Cameron Beaubier, the defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion, led all riders in the Superbike and Superstock 1000 category during a two-day test at Circuit of The Americas, near Austin, Texas. With a new rear Dunlop qualifying slick mounted to his Monster Energy/Graves Yamaha YZF-R1, Beaubier lapped the 3.4-mile road course in 2:08.764, which was faster than Beaubier’s Day One-leading time of 2:09.352, which was quicker than Beaubier’s 2015 pole position time of 2:09.653.
However, Beaubier’s day ended when he crashed without injury in Turn One on a flying lap on his second Dunlop qualifying tire.
“I went out on Dunlop’s softer 2662 tire [a pre-qualifier or pre-Q] and did that time [2:08.771] and then I matched it on the Q [2:08.764] with one mistake, so I was really happy about that,” Beaubier told reporters. “The qualifying tire is pretty nuts. Normally when I go out I try to get warmed up on the warm-up lap and get a flow going and attack, and with the Q you have to baby it on the warm-up lap and just attack. And it’s a one-lap thing. You just can’t overthink it. You’ve just got to clear your mind and go, because it’s really easy to make a mistake, and one mistake will ruin five corners here.
“Overall, it was really good. I think it was a really productive test. The wind wasn’t too bad. The weather was good, and I had fun.”
Second-fastest when the dust settled was former Moto2 World Champion Toni Elias, who is filling in for injured Jake Lewis on the Yoshimura Suzuki team. Elias was credited with a best test time of 2:09.248, which he did on his first qualifying tire. The 32-year-old Spaniard then crashed without injury while pushing for a better time on his second qualifying tire.
Elias’s teammate for the test, Roger Hayden, lost his bid for a better time and test ranking when he said another rider got in his way while he was on his flying lap on his second qualifying tire. Hayden ended up third-quickest overall with a 2:09.495.
Beaubier’s teammate Josh Hayes, a four-time Superbike Champion, struggled somewhat during the two days in Texas and he finished fourth overall on the time sheet with a 2:10.127 on one of the “pre-Q” tires Dunlop brought to help riders progressively work their way to the one-lap qualifying tires.
Jake Gagne, the 2015 MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Champion, concluded his test with the fifth-best lap time among Superbike riders, a 2:10.160, and Gagne did that time while using a “pre-Q” rear tire on his Broaster Chicken/RoadRace Factory Yamaha YZF-R1 Superstock-spec racebike. Gagne alternated between riding his Superstock bike from 2015 (which he crashed on Day Two) and dialing in the advanced electronics on his new Superbike YZF-R1.
Sixth overall and first among the Superstock 1000 riders was South African Sheridan Morais, who did a 2:11.134 in spite of it being his first days riding his new Rabid Transport Yamaha YZF-R1 and his first days riding at Circuit of The Americas.
Morais’ late lap on a Dunlop qualifying tire displaced former AMA Pro Superbike Champion Josh Herrin to second in class and seventh overall. Herrin did a 2:11.151 with a Dunlop qualifying tire on the rear of his Wheels in Motion/Motosport.com/Meen Yamaha.
HSBK Racing Aprilia’s Claudio Corti improved little in terms of fastest lap time on day two and ended up with a 2:11.604, which was marginally quicker than the 2:11.611 the Italian rider did on Day One and good enough for eighth overall and third in the Superstock 1000 class.
Josh Day walked away from a destructive mid-day crash of his Yamalube/Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 Superstock 1000 racebike and finished ninth overall and fourth in class.
Australian David Anthony rounded out the top 10 overall and was fifth in the Superstock 1000 division in spite of it being his second time riding his new Quicksilver/Latus Motors Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R.
MotoAmerica Pre-Season Test Powered by Dunlop
Circuit of The Americas
Austin, Texas
March 24, 2016
Superbike/Superstock 1000 Overall Best Lap Times (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R1), 2:08.764, Superbike, crash
2. Toni Elias (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:09.248, Superbike, crashed twice
3. Roger Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:09.495, Superbike
4. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), 2:10.127, Superbike
5. Jake Gagne (Yam YZF-R1), 2:10.160, Superbike, crash
6. Sheridan Morais (Yam YZF-R1), 2:11.134, Superstock 1000
7. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R1), 2:11.151, Superstock 1000
8. Claudio Corti (Apr RSV4 RF), 2:11.604, Superstock 1000
9. Joshua Day (Yam YZF-R1), 2:11.820, Superstock 1000, crash
10. David Anthony (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:12.043, Superstock 1000
11. Steve Rapp (BMW S1000RR), 2:12.179, Superstock 1000
12. Bobby Fong (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:12.721, Superstock 1000
13. Hayden Gillim (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:12.969, Superstock 1000
14. Kyle Wyman (Yam YZF-R1), 2:13.727, Superbike
15. Daytona Anderson (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:15.497, Superstock 1000
16. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:15.678, Superbike, crash
17. Anthony Kosinski (Yam YZF-R1), 2:17.529, Superstock 1000
18. Max Flinders (Yam YZF-R1), 2:17.653, Superstock 1000
19. Sam Verderico (Yam YZF-R1), 2:19.232, Superstock 1000
20. Brandon Cretu (Yam YZF-R1), 2:21.096, Superbike
21. Johnny Rock Page (Yam YZF-R1), 2:21.388, Superbike, crash
22. Jason Madama (Yam YZF-R1), 2:21.750, Superstock 1000
23. Aaron Hersh (Yam YZF-R1), 2:23.109, Superstock 1000
24. Manuel Segura (Kaw ZX-10R), 2:25.764, Superstock 1000
25. Kevin Gibson (Apr RSV4), 2:40.962, Superstock 1000