Monster Energy/Graves Yamaha’s Cameron Beaubier topped Friday afternoon’s Free Practice Two with the fastest lap time, a 1:25.598, leading a relatively tight group of riders on the warm and dry 2.25-mile North Course at VIRginia International Raceway, in Alton, Virginia.
“This morning we only did six or seven laps in the wet [Free Practice One] just because the forecast says it’s not supposed to rain the rest of the weekend. So I did just a couple of laps this morning to get comfortable and to remember which way the track goes,” Beaubier, the defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion, told Roadracingworld.com. “It was a little bit of a slow start [in the afternoon session]. I didn’t feel super comfortable at the beginning. Then I started chipping away, and I felt a lot better at the end. We threw a pretty decent lap in there at the end, but we still have a couple of things to change and get a little more comfortable for tomorrow.”
Beaubier’s fastest lap on his Yamaha YZF-R1 led a group of nine riders whose best times were separated by less than a second.
The next-fastest rider in the session was Yoshimura Suzuki’s Toni Elias, who said he made tremendous progress on his GSX-R1000’s wet setup in the rainy morning practice, before turning a second-best 1:25.677 in the afternoon. VIR newcomer Elias said he liked the track but added that it demanded precision and punished riders for making mistakes.
Beaubier’s teammate Josh Hayes was second with a 1:25.746 until Elias bumped him down to third late in the session. Hayes said he had a tough time getting a clean lap because there were several riders cruising around the track looking for tows from faster riders.
Josh Herrin led the session at one point on his Wheels in Motion/Meen Yamaha YZF-R1 with a 1:25.963 but finished up fourth overall and top dog in the Superstock 1000 category.
Elias’ teammate Roger Hayden also held the top spot at points of the afternoon practice, but he slipped down to fifth overall with a time of 1:25.975.
Jake Gagne completed Free Practice Two with the sixth-quickest time overall, a 1:26.127, in spite of working through two different fuel tank setups during the session. Gagne’s Crew Chief Scott Jensen said they also made “big advancements” with the electronics on Gagne’s Broaster Chicken/RoadRace Factory Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike.
Bobby Fong was seventh-fastest overall and second among the Superstock 1000 riders with a lap at 1:26.338 on his Quicksilver Latus Motors Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R.
Fresh off what he called a “humbling” Moto2 experience at Le Mans, TOBC Racing Yamaha’s Danny Eslick was eighth overall and third in class in the session with a time of 1:26.477.
Taylor Knapp was ninth-fastest overall on his MotoEverything/DieselOps Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 Superstock 1000. Knapp’s lap at 1:26.576 was just 0.978 second behind Beaubier.
Fong’s teammate David Anthony rounded out the top 10 overall riders in the session with a best effort of 1:27.015.
Yamaha Superbike Championship of Virginia
MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Series
VIRginia International Raceway
Alton, Virginia
May 13, 2016
Provisional Overall Superbike/Bazzaz Superstock 1000 Free Practice Two Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 1:25.598
2. Toni Elias (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 1:25.677
3. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 1:25.746
4. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:25.963
5. Roger Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 1:25.975
6. Jake Gagne (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 1:26.127
7. Bobby Fong (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, 1:26.338
8. Danny Eslick (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:26.477
9. Taylor Knapp (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:26.576
10. David Anthony (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, 1:27.015
11. Claudio Corti (Apr RSV4 RF), Superstock 1000, 1:27.102
12. Sheridan Morais (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:27.167
13. Frankie Babuska (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:27.676
14. Kyle Wyman (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 1:27.801
15. Jake Lewis (Suz GSX-R1000), Superstock 1000, 1:28.591
16. Ryan Jones (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 1:29.612
17. Anthony Kosinski (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:29.749
18. Barrett Long (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 1:29.866
19. Billy Ethridge (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 1:29.935
20. Dustin Meador (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:30.710
21. Max Flinders (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:31.396
22. Tony Leong (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:31.439
23. Jeremy Cook (BMW S1000RR), Superstock 1000, 1:32.292
24. Hayden Gillim (Suz GSX-R1000), Superstock 1000, no time recorded
25. Josh Chisum (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, no time recorded
26. Shane Narbonne (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, no time recorded
27. Brandon Cretu (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, no time recorded
Provisional Superbike Free Practice Two Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R1), 1:25.598
2. Toni Elias (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:25.677
3. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), 1:25.746
4. Roger Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:25.975
5. Jake Gagne (Yam YZF-R1), 1:26.127
6. Kyle Wyman (Yam YZF-R1), 1:27.801
7. Ryan Jones (Yam YZF-R1), 1:29.612
8. Barrett Long (Yam YZF-R1), 1:29.866
9. Billy Ethridge (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:29.935
10. Brandon Cretu (Yam YZF-R1), no time recorded
Provisional Bazzaz Superstock 1000 Free Practice Two Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R1), 1:25.963
2. Bobby Fong (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:26.338
3. Danny Eslick (Yam YZF-R1), 1:26.477
4. Taylor Knapp (Yam YZF-R1), 1:26.576
5. David Anthony (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:27.015
6. Claudio Corti (Apr RSV4 RF), 1:27.102
7. Sheridan Morais (Yam YZF-R1), 1:27.167
8. Frankie Babuska, Jr. (Yam YZF-R1), 1:27.676
9. Jake Lewis (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:28.591
10. Anthony Kosinski (Yam YZF-R1), 1:29.749
11. Dustin Meador (Yam YZF-R1), 1:30.710
12. Max Flinders (Yam YZF-R1), 1:31.396
13. Tony Leong (Yam YZF-R1), 1:31.439
14. Jeremy Cook (BMW S1000RR), 1:32.292
15. Hayden Gillim (Suz GSX-R1000), no time recorded
16. Josh Chisum (Yam YZF-R1), no time recorded
17. Shane Narbonne (Yam YZF-R1), no time recorded