could go on and on. Ultimately, my mom and dad. They’re not here. It was a really emotional win because I worked so hard, and I know they’re watching. This is for my mom and my dad, so I hope they’re proud. Back to work tomorrow to sell some houses.”

Stock 1000

1. Chad Lewin (Yamaha)
2. Andrew Lee (Kawasaki)
3. Oleg Pianykh (Yamaha)
4. Chad Swain (BMW)
5. Jeremy Coffey (BMW)

Stock 1000 Standings

1. Andrew Lee 80
2. Travis Wyman 59
3. Shane Richardson Jr. 38
4. Timothy Bemisderfer 34
5. Stephen Incledon 30
6. Melissa Paris 29
7. Chad Lewin 25
8. Alastair Hoogenboezem 21
9. Oleg Pianykh 16
10. Andy DiBrino 16