Garrett Gerloff was the quickest rider during a two-day MotoAmerica Supersport/Superstock 600 test at Circuit of The Americas, near Austin, Texas. Riding his Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha YZF-R6, 20-year-old Gerloff navigated the 3.4-mile, 20-turn course in 2:11.987, which was nearly one second faster than any other rider present at the test.
JD Beach, Gerloff’s teammate and the defending MotoAmerica Supersport Champion, rebounded from a rough performance on Day One (2:14.072) to post the second-best time (2:12.846) on Day Two.
Joe Roberts, the top dog in the division on Day One, was unable to improve on the lap time of 2:13.149 he did on the first day. When Roberts did try to go faster on Day Two, he crashed his Wheels In Motion/Motosport.com/Meen Yamaha YZF-R6. Roberts, the 2015 MotoAmerica Superstock 600 Champion, said his body and his confidence were not harmed in his fall.
Valentine Debise, the 23-year-old from France who had never seen the track before the test started, steadily improved his lap times throughout the test and ended up with a fourth-fastest 2:13.700 on his M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki GSX-R600.
The top rider in the Superstock 600 category and the fifth-quickest middleweight rider overall was Dakota Mamola, who recorded a 2:14.677 on his HB Motorsports/Meen Yamaha YZF-R6. Mamola, the 21-year-old son of Grand Prix star Randy Mamola, said it was his first time riding at Circuit of The Americas and only his second time on a road race motorcycle in 13 months. M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com’s Xavier Zayat was the second-fastest Superstock 600 rider at eighth overall, in his first time at Circuit of The Americas and the first time riding his 2016 GSX-R600 racebike.
MotoAmerica Pre-Season Test Powered by Dunlop
Circuit of The Americas
Austin, Texas
March 24, 2016
Supersport/Superstock 600 Overall Best Lap Times (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Garrett Gerloff (Yam YZF-R6), 2:11.987, Supersport
2. JD Beach (Yam YZF-R6), 2:12.846, Supersport
3. Joe Roberts (Yam YZF-R6), 2:13.149, Supersport, crash
4. Valentin Debise (Suz GSX-R600), 2:13.700, Supersport
5. Dakota Mamola (Yam YZF-R6), 2:14.677, Superstock 600
6. Cameron Petersen (Suz GSX-R600), 2:14.878, Supersport, crash
7. Benny Solis, Jr. (Hon CBR600RR), 2:15.491, Supersport
8. Xavier Zayat (Suz GSX-R600), 2:16.036, Superstock 600
9. Jay Newton (Yam YZF-R6), 2:17.621, Supersport
10. Travis Wyman (Yam YZF-R6), 2:17.747, Superstock 600
11. Melissa Paris (Suz GSX-R600), 2:23.876, Superstock 600
12. Kris Lillegard (MV F3 675), 2:25.203, Supersport
13. Phil Horwitz (Yam YZF-R6), 2:27.566, Superstock 600