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sbknews · 6 years ago

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Toni Elias Perfect In MotoAmerica Season Finale

The 2018 MotoAmerica Series ended on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park with a Motul Superbike race that was a fitting finale and one of the best of the season. When all was said and done, it was Yoshimura Suzuki’s Toni Elias taking his ninth win of the season but not without a frantic final two laps by Motul Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier, the three-time champ coming up just .333 of a second short at the finish.

The win was the 25th of Elias’ MotoAmerica Superbike career and he will start the 2019 season just three behind World and AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies, who is fifth on the all-time list.

“Honestly, I was thinking to open a gap, but at the end he (Beaubier) was there doing incredible lap times in the last part of the race,” Elias said. “Today was fun. It was fun because all of us,we didn’t think about anything – just go push over the limit. We show each other today was not any jokes. Some elbows, some hard-braking areas. Was fun. We enjoyed it. Finally, I won but also I could lose. But I’m lucky to finish the championship in this way. Yesterday I able to manage second position in the championship. Good job this year for Josh (Herrin). Incredible job for Cameron (Beaubier). He deserves the number one. This morning I was joking about this afternoon I want his number one out. I want to put that my number to start on Tuesday. I will be happy in two years with that number again. It’s been a nice year. Difficult. I learned a lot. My team, too. Thanks, because even in the difficult times, we are a family, we are a group. I feel all the time the support. They work like animals. That for me, win or lose, is the best. Thanks Roger Hayden for his career, but more to be a great human. He is an amazing teammate. We are friends. Now one day will be my time, but today arrive his time. Now time to go rest, to enjoy the family, create family, travel, as he said. I wish him all the best and Dana (Hayden’s wife). He comes from an amazing family. Nicky, Tommy, all the sisters. Amazing people. I’m very lucky to meet them. Thank you.”

Elias had his hands full for the duration with Attack Performance/Herrin Compound Yamaha’s Josh Herrin early, then Beaubier late as the three diced it up for the entire race. Beaubier made a mistake in turn five with two laps to go and it allowed Elias to pull out a lead. But the newly crowned champion put his head down and turned in two stellar laps to pull Elias back in. It was too little too late, however, and Beaubier was forced to settle for what was his 16th podium finish of the year.

“Yeah, absolutely. I would say so,” Beaubier said when asked if he surprised himself with his effort considering his heavy crash in yesterday’s race. “Yesterday was a pretty good off. Definitely the biggest one I had all year, probably in a couple years. I fell on my head pretty good. I wasn’t really too sore, honestly. My ribs were a little sore when I woke up this morning. Throughout the day I took some Advil and stuff like that. It wasn’t too bad. I feel like my confidence was a little low there at the beginning, going into that corner where I crashed, and also going into the last section with the water seeping up out of the seams. But my confidence kind of improved throughout the race. I knew Toni (Elias) was going to have really good pace there towards the end of the race after watching yesterday’s race. So hats off to both these guys. They rode so good all year. It’s been dog fights all year. A really fun, tough, rewarding year. Just getting beat up there at the beginning of the year and keep getting second places and third places to Toni and Josh (Herrin), it was tough, man. But we were able to fight back and went on a little winning streak and clinched that championship. Like I said on the podium, I can’t put into words how good it feels to bring this number one plate back to Yamaha. It’s been an amazing season. I gave it everything I had those last two laps. I was pushing the front. I was sliding the rear on the entries. I was just going for it. I had nothing to lose. I wanted to try to get up close to Toni and try to see if I could do something in the last section, but he had that last section dialed today. It was a really fun, rewarding season.”

At the end of the 21-lap race, Herrin was three seconds behind the lead duo but a comfortable third. It was the Georgian’s 12th podium of a season that included two victories.

“I got a massage yesterday at like 1:00 or something,” Herrin said of his back woes from Saturday. “I think it set it off. It was pretty deep in there. She got in there pretty hard. Maybe it just got me dehydrated or something, I’m not sure. It was really bad yesterday. Today I drank a lot more water last night. Stretched it out today. Put some Tiger Balm on it before the race. It helped a little bit more. It didn’t really flare up until the very end. It was a bummer, but I’m happy to finish the year on the podium, to finish the year with a bike that’s not smashed up. Like I said on the podium, I didn’t really think about it too much in the middle of the year, but now to be looking at it at the end of the year it’s pretty special, I think.”

Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz rode well to finish fourth, climbing to within a second of the top-three battle at the halfway mark but eventually finishing 9.5 seconds behind Herrin. M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis was fifth, some 10 seconds behind Scholtz and some six seconds clear of Scheibe Racing BMW’s Danny Eslick.

Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda’s Bobby Fong ended his trying 2018 season with a seventh-place finish.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden ran off track on the opening lap of the final race of his career and spent the rest of the race making up for it. He ended up finishing eighth, honored on his final run down the front straight to the finish line with crews from every team lined up against the pit wall and cheering him on.

CCFOfficeSolutions.com’s Geoff May and Ben Young Racing’s Ben Young rounded out the top 10 on their BMWs.

Among the notable non-finishers were Fong’s teammate Cameron Petersen and Beaubier’s teammate Garrett Gerloff. Both riders crashed: Petersen crashed alone in turn one and Gerloff was taken down by Elias early in the race.

The final standings have Beaubier with 390 points, 51 more than Elias. Herrin ended the season third, 50 points clear of Scholtz. Gerloff rounded out the top five, just one point ahead of Lewis.

Supersport – Gillim, Again

In Supersport, Saturday’s winner Hayden Gillim won again on Sunday aboard his Rickdiculous Racing Yamaha, but it wasn’t easy. Monster Energy/Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha’s JD Beach, the already crowned 2018 Supersport Champion, gave Gillim all he could handle, and the two even came together on the final lap, with Gillim getting the better of Beach to take the checkers for the second time this weekend. M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Valentin Debise just beat Bryce Prince at the line for third.

“We had a really good battle,” Gillim said. “JD made some good passes on me, and I made some good passes on him. On the last lap, I had one place to go and that was it. Unfortunately, we came together. That wasn’t supposed to happen. It’s racing, like he said. We both came across the finish line. We’re both healthy. It was a good race weekend for us. To get the double was pretty incredible. It’s always fun racing with these boys and being at the front.”

Liqui Moly Junior Cup – Dumas’ Double

In Liqui Moly Junior Cup, it was yet another balanced podium as riders from three different brands were represented, with KTM Orange Brigade/JP43 Training’s Alex Dumas winning his second race of the weekend, and his 10th of his championship season. BARTCON Racing Kawasaki rider Damian Jigalov scored his second podium result of the season with a second-place finish, and MP13 Racing’s Cory Ventura completed a double-podium with a third after finishing second on Sunday.

“Today was good,” said Dumas. “I set some good pace in the front. Didn’t know what to expect. It’s a little bit colder than yesterday, so the tire felt better with the grip. I’m just excited to win. Next weekend I’m going to France and the last round of the World 300 Supersport class. I’m excited to go there and see how I’m going to do there.”

Stock 1000 – Lee Caps It Off

Already crowned 2018 Stock 1000 Champion Andrew Lee continued his winning ways when he notched his third victory of the season aboard his RiderzLaw Racing Kawasaki. Lewin Estates Yamaha rider Chad Lewis was second, and New Zealander Shane Richardson rode his Woolich Racing Kawasaki to third place for his third podium this season.

“Coming into this round, I knew I had already wrapped up the championship, so the goal was to get a win… to end the season with another win,” Lee said. “We had a slow start, just a string of seconds, but at the end of the day, it got me the championship so that’s what matters. Leading into the first round, we weren’t even too sure if we were going to make the first round. So doing my first full season as a pro, it’s fantastic. Couldn’t have asked for anything more. I want to thank RiderzLaw for getting behind me this year. Spidi, Arai, Graves Motorsports, everyone out there was just super-supportive of me this year, so thanks to everyone.”

Motul Superbike

Toni Elias (Suzuki)

Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)

Josh Herrin (Yamaha)

Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)

Jake Lewis (Suzuki)

Supersport

Hayden Gillim (Yamaha)

JD Beach (Yamaha)

Valentin Debise (Suzuki)

Bryce Prince (Yamaha)

Richie Escalante (Yamaha)

Liqui Moly Junior Cup

Alex Dumas (KTM)

Damian Jigalov (Kawasaki)

Cory Ventura (Yamaha)

Jay Newton (Yamaha)

Gavin Anthony (Yamaha)

Stock 1000

Andrew Lee (Kawasaki)

Chad Lewin (Yamaha)

Shane Richardson (Kawasaki)

Garrick Schneiderman (Yamaha)

Travis Wyman (BMW)

MotoAmerica

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sbknews · 6 years ago

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New Post has been published on Superbike News

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Toni Elias Perfect In MotoAmerica Season Finale

The win was the 25th of Elias’ MotoAmerica Superbike career and he will start the 2019 season just three behind World and AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies, who is fifth on the all-time list.

At the end of the 21-lap race, Herrin was three seconds behind the lead duo but a comfortable third. It was the Georgian’s 12th podium of a season that included two victories.

Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda’s Bobby Fong ended his trying 2018 season with a seventh-place finish.

CCFOfficeSolutions.com’s Geoff May and Ben Young Racing’s Ben Young rounded out the top 10 on their BMWs.

The final standings have Beaubier with 390 points, 51 more than Elias. Herrin ended the season third, 50 points clear of Scholtz. Gerloff rounded out the top five, just one point ahead of Lewis.

Supersport – Gillim, Again

Liqui Moly Junior Cup – Dumas’ Double

Stock 1000 – Lee Caps It Off

Motul Superbike

Toni Elias (Suzuki)

Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)

Josh Herrin (Yamaha)

Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)

Jake Lewis (Suzuki)

Supersport

Hayden Gillim (Yamaha)

JD Beach (Yamaha)

Valentin Debise (Suzuki)

Bryce Prince (Yamaha)

Richie Escalante (Yamaha)

Liqui Moly Junior Cup

Alex Dumas (KTM)

Damian Jigalov (Kawasaki)

Cory Ventura (Yamaha)

Jay Newton (Yamaha)

Gavin Anthony (Yamaha)

Stock 1000

Andrew Lee (Kawasaki)

Chad Lewin (Yamaha)

Shane Richardson (Kawasaki)

Garrick Schneiderman (Yamaha)

Travis Wyman (BMW)

MotoAmerica

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sbknews · 6 years ago

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Toni Elias Takes Barber Race One

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Toni Elias may not have successfully defended his MotoAmerica Superbike title, but he’s hell-bent on making sure he ends up with the most victories. On a sunny and hot Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park, Elias took one step towards that as he won his eighth race of the year, a win that moves him into a tie with newly crowned champion Cameron Beaubier. The two now have eight victories apiece heading into tomorrow’s season finale in the Championship of Alabama.

While Elias was able to win his eighth race of the year, his rival Beaubier was down and out, the three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion crashing out of what was a three-way fight for victory on the 14th of 21 laps. Bruised and beaten, Beaubier will be back on the Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing YZF-R1 tomorrow to try and win his ninth race of his championship season.

“Of course,” Elias said when asked if his goal was to win the most races. “That’s why my mind was in the championship in the second position, but my goal when I arrive here is win more races than Cameron (Beaubier). I’m not going to have the number one because the championship is long (gone) and I did many mistakes, but I will try to go home in that way.”

The win was not only Elias’ eighth of the season, but it was the 24th of his MotoAmerica career.

“After the mistake in Pittsburgh, I was a little bit worried about it because this guy’s fast in wet, he’s fast in dry,” Elias said of Herrin. “So, my second place in the championship was not safe. One part of my mind was on that, and another part was on trying to win this race. I really wanted to. We worked so good yesterday. New setup works perfectly for this tire and this heat. We found something like we didn’t find before. I was pretty confident. Finally, the result confirms what we found. At the beginning from seventh position, I had some troubles. I did some mistakes trying to overtake some riders. I was risking too much. I had false neutrals. It was pretty difficult at the end. At the beginning, I calmed down a little bit, step by step, taking confidence, overtake some riders. Then I catch Josh (Herrin). He was so strong. The more laps we had was a little bit more easy for me, and at the end we could win this race. He was pretty beat up, so congratulations for the second place and also for Mathew’s (Scholtz) podium. Tomorrow let’s try to finish this championship if it’s possible with another win. Yamaha guys will be a little bit more tough. They used the green tires, but when we saw before the race they used reds it was like, ‘wow, this is a big mistake.’ I knew that from Friday it was impossible. After five laps was so soft, and the green tire was the right choice.”

Second place on Saturday went to early race leader Josh Herrin on the Attack Performance/Herrin Compound Yamaha, the Georgian dropping out of the lead and 7.3 seconds behind Elias at the finish after his back issue from the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca round reared its ugly head.

“Yeah, I think I had to kind of go off at Laguna,” Herrin said of his back pain. “It’s my lower back. Just with the amount of riding that we were doing and all the stuff that I was having to put my back through that weekend. It’s been fine all year, and then here I think because of the long rights and having to manage the tire and kind of move your body in a different way… it just kind of flared up today. I just didn’t want to make it any worse. I saw that I had a big gap to second, and I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to keep up with Toni (Elias). So I just kind of tried to keep up with him as much as I could without making it any worse. Luckily, we were able to hold onto second. It’s a bummer because I think tomorrow the Graves guys are going to smart up a little bit and run the green tires, so today was a good opportunity to get out and beat down on them a little bit. So, tomorrow will be tougher, but I’ll be more prepared for tomorrow’s race. Hopefully, we can battle for a win, so we can end the season strong.”

Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz finished third, the South African coming out on top of his battle with Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden after the two came together in the closing laps. It was Scholtz’ eighth podium of the season.

“I wouldn’t say tough,” Scholtz said. “He followed me in and passed me on the second last lap. His bike is the fastest bike again. I came from so far back. There was nothing else that I could really do. I made a move. It was hard, but none of us crashed. I’m sorry that he got pushed wide. I finished third and I’m just thankful to be able to race with you guys. Thank you to everyone that has supported me.”

Hayden held on for fourth, some two seconds behind Scholtz and 1.2 seconds ahead of fellow Kentuckian Jake Lewis on the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki.

Scheibe Racing BMW’s Danny Eslick was sixth, 2.8 seconds ahead of Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Garrett Gerloff. Bobby Fong got the better of teammate Cameron Petersen on the intrateam Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda battle for eighth.

KWR’s Kyle Wyman rounded out the top 10.

Going into tomorrow’s final race of the year, Beaubier leads Elias by 56 points with the Spaniard 41 points ahead of Herrin. Scholtz is secure in fourth, 18 points ahead of Gerloff who in turn is 12 points ahead of Lewis.

Supersport – Gillim Wins – In The Dry!

In Supersport, Rickdiculous Racing’s Hayden Gillim, who has been developing somewhat of a reputation as a “rain rider” this season, with his two previous wins occurring in wet weather, showed his prowess on a dry track when he got the victory over Monster Energy/Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha’s JD Beach, who finished second in Saturday’s race after already clinching the class championship in New Jersey. M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider Valentin Debise returned to form after recovering from his crash in Pittsburgh two rounds ago, and he finished third.

“It’s really good to get a win in the dry,” Gillim said. “It’s been, like, five years. So, it’s really good to get back up here, and to have to earn it. It’s incredible. We had a really good race. The red flags were obviously a little weird. I was concerned about that because, going full pace and then stopping, going full pace, stopping, going full pace, stopping. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do on that. Then I was worried about my clutch a little bit. I know I’ve had some issues there doing the starts. So, three starts on one clutch and it wasn’t acting up. It was really good. The whole Rickdiculous team gave me a really good bike this year, and especially this weekend. I felt good. We’ve got some stuff to work on. It’s going to be another great race tomorrow.”

Liqui Moly Junior Cup – Dumas Again

In Liqui Moly Junior Cup, Alex Dumas, who clinched the 2018 class championship at New Jersey, led from the pole and, despite the race being red-flagged twice, the KTM Orange Brigade/JP43 Training rider notched his ninth victory of the season with another dominant performance where he was never headed. MP13 Racing’s Cory Ventura finished second aboard his Yamaha, while Quarterley Racing’s Renzo Ferreira finished third aboard his Kawasaki to complete the balanced, three-brand podium.

“I got pole this morning and I was really happy about it,” Dumas said. “I just wanted to have a good start, which I did. Unfortunately, Ashton (Yates) crashed in the first lap. I had a one-row gap on the other guys for the start, so I took advantage of that and got a good start. I tried my best to put my head down and do some fast laps. The track was really slick. It’s hard, mentally, to ride on it, but I’m really happy about the race. I hope to win tomorrow again.”

Twins Cup – Parrish Crowned

In the Twins Cup class, Saturday’s race was the final one of the 2018 season, and it decided the championship between Ghetto Customs Suzuki rider Chris Parrish and Syndicate/AP MotoArts Yamaha’s Jason Madama. The two riders were separated by just two points going into the finale and Parrish finished eighth, while Madama finished ninth. The outcome was that Parrish won the title by a scant three points. Meanwhile, back at the race, Robert McLendon III was the victor aboard his Altus Motorsports Yamaha in his first-ever MotoAmerica race; Turner’s Cycle Racing’s Kris Turner was second on his Suzuki; and RBoM 180 Racing’s Curtis Murray was third on another Suzuki.

“It was an absolutely awesome race,” McLendon said. “First time on the bike, first time with that team. Hats off to these guys right here. We went and got a brand-spanking-new bike for me. This is like my home track. I’ve got four kids and I can still say that’s the most fun you can have with your clothes on, ever. The race itself was pretty awesome. I wanted to get a good start and try and check out, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. Kris (Turner) rode awesome. I was saving that move for the last lap. I’m so glad you did the same exact thing, man, because I was giggling. I saw I was getting side by side. I was like, ‘well, I got the inside. So it’s about to be really, really awesome. There’s going to be a bunch of parts laying on the gravel track because I’m going for it.’ ”

Motul Superbike

Toni Elias (Suzuki)

Josh Herrin (Yamaha)

Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)

Roger Hayden (Suzuki)

Jake Lewis (Suzuki)

Supersport

Hayden Gillim (Yamaha)

JD Beach (Yamaha)

Valentin Debise (Suzuki)

Braeden Ortt (Yamaha)

Bryce Prince (Yamaha)

Liqui Moly Junior Cup

Alex Dumas (KTM)

Cory Ventura (Yamaha)

Renzo Ferreira (Kawasaki)

Jay Newton (Yamaha)

Gavin Anthony (Yamaha)

Twins Cup

Robert McLendon III (Yamaha)

Kris Turner (Suzuki)

Curtis Murray (Suzuki)

Justin Filice (Suzuki)

Darrell Ricks (Suzuki)

MotoAmerica

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sbknews · 6 years ago

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MotoAmerica Starts Its Second Half In Utah

On paper, the fast layout of the Utah Motorsports Campus should favor defending MotoAmerica Motul Superbike Champion Toni Elias and his Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Roger Hayden. After all, the pair finished first and second in both races last year at the circuit on the outskirts of Salt Lake City on their new GSX-R1000s, with Elias sweeping to his second and third career wins at UMC.

But if we just went by the paper, there’d be no need to have races.

As the series arrives in Utah for the Championship of Utah at Utah Motorsports Park, the second half of the 2018 MotoAmerica Series begins after half a season of awesome racing and high drama. And, unlike last year, we get to Utah with Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Cameron Beaubier leading the MotoAmerica Motul Superbike Championship after completely turning his season around in the last two rounds and four races. He comes to Utah with four straight wins and a 29-point lead in the championship. He’s also a former Superbike race winner at UMC, with a victory in race one in 2016.

“We struggled a little bit at Utah last year and, in the past, it hasn’t been one of the best tracks for us,” said Beaubier in the week leading into the race. “It hasn’t been terrible. I’m definitely going to start my weekend there like I do every other weekend and see where we are at. Our bike is definitely quite a bit different than it was there last year. I will go in with an open mind and see what we have. Utah’s been a good track for him (Elias) the last few years and we will need to be on our A game and do the best we can at Utah. I want to take advantage of the races and the racetracks that suit our R1. If Utah is not one of them, I will be as smart as I can and move on.”

Although he’s 29 points behind and coming off a rough patch in his season, Elias draws confidence by returning to a track where he’s had a lot of success. He also knows that four races ago he had a 35-point lead in the championship before things flipped upside down at Road America and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

“We did a little test in Fontana (Auto Club Speedway) and everything seems like back to normal,” Elias said. “Not 100 percent, but very close. I think we have a good base to start everything in Utah and start to feel the front (end) again. I crashed a lot when the tire (Dunlop’s newest version of its KR451 N-Tek, which is larger in circumference) arrived, but the front (feeling) is back. Normal feeling is back so I am happy. Now Cameron (Beaubier) has pretty much the advantage I had before. He is strong and so ready and very consistent, but 20 something points is not enough to relax. I will be there to reduce this distance and we have time enough. This is my goal, so let’s do it.”

The man who sits third in the Motul Superbike title chase coming into UMC is Attack Performance/Herrin Compound’s Josh Herrin. Herrin is 68 points behind Beaubier but has been a factor in the last four races with three second-place finishes. His only hiccup was a crash in race two at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca while running second to Beaubier. Herrin has also tasted Superbike success at UMC as he won race one there in 2013, the year he won his lone AMA Superbike Championship.

“I think we should be close enough,” Herrin said when asked about winning races at Utah. “We’ll see how the power is at Utah compared to the other teams. We are there for the wins. In the past two rounds, four races, we had the bike to win. I just messed up on all of them.”

Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz started the season like gangbusters, finishing second and third at the opening round at Road Atlanta before winning in the rain in round two at Circuit of The Americas in Texas. He struggled at Road America but seemed to find his way again at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca where he finished fifth and fourth in the two races. The South African comes to UMC fourth in the series standings, six points behind Herrin and 31 points ahead of fifth-placed Garrett Gerloff, the Texan racing in his rookie season of Superbike with the Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing team.

The rest of the top 10 in the Motul Superbike class are tightly knit with M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis just three points behind Gerloff. Then comes SC Project/KWR’s Kyle Wyman, 13 points behind Lewis.

Hayden, who finished second at UMC last year by 2.4 seconds in race one and just .459 of a second in race two, has bounced back from his horrible start to the season with three straight podium finishes. He sits eighth in the championship, three behind Wyman. Scheibe Racing’s Danny Eslick is next, just four points behind Hayden, and Fly Street Racing’s David Anthony rounds out the top 10 heading into round six.

The Supersport class comes to UMC with JD Beach in the catbird seat with a 52-point lead in the championship he won in 2015. Beach has won five of the seven races thus far in 2018.

The men who have beaten him in those two races will likely be his biggest challengers at UMC: Hayden Gillim and Valentin Debise.

Rickdiculous Racing’s Gillim beat Beach in the rain in race two in the series opener at Road Atlanta and M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Debise won his race in his comeback from injury at Road America in race one. Gillim is second in the title chase with Debise already up to fifth despite missing the first four races of the season.

Cory West filled in for Debise in those four races and he did an admirable job of it. West is third in the series standings coming into UMC and now rides a TSE Racing Yamaha R6.

Behind the top three comes a string of riders fighting to get into the top three in the title chase: M4 medAge Suzuki’s Nick McFadden (nine points behind West), the aforementioned Debise, Quicksilver/LEXIN/Hudson Motorcycles’ Richie Escalante, YCRS/Mazziotto Racing’s Anthony Mazziotto III, Tuned Racing’s Braeden Ortt, KWR’s Bryce Prince and Rickdiculous Racing’s Jason Aguilar.

The Liqui Moly Junior Cup Championship is being led by KTM Orange Brigade/JP43’s Alex Dumas, the winner of five of the seven races. Dumas, who turned 16 this week, lead the championship by 26 points and it could be worse for the competition if he hadn’t failed to start one of the races and crashed out of another.

Dumas is being chased by fellow KTM Orange Brigade rider Sean Ungvarsky and Yates Racing’s Ashton Yates, the Georgian the only other race winner in the series thus far with his wins coming in the rain at Road Atlanta and at Road America in race two. Yates is just a single point behind Ungvarsky in third place.

MP13 Racing’s Cory Ventura (Yamaha) and Attack Performance/Herrin Compound’s Gavin Anthony (Yamaha) round out the top five heading into the UMC round.

Utah Motorsports Campus will host both the Stock 1000 and the Twins Cup classes, which are both new to the MotoAmerica Series in 2018.

Ghetto Customs’ Chris Parrish leads the Twins Cup Championship into Utah on his Suzuki SV650, but by just two points over Altus Motorsports’ Jason Madama and his Yamaha FZ-07/MT-07. Those two have three wins between them (Madama two, Parrish one) with Xavier Zayat the other race winner in 2018. Zayat, who only competed in the round he won at VIRginia International Raceway, is returning to the class for the UMC round.

The Stock 1000 class is also close with RiderzLaw Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R-mounted Andrew Lee leading the BMW of Weir Everywhere Racing’s Travis Wyman by 10 points with Kiwi Shane Richardson another 12 points behind in third on the Woolich Racing Kawasaki. Wyman has won two of the three races with Richardson winning the other one. Lee has finished second in all three races held thus far.

Utah Motorsports Campus Notes

The winningest Superbike racer of all time at Utah Motorsports Campus is retired Texan Ben Spies. Spies won five races in Utah during his career, including his first-ever Superbike race at UMC in 2006. The active rider with the most wins at UMC is Toni Elias, the Spaniard having won three Superbike races in Utah, including both last year.

When Cameron Beaubier won both races at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca last month the wins were the 27th and 28th of his Superbike career. The 28th win moved him into a tie for fourth with Ben Spies on the all-time win list for the class. Four more wins for the Californian and he’d be tied for third with Miguel Duhamel with 32 wins.

The other active MotoAmerica riders on the all-time Superbike win list are Toni Elias (21 wins/sixth), Roger Hayden (nine wins/19th) and Josh Herrin (four wins/26th).

Three of Elias’ career wins have come at Utah Motorsports Campus. Elias won race two in 2016 won both Motul Superbike races at UMC last year. In race one he beat teammate Roger Hayden by 2.4 seconds and in race two he barely beat Hayden – by .459 of a second. The wins were Elias’ fifth and sixth of the 2017 season. Cameron Beaubier crashed out of race one but bounced back to finish third in race two, 6.6 seconds behind Elias, who left Utah with a 30-point lead in the championship that he would go on to win.

If Elias or Hayden win this weekend at UMC, it will be the 200th career AMA Superbike win for Suzuki.

Roger Hayden earned pole position last year for the two Motul Superbike races at UMC with his lap of 1:48.941 in Superpole. Elias was second fastest with a 1:49.219 and Josh Hayes completed the front row with his 1:49.347.

Last year’s two Supersport races were drama filled with JD Beach winning his fifth race in a row in race one. In race two, things went upside down for both of the Graves Yamaha riders with Beach running into teammate Garrett Gerloff and taking them both out of the race. The win went to M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Valentin Debise.

The KTM RC Cup races (now Liqui Moly Junior Cup) were won by Cory Ventura and Jackson Blackmon. Ventura’s win was the first of his MotoAmerica career.

The now-defunct Superstock 600 race on Saturday last year was won for the first time by Jason Aguilar, the Californian moving to within two points of then series leader Conner Blevins. A day later, Aguilar won again and took over the points lead, which he would hold on to for the rest of the season. Team MG55’s Michael Gilbert also had a good weekend in Utah in 2017 with two second-place finishes.

#MotoAmerica #RogerHayden #ToniElias #UtahMotorsportsCampus

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Toni Elias Does The Double At VIR

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Toni Elias continued to roll through the early portion of the 2018 MotoAmerica Motul Superbike Series, the defending class champion winning today at VIRginia International Raceway in the Championship of Virginia after winning yesterday for his fifth win in six starts.

Unlike yesterday when he stalked race leader Cameron Beaubier until two laps from the end, Elias did the leading this time around. In fact, he led all of the 23 laps of race two on another sunny afternoon at VIR. But his lead didn’t come without pressure from behind as at first there were three riders tailing him – Beaubier, Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz and Attack Performance/Herrin Compound Yamaha’s Josh Herrin. Herrin was the first to fade, but the other three stayed mostly together.

With two laps to go, Beaubier tried to outbrake Elias going into the first corner but ran wide and very nearly off track. The Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing rider regrouped, re-passed Scholtz, and then tried to make up for the mistake with the fastest lap of the race on the last lap to catch Elias, but he came up .546 of a second short.

“Well, we did a couple of changes on the bike,” Elias said. “Yesterday, the grip was pretty good but it was a little bit uncomfortable. Today, I was more comfortable, but with less grip. You’re never 100 percent happy with what you ride. But I was there trying to make my pace. At several moments of the race, I wanted to let Cam (Beaubier) past. I was thinking we were only two riders. When I turned back, and I saw four riders, I said, ‘Oh my God. It’s not possible. Let’s continue here leading the race, pushing, and let’s see what happens at the end.’ This is what I did. I tried to rest the last three or four laps, and to try to make the last lap with a good level. Try to not make any mistakes. It’s what I did. I didn’t know Cameron ran a little bit wide, and I had a real advantage. It’s perfect. This win is amazing here in VIR. I never expected that. The team works really good, but always, we suffer a little bit here. Now Road America is good for us and I really like. But I know Cameron likes, too. I have to say he rides an incredible level. He was faster than us with his really strong pace. It was difficult to beat him, but also Mat (Scholtz) is very consistent. Every race, he’s there with the great level of riders. So congratulations to both, and thanks to my team.”

The victory was the fifth of the year for Elias and the 21st of his MotoAmerica Superbike career, which moved him past Fred Merkel and into sixth on the all-AMA Superbike win list. Yesterday, Elias became the fastest rider in AMA Superbike history to reach 20 wins.

Beaubier was again a disappointed second and remains winless for 2018, though he’s been on the podium in the last five races and had the pace there to win.

“Just as you guys might think, I’m just sick of second place,” Beaubier said. “I haven’t got a win yet under my belt (this season), but I’m happy that I at least stayed on the track there the last few laps. Yesterday, I was struggling pretty bad with grip there at the end of the race. I felt like I pretty much used up the tire on the right side as much as I could. I was spinning pretty bad at the end of yesterday. So, we went into today with a little bit of a different tactic. Made a couple changes to the bike, mainly on the electronics side. Just tried to ride a little bit more patient race at the beginning. I felt pretty good there with 10 laps to go. I started trying to make my way forward. I was just struggling really hard getting by Toni (Elias). He’s super-good on the brakes, especially down into (turn) one. That was pretty much my only spot I could really make a good move that at least I thought that I could make stick. It didn’t happen the one time. He started covering the inside, so I was starting to go to the outside and maybe sneak up the inside when he would run wide going up the inside. I ended up getting sucked in there pretty good, teeter-tottered on the white line, like I said, in between the dirt and the pavement. I lost probably a second or something. I just did everything I could on the last lap. I felt like a dummy after almost running off the track and kind of blowing it there to make a charge to try to win the race. Hats off to my guys for working so hard all weekend. It could be worse. I could be picking my bike up out of the gravel trap. I got two second places this weekend. We’re going to some good tracks for our bike and tracks I love. So, I’m looking forward to it.”

Scholtz’ third-place finish is also his fifth podium in the first six races and he was closer to the front than he was in yesterday’s identical result. The South African was just 3.8 seconds behind Elias after 23 laps.

“During the final practice, I kind of thought that the first race was going to sort of pan out like the second race did,” Scholtz said. “Me and (Josh) Herrin kind of got caught battling again and these guys gapped us. But this race overall was really positive for us. We made some changes and we really stepped up so, overall, I’m very happy. I think from everyone in the MotoAmerica paddock, we would just like to pay our biggest respects to Jake Lewis for the loss of his father, Bobby. Everyone’s thinking of him.”

Herrin held on to finish fourth, some eight seconds behind Scholtz after harassing Elias at the front of the pack in the early laps.

Fifth placed went to M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis – his fifth fifth-place finish of the season. Naturally, he sits fifth in the championship after three rounds and six races.

6D Helmets/KWR’s Kyle Wyman ended his weekend with a sixth-place finish after beating Scheibe Racing BMW’s Danny Eslick to the line by just .115 of a second.

Eighth place went to Quicksilver/LEXIN/Hudson Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong with the Californian barely beating South African Cameron Petersen on the Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda. Fly Street Racing’s David Anthony rounded out the top 10 on his Kawasaki ZX-10R.

After three rounds and six races, Elias leads the championship point standings by 35 points over Scholtz and Beaubier, who are tied, 138-103. Herrin is fourth with 75 points.

Supersport: Beach Again There are two stories to tell about Sunday’s Supersport race. First of all, Monster Energy/Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha rider JD Beach put in an even more dominant performance than he did on Saturday to win by more than 28 seconds after Rickdiculous Racing’s Hayden Gillim crashed out.

Beach got the holeshot in the race and led all 20 laps. While he was way out in front, a fierce battle was taking place behind him between Tuned Racing Yamaha rider Braeden Ortt and M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Cory West. Ortt and West passed each other back and forth, ran side-by-side through some of VIR’s tight corners, and put on quite a show for the fans. At the checkers, Ortt just edged out West to notch his first career MotoAmerica Supersport podium.

In the post-race press conference, Beach let it be known that he has a specific agenda that he’s focused on this season.

“My whole team just gave me a great bike today,” Beach said. “I think, for me, the race was won in the first five laps or so because I got a little bit of a gap on Hayden (Gillim). Once I got my gap, he was keeping it the same so I was really having to push. Then, he went down on the ground at lap 12 or so. It really sucks to see that just because he’s riding so well. For sure, it’s made me a better rider because I live with him and I don’t want to get beat by him. I know it’s the same for him. It was a great race. I think my mission this year is just to win as much as I can. I want to go faster than we did last year at all the tracks. I want a Superbike ride bad. I’m mad at myself that I messed up last year and didn’t get that ride that my teammate (Garrett Gerloff) got. But that’s the past, and I’m just working towards the future.” Liqui Moly Junior Cup: Dumas Again In Liqui Moly Junior Cup, Orange Brigade/JP43 Training rider Alex Dumas won his second race of the weekend, and it was his third victory out of four so far this season. His KTM received some balancing adjustments to start the weekend, in order to level the playing field with the other brands of motorcycles competing in the class. But Dumas seemed unfazed by the reduction in power to his machine, and he used his considerable race craft to prevail over second-finisher Gavin Anthony aboard his Attack Performance/Herrin Compound Yamaha, and third-place finisher Kevin Olmedo, who was also Yamaha-mounted.

“I did a good start, like yesterday,” Dumas said. “I just put my head down and saw Gavin (Anthony) pass me two times in turn one. I passed him in turn seven and just kept my head down. We made some changes on the bike that helped me a lot for the second half of the race. I’m happy with my race.”

Stock 1000: Wyman Takes His Second Weir Everywhere Racing/BMW rider Travis Wyman has dominated the new Stock 1000 class thus far in the season, and Sunday was no exception as the polesitter led from start to finish and took the checkers with nearly a 10-second lead to notch his second victory in a row.

Riderzlaw Racing’s Andrew Lee raced his Kawasaki to his second-consecutive runner-up result in the class, and Superbike Unlimited rider Samuel Smathers rounded out the podium aboard his Yamaha in his first-ever MotoAmerica race.

“This is a memorable weekend for me,” Wyman said. “I’ve never actually led every session and I got the holeshot for once, which I’ve been kind of struggling with my starts. Happy to do that and happy to really put in some good laps and feel comfortable and have a good pace right from the beginning of the weekend. It’s truly a team effort. The guys from Weir Everywhere Racing and BMW coming on board this year, it’s just been incredible for us. To go two for two is something I never really dreamed of actually happening. It’s all the work behind the scenes that really makes this happen. I can’t thank MotoAmerica enough for putting on this class. It’s really good for us to be able to showcase the new BMW. Just hats off to my team for a really good effort.”

Motul Superbike Race Two

Toni Elias (Suzuki)

Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)

Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)

Josh Herin (Yamaha)

Jake Lewis (Suzuki)

Supersport Race Two

JD Beach (Yamaha)

Braeden Ortt (Yamaha)

Cory West (Suzuki)

Nick McFadden (Suzuki)

Richie Escalante (Yamaha)

Liqui Moly Junior Cup Race Two

Alex Dumas (KTM)

Gavin Anthony (Yamaha)

Kevin Olmedo (Yamaha)

Jay Newton (Yamaha)

Sean Ungvarsky (KTM)

Stock 1000

Travis Wyman (BMW)

Andrew Lee (Kawasaki)

Samuel Smathers (Kawasaki)

Shane Richardson Jr. (Kawasaki)

Alastair Hoogenboezem (Kawasaki)

#MotoAmerica #ToniElias #VIR

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Toni Elias Over Cameron Beaubier In VIR Thriller

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Toni Elias continued to show he has an uncanny knack of being able to win close races in the closing laps, the defending MotoAmerica Motul Superbike Champion stalking race-long leader Cameron Beaubier before taking the lead and ultimately the win with two laps to go at VIRginia International Raceway.

Elias’ victory in the Championship of Virginia today was his fourth of the season and the 20th of his MotoAmerica Superbike career. It also gives him a 26-point lead in the championship going into tomorrow’s second of two Motul Superbike races at VIR.

Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Beaubier was a frustrated second, just .114 of a second from victory after leading the majority of the 20-lap race.

The race was red-flagged before the completion of lap one when Beaubier’s teammate Garrett Gerloff crashed. Quicksilver/LEXIN/Hudson Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong and Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden also went down trying to avoid Gerloff. While Fong was able to restart (and crash again), Hayden was a bit banged up and didn’t make the second start. Gerloff, meanwhile, was transported to a local hospital for precautionary chest X-rays.

“We could see this morning that (Cameron) was so strong,” Elias said. “The same situation I was in COTA (Circuit of The Americas). For me, it was clear: make a good start in the beginning. He start to attack. I could defend. When he start to go his pace, it was difficult for me. I was struggling a lot, especially in traction areas. I need to find something for tomorrow. But at the end, the race become easier at and I start to play my cards. I could see he was playing his cards. Both we are playing really good, and at the end I could win but I was not sure. I was not sure because was some struggle. I could feel him in the back. I saw him a couple of times. Always, the victory is nice. Thanks to my team. They are working really hard.”

Beaubier, who had been fastest in practice and also earned his first pole position of the season in this morning’s Superpole session, was frustrated with second place after leading for so much of the race.

“It’s always frustrating to come up short when you lead most of the race, but I’ve got to hand it to (Elias),” Beaubier said. “He rode really good the last couple laps. We were going back and forth, and he was protecting the insides really good on the last lap. We tried to go around him, which didn’t work. I was a little frustrated there in the middle of the race just because I felt like I didn’t have the grip I did in practice, but we’re going to go back and maybe make some changes for tomorrow and hope for a good race tomorrow. I felt comfortable as soon as the bike rolled off the truck this weekend. Yesterday, I had some good practices, felt comfortable. Had good pace and feeling just loose and good on the bike. So, it’s a bummer not to win, but I’m glad I’m up here (on the podium). I got second. We’ve got tomorrow to try again. I just want to give a shout out to Garrett (Gerloff). It sucks to see your buddy and your teammate go down like that. Hope he’s back for tomorrow.”

Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz, the South African who has won the two races that Elias hasn’t won this season, finished third and now trails Elias by 26 points in the title chase. Scholtz battled early with Attack Performance/Herrin Compound Yamaha’s Josh Herrin, who ran off the track shortly thereafter and ended up fourth.

“I got a pretty decent jump off the line,” Scholtz said. “I was following Cam and Toni. I don’t think we were setting a really fast pace in the first couple laps. (Josh) Herrin passed me. He was taking really tight lines. Unfortunately, that kind of slowed us down, and Cam and Toni were able to get some breathing room. Then I tried passing Josh. I was running him wide, he was passing me back, then he kind of dropped off. I’m still really happy to finish on the box. It’s been a really awesome weekend for us. I’m happy to be the first privateer. It’s been a pretty focused weekend. The bike’s been working great. I think we can make one or two changes to help us in the second race and hopefully bring something for these two guys.”

Fifth place went to M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis, the Kentuckian riding with a heavy heart after his father’s tragic passing this week. Lewis only lost out to Herrin for fourth in the final laps. It was Lewis’ third fifth-place finish of the young season.

Fly Street Racing’s David Anthony finished sixth, well clear of 6D Helmets/KWR’s Kyle Wyman, the team owner/racer suffering with a bad back that almost kept him off the bike yesterday.

Scheibe Racing’s Danny Eslick, Omega Moto’s Sebastiao Ferreira and Thrashed Bike Racing’s Max Flinders rounded out the top 10.

In addition to Fong, Gerloff and Hayden, Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda’s Cameron Petersen also crashed, the South African in sixth place at the time of the get-off.

Supersport: Beach Over Gillim For 2015 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion JD Beach, his Saturday at VIR got off to a rocky start in final qualifying, as he suffered a mechanical issue and, after his Monster Energy/Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha YZF-R6 was repaired, he crashed and the bike had to be rebuilt in time to start the race.

Everything came good for the Kentuckian, though, as he got a great start, pulled the holeshot, and was never headed all the way to the checkers. Rickdiculous Racing’s Hayden Gillim, also R6-mounted, finished a close second and Quicksilver/LEXIN/Hudson Motorcycles rider Richie Escalante completed the Yamaha R6 podium sweep with his third-place result.

“Yesterday kind of started out a little rough… had a few incidents,” Beach said. “Then, this morning, I destroyed the bike. It’s been a little hard this year just because, unfortunately, it is different just having one rider (on my team). The staff is a little smaller, and we’re still trying to figure it all out. I think the race today was great. It was good to get a win. Hayden was pushing really hard. We definitely have some work to do. We’re going back to that drawing board and see if we can get a bit more speed for tomorrow.”

Liqui Moly Junior Cup: KTM On Top Following the balancing measures that MotoAmerica took to level the playing field in the Liqui Moly Junior Cup, Saturday’s race saw two brands of motorcycles reach the podium, with Orange Brigade/JP43 Training KTM rider Alex Dumas notching his second win out of the three races held so far. Attack Performance/Herrin Compound Yamaha rider Gavin Anthony was second, and AGVSPORT America/MonkeyMoto Yamaha’s Jay Newton earned the first podium result of his MotoAmerica racing career.

After his victory, Dumas said: “We made a change on the bike between qualifying and race one, and I couldn’t manage the bike at first. But, as soon as I figured it out, I was able to get a gap on these guys, and I won by a few seconds. So, I’m happy.”

Twins Cup: The X-Man Cometh In the Twins Cup race, it was an RBoM Racing sweep. The team fielded six riders aboard Suzuki SV650s at VIR, and three of them reached the podium. Xavier Zayat, who has previously competed in MotoAmerica’s KTM RC Cup and Superstock 600 classes, won the Twins Cup race with Road Atlanta Twins Cup winner Chris Parrish finishing second and Curtis Murray, who was third in Atlanta, rounding out the VIR podium again in third.

“Practice and qualifying was my first time on the bike, first time racing in this new series,” the 19-year-old Zayat said. “We ran into a couple of tire issues. We ran the same front tire all weekend and it didn’t give us any grief. It gave us a little grief in the race, so we should have swapped it. On the start, I got away. I had a little strategy just to get out of the gate. I just wanted to get away from the pack. I got a good jump off the line. I was able to do that and fortunately my comrades didn’t follow through. But, we still made it up here. Big shout out to (RBOM Racing’s) Russell and Mike. They are the living, breathing spirit of our team and this (Twins Cup) class. He was able to bring (six) entries on board. Hopefully, this is what they want changed for rules and everything like that because it will only make it fair and better racing, for sure.”

Superbike Race One Results 1. Toni Elias (Suzuki) 2. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha) 3. Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) 4. Josh Herrin (Yamaha) 5. Jake Lewis (Suzuki)

Supersport Race One Results 1. JD Beach (Yamaha) 2. Hayden Gillim (Yamaha) 3. Richie Escalante (Yamaha) 4. Cory West (Suzuki) 5. Braeden Ortt (Yamaha)

Liqui Moly Junior Cup Results 1. Alex Dumas (KTM) 2. Gavin Anthony (Yamaha) 3. Jay Newton (Yamaha) 4. Dylan Deutschlander (Yamaha) 5. Jackson Blackmon (Yamaha)

Twins Cup Results 1. Xavier Zayat (Suzuki) 2. Chris Parrish (Suzuki) 3. Chris Murray (Suzuki) 4. Jason Madama (Yamaha) 5. Darrell Ricks (Suzuki)

#CameronBeaubier #MotoAmerica #ToniElias #VIR

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