Newport Beach, CA (April 22nd 2009) Fans of American motorcycle roadracers have another GP rider to cheer for this weekend besides the usual veterans. Sixteen year old American hopeful, Cameron Beaubier (or “Sunshine” as he is becoming known) has just arrived in Japan, the site of his second ever GP race, after having had a successful debut race at Qatar just two weeks ago where he finished 16th. He is the only American competing full time in the 2009 MotoGP 125cc World Championships. His Qatar result was more impressive considering that just a few days prior Cameron was injured in a practice crash at the circuit. “All in all I think the weekend ended up better than it started. I crashed in testing on Tuesday and dislocated my shoulder and it was still up in the air if I was even going to race. I went out in the first free practice and everything felt ok, but the rest of the weekend I was lacking confidence. The race went a lot better than practice and qualifying. I got a great start and ended up 16th. Even though the race was shortened because of the rain, I felt that I got a lot of my confidence back by following the other riders.” The American rider has been living the dream this season, riding for the Factory Red Bull KTM team in his debut season, while having racing legends Kevin Schwantz and Casey Stoner as personal coaches. In fact, it was Casey that gave Cameron his “Sunshine” nickname. And for 2009 Cameron will proudly be wearing the iconic #34 and #27 on his Alpinestars suit. Although the focus at the moment is continuing his learning curve this weekend at Motegi. In preparation, the likeable rider from Roseville, California spent the last week in Germany with his friend and fellow GP rookie, Jonas Folger. “I went to Jonas’ house in Germany and just relaxed and let my shoulder heal up a bit for Japan. But I’m really excited for Motegi! It’s a brand new track for me and I can’t wait!”