Cameron Beaubier Wins AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike Races at Miller Motorsports Park in Round 6 of GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 8, 2013) – Round 6 at Miller Motorsports Park was was another chance for Cameron Beaubier to showcase his talents in the AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike division. The Yamaha Extended Service/Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha racer is in the middle of a remarkable season and after Miller Motorsports Park’s doubleheader, the young Californian has etched his name in the record books. Beaubier tied Martin Cardenas’ mark for wins in a season with nine and still has two more events and three races to break the mark in 2013. After winning nine of ten races this year, the odds are good that Beaubier will eventually own that record by himself. Beaubier also inched closer to winning the championship and now holds an 86-point advantage. It truly has been a dream season for Beaubier. After winning seven races last year, there wasn’t much room for improvement but the youngster has kicked it up a notch to record a truly rare season. Beaubier has been the man with a target on his bike the entire season and other riders have come close, but only Jake Gagne has topped Beaubier in 2013. At Miller, the outcome was very much in doubt but the 20-year old managed two more wins. Beaubier won pole again to repeat the performance he’s done at every round this year and in race one he took the approach he has many times this season – get a decent but safe start, then push towards the front, and finally put in another charge when the tires are worn in the late laps. Teammate Garrett Gerloff continued his momentum from Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca and nearly topped his older stable mate. Gerloff has experience at the Utah circuit and quickly worked his way to the front on Saturday, pulling a lead while Beaubier spent five laps working his way up to second. By lap ten, Beaubier had worked his way to the lead over Gerloff, but couldn’t run away. Gerloff slipped past a couple of times in his favored passing spot at turn one, but Beaubier ran flawlessly on the final lap to take win number eight. Saturday’s events inspired Beaubier to get a better start and claim the lead on the start after Saturday’s too-close-for-comfort win. But his rivals weren’t keen to the plan. Gerloff, RoadRace Factory/Red Bull’s JD Beach, and Meen Motorsports’ Jake Lewis followed closely and were on the pace. Sunday’s race wouldn’t be a chance to run away and hide. Beach made an awesome pass to take the lead with four to go and Beaubier was relegated to third behind Gerloff. Gerloff took the lead into turn one on the final lap, but Beaubier took advantage of a Gerloff mistake to take the lead and denied his teammate again, along with Beach right on their heels. “It’s really been a dream season for me,” Cameron said on Sunday. “Everything has been going awesome so far. My crew of Olly (Hutchinson) and Skye (Girard) have really worked hard to give me a great bike all season long. “We really struggled with race pace this weekend. I thought I was going to be faster,” said Beaubier. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to get the double. I am going to keep pushing the last races. It would be nice (to get the record) but I am going to take it race-by-race and go from there. It was a fun race today, just like it was yesterday. We had an awesome battle out there, and I really enjoyed it.” Gerloff backed up his Laguna Seca second place with two more. He was a little disappointed not to have won but it was a great weekend for the Texan. “It was pretty crazy those last five laps, I made a big mistake and almost highsided. Cameron got around me and I couldn’t do much to get back by.” Gerloff’s near-crash didn’t dull his enthusiasm. “Getting a second at Laguna Seca gave me a lot of confidence coming into Miller, and I’m really happy with my results. I was able to run up front and lead the race both yesterday and today, so I’m hungry for a win.” Beach said he wanted to make his best effort to get his first DSB win, making the move of the weekend that was the topic of discussion after the race. “I guess it was pretty big. I didn’t think it was that big,” said Beach. “I went around the outside and I had seen it done before. I wasn’t going to sit back in third like I did all race yesterday. Once I got out front, I feel like I had a good pace. I made a mistake in turn one and got the rear tire off the ground.” Jake Lewis earned fourth both times out and improved his pace on Sunday. The rookie is beginning to pull away in his bid to be the top first-year rider in the class. RoadRace Factory/Red Bull’s Jake Gagne had, for him, a disappointing weekend but two top fives show how far the Californian has come in 2013. Gagne never really was comfortable with the front end of his machine in Utah, but the second place points man still holds a 23-point advantage over Gerloff. National Guard Celtic Racing’s James Rispoli earned two more sixths and was the first non-Yamaha finisher each time out. Rispoli will race next in Moto2 at Indianapolis. Veterans Dane Westby, Jason DiSalvo, and Bobby Fong fought for the next three spots both days. GEICO Motorcycle Road Racing’s Westby went 9-7 at Miller. Latus Motors Racing Triumph’s DiSalvo earned ninth but jumped to seventh on Sunday. Fong, on the D&D Cycles/Castrol/Triumph 675 took eighth each time out, rebounding after a tough season for the Californian former race winner. Venezuela’s Fernando Amantini (Team Amantini) took two top tens. For Beaubier, the Miller Motorsports Park rounds were something of a dodged bullet for his record summer as one slip-up would have cost him a race. The competition seemed much more able to run his pace at the last three contests, but he still emerged victorious. If Beaubier’s advantage over the field is truly gone will be up for review at the next doubleheader in New Jersey September 13-15. Roadracing World Young Gun Of The Year Award Corey Alexander and Garret Gerloff are the top riders in the running for the Roadracing World Young Gun Of The Year Award standings with 200 points. However, Alexander would win the tiebreaker because he has more wins to his credit so far this season. Stefano Mesa and Joe Roberts are having strong seasons in AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport and have placed themselves in contention as well with 188 and 179 points, respectively. Next Up The 2013 GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing season will resume in less than two weeks’ time as the series travels to Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana for Round 7 on August 16-18. For tickets and additional information, please visit http://secure.brickyard.com/Tickets/RedBullIndianapolisGP.aspx. Stay connected with GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing on social media at http://twitter.com/AMAProSBK and http://www.facebook.com/AMAProRoadRacing. About GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing is the premier motorcycle road racing series in North America and is universally regarded as one of the most competitive road racing organizations in the world. The 2013 schedule consists of nine rounds of competition on the country’s finest road courses. The Series is comprised of four production-based classes: AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike, AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike, AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport and the AMA Pro Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Series. Learn more about GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing at www.amaproracing.com/rr/.
Alexander, Gerloff Tied For Lead In AMA Pro Roadracing World Young Gun Of The Year Point Standings
Alexander, Gerloff Tied For Lead In AMA Pro Roadracing World Young Gun Of The Year Point Standings
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