Due to the increasing spread of COVID-19 and expanding restrictions on domestic and international travel, and in accordance with national state and local governments prohibiting large group gatherings, the 2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season has been postponed until further notice.
Following Supercross events have been cancelled
March 14 in Indianapolis, IN at Lucas Oil Stadium
March 21 in Detroit, MI at Ford Field
March 28 in Seattle, WA at CenturyLink Field
April 4 in Denver, CO at Empower Field at Mile High
April 18 in Foxborough, MA at Gillette Stadium
The health and safety of everyone attending and competing in our live events, as well as our touring personnel, is our top priority. We will continue to monitor the situation.
Daytona 200 and Daytona TT Postponed
Official Statement
“American Flat Track has postponed this weekend’s race events at Daytona International Speedway, which includes Saturday’s DAYTONA 200 presented by CoMoto and the DAYTONA TT. The 79th DAYTONA 200 will be held as part of Biketoberfest in October and the DAYTONA TT will be rescheduled on a future date. We believe this decision is in the best interest of the safety and well-being of our fans, competitors, officials and everyone associated with the sport. We will continue to monitor this dynamic situation as we assess future race events.”
Seven points were all that separated Cameron Beaubier from year-long championship leader Toni Elias as the 2019 EBC Brakes Superbike Championship reached a crescendo at Barber Motorsports Park over the weekend.
Cameron Beaubier and Garrett Gerloff celebrate at the Championship of Alabama
What seemed improbable just three days ago turned into reality for Cameron Beaubier on a sunny Sunday in Alabama, the Yamaha Factory Racing rider winning a fourth MotoAmerica Superbike crown by five points over his rival Toni Elias with a sweep of the two EBC Superbike races at Barber Motorsports Park.
Beaubier did everything he needed to do in the Championship of Alabama. He needed to win both races and for Elias to finish third or worse in both. And he got it with Elias struggling to a fourth-place finish on Sunday to give Beaubier the title.
Superbikes Race 1
Cameron Beaubier kept his championship hopes alive on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Alabama, the three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion taking his fifth win of the season while everything fell into place behind him.
Cameron Beaubier needed to pull out all the stops on Saturday’s Race 1
Beaubier knew he needed to win, and he did. He also knew he needed help. And he got it with his teammate Garrett Gerloff finishing second. And, finally, he needed Elias to struggle, which he did, finishing third with his teammate Josh Herrin riding shotgun to the Spaniard in the final laps.
Beaubier’s win combined with Elias’ third place narrows the margin to seven points, 349-342, with just Sunday’s finale remaining in the championship.
Elias was disappointed with third place but hopeful of better things to come tomorrow. He knows that to earn the title, third place isn’t going to be enough. On Saturday, the former Moto2 World Champion was a distant third – 18.8 seconds behind Beaubier and just .033 of a second ahead of Herrin.
Garrett Gerloff and Cameron Beaubier claimed the 1-2 result ahead of Elias on Saturday
Behind Herrin came JD Beach, the Yamaha rider closing in on the Yoshimura duo in the final laps and coming up just short at the finish after starting the race from the fourth row.
Sixth place went to Jake Gagne, just ahead of Kyle Wyman, who was some two seconds clear of Cameron Petersen. David Anthony and Travis Wyman rounded out the top 10 finishers.
Superbikes Race 2
Sunday’s victory was the sixth of the year for Beaubier and the 38th of his AMA Superbike career, but more importantly, it earned him a fourth AMA Superbike title, which puts him in a tie with former teammate Josh Hayes for the second most won in AMA Superbike history. Mat Mladin is at the top of that list with seven AMA Superbike Championships.
Cameron Beaubier leads the Superbikes
Beaubier’s teammate Garrett Gerloff finished second, the Texan again leading the early laps before playing good soldier and not putting up a fight when his teammate caught up. Beaubier, meanwhile, had made things difficult for himself by running off the track in turn one on the opening lap, but he got the job done.
Cameron Beaubier
“I couldn’t believe what happened off the start. I’ve been feeling so good. My R1 has been working so good all weekend – Friday, Saturday, this morning, warmup, Sunday. I knew what I had to do. I knew I had to get in front and win the race and Toni (Elias) had to get third to win. I thought it was all out the door. I was in the grass. I tried to go around the outside of (Josh) Herrin and everyone knows you don’t go around the outside of Herrin. You end up in the grass. So that’s what happened. I got back on the track. I think I was like around eighth or something like that. These guys were riding so good. They were so hard to pass, and they were trying to pass each other as well. So, I made it really, really tough on myself, but I had nothing to lose. I just put my head down and pushed as hard as I could. I can’t even believe we were in this position going into this race – seven points out of the lead after yo-yo-ing to 30 points back on Toni (Elias), and we’re sitting here with the number-one plate. I just can’t believe it, really. It’s amazing. I just owe it all to my team Yamaha. It really is like a big family. I love all those guys. It’s Rick’s (Hobbs, his crew chief) last year. He’s retiring after this year. He’s been a huge key, if not thekey, to these four championships. I owe a huge portion of it to him. I’m really going to miss that guy.”
Cameron Beaubier and Garrett Gerloff topped the podium, with Mathew Scholtz third
Gerloff was happy with his performance and his season, a year in which he finished third in the title chase and won four races.
Garrett Gerloff
“This has been a good season for me. I definitely accomplished a lot of goals that I had going into the season. I feel like I had a pretty good year. Definitely some low points, but some really high points also. You can’t have one without the other. I’m really happy with my 2019 season. I really feel like I gelled with the R1 a lot better this year. I never give up and neither does my team. We’ve been working our butts off every weekend since last year to try to get the bike really where I like it and also just working on myself and working on my riding. A big part of that was having Josh Hayes help me out this year. He helped with a lot of different things, bike setup and also some mental stuff and everything. He’s been a huge part. Just can’t thank the whole team enough. I’m always looking for more, so I got bigger and better goals for next year. But just a big congrats to Cam. He’s been riding super consistent all year, super-fast. He’s definitely made me a faster rider. Like he said, it sucks to have a fast teammate sometimes because I was thinking the same thing. If I come in and he’s going a half a second faster than me and I’m like, ‘Dude, where the hell are you pulling this out of?’ But the challenge is always a closed door, but it’s a door that’s waiting to be opened for improvement. That’s the way I look at every challenge that I’ve had. I try to bust through those doors as fast as I can. It’s been a good year. I’m really excited with where we are and just really excited for what the future holds.”
Garrett Gerloff and Cameron Beaubier
Third place on Sunday went to Mathew Scholtz, the South African some 10 seconds behind the Yamaha duo but almost three seconds ahead of Elias.
Elias was extremely gracious in defeat, especially considering he’d led this championship from the second race until the start of the 20th race.
Toni Elias
“First of all, I want to congratulate Cameron (Beaubier) and Yamaha. They did an amazing end of the season and they deserve this win. For me it is not nice – it’s hard and sad. It will take some days to digest this loss and accept it. We tried hard. We did everything we could. The whole team gave 200 percent. We tried to find grip where there was no grip. I also want to say thank you to my teammate Josh Herrin. He tried to help and did a great job, but it was not enough. I’m very proud of my team, every single person. It’s very difficult for them as well, but we must accept that we tried our best and be content with that fact. We will come back and work harder next year and try to win another championship for Suzuki.”
Toni Elias
Kyle Wyman was fifth on Sunday, his best result of the season on his Ducati. Wyman was on Elias’s rear wheel as they crossed the line and was just ahead of Cameron Petersen, who also enjoyed his best result of the season in sixth. Josh Herrin faded to finish seventh, less than a second head of Jake Lewis. David Anthony and Max Flinders rounded out the top 10.
The 2019 MotoAmerica Championship of New Jersey saw Garrett Gerloff and Cameron Beaubier share the EBC Brakes Superbike wins, leaving Beaubier within striking distance of championship leader Elias, who missed the podium across both races. Heading into the final round that places Toni Elias on 333-points to Beaubier’s 317, with third places Garrett Gerloff back on 276.
Garrett Gerloff and Cameron Beaubier shared the weekend’s wins
PJ Jacobsen took both of the weekend’s Supersport wins, relegating championship leader Fong to second place in each race, and narrowing his lead to just 10-points heading into the final.
Rocco Landers meanwhile clinched the Liqui Moly Junior Cup title on Saturday, and followed that up with another win on Sunday, now holding 325-points in the standings, with the closest riders being Kevin Olmedo on 214, and Dallas Daniels on 200.
Alex Dumas took the Twins Cup win in the single race held for the weekend, with Andrew Lee coming out on top for the Stock 1000, winning the 2019 title on Sunday.
Superbike Race 1
Garrett Gerloff continued to hold the hot hand in the MotoAmerica EBC Brakes Superbike Series, the Texan winning race one in the Championship of New Jersey for his fourth win in the last six races.
Cameron Beaubier leads – 2019 MotoAmerica – Round 9, New Jersey
Gerloff had his hands full for the entire 23 laps of the New Jersey Motorsports Park race with his teammate Cameron Beaubier, the three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion ending up 1.7 seconds behind at the finish line. JD Beach rebounded from a tough stretch of races to finish third, his first podium since his victory in race two at VIR the first weekend in May.
The Gerloff, Beaubier and Beach podium gave Yamaha a one-two-three for the first time this season. Gerloff and Beaubier used their strong finishes to gain some points on championship leader Toni Elias, the Yoshimura Suzuki rider ending up a distant fourth on the day – some 25 seconds behind Gerloff.
Garrett Gerloff – 2019 MotoAmerica – Round 9, New Jersey
With only race two and the two races at Barber Motorsports Park for the season finale remaining, Beaubier trails Elias by 28 points, 320-292, with Gerloff 44 points in arrears in third. Beach strengthened his hold on fourth in the championship with a 13-point gap over Josh Herrin, who was seventh in race 1 on the second Yoshimura Suzuki.
Although he didn’t win, Beaubier clawed back valuable points on Elias, while Beach was happy with a return to the podium, the two-time Supersport Champion and the Attack team finding a cure for the chatter issue that has slowed him of late.
With Elias a distant fourth, he had some three seconds on Mathew Scholtz, the South African holding off Jake Lewis by just .060 of a second for fifth place. Herrin, in turn, hands his full with SJake Gagne with the Yoshimura Suzuki besting the BMW by 0.169 of a second. Kyle Wyman finished ninth with David Anthony rounding out the top 10.
Saturday Superbike Podium – 2019 MotoAmerica – Round 9, New Jersey
Superbike Race 2
Cameron Beaubier at least has a chance n the final round at the 2019 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship at Barber Motorsports Park in two weeks after winning the second EBC Brakes Superbike race on Sunday.
Beaubier, who finished second on Saturday and won on Sunday to claw back into championship contention with just the two races at Barber left on the 2019 schedule, trails Toni Elias by 16 points, 333-317. Elias had an off-weekend and finished fourth in both races, giving up 19 points to his rival Beaubier.
On Saturday, Beaubier lost out to his teammate Garrett Gerloff and on Sunday he had his hands full with JD Beach. Gerloff, meanwhile, was declared unfit to race after a big crash in the morning warm-up session that left him concussed.
Cameron Beaubier leads – 2019 MotoAmerica – Round 9, New Jersey
Beaubier and Beach were joined up front by Mathew Scholtz, but the South African ended up finishing third, some seven seconds behind Beaubier. Beaubier was also able to gap Beach in the closing laps, besting the two-time Supersport Champion by 1.44 seconds after 23 laps for his fourth win of the season and the 36thof his Superbike career.
Cameron Beaubier
“At the beginning I was pretty confident going in just because I felt like I had pretty good pace there at the beginning of the race yesterday, and then after latching onto (Garrett) Gerloff he kind of pulled us three away from the field. Then at the end it was us two. I was pretty confident that my bike was going to be better than it was yesterday, but I was struggling pretty bad at the beginning when the tires were new. I feel like we’ve been fast at every round, one of the fastest guys if not the fastest, but we just have not been able to put it together when it counts. So today feels really good. Obviously, I’m bummed for my teammate that he couldn’t line up with us today. I think for sure obviously his pace has been incredible all weekend. He definitely would have been another Yamaha in the mix. I feel really good going into Barber. We’re still in striking distance. We’re closing the points down. Just going to keep my head down and see what happens.”
Cameron Beaubier leads – 2019 MotoAmerica – Round 9, New Jersey
JD Beach
“Going into the race, I told Cameron what my race plan was so he would know. We got going and it started off great. Then he kind of was screwing the plan up. So, I had to get out front. I led a few laps. The bike was feeling really good today. We were just trying to go. Towards the end Cameron got back by me. I started to lose the front just a little bit, and he picked the pace up just a bit. I just kind of lost touch a little bit. For half the year, how it’s been going, it’s been tough. To get a third and a second in the same weekend is great. I just got to thank my whole Attack Performance Estenson Racing team. We’ve still got one more round to go, so we’ll see what we can do.”
Elias was at the opposite end of the spectrum. He was happy. But only happy to have New Jersey in his rear-view mirror after a difficult weekend.
Toni Elias
“It was a tough weekend, maybe the toughest I’ve had in a long time. We tried to improve and change things, but it seemed it was impossible to improve. I went six seconds faster in the race today than yesterday, but still it was not enough to improve my position.I see things in positive way, and we are still leading the championship by 16 points going into the final round. I’d rather be ahead than be behind. We will analyze and if we have to change our setup completely, okay, we will do it. We will go and play as hard as we can at Barber and see what happens.”
Jake Lewis finished fifth, one spot better than on Saturday, and ahead of sixth-placed Kyle Wyman. Josh Herrin was seventh with Jake Gagne ending his weekend with an eighth-place finish. David Anthony and Cameron Petersen rounded out the top 10.
With Beaubier now trailing Elias by 16 points, Gerloff holds on to third though he’s dropped to 41 points behind after missing Sunday’s race. Beach is 20 points adrift of Gerloff in fourth place and 24 points ahead of Herrin, who is now just three points in front of Scholtz.
The weekend saw a great round of racing at the Championship of Pittsburgh, comprising Round 8 of the 2019 MotoAmerica championship, with Garrett Gerloff taking the EBC Brakes Race 1 win from Cameron Beaubier at Pittburgh, with Toni Elias completing the top three.
Championship of Pittsburgh – 2019 MotoAmerica Round 8
Race 2 on Sunday meanwhile saw Toni Elias claim the win after Gerloff suffered a mechanical failure from the lead. Beaubier took second, while Josh Herrin completed the podium. The result saw Elias leave with a 35-point lead over Beaubier, with Gerloff a further 21-points in arears.
In Supersport Sean Dylan Kelly took the Race 1 win after Bobby Fong high sided out of contentiion, with PJ Jacobsen and Hayden Gillim completing the podium. Race 2 on Sunday saw the return of Fong, but he was regulated to second as Sean Dylan Kelly took another win, with PJ Jacobsen claiming the final podium position.
In the Liqui Moly Junior Cup Kevin Olmedo and Rocco Landers shared the race wins, with Landers leading the standings from Dallas Daniels and Olmedo.
Championship of Pittsburgh – 2019 MotoAmerica Round 8
Aex Dumas dominated the Twins Cup races, taking both wins from Draik Beauchamp, with the dup separated by nine-points, with Dumas leading. Andrew Lee took the Stock 1000 win, further extending his dominant lead in the class.
EBC Brakes Superbikes Race 1
Garrett Gerloff is most definitely on a roll, the Texan riding his Yamaha Factory Racing YZF-R1 to his third victory in the last five races with the latest one coming on Saturday in the Championship of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh International Race Complex.
Championship of Pittsburgh – 2019 MotoAmerica Round 8
Gerloff came out on top of a race-long battle in the first of two EBC Brakes Superbike races with his teammate Cameron Beaubier, the three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion ending up just .326 of a second behind Gerloff at the end of the 18-lap race. Championship points leader Toni Elias finished third on the Yoshimura Suzuki, the Spaniard ending up three seconds behind the two Yamahas.
Championship of Pittsburgh – 2019 MotoAmerica Round 8
Gerloff had already proven to be the fastest of the fast this weekend as he led every session except for Superpole, which went to Beaubier with a new lap record of 1:39.472 around the 2.7-mile Pittsburgh International Race Complex. Gerloff led early, pulled a slight gap and then gave it all back when he ran off the track in turn one on the fourth lap. But he was able to rebound, passing Elias and then battling with Beaubier for the duration.
Championship of Pittsburgh – 2019 MotoAmerica Round 8
With the two Yamahas finishing ahead of Elias, the championship tightened up. Elias now leads Beaubier by 30 points, 282-252, with Gerloff just a single point behind Beaubier. Beaubier was upbeat despite the close loss to his teammate, knowing that he’d chipped away on the gap to Elias. Elias struggled to keep pace at a track he says favors the Yamahas.
Championship of Pittsburgh – 2019 MotoAmerica Round 8
Jake Gagne had his best finish of the season, the laid-back Californian ending up fourth and just .804 of a second ahead of Mathew Scholtz. Then came JD Beach, the Yamaha rider 7.4 seconds adrift of Scholtz and some 11 seconds ahead of Josh Herrin. Herrin had remounted from a crash with Jake Lewis in the first corner on the very first lap. Cameron Petersen finished eighth with Max Flinders and Sam Verderico rounding out the top 10.
EBC Brakes Superbikes Race 2
Toni Elias thought he had two chances of winning the second EBC Brakes Superbike race in the Championship of Pittsburgh – slim and none. But Elias is Elias and by the time the dust had settled around him, he was at the front of the field and en route to his seventh win of the 2019 MotoAmerica Series.
Championship of Pittsburgh – 2019 MotoAmerica Round 8
And, more importantly, a 35-point lead in the championship after two days of racing on a track that he considers one of the more difficult for him and his Suzuki GSX-R1000.
Elias ended up beating his rival Cameron Beaubier by just .340 of a second after 18 laps of the 2.7-mile Pittsburgh International Race Complex, handing Beaubier his second straight second place finish on the weekend.
If the margins of victory were difficult for Beaubier so too was the fact that he came to Pittsburgh 34 points behind Elias and he leaves Steel City 35 points behind.
Championship of Pittsburgh – 2019 MotoAmerica Round 8
For Gerloff the second race had a much worse outcome, the Texan suffering a mechanical failure while leading on the second lap. The non-finish puts a massive dent in Gerloff’s chances of earning a first EBC Brakes Superbike title as he now trails Elias by 56 points with two rounds and four races left on the calendar.
Third place today went to Elias’ Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Josh Herrin, the Georgian rebounding from his first-lap crash on Saturday and his seventh-place finish after remounting from his crash with Jake Lewis.
Elias didn’t hold back in admitting that he was very fortunate to come out of PittRace with a victory.
Toni Elias
“It’s been the worst race of the year, talking about rhythm, talking about being comfortable, talking about being relaxed and not breathing. It was so difficult. I didn’t find the rear grip and the right traction since lap one, and everybody passed me. Then everyone start to (make) mistake. So, I’ve been lucky. Today I’ve been super lucky. With the team we are doing all we can. We pass two difficult (tracks) for us – Sonoma and this one. But we win, so that’s great. I didn’t expect this. The changes I did, we did for today, I choose them but looks like with the cold temperature everything works well so I was super confident, but it didn’t work for me. It was a disaster. So, I’m not going to use that again. I will change totally for the next races. It’s too early (in the championship). We keep the same advantage, so let’s continue like this.”
Championship of Pittsburgh – 2019 MotoAmerica Round 8
Beaubier had given it his all in the final two laps after his mistake in the chicane that sent him off track while it looked like he had the race in hand.
Cameron Beaubier
“At the start of the race I got shuffled back a little bit, made a couple moves, and then I saw Garrett (Gerloff) ran wide. It was kind of a jumble there at the beginning. I knew today it was going to be tough going in. I saw myself in the lead. I saw Toni (Elias) ran a little wide in turn one. I just put my head down from there. I kept seeing plus 2 on my board, plus 3, and plus 0. Then I just kept digging, kept digging. I went into the little chicane and I think I just knifed the brakes pretty hard and the rear end, I don’t know if it slipped or what, but I was in just way too deep. I didn’t want to cut the track because I knew I would have had to give a position. But I made it worse. I jumped a curb, went through the grass, ended up going a second back or whatever I was. I was just so mad. It’s just been frustrating because my bike has been incredible here and Sonoma. I made that stupid mistake Saturday at Sonoma. Today I made that mistake. I just feel like I have a really good bike under me, but I’m just not clicking as a rider. That’s frustrating when you have before. Just one of those times. We’re just going to keep fighting. We’ve got two rounds left. I really enjoyed the last two tracks, New Jersey and Barber. Just going to keep digging. Congrats to these guys and see everyone in Jersey.”
Herrin was happy to bounce back from Saturday’s disappointment.
Josh Herrin
“Me and Toni found the food and water today, it was a good race. Yesterday was a bummer but for some reason I wasn’t mad. I’m sure the team was disappointed, but after the bad luck at Sonoma, whenever I went in and moved over and hit Jake (Lewis) at Sonoma. Whenever I came sliding through the grass on top of his bike I was kind of laughing. When we got up, he was sitting there kind of bummed out and I’m like, ‘Get up! Let’s go! I don’t want to do this race by myself.’ His bike was all bent out of shape. Of course, I want to be battling more at the front. The last few laps I just had nothing left on the right side of my tire. Just overcooked it a little bit, I think. But for being the soft (tire)… I think me and Lewis were the only ones on the soft tire. I raced it yesterday. The main reason that I got up and finished that race yesterday is because I knew I needed to see how the soft would work for today. It worked. Like I said, just couldn’t stick with them in the chicane.”
Fourth place on Sunday went to Jake Lewis, the Kentuckian making up for yesterday’s crash that took him and Herrin out on the first lap. Mathew Scholtz was fifth, matching his performance from Saturday, some 10 seconds adrift of Lewis and three ahead of JD Beach, another who matched his result from the day before.
Jake Gagne was seventh on Sunday after finishing a season-best fourth on Sunday. He was on Beach’s tail at the end of the 18 lapper. Eighth place went to Kyle Wyman, the New Yorker bouncing back from a crash in Saturday’s race. David Anthony and Cameron Petersen rounded out the top 10 finishers.
The 2019 Championship of Sonoma, Round 7 of the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship, saw Garrett Gerloff take the Saturday race win, with Toni Elias in tow, while Beaubier was a non-finish in a result that looked set to decide the Superbike championship.
Garrett Gerloff and Cameron Beaubier celebrated a Yamaha double-win at Sonoma Raceway
Sunday’s Race 2 proved that anything can happen however, with Toni Elias crashing out and Beaubier taking the win, leaving Elias with a strong but not insurmountable lead, while Gerloff and Beaubier are separated by only six-points in the standings.
In the Supersport class Hayden Gillim took out the Race 1 win on Saturday from Bobby Fong and PJ Jacobsen, while Sunday Jacobsen claim the win from Fong and Bryce Prince, with Gillim having to settle for fourth. Andrew Lee claimed victory in the single Stock 1000 race of the weekend.
In the Liqui Moly Junior Cup Rocco Landers continued to build his lead with Kevin Olmedo his closest competitor over the weekend. Alex Dumas meanwhile took a clean win in the Twins Cup class, with a single race run and the rider holding a 12-second lead over second placed Draik Beauchamp.
Superbikes – Saturday
Toni Elias took a giant step towards winning his second MotoAmerica EBC Brakes Superbike title in the Championship of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway, the Spaniard finishing second to Garrett Gerloff while his main championship rival Cameron Beaubier crashed out of the race on lap two.
Toni Elias – MotoAmerica 2019 Round 7, Sonoma Raceway
Elias’ second-place finish combined with Beaubier’s non-finish gives him a 59-point lead in the championship heading into Sunday’s second EBC Brakes Superbike race, 266-207.
While Elias may have gained the most on a sunny Saturday in Northern California’s wine country, the day belonged to Gerloff. Hot off his win in race two at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca a month ago, the Texan bested Elias by 10.3 second to take his second career EBC Brakes Superbike race win.
Gerloff was quick all day, ending up the second fastest qualifier behind his teammate Beaubier, the three-time series champion who had won the last four Superbike races held at Sonoma. Gerloff didn’t waste much time in taking the lead from Elias after Beaubier crashed out of the lead on the second lap – just moments after passing Elias.
In addition to taking his second win, Gerloff also took big gains in the title chase and is now just a single point behind Beaubier in third place with 206 points.
Third place today went to Mathew Scholtz, the South African besting JD Beach. Fifth place went to Jake Gagne in his best finish of the season. Max Flinders had his best career Superbike finish in sixth. Sam Verderico finished seventh in the race that featured an exorbitant amount of non-finishers. The non-finishers included Beaubier, Josh Herrin, Kyle Wyman, David Anthony, Jake Lewis and Cameron Petersen.
EBC Brakes Superbike Result – Saturday
Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha)
Toni Elias (Suzuki) +10.369
Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) +21.193
JD Beach (Yamaha) +27.084
Jake Gagne (BMW) +50.380
Superbike – Sunday
Sunday’s race in the Cycle Gear Championship of Sonoma was further proof that it truly ain’t over till it’s over. With most series observers, including Cameron Beaubier, thinking the 2019 MotoAmerica EBC Brake Superbike Championship was a foregone conclusion after Beaubier crashed out of Saturday’s race and championship leader Toni Elias won, suddenly it wasn’t.
Elias crashed out of Sunday’s race early and Beaubier rode to victory, his fifth in the last six Superbike races at Sonoma Raceway, and his third of the season. And just like that, the championship is back on with Elias leading Beaubier and his YZF-R1 by 34 points with three rounds and six races left in the title chase.
With fast-starter Beaubier leading, Elias crashed out of second place on the third lap. From there it was yesterday’s race winner Garrett Gerloff giving chase to Beaubier, the Texan putting up an admirable fight until losing front tire grip that forced him to slow his pace. That allowed Beaubier to cruise to a 5.281-second win, pocketing the 25 championship points that come with it.
“It just feels really good to get a win today after crashing three laps in yesterday, especially just after kind of being in a rut lately. I saw plus 3.5 on my board and I was like, ‘Let’s just take this home.’ It feels really good. Obviously, it’s unfortunate I crashed yesterday. I thought it was pretty much all over points-wise going into today. I think it was good for me,though, because I just went out with the intention to win. Don’t go ride careful or nothing like that. Just put your head down and go race. Go race to win. I felt like I rode loose. I felt like I rode good. We’re back in it.”
Gerloff had a solid weekend at Sonoma and leaves Northern California with a win and a second place.
Garrett Gerloff
“My team gave me an awesome bike today, I really felt good on it. Wasn’t too different from yesterday. Yesterday I ran the softest front compound there was, and it ended up shredding on me at the end of the race. I tried the little bit harder compound this morning and just hated it. I didn’t like it. I was hoping that with the higher temperature today and stuff that the soft would maybe go a little bit longer, and I think it did but just not the whole race. It sucks. I wish I could have adapted a little bit better to the green tire this morning, but we just didn’t want to take the chance. I felt good at the beginning of the race. Ran off in the chicane on the fifth lap or sixth lap, which helped him (Beaubier) get out a little bit farther in front. Just did everything I could to try to kind of reel him back in. Felt like I was, to a certain extent, but then with like nine laps to go, my front was just so gone that I had trouble just turning the bike into the chicane and the last corner. Just really heavy braking front load corners. That was it. Kind of sucks, but we learned a lot this weekend. It was still a good weekend. First and second is not too bad. It’s cool that we’re right there in the championship, more or less. It feels good. Just try to keep taking steps forward. I’m really excited for Pittsburgh. It’s a track I really like. See how it goes there.”
Third place on Sunday went to Josh Herrin, the Yoshimura Suzuki rider making up for yesterday’s first-lap crash.
Josh Herrin
“It feels good, it sucks coming in being on a factory team and seeing these guys that are expecting a win and not doing good. Not to say that third is great, but I think all of us could say at the team that it feels pretty good today. This weekend hasn’t been good at all. A lot of people have been struggling, besides these two. Like I said, it feels really good. I’m happy to be up here. Hopefully Pittsburgh treats me a little bit better and we can be fighting up there with these guys at least. That would feel really good if we could at least see them at the end of the race. Thanks to the entire team for putting in all the work. I know it sucks being out in the heat and then having to repair a bike all night, so thank you to Jimmy, Frenchie, Ollie, Davey, all the guys, Scott, for putting in the work. Congrats to these guys. I look forward to going to Pittsburgh.”
As much as he gained in Saturday’s race, Elias lost in Sunday’s.
Toni Elias
“We made a little change to the front fork, I was feeling comfortable because I went with the medium tire and I was expecting a great race from mid-race to the end. I was in a good rhythm behind Cameron (Beaubier). I didn’t feel like I was pushing. I didn’t feel like I made a mistake or braked too late, but maybe with the change I did in the front, it was too hard and I just lost the front in one of the bumps. I’m sorry for the team, but I want to look in a positive way. We still have a 34-point lead. It’s not 59 like it was yesterday, but it’s still 34. We still have six races and we’ll see what happens.”
Fourth place went to Mathew Scholtz, the South African finishing third on Saturday. Scholtz battled with Herrin for most of the race and also had JD Beach nipping at his heels for the duration. Beach ended up just over a second behind in fifth place, a day after the Kentuckian finished fourth.
Jake Gagne was sixth, some four seconds ahead of Cameron Petersen. David Anthony rebounded from a crash in yesterday’s race to finish eighth. Jeremy Coffey and Sam Verderico rounded out the top 10.
With the series heading to Pittsburgh International Race Complex in two weeks, Elias leads the title chase, 266-232, over Beaubier with Gerloff third on 226. Beach is fourth with 159 points, 11 better than Herrin.
EBC Brakes Superbike
Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha) +5.281
Josh Herrin (Suzuki) +21.832
Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) +26.470
JD Beach (Yamaha) +27.796
EBC Brakes Superbike Standings
Toni Elias 266
Cameron Beaubier 232
Garrett Gerloff 226
JD Beach 159
Josh Herrin 148
Mathew Scholtz 139
Jake Lewis 121
Cameron Petersen 90
David Anthony 84
Jake Gagne 83
Max Flinders 65
Supersport – Saturday
After the Supersport race was red-flagged because of a crash on the first lap, it was re-started, and Hayden Gillim went to the front and hung on to a narrow lead to capture his fifth win of the season.
Second-place finisher and current championship leader Bobby Fong closed the gap to Gillim as the laps wound down and brought his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki home in second. As a result, Gillim closed the points gap to just 13 behind Fong. Third place went to PJ Jacobsen.
In Sunday’s Supersport race, PJ Jacobsen notched his second win of the season after passing Bobby Fong late in the race. Fong, who is leading the championship, tried a couple of times to get back around Jacobsen, but he used discretion to maintain his second-place position rather than put valuable points in jeopardy. Bryce Prince put his Yamaha on the podium in third.
PJ Jacobsen
“Right from the beginning with the bike I felt really good. It was weird. In the beginning, everyone was running low 40s, high 39s. The pace was really slow. When that was happening, I felt really good. So, I just wanted to move to the front. I haven’t been there so much, but I just decided I wanted to go to the front and just try to lead this thing until the end, and I just pushed as hard as I could. The team, Celtic HSBK Racing, gave me a great bike today. We made some changes overnight, really just with some gearing and a little bit of the suspension. It was working really good. I’m pretty pumped. Also, Jake Zemke helped me with some line choices. I was struggling in the esses with these guys yesterday. So, I think I got everything pretty right today.”
In Liqui Moly Junior Cup race one, Rocco Landers won his eighth race out of 10 so far this season, and though he notched the victory in dominant fashion, it was not without drama.
The Californian had a couple of “moments” during the nine-lap event where he and his Kawasaki were not in sync, but the talented 14-year-old maintained his composure to take the checkers by a little over one and a half seconds over second-place finisher Kevin Olmedo. Third place went to Marc Edwards, the local rider also aboard a Kawasaki.
Liqui Moly Junior Cup Race 1
Rocco Landers (Kawasaki)
Kevin Olmedo (Kawasaki) +1.513
Marc Edwards (Kawasaki) +1.584
Josh Serne (Kawasaki) +1.659
Brenden Ketelsen (Kawasaki) +7.089
Liqui Moly Junior Cup – Sunday
Sunday’s Liqui Moly Junior Cup race-two podium was a carbon copy of Saturday’s result. Rocco Landers tallied his ninth win out of 11 races so far this season, but the 12-lap event was a battle between him and Kevin Olmedo, who led the majority of the laps.
Landers seemed to be biding his time, and on the final lap, he pounced and passed Olmedo for the lead, and ultimately, the win. Local rider Marc Edwards matched his third-place finish on Saturday with another third place on Sunday aboard his Kawasaki.
Rocco Landers
“I didn’t have an exact plan as to what corner I’d pass him in, but the couple laps to the end, I just started trying to see what was going on, just tried to step back and think about it, I really wanted to see what I could do. On the last lap there, I was just following him a little bit. Coming up towards the end, I was like, ‘I got a good run. Just see what happens here.’ I came up on him and got by him. It was a very fun race. He was going so fast, and so was everyone.”
The weekend’s Stock 1000 race saw local rider, defending class champion, and current points leader Andrew Lee get his fourth victory of the season with a dominant performance that saw him start from the pole, get the holeshot into turn one, and lead every one of the 14 laps to the checkers aboard his Kawasaki.
Michael Gilbert also rode his Kawasaki to second place after getting by Geoff May with just two laps to go in the race. May finished third to round out the podium.
Andrew Lee
“The Franklin Armory/Graves Kawasaki crew has been working really hard lately, getting a bike underneath me that I can go out there and ride to my full potential today. The bike was just feeling really great. I got a good start, and I knew these guys were going to be breathing down my neck. After qualifying, I felt like I had some pretty good pace underneath me. I was looking at the pit board and I was like, ‘Man.’ The grip wasn’t great for me. I was just clicking my markers and getting lap in, lap out, just trying to stay consistent. I’m just happy to come away with three wins in a row. So, hopefully, moving forward we can keep it going.”
Andrew Lee – MotoAmerica 2019 Round 7, Sonoma Raceway
The Twins Cup race saw a big shakeup in the championship after points leader Michael Barnes’ Ducati had a technical issue, which took him out of the race lead, out of the race, and unfortunately, out of the championship lead.
Twins Cup – MotoAmerica 2019 Round 7, Sonoma Raceway
Alex Dumas then took over the lead, put his head down, and stretched out a gap of more than 12-seconds by the time he took the checkers. Second place went to Draik Beauchamp, while Joseph Blasius finished a close third.
The race result vaulted Beauchamp into the championship lead with 108 points, Dumas is in second with 107-points, and Barnes was shuffled down to third in the standings. But, he has 106-points, so only three points separate the top three title contenders.
Alex Dumas
“Michael (Barnes) passed me on the first lap coming into the last corner, he was going pretty fast. I followed him for two or three laps until he had a problem. I didn’t know if I could win. I was catching him at some places on the track where I was faster, and he was pulling a gap on me at other places. It was really hard to just keep up with him and stay behind him really close to make a pass. It was pretty much a lonely race at the end. I just took it home, and I’m really happy.”
Alex Dumas – MotoAmerica 2019 Round 7, Sonoma Raceway
Toni Elias claimed the Saturday Superbike win at Laguna Seca, with Garrett Gerloff and Cameron Beaubier completing the podium, to kick off the weekend. Sunday would see Gerloff claim the Race 2 win, with a 4.449-second lead over championship leader Elias, with third places Beaubier now has a 39-point deficit to contend with.
Garrett Gerloff and Toni Elias battled it out over the weekend – 2019 MotoAmerica Round 6 – Laguna Seca
Supersport saw a single race for the weekend, run on Sunday, where Bobby Fong took the win from PJ Jacobsen and Richie Escalante, with a crash by standings leader Gillim catapaulting Fong to an 18-point lead.
Andrew Lee claimed the Stock 1000 race win, while Kaleb DeKeyrel came out on top in the Twins Cup. Rocco Landers continued his domination of the Liqui Moly Junior Cup class, with another win.
Superbikes 1
Toni Elias may not have led any of the practice or qualifying sessions at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, but he led the only thing that paid points on Saturday as the Spaniard raced to his sixth EBC Brakes Superbike win of the season in the Championship of Monterey.
Elias won a battle between himself and the Yamaha Factory Racing duo of Garrett Gerloff and Cameron Beaubier, the Texan getting the better of his three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion teammate Beaubier to finish second, and .778 of a second behind Elias.
With Elias winning and Beaubier finishing third, the points gap has grown to 35 points, 226-191, heading into Sunday’s second of two EBC Brakes Superbike races at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Toni Elias
“I’m happy. My team did an amazing job. My family is here. My son is here. It’s his first race ever for him. Thirty-five points now in the lead of the championship, but as you all know, you can’t get too comfortable. Mistakes can happen. You’ve got to stay calm. There’s still many, many races to go. Today has been a really good race but doesn’t mean anything tomorrow. These guys will improve some details. The championship is so long, and many things will happen. My championship lead had some advantage riding in one race in MotoAmerica, and then in the corner of the race I crashed. So, I lost almost everything. But we are increasing it again, so that’s good. Let’s keep doing every race like this, keep going, working like this. We are doing a great job.”
Gerloff finished on the podium for the eighth time this season and for the seventh race in a row. It was also his third runner-up finish of the year as he searches for his first career Superbike win. Beaubier was visibly disappointed with third place and his ninth podium finish of the season.
Toni Elias on the podium with Toni Jr. on Saturday – 2019 MotoAmerica Round 6 – Laguna Seca
Herrin crashed after making contact with Beaubier, the Georgian battling for the lead at the time. Fourth place went to JD Beach, the Kentucky resident in the mix at the front until the closing laps. He finished 7.8 seconds behind Elias but was well clear of Jake Lewis, the Kentuckian racing to fifth all alone.
David Anthony was sixth, narrowly topping Cameron Petersen. Sam Verderico, Jeremy Coffey and Max Flinders rounded out the top 10 finishers. In addition to Herrin, Mathew Scholtz, Jayson Uribe and Kyle Wyman all crashed out of the race. Uribe and Wyman went down together in turn two on the opening lap with Wyman suffering a suspected broken wrist.
Superbikes Race 2
Garrett Gerloff fulfilled a life-long dream in the Championship of Monterey on Sunday, the 23-year-old Texan winning the first MotoAmerica Superbike race of his career in front of a record crowd at Laguna Seca.
In what was his 32nd career Superbike race in his sophomore season in the class, Gerloff was dominant. The two-time Supersport Champion was second off the start behind Toni Elias, made the pass early, and was never headed, pulling away to a 4.449 second win.
With Gerloff, who earned his second career Superbike pole position on Saturday, riding off into the sunset, the battle for second was just that. A battle. The protagonists were Toni Elias and Cameron Beaubier, and the pair exchanged body blows to the bitter end with Elias coming out on top by just .326 of a second after 23 laps of the 2.2-mile track.
“It feels so good, I was telling the TV earlier, I know it’s just a race win and these guys get wins all the time and I used to, but I haven’t for a while. There’s been a lot of emotions the past year and a half, getting used to the Superbike and everything. These guys haul ass everywhere. It’s tough, stiff competition out there. It’s been a long road. There’s been a lot of ups and downs. To finally get it and to do it here even more in front of the World Superbike guys and everything, it’s just something that I’ve wanted for so long, something that’s been on my bucket list forever. When I started racing, I was watching the MotoAmerica guys, AMA guys back in the day. That was one of the things that I wanted to accomplish in my life. To finally say that I got just one win, it just feels awesome. I’m ecstatic, for sure.”
The second-place finish for Elias may not have been a win on the day, but it was as far as the championship goes as he now leads Beaubier by 39 points, 246-207. Gerloff, meanwhile, is third in the series standings with 181 points after his first career Superbike victory. Beaubier was third for the second day in a row after controlling most of practice and qualifying.
Garrett Gerloff leading Toni Elias – 2019 MotoAmerica Round 6 – Laguna Seca
Fourth place went Elias’ Suzuki teammate Josh Herrin, the Georgian in the mix for second place early in the race before fading back to the clutches of JD Beach, the Kentuckian beaten up from a morning crash in the first of two World Superbike races on Sunday. Herrin was able to beat Beach to the line by some two seconds.
Mathew Scholtz rebounded from a race crash yesterday to finish sixth today, the South African holding off Jake Gagne at the finish. Jake Lewis was eighth with Cameron Petersen and Jayson Uribe rounding out the top 10 finishers.
Weekly Moto News Wrap proudly brought to you by Dunlop
What happened this week
Red flagged mud fest at Hattah 2019
Eli Tomac & Dylan Ferrandis top RedBud National
Tim Gajser & Jorge Prado win MXGP of Indonesia
Sam Sunderland wins Silk Way Rally Round 2
Emil Sayfutdinov claims first SGP win for six years in Sweden
2019 Speedway of Nations Finals teams announced
Rockhampton to host 2020 KTM AJMX
Dean Wilson confirmed to join AUS-X Open Melbourne
Red flagged mud fest at Hattah 2019
The 2019 Hattah Desert Race will go down in history as one of the most challenging, yet shortest races since it began. Heavy rain and hail pounded the event shortly after the scheduled eight-lap race commenced. The sheer volume of water restricted emergency vehicle access and the decision was made to cut the event short to four-laps.
Daniel Milner – Image by John Pearson Media
KTM duo Daniel Milner and Lyndon Snodgrass delivered a spectacular 1-2 finish, despite the conditions, with Milner having qualified fastest following Saturday’s Prologue with a blistering 2m45.417s lap-time set in the Top 10 Shootout, while Snodgrass recorded the third-fastest lap overall.
Contested in difficult, muddy conditions after rain arrived on Sunday morning, Milner claimed his second-career Hattah victory and clinching the Over 450cc 4-Stroke class win in the process. Milner’s effort was even more remarkable since he has been recovering from a broken collarbone sustained six weeks prior to Hattah, as well as tendonitis, limiting his seat time in the lead-up to what is recognised as one of the most gruelling races in the sport.
Daniel Milner – P1
“It’s such a good feeling to win Hattah after breaking my collarbone six weeks ago and undergoing surgery before I then had tendon problems in the opposite arm once I was back on the bike. I’d only had four days on the bike and one day of testing, so to bring it home is an unbelievable feeling and the KTM 500 EXC-F is such a weapon to ride! Things went our way in the race and we didn’t miss a beat – the bike was very similar to how I rode it last year in terms of set-up. It really was a matter of making sure we could get through the race and it became a case of survival, so I was being as consistent as possible. The decision to cut the race short was the right one in those conditions and I’m really happy to get another outright win here, that’s for sure.”
Daniel Milner – Image by John Pearson Media
Snodgrass also put forward a phenomenal ride on the KTM 450 EXC-F to not only claim an outright podium, but also comfortably score the 251cc-450cc 4-Stroke class win over eight minutes clear of his closest rival.
Lyndon Snodgrass – P2
“Today was a crazy one with all that rain coming down, making it a really tough mud race in the desert, so to finish second outright and first in class was definitely awesome. The Prologue was important and we did well in that, so today I tried to have the cleanest race possible all the way through to the end – it was a matter of survival in those conditions by the time we got to the last lap and especially towards the end. The KTM 450 EXC-F was faultless all weekend and we managed to get one position better than last year, so I’m rapt with that result.”
Lyndon Snodgrass – Image by John Pearson Media
KTM riders filled four of the top five positions outright, including Lachlan Terry in fourth and Davey Motorsports KTM’s Mason Semmens in fifth. Semmens won the Under 19s division, while KTM-mounted Jess Moore was also victorious in the Ladies Tenacious Women of Hattah category.
Claiming second in his class and an very impressive third outright was Josh Green, who on board the WR450F contested the 251 to 450cc 4 stroke class and was in good form all weekend. Despite a heavy fall on lap two, Green soldiered on for a top result in his typical style.
Josh Green
“This race is always one of the toughest of the year in dry conditions so when you add a heap of rain, it just becomes even tougher,” Green begins. “My first lap was pretty good but then on lap two, with the track getting hammered by the rain, I went over the ‘bars as I tried to plough through a deep, boggy spot. I have done some damage to my wrist and I will need to get hat checked out this week as its really sore now but while I was still warm and had some grip strength, I kept on going. If it had gone the full distance, I’m not sure if the wrist would have held up but I was fortunate to get to the finish line with a good result. Thanks to the team again. They earned their money from this event.”
Josh Green – Image by John Pearson Media
The Motul Pirelli Sherco duo of Andy Wilksch and Nathan Trigg also began the Hattah Desert Race weekend in good form. Trigg posting the sixth fastest qualifying time and Wilksch just missing out on the top ten in eleventh. When the main race began and the heavens opened up, both riders put their 500 SEF Factory models to task while mayhem spread through the field.
At the completion of the fourth lap, Wilksch had powered his way to sixth with Trigg close behind in seventh. It was a solid performance by both riders in incredibly wild conditions.
Andy Wilksch – P6
“Our weekend came together pretty good in the end. The race was short and sharp in comparison to what we prepared for and the 500 Factory definitely played a part in our success. The extra power made it easy and our bikes didn’t wear out. Reliability was key in those conditions. Our bikes are strong and reliable and with the track deteriorating so rapidly each lap, the power of the 500 let me make passes down the straights. The bikes just ate the conditions with ease. I’ve never been able to crack the top ten at Hattah before so to get sixth feels like a bonus.”
Andy Wilksch – Image by John Pearson Media
Nathan Trigg was relishing the challenge and despite suffering a crash while avoiding a lapped rider, Trigg thoroughly enjoyed the experience of a wet Hattah, and took seventh overall.
Nathan Trigg – P7
“I had a couple of stacks in the rain, but somehow I was having fun. It was actually the most fun I’ve had at Hattah. I was hoping to qualify a bit higher up the order for a better starting position, but I still got going okay. The bike was awesome and really strong. It was just unreal, and I had a ball riding it. I didn’t even know what position I was in towards the end, but I rode the best I could and was happy to get a good result.”
Nathan Trigg – Image by John Pearson Media
Jack Simpson was able to take third in the 450cc 4-stroke class, after qualifying seventh outright, while a scary crash in lap one cost him dearly as he lost precious time on the leaders.
Jack Simpson – P8
“I lost it on the first lap. I had one of the biggest crashes in my life, several riders commented on it after the race, one saying it was the biggest crash he had ever seen. I am lucky to have gotten away with only bumps and bruises and I am fortunate that the bike was still rideable. The crash rattled me but once I got going I was riding on adrenalin. The hardest part was racing in the conditions. The track was flooded in some areas, people were creating new lines, and some parts of the track became 50 meters wide. It ended up being a battle of survival.”
Jack Simpson
Michael Driscoll took the win in the up to 250cc 4 stroke class on his WR250F and regardless of the conditions, was well in control of his division after a common sense start saw him soon gain the lead and never let it go, in a strong performance for the 19 year old off road gun, with 13th in the outright result as well.
Michael Driscoll – P13
“I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry after all that. I was so looking forward to this race and I know how much work everyone on the team put in for it, so it was such a shame to have these conditions to race in. The bikes are destroyed and it was sketchy getting around out there as the rain, the mud, the bog holes as well as fallen or stranded riders meant it was like riding through a mine field. It was good to get the class win and tick off another goal for the season but I feel for the guys having to clean all this mess up and get our team bikes back into good condition again. Thank you to them and all our team sponsors for a huge effort that will still be going long after this weekend is over.”
Defending Hattah Desert Race champion Daniel Sanders and the Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team had a rough weekend, in contention for victory until encountering difficulties in the closing stages. Sanders had immediately established himself at the front of the field on race-day Sunday, which was greeted with torrential rain-soaked, muddy conditions.
It appeared Sanders was on his way to the win until the prevalent water caused a suspected problem with the electrics, forcing him to stop and rectify the issue with timely assistance from his Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team crew. He went on to claim 14th position outright despite losing 20 minutes and seventh in the Over 450cc 4-Stroke category.
Daniel Sanders – P14
“It’s very disappointing because the team and I put a lot of effort into this one event each year. Obviously the weather today played a part and we started strongly, but unfortunately, the issue meant we gave away the win because I felt as though the race was mine at that point. The track was full of puddles because of the rain falling and we were hitting them at high-speed, so that could have led to the problem. We ended up getting going again and I brought it home to the finish, but it wasn’t to be today.”
Daniel Sanders – Image by John Pearson Media
Penrite Honda Racing’s 250cc rider Mark Grove pushed as hard as he could in the challenging conditions to take second in his class.
Mark Grove – P19
“It was harder to see than explainable, racing the 250cc in these conditions was twice as tough as it be if it was dry, the bigger bikes were creating roost that would fill your goggles in, people were crashing and it was even hard to see fallen riders. I understand why they cut it short. It was the toughest Hattah I have ever done.” Grove commented.
Mark Grove
Emma Milesevic, a Honda Genuine Ride Red rider also excelled on her way to second in the women’s class and 37th outright. This year marked the first time women had finished inside the top 40 outright and the team were very pleased with her commitment to the race.
Emma Milesevic
Honda’s Junior Factory Rider Madi Healey, of team BCP Pro Circuit Honda took first place in the Junior girls class on the CRF250R, and convincingly so, winning by over 20 minutes. This was Healey’s hat trick event at Hattah, having won the last three years in a row.
Madi Healey
The second of the Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team entries, Fraser Higlett, encountered difficulties of his own in qualifying and started from 38th, but quickly sliced his way to sixth in the opening laps before the treacherous conditions ultimately ended his day on lap three of the four run.
Fraser Higlett – DNF
“Today was a rough one for me in the end, but I did my best toward the start of the race and we were looking good for a number of laps. I charged through the field in the tough conditions all the way up to sixth, so that was positive and I was feeling good in the mud. To start out of 38th definitely made things harder than they could have been and I’m disappointed with how the race finished for me, but we will be back and I will see what I can do next year.”
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2019 Hattah Desert Race Outright Top 20
Daniel MILNER 2:14:22.051
Lyndon SNODGRASS 2:17:43.210
Joshua GREEN 2:26:02.086
Lachlan TERRY 2:26:03.909
Mason SEMMENS 2:26:17.291
Andrew WILKSCH 2:27:16.808
Nathan TRIGG 2:28:35.600
Jack SIMPSON 2:31:21.448
Jeremy CARPENTIER 2:31:52.831
Alex BOLTON 2:31:55.139
Stefan GRANQUIST 2:32:52.585
Sam DAVIE 2:33:07.569
Michael DRISCOLL 2:33:40.942
Daniel SANDERS 2:34:34.965
William PRICE 2:35:27.517
Lee STEPHENS 2:35:27.958
Geoff BRAICO 2:37:40.882
Broc GRABHAM 2:38:30.951
Mark GROVE 2:38:40.017
Jesse LAWTON 2:39:37.173
Senior Race
Daniel MILNER 2:14:22.051
Lyndon SNODGRASS +3:21.159
Joshua GREEN +11:40.035
Up-to 250cc 4stroke
Michael DRISCOLL 2:33:40.942
Mark GROVE 2:38:40.017
Hunter SEMMENS 2:39:37.576
Up-to 250cc 2stroke
Danielle FOOT 3:00:07.677
Jacob EUSTACE 3:00:23.466
Nathan HOWE 2:14:53.708
251cc & over 2stroke
Sam HANDLEY 2:15:51.541
Michael COLLINS 2:42:29.845
Trent PUDDY 2:45:31.076
251-450cc 4Stroke
Lyndon SNODGRASS 2:17:43.210
Joshua GREEN 2:26:02.086
Jack SIMPSON 2:31:21.448
Ladies Tenacious Women of Hattah
Jessica MOORE 2:46:54.604
Emma MILESEVIC 2:49:28.301
Jessica GARDINER 3:06:28.552
Under 19s
Mason SEMMENS 2:26:17.291
William PRICE 2:35:27.517
Korey MCMAHON 2:41:00.258
Veterans 35-44yrs
Lee STEPHENS 2:35:27.958
David JONGEBLOED 2:53:43.870
Steven POWELL 2:14:47.039
Masters 45yrs & over
Kevin ARCHER 2:58:42.708
Peter TAYLOR 2:16:24.770
Lou STYLIANOU 2:18:12.841
Juniors – Small Wheel
Angus RIORDAN 1:56:50.679
Samuel PRETSCHERER +1:26.648
Blake HOLLIS +3:45.381
Juniors – Big Wheels
Angus RIORDAN 1:56:50.679
Samuel PRETSCHERER +1:26.648
Blake HOLLIS +3:45.381
Weekly Moto News Wrap proudly brought to you by Dunlop
Eli Tomac & Dylan Ferrandis top RedBud National
The American motocross Independence Day tradition brought the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship to the seventh round of the 2019 season, with Michigan’s RedBud MX celebrating the 4th of July by kicking off the second half of the racing series with the RedBud National.
The storied track produced heated competition across both classes, with Eli Tomac and Dylan Ferrandis claiming victory. Aussie Hunter Lawrence also went 8-4 for fifth overall.
RedBud National 2019 – AMA Motocross
Tomac’s third win of the season further strengthened his hold on the championship lead in the 450 Class. One year after he endured a misfortune-plagued afternoon at RedBud, the reigning champ returned in search of redemption and successfully grabbed his second victory in three years at the track. He’s now more than 30-points clear of Marvin Musquin in the standings.
Eli Tomac
“Overall, it was a really good day for us, I had been feeling good all day. It has been a little bit rough the last couple of weeks, but the first moto was a really good way to start the day and get things turned back around. I think that I had some better lines in the first moto, but I was able to move up and get the job done in the second moto.”
Eli Tomac – RedBud National 2019 – AMA Motocross
450 Class Overall Results (Moto Finish)
Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki (1-2)
Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Husqvarna (2-4)
Marvin Musquin, France, KTM (7-1)
Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., KTM (3-5)
Ken Roczen, Germany, Honda (6-3)
Justin Bogle, Cushing, Okla., KTM (4-6)
Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., KTM (5-9)
Benny, Bloss, Oak Grove, MO., KTM (9-8)
Dean Wilson, United Kingdom, Husqvarna (12-7)
Fredrik Noren, Sweden, Suzuki (8-13)
450 Podium 1) Eli Tomac, 2) Jason Anderson, 3) Marvin Musquin – RedBud National 2019 – AMA Motocross
450 Class Championship Standings
Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki – 304
Marvin Musquin, France, KTM – 270
Ken Roczen, Germany, Honda – 264
Jason Anderson, Edgewood, N.M., Husqvarna – 252
Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., KTM – 238
Zach Osborne, Abingdon, Va., Husqvarna – 227
Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., Yamaha – 170
Blake Baggett, Grand Terrace, Calif., KTM – 159
Justin Bogle, Cushing, Okla., KTM – 150
Dean Ferris, Australia, Yamaha – 136
Ferrandis had been knocking on the door of his first win of the 250 Class season for several weeks, and he finally broke through with a dominant outing at RedBud.
Dylan Ferrandis – RedBud National 2019 – AMA Motocross
The Frenchman put forth the first 1-1 outing of the season in the division, which resulted in the third victory of his career. It marked the fifth RedBud victory for Star Yamaha in the past six seasons, and the win also moved Ferrandis into second in the 250 Class standings.
Dylan Ferrandis
Finishing the day with two moto wins and the overall, honestly I couldn’t have expected a better weekend. My bike was really good, and I felt very comfortable on it today. We improved a lot on it with the team, and I want to thank them all for the hard work they put in every day for me to get the best bike possible. Getting ready for the outdoors is tough after a long Supercross season, so it took me time but finally we are where we want. Now we’re going take some rest before getting back to work and get ready for Millville in two weeks.”
Dylan Ferrandis – RedBud National 2019 – AMA Motocross
250 Class Overall Results (Moto Finish)
Dylan Ferrandis, France, Yamaha (1-1)
Adam Cianciarulo, Port Orange, Fla., Kawasaki (5-2)
Justin Cooper, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Yamaha (3-6)
RJ Hampshire, Hudson, Fla., Honda (2-8)
Hunter Lawrence, Australia, Honda (8-4)
Ty Masterpool, Paradise, Texas, Yamaha (4-11)
Colt Nichols, Muskogee, Okla., Yamaha (11-5)
Michael Mosiman, Sebastopol, Calif., Husqvarna (10-7)
Brandon Hartranft, Brick, N.J., Yamaha (6-12)
Cameron McAdoo, Sioux City, Iowa, KTM (9-10)
250 Podium 1) Dylan Ferrandis 2) Adam Cianciarulo, 3) Justin Cooper – RedBud National 2019 – AMA Motocross
250 Class Championship Standings
Adam Cianciarulo, Port Orange, Fla., Kawasaki – 307
Dylan Ferrandis, France, Yamaha – 282
Justin Cooper, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Yamaha – 281
Colt Nichols, Muskogee, Okla., Yamaha – 204
RJ Hampshire, Hudson, Fla., Honda – 200
Hunter Lawrence, Australia, Honda – 193
Michael Mosiman, Sebastopol, Calif., Husqvarna – 173
Chase Sexton, La Moille, Ill., Honda – 167
Alex Martin, Millville, Minn., Suzuki – 165
Shane McElrath, Canton, N.C., KTM – 129
The 2019 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will take a weekend break before resuming on Saturday, July 20, from Spring Creek Raceway.
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Tim Gajser & Jorge Prado win MXGP of Indonesia
MXGP rolled into Palembang for the first of two back-to-back rounds in Indonesia, with Tim Gajser claiming the overall win despite tough competition from Romain Febvre, with consistency proving key, and Gajser now sitting on 488 points, with Antonio Cairoli in second place in the standings on 358 but continuing to recover from injury, prematurely ending his title fight.
Race 1 saw Tim Gajser take a clear win from Max Anstie and Jeremy Seewer, while Romain Febvre missed the podium in fourth.
Tim Gajser – MXGP of Indonesia 2019
Romain Febvre made his come-back in Race 2 with Tim Gajser taking runner up position, just 3.2-seconds back, with Glenn Coldenhoff taking the final podium position. Jeremy Seewer was just off the podium in fourth and currently sits third in the standings.
Tim Gajser
“I am really happy on how the GP went today, because after yesterday I knew it would bed hard to do two good races. The first race I could extend the lead and the second I had an amazing jump out of the gate and I was leading then I made a mistake and Roman and Jeremy passed me, but I managed to pass Jeremy but I didn’t even push for Roman as he was too far ahead. Eventually I felt really comfortable and I want to say a huge thanks to the team.”
Tim Gajser – MXGP of Indonesia 2019
Romain Febvre
“It has been too long since I won a race. I knew I had the speed since many GPs but I couldn’t make the start. I was frustrated. I had a good start in the second race, I was third, took the lead and made a gap and it was much easier than the first race. Now I am really looking for an overall win.”
Romain Febvre – MXGP of Indonesia 2019
Jeremy Seewer
“It was a tough race even if my starts were great. This is one of the toughest races of the year for me but I’m happy on how the GP went. Now I just want to relax a bit before the next week in Semarang but it’s good that I could take some breathe on the championship chase. My season didn’t start really well but now that I’m having consistent results I just wish to keep going.”
Romain Febvre & Jeremy Seewer – MXGP of Indonesia 2019
MXGP – GP Classification Top 10
Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 47 points
Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 43
Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 38
Max Anstie (GBR, KTM), 37
Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 36
Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 30
Pauls Jonass (LAT, HUS), 27
Brian Bogers (NED, HON), 22
Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, HUS), 22
Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KTM), 21 …15. Lewis Stewart (AUS, KTM) 13 …16. Adam Coles (AUS, Husqvarna) 11
MXGP – World Championship Classification Top 10
Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 488 points
Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 358
Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 327
Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 318
Arnaud Tonus (SUI, YAM), 304
Arminas Jasikonis (LTU, HUS), 271
Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 256
Pauls Jonass (LAT, HUS), 246
Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, HON), 245
Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 227
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In MX2 Jorge Prado added another win to his tally, however it wasn’t a clean sweep, with Thomas Kjer Olsen taking the Race 2 win, leaving Prado with 47-points to extend his championship lead, while Tom Vialle was second overall thanks to going 2-2, with Kjer Olsen third overall thanks to a 6-1 result.
Jorge Prado – MXGP of Indonesia 2019
Race 1 went to Jorge Prado, with a clear win from Tom Vialle, while Maxime Renaux completed the podium. Aussie Jed Beaton came home in fifth.
In Race 2 Thomas Kjer Olsen took the win from Jorge Prado, with a consistent Tom Vialle third. Jed Beaton likewise remained consistent with another fifth place finish, claiming the same position and 32 championship points for the round.
Jorge Prado
“I was feeling good all weekend, the first race after the crash was quite difficult, but I could make it. I messed up the second race a bit, but I got to second and another GP victory. At the second race I had a good start, got into first, but my teammate was pushing and passed, and I got him at the end. The lap times were short and I struggled a bit. I am just happy with the win for the moment and I’m looking forward for next week.”
Jorge Prado – MXGP of Indonesia 2019
Tom Vialle
“I am really happy to have another fantastic weekend, it was very hot and the last five minutes of the second race were very hard, but I am very happy with this podium.”
Tom Vialle – MXGP of Indonesia 2019
Thomas Kjer Olsen
“The first race was a struggle and I didn’t feel like myself and I was just trying to keep with my team-mate Jed who was riding good. The second race I think everyone was tired, but I really wanted that win and I made it, keeping my energies until the very end.”
Thomas Kjer Olsen – MXGP of Indonesia 2019
Jed Beaton
“It’s been another good GP for me. I felt like Germany was a really good step in the right direction, and that I was finally managing to put things behind me and deliver the pace I know I can. I kind of kept that momentum going here with two more strong results. It was a tough GP, we all knew the heat wasn’t going to be too much fun, but both races went well for me. I’m pleased things are moving in a good direction now, hopefully next weekend will be another positive weekend, too.”
Jed Beaton – MXGP of Indonesia 2019
MX2 – GP Classification Top 10
Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 47 points
Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 42
Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 40
Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 34
Jed Beaton (AUS, HUS), 32
Brent Van doninck (BEL, HON), 28
Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, HON), 26
Henry Jacobi (GER, KAW), 24
Bas Vaessen (NED, KTM), 24
Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 21
MX2 – World Championship Classification
Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 494 points
Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 443
Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 334
Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 326
Henry Jacobi (GER, KAW), 307
Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 246
Mitchell Evans (AUS, HON), 228
Adam Sterry (GBR, KAW), 224
Bas Vaessen (NED, KTM), 209
Jed Beaton (AUS, HUS), 192
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Sunderland wins Silk Way Rally Round 2
Sam Sunderland has taken the win at Stage 2 of the Silk Way Rally in Russia, with 413.63 kilometres covered on similar mixed terrain to the opening stage. A 212km timed special offered an additional challenge, including fast hazardous stony tracks.
Kevin Benavides retains the Rally lead, despite Sam Sunderland taking the Stage 2 win
Sunderland had completed Stage 1 in fifth and had his work cut out for him, in moving towards the series lead, which is still retained by Kevin Benavides, with eight seconds separating the two.
Kevin Benavides was lumped with opening the track for Stage 2 following his Stage 1 win, which he did from start to finish over 212 kilometres of special stage, full of narrow potholed track studded with rocks.
Sam Sunderland
“I’m happy to get stage two finished safely. The day started on similar terrain to yesterday on the forest tracks with lots of trees, vegetation and water splashes. It was extremely important to take note of every single kilometre on your road book and the dangers listed there. It was really important to concentrate on your notes and take in which danger was which. It was hard to get a reference today as there was no refuel, so I wasn’t sure how my pace was all day. It’s always great to win a stage but it wasn’t our strategy for today so we’ll move on an see how the remaining eight days go for us.”
Sam Sunderland – Image by Rally Zone
Kevin Benavides
“I opened the whole stage. We knew it would be hard and very technical with many stones and mud. The narrow tracks were difficult, but I enjoyed it in spite of it being very hard. I think I did it well and I was in a good position. It was technical, fast and with navigation over the final 50 kilometres. I nearly crashed into an animal but luckily he dodged out of my way! You have to be very attentive to everything. The rally is a game of chess, so let’s see how it turns out. I am happy with the result.”
Kevin Benavides
Joan Barreda managed to make it through the tricky stage despite struggling to get the right feel and finished 2’40 adrift of the winner on the day and occupies fifth position in the general standings at a similar distance from the leader.
Joan Barreda
“I felt very good on the slopes today with lots of mud and some potholes with big rocks. I could not find the right feelings and I was looking forward to getting past this section. Then there was a faster part and I felt a lot better there. We finished the day without any problems; I am well placed at a minimum time behind the leader. Everything is going well. I hope that in Mongolia we will find more open stages and I can find places that suit my riding style better.”
Joan Barreda
Stage 1 runner-up Luciano Benavides was second away for Stage 2 and the young Argentinian chose to back off slightly to ensure a safe result in the special. Luciano crossed the line in seventh place, close to three minutes down on Sunderland, and now lies fourth in the overall standings.
Luciano Benavides
“Overall, it was a good day for me. I was able to keep to a solid pace and really enjoyed the first half of the stage. Towards the end I lost my focus a little, the tracks were really fast with some tricky sections and I lost a little time there. After such a challenging stage I’m happy to reach the finish and now look forward to what tomorrow brings.”
Luciano Benavides – Image by Rally ZoneWeekly Moto News Wrap proudly brought to you by Dunlop
Emil Sayfutdinov claims first SGP win for six years in Sweden
Russian racer Emil Sayfutdinov has celebrated his first FIM Speedway Grand Prix win for six years in Hallstavik, Sweden. Sayfutdinov had not celebrated an SGP success since topping the podium at the 2013 British SGP in Cardiff in a year which saw him mount a title charge, before his hopes were dashed by injury.
Speedway GP of Sweden 2019
The Salavat-born star heads to the Speedway of Nations finals in Russian on July 20 and 21 as World Championship leader after winning the Norrbil Swedish SGP final ahead of Martin Vaculik, Maciej Janowski and first-time finalist Max Fricke.
After a three-year absence from the series, Sayfutdinov has been battling to get back on top of the SGP rostrum since 2017. But despite achieving that aim in Hallstavik, he’s not going to celebrate this success for long with six riders separated by five points at the top of the standings.
Emil Sayfutdinov
“It feels amazing. I have been working for that for a long time – six years. When I came back to the SGP series in 2017, it was hard for me. I had my goal and a plan, but it didn’t work. Today everything worked very well and my team is also working very well, so I say thank you to them. I’ll just keep going and looking forward. I scored some good points and now I am leader with Dudek and Madsen. I am really happy about that. But to be honest, I have now forgotten about today. I am just concentrating and I know we have a lot more rounds and heats to come. We need to keep scoring the points and it will be good.”
Speedway GP of Sweden 2019
Slovak star Vaculik is firmly in the title hunt as he holds fifth place on 44 points – level with Bartosz Zmarzlik in fourth. While he was unable to take victory in Hallstavik, he was glad to pile up the points.
Third-placed Maciej Janowski – last year’s Hallstavik winner – was delighted to get back on to the SGP podium after a tough start to the season, hampered by the shoulder ligament injury which kept him out of the opening round in Warsaw.
Max Fricke took fourth in Sweden to claim 11-points, while Jason Doyle was 11th, with Doyle currently sitting eighth in the standings, and Fricke 12th.
Speedway GP of Sweden Podium – 1) Sayfutdinov, 2) Vaculik, 3) Janowski
SGP World Championship Standings
Emil Sayfutdinov 47
Patryk Dudek 47
Leon Madsen 47
Bartosz Zmarzlik 44
Martin Vaculik 44
Fredrik Lindgren 42
Niels-Kristian Iversen 32
Jason Doyle 30
Janusz Kolodziej 29
Artem Laguta 27
Matej Zagar 27
Max Fricke 27
Maciej Janowski 24
Robert Lambert 24
Antonio Lindback 23
Tai Woffinden 15
Bartosz Smektala 10
Oliver Berntzon 7
Vaclav Milik 4
Matic Ivacic 2
Norrbil Swedish SGP Scores
Emil Sayfutdinov 17
Martin Vaculik 16
Maciej Janowski 13
Max Fricke 11
Matej Zagar 10
Fredrik Lindgren 10
Bartosz Zmarzlik 8
Niels-Kristian Iversen 8
Leon Madsen 7
Oliver Berntzon 7
Jason Doyle 7
Patryk Dudek 7
Antonio Lindback 6
Artem Laguta 5
Janusz Kolodziej 3
Robert Lambert 3
Pontus Aspgren DNR
Kim Nilsson DNR
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2019 Speedway of Nations Finals teams announced
The FIM Speedway of Nations Finals teams have been confirmed as defending champions Russia name an unchanged team for their title defence in Togliatti on July 20 and 21. With this year’s hosts making history when they won the inaugural SON Finals in Wroclaw last June – Russia’s first senior speedway World Championship of any kind.
Individual World Championship leader Emil Sayfutdinov, Artem Laguta and joint FIM Speedway Under-21 World Championship front-runner Gleb Chugunov will bid to win back-to-back titles in front of a passionate home crowd in the biggest shale meeting ever staged in Russia.
2019 Speedway of Nations Finals teams announced
They face stiff competition from Poland, Sweden, Germany, Great Britain, Australia and Denmark, who all make the trip east in search of gold.
Poland welcome back Maciej Janowski, who was forced out of Race Off 1 in Landshut on May 4 after suffering shoulder ligament damage in a crash 24 hours before the German showdown. He takes Patryk Dudek’s place in the side, partnering world No.2 Bartosz Zmarzlik, with former World Under-21 champion Maksym Drabik named as their junior ahead of Bartosz Smektala.
Sweden name an unchanged team following their Race Off 1 triumph, with world No.3 Fredrik Lindgren partnering the in-form Peter Ljung and Filip Hjelmland named as their under-21.
Great Britain have been forced into a change since their Race Off 2 win in Manchester on May 11 after world champion and captain Tai Woffinden was sidelined with a fractured TH4 vertebra and a broken shoulder blade.
Former FIM Speedway Grand Prix regular Chris Harris steps in for Woffy, joining stand-in skipper Craig Cook and under-21 man Robert Lambert in a side bidding to build on the silver medal they clinched in Wroclaw.
Australia have drafted in Jason Doyle for the trip to Togliatti. He returns in place of Chris Holder after sitting out Race Off 2 due to injury. Hot on the heels of reaching his first ever SGP final in Hallstavik on Saturday, Max Fricke partners Doyle with national under-21 champion Jaimon Lidsey named as their junior.
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Danish boss Hans Nielsen tracks the same three stars who battled their way through Race Off 2 as World Championship frontrunner Leon Madsen links up with seven-time national champion Niels-Kristian Iversen. Frederik Jakobsen is their under-21 rider.
Germany complete the Finals field with Erik Riss replacing Martin Smolinski in the side, with Kai Huckenbeck serving as captain. Lukas Fienhage is selected ahead of Michael Hartel as their under-21 man.
The seven sides will compete over 42 heats – 21 heats on Saturday and 21 on Sunday, with the top scorers progressing automatically into the Grand Final. The second and third-placed countries will then compete in the semi-final for the right to race the leaders for the world title.
Should the semi-final end as a 3-3, the team that scored the most points over 42 heats will progress to the Grand Final. And if the Grand Final ends all square, a run-off featuring one rider from each team will decide the world title.
Speedway of Nations 2019 Preview
2019 Speedway of Nations Final Team Line-Up
RUSSIA: 1 Emil Sayfutdinov (captain), 2 Artem Laguta, 3 Gleb Chugunov (U21). Also in squad: Grigory Laguta, Roman Lakhbaum (U21). Team Manager: Igor Dmitriev.
SWEDEN: 1 Fredrik Lindgren (captain), 2 Peter Ljung, 3 Filip Hjelmland (U21). Also in squad: Antonio Lindback, Alexander Woentin (U21). Team Manager: Morgan Andersson.
POLAND: 1 Maciej Janowski (captain), 2 Bartosz Zmarzlik, 3 Maksym Drabik (U21). Also in squad: Patryk Dudek, Bartosz Smektala (U21). Team Manager: Marek Cieslak.
GERMANY: 1 Erik Riss, 2 Kai Huckenbeck (captain), 3 Lukas Fienhage (U21). Also in squad: Martin Smolinski, Michael Hartel. Team Manager: Herbert Rudolph.
GREAT BRITAIN: 1 Craig Cook (captain), 2 Chris Harris, 3 Robert Lambert (U21). Also in squad: Tai Woffinden, Dan Bewley (U21). Team Manager: Alun Rossiter.
AUSTRALIA: 1 Jason Doyle (captain), 2 Max Fricke, 3 Jaimon Lidsey (U21). Also in squad: Chris Holder, Jordan Stewart (U21). Team Manager: Mark Lemon.
DENMARK: 1 Leon Madsen, 2 Niels-Kristian Iversen (captain), 3 Frederik Jakobsen (U21). Also in squad: Michael Jepsen Jensen, Patrick Hansen. Team Manager: Hans Nielsen.
Speedway of Nations Final Day 1 Draw
A: Germany
B: Denmark
C: Australia
D: Poland
E: Russia
F: Sweden
G: Great Britain
Speedway of Nations Final Day 2 Draw
A: Germany
B: Australia
C: Sweden
D: Poland
E: Russia
F: Great Britain
G: Denmark
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Rockhampton to host 2020 KTM AJMX
With the 2019 running of the KTM Australian Junior Motocross Championship (AJMX) to be held in Gillman, South Australia, Motorcycling Australia have now also announced the 2020 location, with Rockhampton, Queensland locked in for July 6-11, 2020.
AJMX 2018 – Penguin, Tasmania
The KTM AJMX attracts competitors from all across Australia, as well as international hopefuls seeking to make their mark in Australia’s highly competitive MX scene.
Peter Dark – Rockhampton and District MX Club President
“It is a complete honour, and a reward for the effort our members have given to the sport for many years. The event will bring approximately 500 of Australia’s best junior racers from across every state in Australia, including a few international racers.”
Motorcycling Queensland General Manager Kim Rowcliffe said that the Rockhampton District Motocross Club was chosen to host the 2020 Australian Junior Motocross Championships due to its very strong credentials in delivering well run, well promoted, and successful motorcycle events.
Dean Wilson confirmed to join AUS-X Open Melbourne
AUS-X Open promoters have confirmed Dean ‘Deano’ Wilson will be back for his third consecutive year to compete at this year’s Monster Energy AUS-X Open at Marvel Stadium on November 30. The Scottish Thunder will return Down Under after fan outcry to bring the world Number #6 back to Australia left event organisers in a spin.
Dean Wilson – Image by Hoppenworld
The 27 year old raced to a career-best sixth overall during this year’s Monster Energy FIM World Supercross Championship as well as a third-place finish at the Houston round, but after an injury forced him out of the last two rounds, Wilson says he’ll be back for redemption in November and hopes to finish the year off with a bang.
Dean Wilson
“I’m super excited to be returning to the AUS-X Open again this year, my 2019 season was up and down, but I’ll be pushing hard for it in Melbourne, I’ll be definitely out there to get my redemption and come out on top. Obviously I’ve had some amazing results the past two years at AUS-X winning the Saturday night in 2017, and coming in second last year, I feel like I have what it takes third time around Down Under. Australia is such a sick place to visit and this time to be in Melbourne for the first time, I think it will make for the best year of AUS-X yet, the line-up is stacked and I can’t wait to take on the world’s best.”
Dean Wilson – Image by Hoppenworld
Wilson will head to Melbourne for the first time ever, and go up against what is shaping up to be the best International Supercross line-up Australia has ever seen, consisting of two-time World Champion Chad Reed and 2018 World Champion Jason Anderson, world number 10 Justin Brayton, world number eight Joey Savatgy and many more local and international stars. Check out the video below to see Dean receiving his invitation.
Toni Elias claimed the round win at the MotoAmerica Championship of Utah, with Cameron Beaubier having to settle for second in Race 2 after a red flag saw the race restarted as a sprint. In Supersport Hayden Gillim and Bobby Fong shared the wins, with each taking to the top spot on the podium as well as claiming a runner up position.
Rocco Landers took the Race 1 win in the Liqui Moly Junior Cup, but in Race 2 it was Dallas Daniels on the top step, with his first win of the season. In the Stock 1000 class it was defending champ Andrew Lee who took the win, while in the Twins Cup – which also only ran a single race on Sunday – Alex Dumas, who recently moved up from the Junior Cup, took the win.
EBC Brakes Superbike Race 1 (Saturday)
Toni Elias lost a boatload of points when he crashed out of race two at Road America two weeks ago, but he almost made all of those back with a thrilling victory in Race 1 of the Championship of Utah at the Utah Motorsports Campus.
2019 MotoAmerica – Championship of Utah
In a race that featured as many as eight riders in the lead pack for nearly the duration, Elias emerged from the pack to win by 1.9 seconds after dropping as far back as seventh early in the race. But his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 got better as the race wore on and he was where he needed to be when it counted, earning the 29th victory of his MotoAmerica Superbike career – a mark that moves him to fifth on the all-time win list.
Once he worked his way to the front, he was able to pull a slight gap over the rest fighting behind him. In the end, the battle for the final podium positions went to Mathew Scholtz and Garrett Gerloff.
Scholtz’s race was a lot like Elias’ in that he also was back in the pack early in the race but was able to move his way forward. Both Scholtz and Elias were also helped a bit by Gerloff’s pass on JD Beach, with Gerloff forcing Beach and himself wide which allowed Elias and Scholtz to pass. Scholtz also had a come-together with Josh Herrin on his way through the pack.
2019 MotoAmerica – Championship of Utah
Gerloff was having issues with his bike midrace and it cost him. Still, he ended up on the podium after passing his teammate Cameron Beaubier late in the race. Defending three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion and pole-sitter Beaubier ended up fourth after leading the early laps.
Elias now leads the title chase by 21 points over Beaubier, 176-155. He came into the weekend just nine points ahead of Beaubier after his Road America race-two debacle.
EBC Brakes Superbike Race 1
Toni Elias (Suzuki) 35:10.727
Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) +1.969
Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha) +2.463
Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha) +5.473
Jake Lewis (Suzuki) +22.984
EBC Brakes Superbike Race 2 (Sunday)
Toni Elias knew he was beaten by Cameron Beaubier in the first half of the EBC Brakes Superbike race and he was just about to do the unheard of – settle for second place. But things changed when the red flag came out on the 13th lap, giving new life to the Spaniard who took full advantage to hold off Beaubier in a thrilling 10-lap sprint race to the finish.
Toni Elias claims the Superbike double at Utah
The win gave Elias a clean sweep of the two EBC Brakes Superbike races at UMC, the 2017 MotoAmerica Superbike Champion extending his championship points lead to 26 points on Beaubier, 201-175.
Elias ended up just .303 of a second ahead of Beaubier at the finish with Beaubier’s teammate Garrett Gerloff just as close in third – .502 of a second behind Elias after those three scrapped for the entire 10-lap restart.
Toni Elias
“Of course, it’s been a big help,” Elias said of the restart. “I don’t want to see that, but unfortunately it happened. When we saw the red flag, I start to be more comfortable like yesterday. Same thing I had to wait 12, 13 laps, 14 laps to start to be there. When I enter in my feeling, in my place, we could start to produce something every lap. I didn’t know if I was able to catch him or not because he was so strong. He did an amazing job from yesterday. The flag helped us. Then we played our cards. Luck fell on my side with increasing the gap in the championship. But it is long. Anything can happen. Thanks to my team.”
Cameron Beaubier
“I felt great as soon as the lights went out, I just put my head down and pushed there at the beginning. I had a two and a half second gap and I was pretty comfortable at that pace. I was really comfortable. My R1 was just hooking up everywhere. So that was pretty frustrating to see the red flag come out. I knew it was just going to be a dog fight until the end with these two guys, and I knew (Josh) Herrin was back there too. Like I said, it’s frustrating coming in second, but that was an amazing battle. Obviously, I wanted to win, but that was one I’ll definitely look back on. I’m just happy that we were in contention today and we had good pace. I think we had a little pace on everyone. Today we were going in the right direction, and onto Laguna.”
Herrin held on to finish fourth, dropping over nine seconds off the pace after an off-track excursion. He finished a second clear of JD Beach, who in turn was just a tick in front of his Kentucky neighbor Jake Lewis.
EBC Brakes Superbike Race 2
Toni Elias (Suzuki) 15:12.714
Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha) +0.303
Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha) +0.502
Josh Herrin (Suzuki) +9.582
JD Beach (Yamaha) +10.515
EBC Brakes Superbike Standings
Toni Elias 201
Cameron Beaubier 175
Garrett Gerloff 136
Josh Herrin 119
JD Beach 111
Mathew Scholtz 100
Jake Lewis 97
David Anthony 66
Cameron Petersen 65
Kyle Wyman 55
Supersport Race 1 (Saturday)
Hayden Gillim came away with his fourth Supersport win of the year in Race 1 at the Utah Motorsports Campus on Saturday, the Kentuckian coming out on top of a race-long battle with his championship rival Bobby Fong.
Supersport Start – 2019 MotoAmerica – Championship of Utah
Fong, on the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki, gave Gillim all he could for the 14 laps of the 2.2-mile East Course but came up .101 of a second short. Gillim now leads Fong by 12 points in the championship point standings, 122-110.
Third place went to the man who sits in third in the championship – Richie Escalante. Like Gillim, Escalante also had his hands full with an M4 ECSTAR Suzuki – with this one ridden by rookie Sean Dylan Kelly. Escalante beat the 17-year-old Kelly to the line by 0.628 of a second.
Supersport Race 1
Hayden Gillim (Yamaha) 21:46.777
Bobby Fong (Suzuki) +0.101
Richie Escalante (Yamaha) +10.925
Sean Dylan Kelly (Suzuki) +11.553
PJ Jacobsen (Yamaha) +19.967
Supersport – Race 2 Sunday
Sunday’s race was a story of the hunter and the hunted. Bobby Fong got the jump on polesitter Hayden Gillim in the beginning of the 19-lap race, but Gillim managed to get past Fong in fairly short fashion. Fong stalked Gillim until the final turn on the final lap and drafted past him to snatch the victory by .003 of second.
Hayden Gillim – 2019 MotoAmerica – Championship of Utah
It was Fong’s third Supersport race win of the season. PJ Jacobsen finished third when Fong’s teammate Sean Dylan Kelly, who looked to have the final spot on the podium clinched, experienced a mechanical issue on the final lap.
Bobby Fong
“I knew for sure I did not want to lead. I knew he hasn’t seen my cards yet. I did not want to lead. I knew where he was a lot faster than me and I knew where I was strong. I knew for sure that I was going to show him a wheel and stuff, but I definitely didn’t want to lead. I could tell that his pace was dropping at the end of the race. We definitely had a little bit more pace, but I just wanted to stick to the game plan. I knew as soon as I passed him, he’s such a demon on the brakes. We have been figuring stuff out on the Suzuki to brake a little bit deeper out there. I knew for sure if I would have passed him, he would have countered and taken me on the inside on the hard brakes. The plan, it did definitely change but I was sizing it up at least going out of the corner onto the start/finish line. That’s kind of all she wrote. But I’m definitely thankful to put the Suzuki on top of the box. I didn’t know how the last lap was going to go. I kind of just winged it on the last lap. If there was nobody, I was going to take it. I knew for sure that if I could get a good drive, I could get him closer to the start/finish line. Thank God it paid off, but it’s going to be a long season.”
Bobby Fong and Hayden Gillim battle it out – 2019 MotoAmerica – Championship of Utah
Supersport Race 2
Bobby Fong (Suzuki) 29:32.860
Hayden Gillim (Yamaha) +0.003
PJ Jacobsen (Yamaha) +10.264
Bryce Prince (Yamaha) +10.809
Sean Dylan Kelly (Suzuki) +12.319
Supersport Standings
Hayden Gillim 142
Bobby Fong 135
Richie Escalante 107
P.J. Jacobsen 103
Sean Dylan Kelly 102
Bryce Prince 78
Joshua Hayes 72
Nick McFadden 59
Jason Aguilar 56
Braeden Ortt 47
Liqui Moly Junior Cup Race 1 (Saturday)
Rocco Landers won his sixth race in seven starts in the Liqui Moly Junior Cup race on Saturday at UMC, the Oregonian fighting through from a poor start to beat Dallas Daniels by just .142 of a second.
For Daniels it was sixth podium of the year and his fifth runner-up finish to his rival Landers. The pair are now separated by 26 points, 155-129.
Kevin Olmedo earned his fourth podium of the season and his third in a row with a close third-place finish over Isaiah Burleson, his best-ever MotoAmerica finish.
Liqui Moly Junior Cup Race 1
Rocco Landers (Kawasaki) 13:46.193
Dallas Daniels (Kawasaki) +0.142
Kevin Olmedo (Kawasaki) +8.382
Isaiah Burleson (Kawasaki) +8.455
Gauge Rees (Kawasaki) +17.022
Liqui Moly Junior Cup Race 2 (Sunday)
Sunday’s Liqui Moly Junior Cup race featured the same riders at the front who have been consistent protagonists throughout the season, but Dallas Daniels, who started from the pole, successfully held off Rocco Landers and notched his first win of the season.
Landers, who was Saturday’s winner and the victor in six of the seven races prior to Sunday, finished second after nearly beating Daniels to the finish line. Meanwhile, Kevin Olmedo matched his Saturday third-place finish with another third-place finish on Sunday.
Dallas Daniels
“The last section was definitely, I think, where I was the best. I was just kind of watching all race because I knew right from really the first sector, I was really losing time. He would get away from me just enough to where once we’d get to where I was good, I was just too far back to make something happen. So, I kind of dialed in where I was slow. Once I got in the lead, I didn’t really care what was going on. I just wanted to stay up there. I led the last four laps and when we got to the last lap, I knew he was right there because on the Jumbotron you could see him going into the left before the last two corners. So, I just tried to cut the best last two corners of the whole race. I was actually having some tire issues, kind of slipping a little bit. I was able to get the win and ‘finally’ is pretty much the way to put it. It feels really good.”
Dallas Daniels – 2019 MotoAmerica – Championship of Utah
Liqui Moly Junior Cup Race 2
Dallas Daniels (Kawasaki) 16:57.419
Rocco Landers (Kawasaki) +0.044
Kevin Olmedo (Kawasaki) +9.674
Marc Edwards (Kawasaki) +17.495
Benjamin Goody (Kawasaki) +17.787
Liqui Moly Junior Cup Standings
Rocco Landers 175
Dallas Daniels 154
Kevin Olmedo 97
Gauge Rees 72
Dominic Doyle 71
Damian Jigalov 63
Samuel Lochoff 62
Jackson Blackmon 54
Isaiah Burleson 51
Toby Khamsouk 39
Stock 1000 Race 1 (Sunday)
Defending Stock 1000 Champion Andrew Lee showed why he has the big number one as he bided his time after the start of Sunday’s race, passed polesitter Geoff May aboard his Ameris Bank Kawasaki and pulled a healthy gap at the front, which he was able to maintain all the way to the finish line.
Andrew Lee – 2019 MotoAmerica – Championship of Utah
May finished second and Stefano Mesa was third. The win vaulted Lee into the points lead, and Mesa is now two points adrift in second place.
Andrew Lee
“I kind of knew where (May) was a little bit stronger. He had my number on the last part of the track, so I knew if I was going to make a move that would stick, I had to do it in the first four corners. That first section, it’s a pretty hairy section. It’s pretty quick. After some qualifying issues I’m just happy that my team got us back together. The Franklin Armory/Graves Kawasaki was really handling really well in the race. So, I’m just happy to be back in that first spot. Hopefully, we can continue the momentum.”
Andrew Lee – 2019 MotoAmerica – Championship of Utah
Stock 1000 Race 1
Andrew Lee (Kawasaki) 21:50.278
Geoff May (Kawasaki) +2.958
Stefano Mesa (Kawasaki) +6.922
Travis Wyman (BMW) +12.021
Michael Gilbert (Kawasaki) +16.369
Stock 1000 Standings
N/A
Twins Cup Race 1 (Sunday)
The MotoAmerica Championship of Utah proved to be a pivotal round for Alex Dumas, who moved up to the Twins Cup class after winning the 2018 Liqui Moly Junior Cup Championship.
Alex Dumas leads the Twins Cup field – 2019 MotoAmerica – Championship of Utah
The Roadracing World Young Guns Suzuki rider not only earned both the provisional and final pole position, but he made the most of his number-one starting position, got a great start of the line, and pulled a gap, which he stretched out to more than 14 seconds by the time he crossed the finish line.
Michael Barnes finished second, which enabled him to take over the lead in the championship, and Cooper McDonald notched a breakthrough third-place finish aboard his Team AP MotoArts Yamaha in only his fourth professional motorcycle road race.
Alex Dumas
“The M4 guys put me on a nice bike. We’ve been improving the bike a lot since the last couple of weekends. I had a lot of fun at this race to just be in front. I’m excited for the next race and the rest of the season. I really want to thank everybody from M4 and Roadracing World. I’m really excited.”
Toni Elias and Josh Herrin have shared the EBC Brakes Superbike race wins at Road America’s Round 4, with Elias heading to Round 5 in the championship lead. In Supersport Hayden Gillim and Bobby Fong shared the wins, while Rocco Landers dominated the Liqui Moly Junior Cup races.
MotoAmerica head to Road America for Round 4 of the 2019 Championship
Stock 1000 saw Geoff May take the Race 1 win, while Stefano Mesa claimed Race 2 victory. The Twins Cup only held one race over the weekend, on Sunday, with Draik Beauchamp taking the win.
Superbikes Saturday
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Toni Elias won his third race of the season today in the Championship at Road America, the fourth round of the 10-round MotoAmerica EBC Brakes Superbike Championship held in changing conditions in Wisconsin.
Toni Elias – Road America 2019
Elias came out on top of a battle that featured as many as seven riders at times and whittled down to four riders by the end of the race. At the finish line, Elias was .253 of a second ahead of his championship rival Cameron Beaubier to pull 29 points clear of the rider with six rounds and 12 races left in the title chase. Elias has 151 points to Beaubier’s 122.
Elias also earned his second pole position of the season earlier in the day during Superpole, doubling his amount of poles from a season ago. The win was the 28th Superbike victory of Elias’ career and it moved him into a tie with Ben Spies for fifth on the all-time list.
Toni Elias – Road America 2019
Beaubier’s teammate Garrett Gerloff was a shadow third, just .787 of a second behind Elias. He was some two seconds clear of Elias’ teammate Josh Herrin, the Georgian in the mix until the final laps when he and Elias nearly clashed, and Herrin got the worst of it. Herrin was visibly upset after the race, gesturing at his teammate on the cool-down lap. Herrin ran wide on the final lap while trying to beat Gerloff and slipped to fourth.
Mathew Scholtz was fifth, some four seconds behind Herrin and racing alone as he had a 4.3-second lead on his South African countryman Cameron Petersen on the Omega Moto Yamaha YZF-R1.
Seventh place went to JD Beach, the rider in the mix at the front until his bike shut off with a few laps to go. Beach was able to get it going again, but then ran into clutch issues and slipped back to seventh.
Scheibe Racing BMW’s Jake Gagne was eighth with David Anthony ninth. Jake Lewis rounded out the top 10.
Toni Elias on the Saturday Superbike podium – Road America 2019
EBC Brakes Superbike Race 1 Result (Saturday)
Toni Elias (Suzuki) 27:17.351
Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha) +0.253
Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha) +0.787
Josh Herrin (Suzuki) +2.805
Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) +6.890
Superbikes Sunday
Josh Herrin won Sunday’s EBC Brakes Superbike race in the Championship at Road America, but it was Cameron Beaubier who may have come away the biggest winner.
EBC Brakes Superbikes Race 2 – Road America 2019
Herrin was solid throughout the 13-lap EBC Brakes Superbike race and it resulted in his second win of the year and the eighth of his AMA Superbike career, the Georgian holding off Beaubier by .506 of a second at the finish.
Herrin’s win moved him into a tie for 22nd with Tommy Hayden and Wes Cooley on the all-time AMA Superbike win list.
Josh Herrin
“I was comfortable sitting behind Toni (Elias). From just the glance I get at the monitors (JumboTron), it’s nicer to take a glance at the monitors than it is the pit board because it just shows you exactly where they are. I could see that we had a little gap on Cameron (Beaubier), I thought. I was just drafting Toni and then I’d kind of pull up alongside of him. One of the laps, I think he thought I was trying to race him down the back straight and maybe beat him on the brakes. I saw him shake his head and maybe getting frustrated. He just rolled off, like just go. That’s not what I wanted. I wanted to keep doing what you were doing and trying to break those guys because I know our bikes were running fast this year. But somehow it ended up working out in the end. I just knew that on the last lap I wanted to make a pass somewhere that for sure he wasn’t expecting it. I think where I did it was perfect and enough to kind of get him flustered. Then his whole plan kind of goes out the window. He was probably expecting me to go in on Canada Corner and come in a little hot and then cross back underneath him. So, it worked out perfect for me. It kind of felt like COTA all over again. I thought I was going to be able to break him after he made a mistake with three to go. I put my head down and did a couple 12.5s, but it wasn’t enough. I’m super happy with the result, obviously. But frustrated that it’s only my second podium of the year. Two wins are great, but we need more podiums. We’re far back in the points so the rest of the year we really got to put our head down. Now that I’m comfortable on the bike we just got to put our head down and hope for the best.”
Josh Herrin – Road America 2019
Beaubier had been in the lead trio for the majority of the race and was handed second place on a platter when Herrin’s teammate Toni Elias, the winner of Saturday’s race, crashed out of the battle in the final corner. Elias’ miscue not only gifted Beaubier second, it also put the battle back into championship battle as Beaubier gained 20 points on the championship leader and now trails Elias by just nine points, 151-142.
Cameron Beaubier
“Coming into this round I had a lot of confidence, to be honest, just given the record that we’ve had here the last few years, we’ve won quite a few races. I think I have six or seven Superbike wins here. I just love this place. I love this track. It suits my R1 really well. It suits my riding style really well. We’ve just kind of been a little off all weekend. Like I said, I really wanted to win this weekend, but coming out of here with two seconds and riding as hard as I could, like I said earlier I left it all out on the track. I did everything I could just to stay on Josh and Toni’s wheel in the race today. I can be happy with that. Unfortunately for Toni, he crashed but gave us a pretty good chunk in points because we were pretty far back going into the race this afternoon. So now I think it’s nine points, so it’s going to be a dog fight the rest of the season. Both these guys are riding incredible, along with JD (Beach) and Matty (Scholtz) and a couple other guys going into some of the rest of the tracks this year. So, it’s going to make for some really good, exciting racing and I’m looking forward to it.”
Beaubier’s teammate Garrett Gerloff finished third for the second day in a row, the Texan ending up 6.172 seconds behind Herrin. In turn, Gerloff was five seconds ahead of Attack Performance Estenson Racing Yamaha’s JD Beach.
Garrett Gerloff
“Honestly, I’ve got to watch the race over again because I don’t know what happened, it was literally like I was there, felt good, dicing. We were all doing good times. Then just lost the draft. I can’t even remember where. I think it was three. I kind of ran a little bit wide in three and got just a few more bike lengths in-between me and Cameron and the draft was gone and that was it. Just shot off the back. It was kind of unexpected, I guess. It’s frustrating because I felt good. I felt like I had a good bike. Then for that to happen it just sucks. At least I was able to stay there. I figured something might happen on the last lap between these guys and it ended up being Toni’s own fault, I guess. Glad I was able to just keep it on two wheels and to get lucky today and be on the podium. Not ideal, but I’ll take it.”
Mathew Scholtz finished fifth for the second straight day, the South African ending up right on Beach’s tail. Kyle Wyman matched his best finish of the season, the New Yorker finishing sixth – just .069 of a second ahead of Jake Gagne, who had Jake Lewis hot on his heels. Cameron Petersen and Sam Verderico rounded out the top 10 finishers.
Toni Elias – Road America 2019
Toni Elias
“We had a great win on Saturday and then I had the crash today because I flinched in the final turn when Cameron (Beaubier) came in, I could not finish because the handlebar broke off. I congratulate Josh for his win. He has worked hard and is very deserving of this. I am sorry to my team for my mistake, but we will come back and fight again to build back our lead.”
EBC Brakes Superbike Race 2 Result (Sunday)
Josh Herrin (Suzuki) 28:53.289
Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha) +0.506
Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha) +6.172
JD Beach (Yamaha) +11.111
Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) +11.538
Josh Herrin tops the Superbike podium on Sunday’s Race 2 and claims the Round win
EBC Brakes Superbike Standings
Toni Elias 151
Cameron Beaubier 142
Garrett Gerloff 104
JD Beach 100
Josh Herrin 96
Mathew Scholtz 80
Jake Lewis 76
Cameron Petersen 65
David Anthony 59
Wyman 48
Supersport Saturday
Hayden Gillim – Road America 2019
Supersport polesitter Hayden Gillim grabbed his third victory of the season aboard his Rickdiculous Racing Yamaha, and in what has been a consistent theme in MotoAmerica’s middleweight class, the win did not come easily.
Gillim had to fight off a fierce challenge from Bobby Fong and Sean Dylan Kelly. Fong finished second while Kelly finished third, which was the rookie Supersport rider’s third podium result of his season.
Hayden Gillim – Road America 2019
Supersport Race 1 Result (Saturday)
Hayden Gillim (Yamaha) 26:05.871
Bobby Fong (Suzuki) +0.646
Sean Dylan Kelly (Suzuki) +0.687
Richie Escalante (Yamaha) +7.115
Bryce Prince (Yamaha) +13.693
Supersport – Sunday
In Supersport, Team Hammer’s M4 ECSTAR Suzuki squad had the measure of the field on Sunday, and its teammates Bobby Fong and Sean Dylan Kelly had a rousing battle for the win between themselves and also with Hayden Gillim.
Supersport Start – Road America 2019
All three led the 11-lap event, and in the end, Fong maneuvered his bike onto the final straight in order to break Gillim’s draft, while Kelly drafted past Gillim. Fong took the checkers and Kelly barely squeaked past Gillim to take second and shuffle Gillim to third.
Bobby Fong
“I thought it was a real good race, I knew Hayden was going to be up there. He’s real strong. He has more confidence in his front end than anybody I’ve ever raced with, so I knew he was going to be up there. He’s a hard charger. I knew my teammate would be up there. I knew I wasn’t going to pull away. I was just trying to hit my marks and just tried to ride a smooth race. The last lap, I was trying to ride defensive and go inside. Fortunately, we got the win today and we got 25 points, but I’m looking forward to a lot more battles this year.”
Bobby Fong – Road America 2019
Supersport Race 1 Result (Sunday)
Bobby Fong (Suzuki) 25:44.504
Sean Dylan Kelly (Suzuki) +0.357
Hayden Gillim (Yamaha) +0.379
PJ Jacobsen (Yamaha) +6.856
Brandon Paasch (Yamaha) +12.397
Supersport Standings
Hayden Gillim 97
Bobby Fong 90
Richie Escalante 81
Sean Dylan Kelly 78
P.J. Jacobsen 76
Bryce Prince 55
Joshua Hayes 54
Nick McFadden 45
Jason Aguilar 43
Braeden Ortt 34
Liqui Moly Junior Cup Saturday
In Liqui Moly Junior Cup, early-season over-dog Rocco Landers notched his fourth victory in five races over his rival Dallas Daniels, who has finished second in all four of the races that Landers has won.
Rocco Landers takes the win – Road America 2019
Landers, who started from the pole aboard his Kawasaki, got the holeshot, with Daniels close behind. The pair of Ninja warriors battled each other throughout the entire seven-lap sprint, and with Daniels was in the lead on the final lap. Landers made a perfect draft pass around Daniels on the run up the hill to the finish line to take the checkered flag in dramatic fashion.
Meanwhile, Kevin Olmedo was in a battle with Damian Jigalov, and Olmedo prevailed to round out the podium in third.
Liqui Moly Junior Cup Race 1 Results (Saturday)
Rocco Landers (Kawasaki) 19:27.143
Dallas Daniels (Kawasaki) +0.095
Kevin Olmedo (Kawasaki) +5.380
Damian Jigalov (Kawasaki) +5.386
Dominique Doyle (Kawasaki) +5.528
Liqui Moly Junior Cup – Sunday
In Sunday’s Liqui Moly Junior Cup race, the odds-on favorite to win was Saturday’s victor Rocco Landers, and the Kawasaki rider lived up to the hype by drafting into the lead on the final stretch to the finish line.
Rocco Landers leading the Liqui Moly Junior Cup – Road America 2019
Dallas Daniels led throughout the majority of the seven-lap contest, but he fell victim to Landers’ draft maneuver for the second day in a row, and on Sunday Kevin Olmedo also snuck past Daniels, which resulted in Olmedo finishing second and Daniels taking third.
Rocco Landers
“Today, I did have a plan from about two laps till the end. Right after they passed me, I was just going to try to hang in there and see what was going to happen. Then, after I got past Dallas, I was just going to try to get as good of a run out of the last corner to get to him. It was a great race.”
Dallas Daniels leads Rocco Landers – Road America 2019
Liqui Moly Junior Cup Race 2 Results (Sunday)
Rocco Landers (Kawasaki) 19:07.887
Kevin Olmedo (Kawasaki) +0.092
Dallas Daniels (Kawasaki) +0.152
Damian Jigalov (Kawasaki) +9.400
Dominic Doyle (Kawasaki) +12.381
Liqui Moly Junior Cup Standings
Rocco Landers 130
Dallas Daniels 109
Kevin Olmedo 65
Dominic Doyle 56
Damian Jigalov 56
Gauge Rees 55
Jackson Blackmon 53
Samuel Lochoff 46
Cameron Jones 34
Teagg Hobbs 33
Stock 1000 – Saturday
Geoff May – Road America 2019
Saturday’s Stock 1000 race saw the return of former factory Superbike contender and World Superbike rider Geoff May to the top step of the podium. It had been 11 years since the Georgian had won an AMA-sanctioned road race, and he was understandably emotional in the winner’s circle.
May, who was aboard a Kawasaki sponsored by his “day-job” employer Ameris Bank, for whom he is a mortgage banker, held off Stefano Mesa to get the win. Third place went to Andrew Lee.
Geoff May – Road America 2019
Stock 1000 Race 1 Results (Saturday)
Geoff May (Kawasaki) 18:23.735
Stefano Mesa (Kawasaki) +0.015
Andrew Lee (Kawasaki) +15.466
Travis Wyman (BMW) +15.578
Michael Gilbert (Kawasaki) +20.087
Superstock 1000 – Sunday
In MotoAmerica’s Stock 1000 class on Sunday Stefano Mesa moved up a spot from the second-place result that he got in Saturday’s race to grab the victory on Sunday.
Andrew Lee – Road America 2019
Andrew Lee finished second and Kawasaki rider Corey Alexander was third. Ironically, neither Mesa nor Alexander have been regulars in the MotoAmerica series, and both of them finished on the AMA Supersport podium at Road America seven years ago when Mesa won.
Stefano Mesa
“The bike and I worked very well this weekend, so we’re happy with the progress,” Mesa said. “Hopefully, we can keep going this season, since we’re leading the championship now.”
Stefano Mesa – Road America 2019
Stock 1000 Race 2 Result (Sunday)
Stefano Mesa (Kawasaki) 18:29.506
Andrew Lee (Kawasaki) +0.174
Corey Alexander (Kawasaki) +12.573
Miles Thornton (Suzuki) +33.482
Aaron Risinger (BMW) +33.492
Stock 1000 Standings
Stefano Mesa 81
Andrew Lee 74
Michael Gilbert 56
Travis Wyman 42
Rhett Norman 34
Corey Alexander 26
Geoff May 25
Miles Thornton 22
Bradley Ward 21
Garrick Schneiderman 21
Twins Cup
At a track that favors top speed and horsepower, the expectation in MotoAmerica’s Twins Cup class was that Michael Barnes and his Quarterley Racing Ducati Monster 797 would dominate Sunday’s race. As it turned out, Barnes was at a disadvantage against the smaller-displacement bikes due to their ability to draft past the Ducati.
Draik Beauchamp got a great jump at the start and kept himself in the lead pack throughout the eight-lap sprint. He was challenged by both Barnes and Alex Dumas. Beauchamp took the lead and kept it to record his first career Twins Cup victory, while Dumas’ second-place finish was his first career Twins Cup podium, while Barnes finished third.
Draik Beauchamp
“I started off on the second row in sixth. My main goal was just to get up there and be part of the fight and have something for the guys out front. I got up there and I actually had more pace than I thought. I was like, okay, let’s get up there early and just keep them behind me at that point. I ran that strategy. Kept them behind me. I was like, let’s run this all the way home. So I did and we got the job done. I want to thank my team, my sponsors, everybody, my dad for busting his butt out here. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season and hopefully sitting back in this seat again.
Virginia International Raceway has long been a frustrating venue on the MotoAmerica schedule for Cameron Beaubier. In the first eight races at VIR, Beaubier had rather amazingly only won one of them. On Sunday that all changed with win number two, a dominant victory over Toni Elias, his rival who beat him twice here a season ago. This one, however, belonged to Beaubier, the three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion beating Yoshimura Suzuki’s Elias by 3.5 seconds on his Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing YZF-R1.
Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
Both Beaubier and Elias had difficult Superpole sessions on the first two-day MotoAmerica event of the season. Beaubier crashed so early in the session that his lap that put him second on the grid actually came on race tyres – not very confidence-inspiring for those going slower than him on qualifying tyres. Elias, meanwhile, had bike troubles and was ultimately stranded on the track for the majority of the time. He started the race from the third row after qualifying eighth. Pole position went to Beaubier’s teammate Garrett Gerloff, the Texan’s second of the season.
Beaubier didn’t start the race in the lead, but he was in second place when race leader Mathew Scholtz crashed out on the second lap. From there it was all Beaubier, the defending champion inching away to ultimately win by 3.5 seconds for this second win of the season.
Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
“Just started off today feeling pretty good,” Beaubier said after the 34th Superbike win of his career. “I felt pretty comfortable on the R1 out there. We were able to get up to pace pretty quick. I feel like I’ve kind of struggled getting that pace here in the past. This one just feels really, really good. I know how fast these guys are at this track and this year. It felt really good to be able to win with a little bit of a margin. I’m sure tomorrow is going to be tougher. Both these guys are going to go back and it’s going to be a dog-fight tomorrow. Just in the past we’ve always been fast here. I feel like the R1 works pretty good here. I think I have one win to my name at this track in the past five years or something like that. That’s frustrating for a track that we know that we’re pretty strong at. This one felt really good. Got a couple things I might try in the morning depending on wet or dry. It’s going to be tough but looking forward to racing.”
Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
Elias rebounded from his difficult day with second place, despite starting from the third row.
Gerloff was hot on Elias’ heels when he ran off in turn one, losing out on a chance to get second place.
Fourth place went to Attack Performance Estenson Racing Yamaha’s JD Beach, some four seconds behind Gerloff and 13.2 seconds ahead of M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis.
Lewis, in turn, was way ahead of Scheibe Racing BMW’s Jake Gagne, who had his hands full to the finish with FLY Racing/ADR Motorsports’ David Anthony. Omega Moto’s Cameron Petersen battled muscle-cramping to finish eighth with KWR Ducati’s Kyle Wyman and Thrashed Bike Racing’s Max Flinders rounding out the top 10.
Superbike Race One Video Highlights
EBC Brakes Superbike Race One
Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
Toni Elias (Suzuki)
Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha)
JD Beach (Yamaha)
Jake Lewis (Suzuki)
Jake Gagne (BMW)
David Anthony (Kawasaki)
Cameron Petersen (Yamaha)
Kyle Wyman (Ducati)
Max Flinders (Yamaha)
Superbike Race Two
Sunday was all about JD Beach at VIRginia International Raceway as the two-time MotoAmerica Supersport Champion put a smile on everybody’s face when he earned his first career AMA Superbike victory with a 3.7-second win in the Championship of Virginia.
A week after winning his first career AMA Grand National Flat Track at the Super TT in Arizona, Beach went out and did it again, winning a race he’d been dreaming about since he was 16 years old.
Beach’s day was made even more emotional for three reasons: Today marked the anniversary of his good friend Ethan Gillim’s passing 12 years ago; Beach became the first rider to win a Superbike National and a Flat Track National in the same season since his good friend and hero Nicky Hayden accomplished the feat in 2002; and his best friend and housemate Hayden Gillim also won the Supersport race earlier in the day.
Beach was impressive in a race that started in iffy conditions but ended in bright sunshine and on a dry racetrack. Once he got past early leader Kyle Wyman, who had fitted rain tires to his KWR Ducati in the hopes that the track wouldn’t dry, and his old Supersport rival Garrett Gerloff, Beach put his head down and opened a four-second gap. He maintained that lead to the finish, besting Gerloff by 3.759 seconds and riding a wave of emotion that will last him until Road America in four weeks.
JD Beach
“It just feels like the stars just aligned this whole week,” Beach said. “For me to get my first win last week, and to get this win today with Hayden (Gillim) winning the 600 class, it’s just amazing. These guys are so fast. I looked up to Toni (Elias). He’s won the Moto2 World Championship, and Garrett (Gerloff) has kicked my ass so many times. Even with how this track was today, I was having flashbacks because he (Gerloff) lapped me when we had rain tires here. So, to beat him here, it’s just amazing. I just got to thank my team, the whole Attack Estenson Racing team. They believed in me. They gave me a shot on this bike when nobody else would. It feels good to get the win, but it feels good to reward them too. We’ve still got a lot of races to go. These guys aren’t going to let up. We’re going to keep fighting. We’ve got two dirt track races and then I’m going to Road America, so it will be fun.”
Beach compared the flat track win last week to the Superbike win this week.
“They’re both amazing,” he said. “The desire to win last weekend was like a childhood goal. It’s kind of like when you’re a kid you’re like, I want to be a firefighter or whatever. For me when I was a kid that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a dirt tracker. I wanted to win races, and I still do. To win this Superbike race is something I’ve looked forward to my whole adult life, since I was 16. So, they both feel amazing, but this has a little bit of a sweeter feel to it. To do it on the day that I did it and for the last person to do it (Nicky Hayden), it’s amazing.”
JD Beach
Gerloff was emotional in defeat and also fought back tears during the victory celebration as he was disappointed in the fact that this was one he thought he could have won.
Third place went to Toni Elias, the Yoshimura Suzuki rider holding back three others to the finish to earn the final podium spot. It was also good for his championship aspirations as his closest rival Cameron Beaubier, who won Saturday’s EBC Brakes Superbike race at VIR, crashed his Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing YZF-R1 and didn’t score any points.
Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz was fourth, the South African nipping at Elias’ heels in the closing laps but coming up just short at the finish. Right behind those two came M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis, the Kentuckian barely holding off Omega Moto’s Cameron Petersen. Petersen ran as high as fourth in what was essentially a four-rider battle for the final podium spot.
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Josh Herrin finished a disappointing weekend with a seventh place to go with his non-finish on Saturday. Thrashed Bike Racing’s Max Flinders, FLY Racing’s David Anthony and Wyman rounded out the top 10 with those three gambling on different variations of rain/slick tires.
As mentioned earlier, Beaubier crashed out of the battle for third and he now trails Elias by 24 points, 126-102. Beach is third in the series point standings with 78 points, six points clear of Gerloff. Lewis rounds out the top five with 62 points.
