Beaubier, Hayes Split Road America Wins
JD Beach Bounces Back For Supersport Victory
Beaubier came into round four of the MotoAmerica AMA/FIM Superbike Championship with a 16-point lead over Hayes, but he managed to increase that to 26 after his solid day of 1-2 finishes while Hayes crashed in race one, remounted and finished sixth, before ending his day with a victory – the 52nd of his stellar career – in the second race of the Subway Superbike Doubleheader.
In race one, Beaubier had his hands full with Roger Hayden, the Yoshimura Suzuki rider coming up just .136 of a second behind the championship leader a day after celebrating his 32nd birthday. Hayden hounded Beaubier throughout the 14-lap race, but came up just short at the finish with Beaubier winning his fourth race of the season. Third place in race one went to Hayden’s rookie teammate Jake Lewis, the Kentuckian repeating the effort in race two to beat his teammate Hayden to end his day with another third-place finish.
“I knew going into today that the race was going to be pretty interesting because we hadn’t really had much dry track time this weekend,” Beaubier said after race one. “I knew it would be a tough race, an interesting race. Josh (Hayes) was super good on the brakes, but he was making little mistakes here and there. It’s a bummer that he went down, but it was all good and I think he came back to sixth or seventh. Roger (Hayden) and Jake (Lewis) were riding awesome and it was tough.”
Hayes, meanwhile, crashed in turn 14 of race one and was fortunate to be able to remount and continue, finishing sixth and earning 10 points that may prove very valuable by season’s end. Still, he leaves Wisconsin with a 26-point deficit to his teammate Beaubier, 176-150.
In race two Hayes took advantage of a electronics problem that Beaubier encountered in the opening laps. Hayes shot out to a solid lead while Beaubier tried to sort through his problems. Once he did, he started to eat into his teammate’s lead, but the gap at the finish was 4.5 seconds after Beaubier had closed to within 2.5 seconds at one point.
“It’s always good to bounce back,” Hayes said after race two. “I rode as hard as I could. I hated to see that Cameron (Beaubier) was running me down because I didn’t think I had any more pace in me. I figured I would just figure it out at the end of the race if he got there. I was just trying to plug away and have a clean race and my bike worked so well. It was a joy to ride. I’ve had a lot of fun riding the motorcycle this weekend – rain or shine. It was a fun weekend and a big thanks to everyone and all the fans who came out.”
Lewis ended up third with his second podium of the day with his teammate Hayden fourth. Fifth place in both Superbike races went to Turbo Turtle Racing Honda’s Danny Eslick, though he was beaten both times out by Superstock 1000 winner Jake Gagne, the RoadRace Factory Yamaha rider sweeping to victories in both races. South African Sheriden Morais made his MotoAmerica debut a good one with second and third-place finish in the two Superstock 1000 races on the Aprilia HSBK Racing RSV1000.
GN Gonzales Racing’s Shane Narbonne had his best finish of the season in the first Superstock 1000 race with a third-place finish and Taylor Knapp bounced back from a mechanical problem in race one to finish second in the class on his TOBC Racing Yamaha in race two.
After eight rounds, Gagne leads Knapp in the title chase by 30 points, 150-120. Gagne’s two wins today were his fifth and sixth of the eight-race (four rounds) old series.
The Supersport final on Sunday was by far the best race of the day with the top the crossing the line together in a photo finish that was won by Yamalube/Y.E.S. Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s JD Beach by just .009 of a second over Wheels in Motion/Motosport.com/Meen Motorsports’ Josh Herrin with Garrett Gerloff just .012 of a second behind his teammate Beach in third place.
“Going into the last lap I was trying to get out front because it seemed like if you led coming out of the last turn you could cross the line first,” Beach said. “That plan didn’t really go well. I got back to third and couldn’t make any passes. I kind of got lucky with Josh (Herrin) and Garrett (Gerloff) making a big old air pocket for me. Three wins this year… it’s amazing. Coming out I didn’t have any wins. After the season we had last year for the team to bring me back this year is awesome. For this new MotoAmerica Series they’ve been working really hard and the race structure just keeps getting better and better each weekend. Having all these great fans out here is just awesome. To race a motorcycle almost every weekend and call this my real job is just amazing.”
Latus Motors Triumph’s Bobby Fong and RoadRace Factory’s Tomas Puerta rounded out the top five on the second day of MotoAmerica action at Road America.
Beach and Herrin leave Wisconsin tied at the top of the championship point standings after a thrilling Supersport final with 140 points. Gerloff is 16 points behind in third place.
There was more good racing in the Bazzaz Superstock 600 race with rivals Joe Roberts and Richie Escalante going at it for the duration. Roberts came out the better of the two to win his fourth race of the season. Escalante finished a shadow second with Travis Wyman finishing third to keep his perfect podium streak intact. Roberts took over the championship points lead with his victory and now leads Escalante by six points, 120-114.
Gage McAllister had a perfect weekend in the debut of the KTM RC 390 Cup Series, the Californian winning Sunday’s race two after winning the first-ever 390 Cup race on Saturday. McAllister had his hands full throughout and ended up besting Braeden Ortt by just .072 of a second. Jody Barry ended up third to take his second podium finish of the weekend, the young racer from Illinois saving a near crash on the run to the flag after making contact with McAllister.
“I knew it was going to be tough today,” McAllister said. “Yesterday I got a little lucky with a couple of riders going down and the weather. I knew today was going to be a gnarly battle and somehow we managed to break free from a couple of other riders I thought would be at the front. It was a close race that went down to the end. I knew I had to be somewhere in the top two positions to get that run to the flag. I was able to make it happen.”
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SUPERBIKE RACE 1: Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha); 2. Roger Hayden (Suzuki); 3. Jake Lewis (Suzuki); 4. Danny Eslick (Honda); 5. Chris Fillmore (KTM); 6. Josh Hayes (Yamaha); 7. Elena Myers (Suzuki); 8. Bernat Martinez (Yamaha); 9. Stefano Mesa (Honda).
SUPERBIKE RACE 2: 1. Josh Hayes (Yamaha); 2. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha); 3. Jake Lewis (Suzuki); 4. Roger Hayden (Suzuki); 5. Danny Eslick (Honda); 6. Chris Fillmore (KTM); 7. Bernat Martinez (Yamaha); 8. Elena Myers (Suzuki).
SUPERSTOCK 1000 RACE 1: 1. Jake Gagne (Yamaha); 2. Sheriden Morais (Aprilia); 3. Shane Narbonne (Yamaha); 4. Mark Heckles (Yamaha); 5. Frankie Babuska (Suzuki); 6. Devon McDonough (Aprilia); 7. Josh Chisum (Yamaha); 8. Tyler O’Hara (Yamaha); 9. Max Flinders (Yamaha); 10. Taylor Knapp (Yamaha).
SUPERSTOCK 1000 RACE 2: 1. Jake Gagne (Yamaha); 2 Taylor Knapp (Yamaha); 3. Sheriden Morais (Aprilia); 4. Tyler O’Hara (Yamaha); 5. Mark Heckles (Yamaha); 6. Devon McDonough (Aprilia); 7. Max Flinders (Yamaha); 8. Frankie Babuska (Suzuki).
SUPERSPORT RACE 2: 1. JD Beach (Yamaha); 2. Josh Herrin (Yamaha); 3. Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha); 4. Bobby Fong (Triumph); 5. Tomas Puerta (Yamaha); 6. David Anthony (Suzuki); 7. Cameron Petersen (Yamaha); 8. Kyle Wyman (Yamaha); 9. Ben Young (Yamaha); 10. Corey Alexander (Yamaha).
BAZZAZ SUPERSTOCK 600 RACE 2: 1. Joe Roberts (Yamaha); 2. Richie Escalante (Yamaha); 3. Travis Wyman (Yamaha); 4. Nick McFadden (Suzuki); 5. Wyatt Farris (Yamaha); 6. Conner Blevins (Yamaha); 7. Jason Aguilar (Yamaha); 8. Andy DiBrino (Yamaha); 9. Kyle Ohnsorg (Yamaha); 10. Michael Gilbert (Yamaha).
KTM RC CUP RACE 2: 1. Gage McAllister; 2. Braeden Ortt; 3. Jody Barry; 4. Brandon Altmeyer; 5. Hayden Schultz; 6. Josh Serne; 7. Justin McWilliams; 8. Gabe Miller; 9. Mason De Keyrel; 10. Ruben Casarez.
Saturday Report
Wyman, Herrin, McAllister Storm To Road America Wins
Josh Hayes nabs pole for Sunday’s two MotoAmerica Superbike races
Josh Herrin, Travis Wyman and Gage McAllister came away from a cold and dreary Saturday at Road America with victories in the Supersport, Superstock 600 and KTM RC 390 Cup, respectively, the three shining brightly in difficult racing conditions on the four-mile circuit. Josh Hayes, meanwhile, dominated Superpole in the Superbike class, the four-time Superbike Champion earning pole position for Sunday’s two races in the headline class of the MotoAmerica Series. Â
The weather may have been cold and dreary on a rainy Saturday at Road America, but the racing was anything but. In the Supersport final, Herrin was in a battle for almost the duration as he watched those around him fall by the wayside. When all was said and done, Herrin kept his Wheels In Motion/Motosport.com/Meen Motorsports Yamaha out of harm’s way to win his third race of the season – a win that moved him to the top of the championship point standings. Â
Herrin took full advantage of less-than-stellar days turned in by his main rivals in the championship – the Yamalube/Y.E.S. Graves Motorsports Yamaha duo of JD Beach and Garrett Gerloff. Gerloff crashed out of the lead on the second lap, with the Texan remounting to ultimately finish ninth. Beach, meanwhile, looked to have a podium finish in the bag until a near crash dropped him from third to fourth in the closing laps. His fourth, combined with Herrin’s win, handed the championship lead to the Georgian.
Herrin now leads the title chase by five points over Beach and 12 points over Gerloff after six races. All three of Herrin’s wins this season have come on a Saturday.
At the end of the race, Herrin had almost 27 seconds in hand over RoadRace Factory’s Tomas Puerta, the Colombian putting in a solid effort for his best finish to date and his first podium in the class. Puerta’s teammate Ben Young also did well in the tricky conditions, the Scottish Canadian taking advantage of Beach’s miscue to also take his first career podium in the class.
Beach ended up fourth, some five seconds ahead of Latus Motors Racing Triumph’s Bobby Fong.
“I was just trying to stay up,” Herrin said after victory. “And we were able to do that. When I saw (Garrett) Gerloff and (Cameron) Petersen start to inch away, I was trying to keep up, but at the same time I didn’t want to throw it away just to try and keep up or pass them. I knew we needed some points after our crash in Texas and couldn’t afford to fall down again or make any big mistakes. I’m just really happy to finish the race and to finish in first is an extra boost for us. I’ve been struggling in the dry this weekend and this was a little confidence boost for tomorrow.” Â
Travis Wyman last won a race in 2011. Today he ended that drought, coincidentally on the same racetrack where he last tasted victory – Road America. Wyman’s win today came in the Superstock 600 and it came after a race-long battle with Wheels In Motion/Motosport.com/Meen Motorsports Yamaha’s Joe Roberts, the rider who had won three of the four races coming into the Wisconsin round. Wyman and his Kyle Wyman Racing Yamaha R6 got the better of Roberts in the final laps to score his first win of the season and the second of his career.
“I always feel pretty comfortable in those conditions, even pushing,” Wyman said. “Like Atlanta, I felt more comfortable pushing in the wet than I did in the dry. Actually, I thought my race was over. I hit a false neutral going down into one and somehow got it stopped, got it turned around and got out in front of Richie (Escalante). I really just put my head down to catch Joe (Roberts). Once I got up behind him, I didn’t want to wait long to get in front because I knew we had a good pace, but I also didn’t want him to pick up on my lines as well. We ran good and it’s such a good feeling to be up here and battling for the lead, especially in those conditions.”
The Superstock 600 class features the closest title chase in the MotoAmerica Series with the top three separated by just three points. Wyman moves to the top with 97 points; Roberts is second with 95; and Richie Escalante, third today, is third with 94 points.
The KTM RC 390 Cup made its debut today at Road America with 28 riders taking part in round one of what will be a five-round series. The difficult conditions saw plenty of crashes, with a lot of those coming on the warm-up lap. The race turned into a three-rider battle for victory, but the only one of the trio to make it to the finish line was 19-year-old Californian Gage McAllister. Â
McAllister, who is doing double duty at Road America by also racing in the Supermoto round, inherited the lead for good when Anthony Mazziotto III and Hayden Schultz crashed out of the battle and he held it to the end, besting 16-year-old Jody Barry by 7.9 seconds. Third place went to 18-year-old Texan Brandon Altmeyer.
“I was trying to size both of them up,” McAllister said of the battle with Mazziotto and Schultz. “Coming out of the last turn in third and seeing where I could get the draft and see if I could pass both of them before the line. I ended up wanting to be in second because third was just a little bit too far back. It was tough. I was strategizing, but luckily they made it easy on me and I was able to cruise to the finish.”
McAllister was asked what he thought of the opportunity the new spec-class RC 390 Cup presented.
“I think the KTM Cup is an awesome opportunity and I really think it will help my road racing career,” he said. “I think it’s really helpful racing close and just getting comfortable battling with everybody lap after lap.”
In addition to the three races that were held at Road America on Saturday, the day also featured Superbike Superpole – the 15-minute session to determine the grid for Sunday’s two Superbike races. When that 15 minutes were in the books, it was Hayes earning his 39th career pole. Hayes lapped a best of 2:31.079 to best his Monster Energy/Graves Motorsports Yamaha teammate Cameron Beaubier by .214 of a second. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Jake Lewis ended up third and will complete the front row for tomorrow’s race, marking the first front-row start of his rookie Superbike campaign.
Roadrace Factory’s Jake Gagne ended up fourth fastest overall and the fastest of the Superstock 1000 racers. Spaniard Bernat Martinez was fifth fastest and those two will be joined on the second row by TOBC Racing’s Taylor Knapp. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden had a crash in the session and ended up ninth. He will start from row three.
“Qualifying on rain tires is always pretty tense,” Hayes said. “I think all of us were trying to get a time on the board that would have us on a good spot on the grid first, a decent spot. Then you can free up a little bit and take some chances and put some laps together. I was just trying to build every lap and do something a little better, a little better, a little better. The lap time kept coming pretty good and it kept coming in big chunks. I had a fun session. I had fun riding in the rain this morning so I felt very prepared for this afternoon. Everything is going well.”
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SUPERSPORT RACE 1: 1. Josh Herrin (Yamaha); 2. Tomas Puerta (Yamaha); 3. Ben Young (Yamaha); 4. JD Beach (Yamaha); 5. Bobby Fong (Triumph); 6. Kyle Wyman (Yamaha); 7. Javelin Broderick (MV Agusta); 8. Melissa Paris (Suzuki); 9. Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha); 10. Kaleb De Keyrel (Yamaha).
SUPERSTOCK 600 RACE 1: 1. Travis Wyman (Yamaha); 2. Joe Roberts (Yamaha); 3. Richie Esclanate (Yamaha); 4. Wyatt Farris (Yamaha); 5. Carl Soltisz (Yamaha); 6. Cody Wyman (Yamaha); 7. Nick McFadden (Suzuki); 8. Darren James (Yamaha); 9. JC Camacho (Yamaha); 10. Andy DiBrino (Yamaha).
KTM RC 390 CUP RACE 1: 1. Gage McAllister; 2. Jody Barry; 3. Brandon Altmeyer; 4. Justin McWilliams; 5. Ruben Casarez; 6. Christopher Kosan; 7. Braeden Ortt; 8. Nolan Lampkin; 9. Jake Fell; 10. Drew Sivertsen.
SUPERBIKE/SUPERSTOCK 1000 QUALIFYING: 1. Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 2:31.079; 2. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha) 2:31.293; 3. Jake Lewis (Suzuki) 2:32.766; 4. Jake Gagne (Yamaha) 2:33.623; 5. Bernat Martinez (Yamaha) 2:33.922; 6. Taylor Knapp (Yamaha) 2:36.352; 7. Joshua Day (Yamaha) 2:36.868; 8. Shane Narbonne (Yamaha) 2:36.922; 9. Roger Hayden (Suzuki) 2:38.909; 10. Chris Ulrich (Suzuki) 2:39.085.
