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MotoAmerica 2021 wraps up in Alabama | Gagne wins Race 3

2021 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship
Round  9 – Barber Motorsport Park, Alabama

Images by Brian J. Nelson


The 2021 MotoAmerica Superbike championship wrapped up at Barber Motorsports Park over the weekend, with challenging conditions ensuring plenty of spectacle. Jake Gagne’s run of wins was also brought to an end, with Cameron Peterson claiming the Race 1 win, Mathew Scholtz winning Race 2, before Gagne returned to the top step of the podium for the final race of the season.

Jake Gagne in the lead in wet conditions at Barber Motorsport Park
Jake Gagne in the lead in wet conditions at Barber Motorsport Park

Jake Lewis also won the Superbike Cup crown for competing on Stock 1000 machinery in the Honos Superbike class.

Sean Dylan Kelly won Race 1 in the Supersport class, with Gabriel Da Silva taking his debut win in the class in Race 2. Jake Lewis meanwhile claimed the final Stock 1000 win, marking his sixth of the season and fourth in a row, to add to the title.

Kaleb De Keyrel brought home the final Twins Cup win of the year, having also already won the championship. Tyler Scott won both Junior Cup races, with Kayla Yaakov becoming the first female rider on the podium since 2018, with second in Race 1.


Honos Superbike Race 1

One of the most dramatic races in AMA Superbike history took place in the rainstorm at Barber Motorsports Park on Saturday and it’s one that won’t soon be forgotten, especially if your last name is Petersen, Scholtz or Baz.

Cameron Peterson took one of the Superbike wins at Barber Motorsport Park over the weekend
Cameron Peterson  in the lead

Petersen earned his first-career MotoAmerica Superbike win after surviving a crash in the downpour. Mathew Scholtz finished second after surviving a crash in the downpour. Oh, and Loris Baz finished third after also surviving a crash in the downpour. And that translates to the unbelievable fact that all three podium finishers crashed in the same race in which they podiumed for the first time in AMA Superbike history.

Petersen’s first HONOS Superbike win made him the 62nd rider in history to win an AMA Superbike race and the second from South Africa. The win also went a long way to solidifying Petersen’s hold on third in the 2021 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship with two races left to run on Sunday.

Petersen also teamed up with Mother Nature to stop Jake Gagne’s win streak at 16 with the newly crowned 2021 MotoAmerica Superbike Champion crashing out of the lead on the second lap, remounting, pitting for repairs, and then ending up 12th.

Petersen and Scholtz battled at the front of the pack after Gagne’s demise. Then Petersen crashed in turn one and Scholtz held court at the front by himself. Then came the fateful 15th lap and Scholtz was down, the South African sliding from the crest of the hill out of turn four all the way down to turn five. He remounted but Petersen had already splashed past and was on his way to victory.

Cameron Peterson going for a slide before remounting
Cameron Peterson going for a slide before remounting

Baz was fortunate to be able to race at all after a crash on Friday left him beaten up with a damaged right wrist. Since he wasn’t able to take part in the qualifying sessions, he was also forced to start from the back row. He charged through the pack and caught the battle between Scholtz and Petersen, before suffering his crash and remounting in ninth place.

From there he charged again and worked his way back to third for his seventh podium finish of the season. The wet conditions made it a bit easier on his injured wrist, but the crash in the race left him with barely a nub for a right footpeg and a right handlebar that was bent almost to the tank.

Petersen topped the Race 1 podium from Scholtz and Baz at Barber
Petersen topped the Race 1 podium from Scholtz and Baz at Barber

Fourth place went to Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates on his Stock 1000-spec Honda CBR1000 RR-R, the Georgian earning the first top-five Superbike finish of his career. It also gave him the victory in the Superbike Cup and put a Honda in a top four that featured four different brands of motorcycles – Suzuki, Yamaha, Ducati and Honda.

Jake Lewis was fifth, which earned him the Superbike Cup crown (and the $25,000 that goes with it) for racers riding their Stock 1000-spec motorcycles in the HONOS Superbike races. It was a good day for the Superbike Cup riders with Danny Eslick ending up sixth.

Jake Lewis also competed in the Honos Superbike class for the Superbike Cup Crown
Jake Lewis also competed in the Honos Superbike class for the Superbike Cup Crown

David Anthony was seventh on his Superbike-spec Suzuki GSX-R1000 and less than a second ahead of Hector Barbera. Ninth place went to Josh Herrin, who was another crasher able to remount and finish. Bobby Fong rounded out the top 10.

Honos Superbike Races 2 & 3

Despite horrendous weather, the 2021 MotoAmerica Superbike Series ended as it should have with Jake Gagne winning a record 17th race to put an exclamation point on a season like no other.

Gagne, who earlier in the season set a record with 13 straight wins, didn’t win his record-extending 17th race in a row in Saturday’s race one, and he didn’t win it in race two on Sunday morning, but he did take that 17th victory in the season finale on Sunday afternoon at Barber Motorsports Park.

Jake Gagne returned to the podium on Sunday
Jake Gagne returned to the top step of the podium on Sunday

Twenty starts, 17 victories, 18 podiums and 445 championship points. That was Gagne’s year with the Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha team as they simply scorched the competition in putting together a season that is unprecedented in AMA Superbike history.

The cherry on top is that Gagne’s victory in race three at Barber – the 17th of his season and career – on Sunday put him into a tie with Nicky Hayden for eighth on the all-time AMA Superbike win list.

Jake Gagne

“What a way to finish the year. Yesterday was chaos. We all threw it down, but I couldn’t get it back up in time. The race earlier today, we weren’t too happy with it. We had some issues and we sorted it out and we were ready to go out there and try to win this thing in race three. Hats off to this team. It’s been an incredible year. Seventeen wins is unbelievable, especially against a field this deep and talented, these amazing teams. These guys are world-class riders. We did our work. We focused on what we needed to focus on and cranked out laps. I gave it my all every single lap of every single race, and it worked out most of the time. I feel blessed and I’m just lucky to have such a great crew, such an amazing motorcycle. I’ve had more fun than ever racing motorcycles, so life is good. It’s going to be nice to have a little break here, but we’ll be back to work and ready to keep fighting with these guys next year. It’s going to be hard to beat that year. Nothing but hard work to come and we’ll just keep chipping away.”

Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz had his best weekend of the year, despite crashing out of the lead but remounting to finish second in Saturday’s Mother Nature race. Scholtz made up for his Saturday miscue with his fourth career Superbike victory on Sunday morning (in a race that was stopped a few laps early when a deer ran across the wet track in front of Scholtz) and followed that up with a second-place finish behind Gagne in race three – another wet race – on Sunday afternoon.

Mathew Scholtz also took the Race 2 win
Mathew Scholtz also took the Race 2 win

Loris Baz was also on the podium in both races on Sunday with a second-place finish in race two in the morning and a third in race three on Sunday afternoon. Baz doesn’t like to do things the easy way and his third-place finish came after a crash early in the race with an impressive fight back through the pack to follow.

With Scholtz, Baz and Gagne owning the podium in both races on Sunday, Saturday’s first-time winner Cameron Petersen was fourth in race two on the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki, then crashed in race three, remounted and finished fifth, giving him a 1-4-5 weekend tally.

Scholtz won Race 2 from Baz and Gagne
Scholtz won Race 2 from Baz and Gagne

Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates came close to giving Honda a podium on his CBR1000RR-R in race three, but the Georgian gave up the spot late in the race to the flying Baz. Still, Yates had his best Superbike weekend ever with two fourths and a sixth.

Kyle Wyman ended his season with a sixth in race three to go with a seventh in race two, the New Yorker finishing well clear of Corey Alexander in race three. Bobby Fong had a rough weekend and he ended it with two eighth-place finishes on Sunday. Jake Lewis wrapped up the Superbike Cup on Sunday and picked up his $25,000 check after finishing ninth in race three. Earlier in the day, Lewis had put his Stock 1000-spec GSXR-1000 into fifth.

Gagne’s Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha teammate Josh Herrin erred by fitting slick tires to his Yamaha YZF-R1 in race two and eventually pulled out of the race. On Sunday afternoon, with rain tires fitted, Herrin ended up 10th.

Gagne won Race 3 from Scholtz and Baz
Gagne won Race 3 from Scholtz and Baz

HONOS Superbike Results

Source: MCNews.com.au

Gagne crowned MotoAmerica Superbike champion in New Jersey

2021 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship
Round  8 – New Jersey Motorsports Park

Images by Brian J. Nelson


Jake Gagne wrapped up the MotoAmerica Superbike championship at New Jersey Motorsports Park, winning three from three races, despite only needing two additional points after his first race win. The victories see him finish the round on 400-points, with Scholtz a comfortable second on 292, while Petersen is third overall.

Gagne winning his 16th race of the season matches the record held jointly by Josh Hayes and Cameron Beaubier for Superbike wins in a single season, while also tying three-time 500cc World Champion Wayne Rainey’s mark for career victories.

Jake Gagne proved unstoppable in 2021
Jake Gagne proved unstoppable in 2021

Sean Dylan Kelly also brought home the Supersport title, winning Race 1 by the smallest of margins, 0.001s, while Sam Lochoff took the Race 2 win. The result saw Dylan Kelly 70-points ahead of his next nearest rival, Escalante, with Lochoff third.

Jake Lewis won the single Stock 1000 race run, while Corey Ventura and Tommaso Marcon shared the Twin wins, with Kaleb De Keyrel bringing home the title in the Aprilia dominated class. Tyler Scott won both Junior races by a large margin, extending his lead over injured Gloddy.


Honos Superbike Race 1

In HONOS Superbike race one on Saturday afternoon, Gagne and his Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha again made a mockery of the rest of the field as he led all 20 laps in winning his 14th straight race by 7.6 seconds. After 15 races, Gagne leads the championship point standings by a whopping 98 points, needing just two points to claim the title.

Jake Gagne topped the Saturday podium in New Jersey
Jake Gagne topped the Saturday podium in New Jersey

Only a brave man would bet against Gagne winning his 15th and 16th straight races tomorrow and the Californian doesn’t seem to be willing to let someone else win. Second place on Saturday went to Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz, the South African taking the runner-up spot for the fifth time on the season as he solidifies his stranglehold on second in the championship.

Toni Elias had his third outing on the Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha and he put it on the podium for the second time, the Spaniard ending up third, some four seconds adrift of Scholtz and just .132 of a second ahead of M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Bobby Fong.

MotoAmerica Superbikes on Saturday
MotoAmerica Superbikes on Saturday

Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York’s Loris Baz finished fifth and some 10 seconds behind Fong after topping the third Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha ridden by the returning Josh Herrin by just .051 of a second.

M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Cameron Petersen was seventh, well clear of One Cure Ducati’s Kyle Wyman who was less than a second ahead of Superbike Cup winner Jake Lewis and his Altus Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R1000. FLY Racing ADR Motorsports’ Bradley Ward rounded out the top 10.

Honos Superbike Races 2 & 3

Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha’s Gagne won both HONOS Superbike races at NJMP on Sunday after winning the lone race on Saturday in MotoAmerica’s Superbike tripleheader. The two wins were his 15th and 16th on the season (those are also his career win marks in the class) and the first victory on Sunday morning is the one that earned him the 2021 MotoAmerica Superbike crown.

Jake Gagne

“Even on the bad years, I’m racing motorcycles. It’s what I love to do. It’s fun. It’s sure a lot more fun when we’ve got a winning motorcycle, a winning team, and we can manage to get some wins. It’s been an incredible year. I wouldn’t have thought going in that we would be 15 wins deep. It’s pretty surreal. Again, hats off to this team because the guys are working so hard, and the bike has been super, super dialed in. We keep trying to go faster. These guys are always chasing us down and we’ve got no choice but to keep trying to go. But it’s amazing. We got another race today, so it hasn’t quite set in yet. We’ve got some work to do this afternoon because I know it’s not going to be easy, so we’ll roll on to race two.”

Jake Gagne celebrated his championship victory Sunday
Jake Gagne celebrated his championship victory Sunday

As he has done all year long, Gagne dominated and again led every single lap of both races en route to the two wins. Gagne has now led 273 consecutive laps in the 2021 season.

The two Superbike podiums on Sunday were identical with Gagne leading Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz and Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha’s Josh Herrin in both.

MotoAmerica Superbikes on Sunday
MotoAmerica Superbikes on Sunday

For Scholtz it was a solid day as he managed to keep Gagne in sight in both races, finishing 9.5 seconds behind in race two and 6.5 seconds behind in race three.

Herrin, meanwhile, was in his comeback weekend after suffering from COVID-19 that forced him out of two rounds of the series. If Herrin’s life wasn’t hectic enough in the past few months, his wife, Rachel, also gave birth to the couple’s first child this week. He put in a tough day’s work on Sunday, however, and came out on top of two hard-fought battles with Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York’s Loris Baz.

Jake Gagne
Jake Gagne

With Baz finishing fourth in both races, it was M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Cameron Petersen who finished fifth in both. Sixth place was different, however, with Scheibe Racing’s Hector Barbera earning the spot in race two and Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha’s Toni Elias besting the Spaniard for the spot in race three.

One Cure Ducati’s Kyle Wyman ended the day with seventh- and eighth-place finishes with Altus Motorsports’ Jake Lewis finishing eighth in race two.

Ninth place in race two went to Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates with M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Bobby Fong finishing ninth in race three. Michael Gilbert Racing’s Michael Gilbert was 10th in race two with Tecfil Racing Team’s Danilo Lewis 10th in race three.

HONOS Superbike Results

Source: MCNews.com.au

Bobby Fong & Lorenzo Zanetti share the wins in Indianapolis

2020 MotoAmerica

Round 8 – Indianapolis

Images by Brian J. Nelson


In a change of pace for the HONOS Superbike class in MotoAmerica, it wasn’t Cameron Beaubier claiming the wins at the Indianapolis triple-header after the 27-year-old was left rattled from a crash in the opening bout.

Bobby Fong took the advantage and put in a tremendous performance to win Races 1 and 3, while Lorenzo Zanetti took the Race 2 win for Ducati, breaking a 10-year drought for the Bologna machines on American tarmac.

Bobby Fong topping the podium on Sunday from Beaubier and Zanetti
Bobby Fong topping the podium on Sunday from Beaubier and Zanetti

In Stock 1000 Cameron Petersen seemed to win the sole race to claim the championship title, but was docked 0.4s, regulating him to second for the race, although the championship was his. Travis Wyman took the race win as a result, with Maximiliano Gerardo completing the podium.

In Supersport Richie Escalante extended his lead, winning from Stefano Mesa and Brandon Paasch in Race 1, and Sean Dylan Kely and Stefano Mesa in Race 2.

Junior Cup champion Rocco Landers also added two more wins to his 2020 tally in the class, ahead of Dominic Doyle and Benjamin Gloddy in Race 1, while Dominic Doyle was just 0.157s off in Race 2, with Samuel Lochoff a distant third.

Rocco Landers
Rocco Landers

Rocco Landers also wrapped up the Twins Cup championship over the weekend, winning the race from Hayden Schultz and Kaleb De Keyrel, with Keyrel and Schultz second and third in the standings, respectively.


HONOS Superbike Race 1

If you wanted some drama in the MotoAmerica Superbike Series, your wish was granted in the first of three HONOS Superbike races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Bobby Fong emerging from the melee at The Brickyard with his second-career AMA Superbike victory.

Bobby Fong
Bobby Fong

In circumstances eerily similar to his first win of the year and first of his career at Road America earlier in the season, Fong was again in second place when runaway championship leader Cameron Beaubier crashed out of the lead. And, again, it was Beaubier’s teammate Jake Gagne who ended up hounding Fong to the checkered flag.

The race, which featured two red flags and two Beaubier crashes, saw Fong was in second place when Beaubier crashed on the fourth lap of the third restart, but he was pressuring the Yamaha man when the crash occurred. From there Fong was chased by Lorenzo Zanetti, the Italian taking the lead at one point before running off the track. Zanetti managed to stay upright, however, and he fought his way back to third place by the end of the 15-lap race, which translated to three different manufacturers on the podium and four different brands in the top five with Josh Herrin ending up fifth on the Scheibe Racing BMW.

Meanwhile, following Zanetti’s mistake, Gagne was on the move and closing in on Fong, the two Californians crossing the line with just .228 of a second between them. At Road America, Fong beat Gagne by .509 of a second.

Bobby Fong
Bobby Fong

There was drama before the race even started with Beaubier deemed late to get out of pit lane for the start of the sighting lap, meaning that he would be forced to start from the back of the grid. He did just that, going from 20th to sixth in one lap before the first red flag came out for Kyle Wyman’s crash coming on to the front straight.

Beaubier started sixth on the next restart and was in the lead pack when both he and Mathew Scholtz went down almost simultaneously in fluid that was leaked onto the track by a previously crashed motorcycle. After the cleanup, Beaubier was able to make the restart while Scholtz was being transported to the hospital with an ankle injury.

On the third start, Beaubier got into the lead quickly but wasn’t getting away from the pursing Fong when he crashed on the fourth lap in the final corner, the same spot that claimed Wyman. The four-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion’s bike was too damaged to continue, and he was forced to be a spectator for the rest of the race.

Gagne took over second when Zanetti ran off the track, and he closed on Fong before coming up just short at the finish. Zanetti led before his off-track excursion and he ended the day third in what was just his second MotoAmerica round (and his third race). It was the first podium for Ducati in the series since Kyle Wyman did it twice at Road America 2 earlier in the season.

Toni Elias
Toni Elias

Toni Elias took over third for a few laps after Zanetti’s miscue, but he had no grip and couldn’t keep the Ducati behind him. At the finish, Elias was some two seconds adrift of the Italian, but was over 18 seconds ahead of fifth-placed Josh Herrin on the Scheibe Racing BMW.

Travis Wyman finished sixth with Michael Gilbert, in his MotoAmerica Superbike debut, finishing seventh. Alex Dumas ended up eighth with Danilo Lewis and Corey Alexander rounding out the top 10.

HONOS Superbike Race 2

Zanetti started Sunday morning off with a victory on his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York Panigale V4 R Superbike in the second of the three HONOS Superbike races following his first podium a day earlier. The win ended a drought for Ducati in the AMA Superbike Series as it was Ohioan Larry Pegram who rode his privateer Ducati to the Italian manufacturer’s last victory at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California on March 27, 2010.

Lorenzo Zanetti
Lorenzo Zanetti

In winning at The Brickyard, Zanetti also became the first Italian to win an AMA Superbike race since Alessandro Gramigni rode a Fast By Ferracci Ducati to victory at Brainerd in 1996.

Zanetti was in a race-long battle with Saturday’s race-one winner Fong for the duration of race two on a cloudy and cool Sunday morning, the Italian taking over for the first time with three laps to go. On the final lap, Zanetti was able to hold off Fong by just 0.196 of a second.

Beaubier was third, 0.323 of a second from the win with his teammate Jake Gagne a close fourth. With the top four covered by just 0.505 of a second it was the best HONOS Superbike race of the year, thus far.

Lorenzo Zanetti

“I compared yesterday, and the key of today is the work of the guys during the night. They changed the balance for the bike. Yesterday, I’m not really confident on the front tire. Today I did a really good job. This morning in warmup I was in first place so I think that the whole race I can win. It’s not easy because from yesterday also the tire (temperature) is different, maybe seven or eight degrees less. So just try to keep calm because yesterday when I tried to stay in front to Bobby (Fong) I did a mistake, so today I just stay on back for half part of the race and study. So, when I try in the last four or five laps, the tire is dropped and it’s difficult to manage. Some parts of the track Bobby is better than me, and some I’m better. So, it’s difficult, but in the end is all right. I don’t want to think a lot. Just try to improve a little bit again for the second race of today and try to be again on the podium. This is incredibly important for me but also for Ducati because four months ago not many people trust in me that I can do it, to be able to ride in the U.S. and win some races. So, I think it’s a really good target today for me.”

Lorenzo Zanetti topped the Race 2 podium
Lorenzo Zanetti topped the Race 2 podium

HONOS Superbike Race 3

The third race was all Fong. After a red flag came out when his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki teammate Toni Elias crashed out of the lead (and right in front of him), Fong simply dominated. Chased by Gagne and Zanetti, Fong’s win got really comfortable when Gagne crashed and Zanetti ran straight at the end of the front straight, joining in fourth place.

Gagne was able to remount from his blunder to finish seventh, but the miscues moved Beaubier to second and he was able to hold off Zanetti’s charge to take the spot – 9.8 seconds behind the fleeing Fong.

Bobby Fong

“It’s a good feeling. First of all, I just want to say congratulations to Cameron (Beaubier). The whole pack has been chasing him all year long. He’s rode so good all year long. Hopefully, we’ll battle with him at Laguna. We all know if he didn’t have a championship to win, he would have been right there with me or in front of me. Who knows? But it’s been a good weekend. I can’t complain. It’s been weird, though. This weekend we haven’t changed anything on the bike. We started FP1 and we made minor changes, a few clicks of something, whatever. Usually every weekend we have a completely different motorcycle every session, almost. This was the first weekend where I said, ‘Just don’t touch it. I’ll figure it out.’ We made a little bit of TC stuff and fork maps, but other than that this was the most consistent motorcycle I’ve rode this year. So, it definitely paid off and I definitely had a good feeling out there. Had plenty of moments out there on the front (tire), just trying to get a 36 (1:36 lap time) for a while but it didn’t happen. Thankful to get some money and get the win. Looking forward to Laguna.”

Bobby Fong
Bobby Fong
Cameron Beaubier

“To be honest, I felt like I just lost a little confidence after three crashes this weekend, and the little electrical gremlins we had, which it doesn’t happen often, but the Superbikes, the electronics are so complex that just one little thing you do wrong can just kind of throw everything off. Luckily everything was fine that last race today, but after the tires heat cycle, I just had no confidence, man. Sure, I could have gone faster but I wanted to bring this thing home after crashing three times and having my guys stay up until midnight a couple nights this weekend fixing my bike. Obviously, I’m over the moon happy, but I’m just relieved at the same time to get this plate for my guys, for Monster Attack Yamaha and everyone at the team, my family, my friends, everyone that supports us. 6D my helmet sponsor, it’s their first Superbike Championship and I think Attack’s first Superbike Championship as well. I just had pure fun this year. It was so fun just ripping off those wins. I was just really enjoying riding my bike all year. I’ve never felt so comfortable on a bike and just at home with my guys. We really built a family together, Yamaha and me. It’s just such a privilege to ride for them. This is my eighth-year riding for them, and we’ve been able to rack up six championships together. I’m just so thankful for the opportunity and everything they’ve given me. Just going to enjoy this one and go have fun at Laguna.”

Cameron Beaubier
Cameron Beaubier

HONOS Superbike Results

Source: MCNews.com.au

Beaubier sweeps Alabama MotoAmerica | Video Highlights

2020 MotoAmerica

Round 7 – Alabama

Images by Brian J. Nelson


MotoAmerica at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama saw Cameron Beaubier continue his winning streak, taking two race wins, in the opening race from Jake Gage and Mathew Scholtz, and in Race 2 from Scholtz and Bobby Fong. The result saw his lead expand to over 100-points, now 325-points to Gagne’s 222, while Scholtz is third on 221.

Cameron Beaubier
Cameron Beaubier in the lead

Cameron Petersen was unstopped in Stock 1000, taking both race wins, with Stegano Mesa and Corey Alexander completing the podium in Race 1. Race two saw Alexander runner up, while Michael Gilbert claimed the final podium position. Petersen sits on 215-points leading the standings, from Alexander (184) and Gilbert (125).

Richie Escalante was untouchable in the Supersport races, winning Race 1 by over 13-seconds from Sean Dylan Kelly, while Jason Aguilar was third. Race 2 was similar with Dylan Kelly over eight-seconds behind, with Brandon Paasch third. Escalante leads Dylan Kelly 311-271, with Paasch third overall on 201-points.

The Supersport field on Sunday
The Supersport field on Sunday

Rocco Landers won the Liqui Moly Junior Cup championship over the weekend, with another two wins to his name, sitting on 335-points, to Samuel Lochoff’s 226, while Dominic Doyle is third in the standings on 217-points.

Lander’s victories extended to the Twins Cup, where he won from Hayden Schultz and Jackson Blackmon in Race 1, and Kaleb De Keyrel and Schultz in Race 2. Lander’s holds a narrower lead to De Keyrel in the Twins, 227-points to 178, while Schultz is third on 134.

Rocco Landers on the Twins Cup podium
Rocco Landers on the Twins Cup podium on Sunday

Superbikes Race 1

Cameron Beaubier celebrated his 50th win in the premier class of the MotoAmerica series in what was his 105th start, in Race 1 at the Alabama MotoAmerica round over the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park . That translates to a winning percentage of 47.6. In other words, Beaubier has won nearly half of the Superbike races in which he has started. Like the majority of his wins in 2020, it was a dominant one.

Cameron Beaubier
Cameron Beaubier

Beaubier ran wide on the opening lap in turn five, allowing Mathew Scholtz to squeeze past. The four-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion, however, wasted little time in re-passing the South African and from there he was never headed, winning his 12th race of the season by 4.5 seconds with a celebratory stand-up wheelie across the finish line.

Gagne ended up second in the 20-lap race, coming out on top of a battle with Scholtz and earning himself a 10-point lead over Scholtz in the battle for second in the championship. For Gagne it was his 11th podium of the year and his seventh second-place finish. For Scholtz it was podium number nine on the season.

Toni Elias finished fourth, 19.1 seconds behind Beaubier and 5.7 seconds ahead of Cameron Petersen, the South African impressive in putting his Stock 1000-spec Suzuki GSX-R1000 in the top five of a HONOS Superbike race.

Cameron Beaubier
Cameron Beaubier

Sixth went to Elias’ teammate Bobby Fong, some two seconds behind Petersen. Kyle Wyman was seventh behind Fong and well in front of Josh Herrin. Andrew Lee ended up ninth in his HONOS Superbike debut in his first ride on the team’s GSX-R1000 and his first ride of any kind on a Suzuki. Lee came out on top of a race-long battle with Travis Wyman by just 0.013 of a second.

Superbikes Race 2

Beaubier won his 13th race of the year on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park, and similar to the other 12 wins, the race saw with Beaubier jumping out front off the line, storming away at an unmatchable pace, and then maintaining that lead to the finish. At the line he was 5.125 seconds clear of second-placed Mathew Scholtz.

Cameron Beaubier
Cameron Beaubier
Cameron Beaubier

“I can’t even believe it. We’ve been on such a roll this season. I’m so grateful for the team that I have. My bike has been working awesome all year. It’s been on rails around this place. Obviously, my game right now is just to try to get out front early and try to take advantage of the good rubber and try to manage my gap if I have one. There towards midway I had a pretty good, I don’t know if they showed it or not, but I had a pretty good (front end) tuck. I almost crashed out of Charlotte’s Webb. The wind was kind of gusting. Some laps you’d go in there and you’d have a pretty big push, other laps you’d brake early. The wind was pretty tricky for me. I don’t know about these guys, but I was definitely getting blown around out there more than I was yesterday. After that happened, I just tried to kind of settle down. My gap started going down and Matty (Scholtz) started catching me a little bit. I just kept trucking along and brought it home. It’s been amazing. It’s just crazy. It’s crazy the year I’ve been having and just how fun and how hard the team is working. It’s so good to come in at the end of the session and you debrief with your guys and you take it seriously and all that, but then when they’re loading up the truck and leaving everyone’s just joking around. As a rider it’s so good to see those guys having a good time and enjoying their job like I am. It’s been an incredible year so far.”

Scholtz earned his 10th podium of the season and moved to just one point behind Beaubier’s teammate Jake Gagne in the battle for second in the HONOS Superbike title chase. Gagne was in the battle early but ran into clutch trouble that slowed him to an eventual fifth-place finish.

Bobby Fong rode his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki to third place, the Californian getting back on the podium after a three-race hiatus from the top three. Fong closed on Scholtz at the end of the race, eventually finishing less than a second behind the South African.

Cameron Beaubier topped the podium from Matthew Scholtz and Bobby Fong
Cameron Beaubier topped the podium from Matthew Scholtz and Bobby Fong

Fong’s teammate Toni Elias ended up fourth, some 10 seconds ahead of the struggling Gagne, who in turn was some 22 seconds ahead of Josh Herrin. Corey Alexander was seventh with David Anthony ending up eighth. Travis Wyman was ninth, one spot better than his brother Kyle. Kyle Wyman was running in fifth when he had an off-track excursion.

Source: MCNews.com.au

Beaubier unstoppable at New Jersey MotoAmerica | Video Highlights

2020 MotoAmerica

Round 6 – New Jesersy

Images by Brian J. Nelson


Cameron Beaubier leaves New Jersey Motorsports Park and heads to Barber Motorsports Park this week with a massive 84-point lead in the 2020 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship after what was another walk-in-the-park victory for the four-time series champion. While it’s too early to hand him the number-one plate with three rounds and eight races remaining the series, it’s about time to fire up the engraver.

Superbikes Race 2 Podium
Superbikes Race 2 Podium
1. Cameron Beaubier
2. Jake Gagne
3. Mathew Scholtz

After six rounds, Beaubier leads Gagne by 84 points, 275-191, with Scholtz third on 185 points. Fong is fourth with 138, 22 clear of Elias and 26 ahead of Wyman.

The Supersport class saw Richie Escalante take the Race 1 victory from Brandon Paasch and Sean Dylan Kelly, while Kelly claimed the Race 2 win ahead of Paasch and Escalante in an inversion of the first race’s placings.

Escalante now holds the championship lead by 30-points on 261, to Kelly on 231, while Paasch is a more distant third on 172-points.

The single Stock 1000 race saw Cameron Petersen take a clear win from Corey Alexander and Michael Gilbert, mirroring the current standings. Petersen leads on 165, to Alexander’s 148, while Gilbert is third on 96-points.

Cameron Petersen won the single Stock 1000 race from Corey Alexander and Michael Gilbert
Cameron Petersen won the single Stock 1000 race from Corey Alexander and Michael Gilbert

In the Twins Cup it was Rocco Landers continuing his domination, winning the first race from Teagg Hobbs and Hayden Schultz, while in the second race Schultz moved up to second, with Dominic Doyle completing the podium.

Landers leads the standings on 177-points to Kaleb De Keyrel on 158, while Hayden Schultz is a distant third on 98-points.

Landers also dominated the Liqui Moly Junior Cup, winning from Samuel Lochoff in Race 1 and Joseph LiMandri Jr in Race 2. Benjamin Gloddy completed the podium in both races.

Rocco Landers now leads the Junior Cup standings by 90-points, to Lochoff on 195, while Dominic Doyle is only a single point behind in third.


Superbike Race 1

On a sunny Saturday in New Jersey, Beaubier won his 10th race of the 2020 season to extend his championship lead to a yawning 79 points over teammate Jake Gagne. The win was also the 48th of the four-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion’s AMA Superbike career and is closing in on his former teammate Josh Hayes (61 Superbike victories) for second on the all-time win list. The victory, however, didn’t come without a bit of pre-race stress.

As has been the norm so far in 2020, Beaubier’s win was dominant with the Californian taking victory by 9.599 seconds over Mathew Scholtz, who took full advantage of Gagne’s first-lap crash to close in on the Californian for second in the championship point standings. Third place went to a revitalised Toni Elias, the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider ending a podium-less drought that dated back 11 races.

Cameron Beaubier
Cameron Beaubier

Kyle Wyman bounced back from a disastrous round in the Pacific Northwest two weeks ago to finish fourth on his Ducati Panigale V4 R. Wyman was challenged early on by Bobby Fong but was able to pull clear of the rider to beat him to the flag by almost seven seconds.

Sixth place went to Corey Alexander, the New Yorker matching his previous best HONOS Superbike class result after barely holding off Cameron Petersen in the final laps. Petersen ended up seventh. David Anthony and teammate Bradley Ward finished eighth and ninth with Josh Herrin rounding out the top 10.

Superbike Race 2

Sunday’s win at NJMP came in a shortened race after a red flag was thrown on the second lap when Bradley Ward crashed his FLY Racing ADR Motorsports Kawasaki, putting debris on the racetrack. As he did on the first start, Beaubier grabbed the holeshot and never looked back, opening up a lead and maintaining it to the finish. At the completion of the 14 laps, Beaubier was 2.884 seconds ahead of his pursuers.

Cameron Beaubier
Cameron Beaubier

Two of those pursuing Beaubier raced to the bitter end with his teammate Jake Gagne drafting past Mathew Scholtz at the finish line by .014 of a second with the two fighting it out for the duration. In addition to the battle on track, that pairing is also fighting it out for second in the title chase. Gagne now leads Scholtz by just six points.

Soon after Scholtz took over second in the final laps, both he and Gagne were baulked by lapped traffic but Scholtz may have gotten the worst of it which allowed Gagne to claw his way back for his last-lap attack.

Bobby Fong was next, the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider finishing some four seconds ahead of his teammate Toni Elias, the Spaniard failing to match the pace that earned him his first podium of the season on Sunday.

Cameron Beaubier
Cameron Beaubier

Kyle Wyman was sixth after finishing fourth on Saturday, the New Yorker getting the better of Altus Motorsports’ Cameron Petersen on Sunday. FLY Racing’s David Anthony rode his Suzuki GSX-R1000 to ninth with Travis Wyman rounding out the top 10 on his BMW.

Source: MCNews.com.au

Beaubier extends MotoAmerica streak at The Ridge | Video Highlights

Superbike Race 1

In three of his four championship-winning seasons, Cameron Beaubier won eight races. Today, in just the ninth race of the season, Beaubier won his eighth HONOS Superbike race, this one coming in the MotoAmerica debut event at the Ridge Motorsports Park. The four-time and defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion led from start to finish to win the 46th Superbike race of his career.

Cameron Beaubier
Cameron Beaubier

The race was restarted after a multi-rider crash on the opening lap that brought out the red flag, but after that it was clear sailing for Beaubier as he rode to an 8.1-second victory over Mathew Scholtz. Beaubier’s race got a bit easier when his teammate Jake Gagne was forced to slow near the end of the race with a badly worn tire, the San Diegan slipping back to fourth at the conclusion of the shortened 13-lap race. Beaubier also benefitted from the red flag restart after he botched the initial run through the chicane.

Scholtz came out the better of a near-race long scrap with Bobby Fong, the South African battling back after running off track midway through the race. Fong battled through the pain from his injured left wrist/hand to finish third after the South African passed him on the final lap. Gagne was fourth, some six seconds ahead of Toni Elias, the Spaniard well clear of Josh Herrin.

Italian Lorenzo Zanetti ended up seventh in his MotoAmerica debut, the Ducati rider dropping down the order in the beginning of the race with an off-track excursion. Jayson Uribe ended up eighth in his first MotoAmerica race of the year on his Honda CBR1000RR. Uribe bested Cameron Petersen by two seconds with Bradley Ward rounding out the to 10.

Cameron Beaubier on the podium on Saturday
Cameron Beaubier on the podium on Saturday

Superbike Race 2

To say that Cameron Beaubier is on a roll would be a gross understatement, after winning his ninth superbike race of the season, his sixth in a row and the 47th of his career at the Komatsu MotoAmerica Superbikes At The Ridge on Sunday.

In easily winning today’s 17-lap final, Beaubier eclipsed his season best of eight wins with his ninth of the season while extending his lead in the 2020 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship to 54 points.

Cameron Beaubier

“Yeah, man. It was really good to be able to get nine wins in a season and be able to pass my record that was a few years ago.That just feels really good for me. Everything’s going so good right now. Like I said yesterday, sometimes I feel like I need to get pinched. But at the same time, it’s weird to say but right now that I have the most experience in the Superbike class other than maybe Toni (Elias) or something like that. I’m just dialed in on my R1. I’ve been riding this thing for five or six years. I feel really, really good. Everyone’s working really, really hard at the Monster Attack Performance Yamaha team. It feels so good to put this up on the top of the podium multiple races throughout the year, and also having a great teammate in Jake (Gagne). Being able to go one-two today feels really good to just reward them for all their hard work. It’s just been fun so far this year. They’re slowly catching me. I’m just running for my life out there. Just hope to keep it going and really looking forward to going to New Jersey and seeing how this bike works around there. Hats off to everyone here at Ridge. They made the track a little safer with that chicane. They’re willing to change the track here and there to make it a little safer for when we come back in the future. I think it was a really fun track. So, hats off to them.”

Cameron Beaubier leads Jake Gage
Cameron Beaubier leads Jake Gage

Beaubier’s teammate Jake Gagne ended up second, a day after a front tire issue knocked him off the podium and into fourth place. Gagne’s 20 points stretches his advantage in the championship, and he sits in a solid second place, 22 points ahead of Mathew Scholtz, who finished fourth on Sunday.

Bobby Fong matched his result from yesterday with another third-place finish, the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider again racing with pain in his left wrist/hand from his crash at PittRace a few weeks ago. Fong closed on Gagne in the closing stages of the race, coming up .528 of a second behind the Yamaha rider. Scholtz, meanwhile, was another 3.1 seconds behind Fong in fourth place.

Fifth place on track went to Toni Elias, but he was docked a position which in turn handed the spot to Josh Herrin. Elias had passed Herrin on the final lap after a race-long battle between the two veterans.

Stock 1000 Championship points leader Cameron Petersen had a strong ride to seventh, the South African chasing down Lorenzo Zanetti for the entire race with the Italian crashing out on the final lap. Jayson Uribe had his second straight top-10 finish in his first MotoAmerica event of the year, the Californian riding to eighth some two seconds clear of Bradley Ward. Travis Wyman salvaged a difficult weekend with a 10th-place finish on his BMW.

Cameron Petersen
Cameron Petersen

Source: MCNews.com.au

Beaubier extends his Superbike lead at Pittsburgh MotoAmerica

2020 MotoAmerica

Round 4 – Pittsburgh

Images by Brian J. Nelson


Cameron Beaubier continued his Superbike domination at Round 4 of the MotoAmerica championship in Pittsburgh, claiming both wins of the weekend from Mathew Scholtz and Jake Gagne who took second and third respectively across both races.

Mathew Scholtz, Cameron Beaubier, Jake Gage on the podium on Saturday - 2020 MotoAmerica Round 4, Pittsburgh
Mathew Scholtz, Cameron Beaubier, Jake Gage on the podium on Saturday – 2020 MotoAmerica Round 4, Pittsburgh

The result saw Beaubier extend his lead to 175 points, now 37-points ahead of Jake Gage, with Scholtz a distant third with 116-points.

Cameron Beaubier

“Going into the race I was preparing for a battle with how fast Matty (Scholtz) and Jake have been going this weekend, but I was able to get away early and kept my head down. My R1 is working great. I’m just going to try to keep this going!”

Cameron Beaubier - 2020 MotoAmerica Round 4, Pittsburgh
Cameron Beaubier – 2020 MotoAmerica Round 4, Pittsburgh

Supersport saw a dominant Richie Escalante also do the double, leaving Sean Dylan Kelly and Brandon Paasch to claim second and third respectively, although Paasch gave Kelly a run for his money in the second race of the weekend, with just 0.24s separating the two.

Escalante holds the Supersport standings lead on 195-points, with Dylan Kelly second on 145, and Paasch third on 116.

In Stock 1000 Cameron Petersen also swept the weekend’s races, taking two wins, the first narrowly ahead of Alex Dumas with Corey Alexander third, and the second narrowly from Corey Alexander with Travis Wyman filling the final podium position. Peterson now holds the lead from Alexander by just 3 points, with Alex Dumas third on 91, trailing the leader by 24-points.

Cameron Petersen - 2020 MotoAmerica Round 4, Pittsburgh
Cameron Petersen – 2020 MotoAmerica Round 4, Pittsburgh

Rocco Landers won both Junior Cup races to extend his championship lead from Dominic Doyle, and went on to claim the Twins Cup race win as well. In the Twins Cup, Landers is chasing down standings leader Kaleb De Keyrel, who finished second.

Rocco Landers also won the Twins Cup race - 2020 MotoAmerica Round 4, Pittsburgh
Rocco Landers also won the Twins Cup race – 2020 MotoAmerica Round 4, Pittsburgh

Superbike Race 1

Cameron Beaubier won his sixth HONOS Superbike race out of seven starts at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex, the four-time defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion leading from start to finish as he continues his domination of the the season.

Cameron Beaubier - 2020 MotoAmerica Round 4, Pittsburgh
Cameron Beaubier took an early lead- 2020 MotoAmerica Round 4, Pittsburgh

Beaubier began his day with his fourth pole position of the year and he finished it with his sixth win, this one by 2.976 seconds after 17 laps of the 2.78-mile undulating PittRace road course.

The podium was the same as the races at Road Atlanta last weekend, though the order was different with Mathew Scholtz turning the tables on Beaubier’s teammate Jake Gagne to finish second behind Beaubier on a sunny day in Pittsburgh.

Scholtz battled with Bobby Fong and Gagne early before Fong exited the race in dramatic fashion with a big crash on lap nine. That left Scholtz and Gagne to battle for second with Scholtz getting the nod despite losing his left knee puck early in the race.

Cameron Beaubier - 2020 MotoAmerica Round 4, Pittsburgh
Cameron Beaubier – 2020 MotoAmerica Round 4, Pittsburgh

Gagne chased Scholtz to the finish, ending up just 0.130 of a second behind while earning his sixth podium finish of the season.

Kyle Wyman rode to fourth, some 16 seconds behind Gagne and almost six seconds ahead of Toni Elias. Elias, in turn, was well clear of David Anthony.

Josh Herrin was in a battle with Elias for fifth when his handlebar came loose on the last lap, putting him off track at one point and costing him a shot at fifth place, but he persevered for seventh place.

Jake Lewis finished eighth in his debut on the Celtic HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale VR 4 R. Lewis barely bested Anthony’s teammate Bradley Ward with Travis Wyman rounding out the top 10 finishers.

Superbike Race 2

Cameron Beaubier celebrated his Race 2 100th AMA Superbike start in the best way possible, wth a victory. The win, Beaubier’s seventh of his near-perfect season, was the 45th triumph of his career.

Cameron Beaubier - 2020 MotoAmerica Round 4, Pittsburgh
Cameron Beaubier leads the Superbike field – 2020 MotoAmerica Round 4, Pittsburgh

Beaubier’s win was decisive, though he downplayed it as “a bit lucky.” Challenged by his teammate Jake Gagne early on, Beaubier ended up 9.59 seconds ahead at the finish after clutch problems dropped Gagne back to third. Mathew Scholtz was the beneficiary of Gagne’s problems, the South African ending up second for the second straight day at Pittsburgh International Race Complex.

Josh Herrin survived an off-track excursion and fought his way back up to fourth place by the finish of the race, the rider besting Toni Elias by a tick over a second. Kyle Wyman was also a part of what was an entertaining battle for fourth, the New Yorker ending up sixth.

Cameron Beaubier - 2020 MotoAmerica Round 4, Pittsburgh
Cameron Beaubier – 2020 MotoAmerica Round 4, Pittsburgh

David Anthony finished seventh, some six seconds clear of Cameron Petersen. Ninth place went to Alex Dumas, the 18-year-old solid in what was his HONOS Superbike debut. Travis Wyman ended the 17-lap race in 10th place.

Source: MCNews.com.au

Elias & Gerloff share MotoAmerica SBK wins at Laguna

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.

MotoAmerica Rnd Laguna Seca Sun Garrett Gerloff Toni Elias Cameron Beaubier
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.

MotoAmerica Rnd Laguna Seca Sat Superbike
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.

MotoAmerica Rnd Laguna Seca Sun Superbike Gerloff
Garrett Gerloff celebrated the win – 2019 MotoAmerica Round 6 – Laguna Seca
Garrett Gerloff

“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.”

MotoAmerica Rnd Laguna Seca Garrett Gerloff
Garrett Gerloff – 2019 MotoAmerica Round 6 – Laguna Seca

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.

MotoAmerica Rnd Laguna Seca Sat Superbike
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.

Source: MCNews.com.au

Toni Elias does the double at MotoAmerica Utah

2019 MotoAmerica

Round 5 – Championship of Utah

Images by Brian J. Nelson

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.

MotoAmerica Utah Rnd Sat Superbike
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.

MotoAmerica Utah Rnd Superbike
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

  1. Toni Elias (Suzuki) 35:10.727
  2. Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) +1.969
  3. Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha) +2.463
  4. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha) +5.473
  5. 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.

MotoAmerica Utah Rnd Sat Superbike Toni Elias
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

  1. Toni Elias (Suzuki) 15:12.714
  2. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha) +0.303
  3. Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha) +0.502
  4. Josh Herrin (Suzuki) +9.582
  5. JD Beach (Yamaha) +10.515

EBC Brakes Superbike Standings

  1. Toni Elias 201
  2. Cameron Beaubier 175
  3. Garrett Gerloff 136
  4. Josh Herrin 119
  5. JD Beach 111
  6. Mathew Scholtz 100
  7. Jake Lewis 97
  8. David Anthony 66
  9. Cameron Petersen 65
  10. 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.

MotoAmerica Utah Rnd Sat Superport
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

  1. Hayden Gillim (Yamaha) 21:46.777
  2. Bobby Fong (Suzuki) +0.101
  3. Richie Escalante (Yamaha) +10.925
  4. Sean Dylan Kelly (Suzuki) +11.553
  5. 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.

MotoAmerica Utah Rnd Sat Supersport
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.”

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Bobby Fong and Hayden Gillim battle it out – 2019 MotoAmerica – Championship of Utah

Supersport Race 2

  1. Bobby Fong (Suzuki) 29:32.860
  2. Hayden Gillim (Yamaha) +0.003
  3. PJ Jacobsen (Yamaha) +10.264
  4. Bryce Prince (Yamaha) +10.809
  5. Sean Dylan Kelly (Suzuki) +12.319

Supersport Standings

  1. Hayden Gillim 142
  2. Bobby Fong 135
  3. Richie Escalante 107
  4. P.J. Jacobsen 103
  5. Sean Dylan Kelly 102
  6. Bryce Prince 78
  7. Joshua Hayes 72
  8. Nick McFadden 59
  9. Jason Aguilar 56
  10. 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.

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Dallas Daniels & Rocco Landers – 2019 MotoAmerica – Championship of Utah

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

  1. Rocco Landers (Kawasaki) 13:46.193
  2. Dallas Daniels (Kawasaki) +0.142
  3. Kevin Olmedo (Kawasaki) +8.382
  4. Isaiah Burleson (Kawasaki) +8.455
  5. 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.”

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Dallas Daniels – 2019 MotoAmerica – Championship of Utah

Liqui Moly Junior Cup Race 2

  1. Dallas Daniels (Kawasaki) 16:57.419
  2. Rocco Landers (Kawasaki) +0.044
  3. Kevin Olmedo (Kawasaki) +9.674
  4. Marc Edwards (Kawasaki) +17.495
  5. Benjamin Goody (Kawasaki) +17.787

Liqui Moly Junior Cup Standings

  1. Rocco Landers 175
  2. Dallas Daniels 154
  3. Kevin Olmedo 97
  4. Gauge Rees 72
  5. Dominic Doyle 71
  6. Damian Jigalov 63
  7. Samuel Lochoff 62
  8. Jackson Blackmon 54
  9. Isaiah Burleson 51
  10. 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.

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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.”

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Andrew Lee – 2019 MotoAmerica – Championship of Utah

Stock 1000 Race 1

  1. Andrew Lee (Kawasaki) 21:50.278
  2. Geoff May (Kawasaki) +2.958
  3. Stefano Mesa (Kawasaki) +6.922
  4. Travis Wyman (BMW) +12.021
  5. 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.

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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.”

Twins Cup Race 1

  1. Alex Dumas (Suzuki) 21:07.834
  2. Michael Barnes (Ducati) +14.331
  3. Cooper McDonald (Yamaha) +21.266
  4. Joseph Blasius (Suzuki) +21.983
  5. Draik Beauchamp (Yamaha) +27.123

Twins Cup Standings

  1. Michael Barnes 86
  2. Draik Beauchamp 75
  3. Curtis Murray 72
  4. Chris Parrish 69
  5. Alex Dumas 66
  6. Joseph Blasius 44
  7. Jeffrey Tigert 40
  8. Jason Madama 37
  9. Chris Bays 30
  10. Robert Fisher 25

Source: MCNews.com.au

Elias & Herrin join Rins with Suzuki wins at COTA

2019 MotoAmerica Superbikes

Round 2 – Circuit of the Americas

You couldn’t have written a better script for Suzuki in the combined MotoGP/MotoAmerica weekend at the Circuit of the Americas. At the biggest motorcycle racing event in America, the Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing team came away both MotoAmerica Superbike race wins and Superpole.

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Toni Elias and Josh Herrin duke it out at COTA MotoAmerica

Icing on the cake came in the form of Team SUZUKI ECSTAR also winning the MotoGP race, with Alex Rins and his GSX-RR giving Suzuki a clean sweep of all races it participated in this weekend.

Toni Elias got the Texas party started by winning MotoAmerica Superpole aboard his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. He then followed up with a thrilling victory in Superbike Race One on Saturday, with a last-lap, last-turn pass on rival Cameron Beaubier, bringing the crowd to their feet.

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Elias and Herrin shared the COTA wins

Then in Sunday’s Superbike Race Two, it was Yoshimura Suzuki finishing 1-2, with newest team member Josh Herrin breaking through to score his first win of the season. Elias was second.

MotoAmerica COTA Race 1

Elias won a scintillating battle with Cameron Beaubier to win his sixth out of seven starts in Texas. After 15 laps of the 3.426-mile Circuit of The Americas, Elias beat Beaubier by just .089 of a second after a battle that went to the final two corners. And Beaubier’s teammate, Garrett Gerloff, was just .248 of a second behind in third place – despite starting the race from the back of the grid.

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Toni Elias – Image by Brian J. Nelson

Josh Herrin, who led at times early in the race, ended up fourth, 1.9 seconds behind his teammate Elias. JD Beach rode to fifth, some four seconds clear of fellow Kentuckian Jake Lewis.

Mathew Scholtz ran off the track once, crashed and remounted to finish seventh, barely besting David Anthony and Cameron Petersen with the trio separated by just .454 of a second. Kyle Wyman rounded out the top 10 finishers.

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Toni Elias claims the win from Beaubier & Gerloff

EBC Brakes Superbike Race 1

  1. Toni Elias (Suzuki)
  2. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha) +0.089
  3. Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha) +0.248
  4. Josh Herrin (Suzuki) +1.913
  5. JD Beach (Yamaha) +15.560
  6. Jake Lewis (Suzuki) +19.165
  7. Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) +35.247
  8. David Anthony (Kawasaki) +35.344
  9. Cameron Petersen (Yamaha) +35.798
  10. Kyle Wyman (Ducati) +48.056

MotoAmerica COTA Race 2

Yoshimura Suzuki won its second straight race at Circuit of The Americas on Sunday, but it wasn’t the one ridden by yesterday’s winner Toni Elias. This time it was Josh Herrin on the top step of the podium after winning the seventh AMA Superbike race of his career in the MotoAmerica Championship of Texas.

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Josh Herrin – Image by Brian J. Nelson

Herrin battled for 13 of the 15 laps with his teammate Elias, with Cameron Beaubier always within striking distance. In the final two laps, Herrin was able to put his head down and he crossed the line .958 of a second ahead of Elias with Beaubier 1.6 seconds behind in third.

Fourth place went to Beaubier’s teammate Garrett Gerloff, the Texan coming on strong at the end of the race to finish 3.2 seconds behind Herrin. Gerloff, in turn, was well clear of fifth-placed Jake Lewis.

Cameron Petersen finished sixth, some three seconds ahead of Kyle Wyman. David Anthony, Travis Wyman and  Max Flinders rounded out the top 10 finishers.

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Toni Elias now leads the standings

Elias now has a 13-point lead over Beaubier, 90-77, with Herrin moving past Scholtz and into third with 49 points to Scholtz’s 45. Beach and Lewis are tied for fifth with 40 points each.

Josh Herrin

“Just mentally, I feel like I was a lot more prepared today. We spent a lot of time at the track last night. We ran a different tire today, but it’s two totally different weather conditions today, so I don’t think that really had much to do with it for us. Just made the right choice, I guess. It’s just been, like Toni said, every day I think I get more comfortable on the bike. Each time I can race it and actually put in those hard laps I learn a lot. We have a lot of data to look at and I can learn what I’m doing wrong, what I’m improving on. Like I said on the podium, it’s been such a crazy off-season. I had super highs coming into it and then, once the season started, I was bumming pretty hard because I just wasn’t riding like myself. I think I was just getting so excited at the beginning of the races that I was kind of blowing it for myself, riding like a rookie a little bit. I just had to kind of reset my brain and just relax a little bit. It feels so good to be able to get a win for Suzuki. Two wins this weekend. They won a MotoGP race, so it’s a big day for them. Thank you to everybody at Suzuki and Yoshimura for believing in me.”

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Herrin, Rins and Elias celebrate
Toni Elias

“I just was trying to do my race, my pace. There is still something I am missing, because it’s me. Riders we have to choose the tires, the things. Mistake a little bit before the race. I choose the same tire as yesterday, when yesterday I wasn’t happy. I choose it again because I was thinking today with more temperature was better but is the same tire. Last year in Barber I had some bad feeling, too. So, I think today it’s been a good advice to cancel the tire for the future. I’m not going to use it anymore, for sure. But anyway, I was there. I was doing my pace. The team is working so good. We don’t change anything on the bike, just the track condition was much better than yesterday. But I didn’t expect at the end to have this little issue with the shifter. After that, I lost everything, and I couldn’t fight. It’s okay. These things happen in race. A little bit pissed off because I could fight a little bit more. Maybe we could have a big battle with Josh. But anyway, I’m happy for him. 1-2 for Suzuki is so, so good. He deserves this more than anyone. So, very happy for him, for the team, too. After all, I’m happy to take this second place. Let’s continue like this. This is going to be long. Let’s see.”

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Toni Elias
Cameron Beaubier

“I gave 110 percent that race just to hang onto those guys. They were riding so good. The pace was a second and a half faster than it was yesterday. I don’t know where the hell they found that. I was just hanging on for dear life. All in all, I’m really happy that I was even able to keep pace with the Yosh boys this weekend. This is always a pretty tough track for us. It just gives me confidence going into the rest of the year. Hats off to both these guys. I’m excited for a really tough year and battling it up with these guys.”

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Josh Herrin takes a well earnt win in Race 2

EBC Brakes Superbike Race 2

  1. Josh Herrin (Suzuki)
  2. Toni Elias (Suzuki)
  3. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
  4. Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha)
  5. Jake Lewis (Suzuki)
  6. Cameron Petersen (Yamaha)
  7. Kyle Wyman (Ducati)
  8. David Anthony (Kawasaki)
  9. Travis Wyman (BMW)
  10. Max Flinders (Yamaha)

EBC Superbike Championship Standings

  1. Toni Elias 90
  2. Cameron Beaubier 77
  3. Josh Herrin 49
  4. Mathew Scholtz 45
  5. JD Beach 40
  6. Jake Lewis 40
  7. Garrett Gerloff 36
  8. David Anthony 36
  9. Cameron Petersen 30
  10. Kyle Wyman 25

Riders head back east to Virginia International Raceway for round three of the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship in Alton, Virginia, on May 4-5th.

Source: MCNews.com.au