Beach Doubles At Barber As Yamaha bLU cRU Sweeps The Podium In Supersport Race 2

Birmingham, AL – Defending MotoAmerica Supersport Champion JD Beach made it clear at Barber Motorsports Park that he is not ready to hand the crown to his Yamaha Extended Service (Y.E.S.)/Graves/Yamaha teammate and current points leader Garrett Gerloff. JD won both of the weekend’s Supersport races to shave precious points from Garrett’s lead. It’s the second year in a row that JD has notched the double-win at Barber.

Starting from the second row on the grid, JD got off the line well and slotted in behind equally quick starter Garrett, and the battle was on as polesitter and Wheels In Motion/Meen Yamaha rider Joe Roberts was also in the mix from the beginning.

Both JD and Garrett swapped the lead back and forth, and they also swapped fastest laptimes of the race, with JD going fastest in lap 4, while Garrett eclipsed JD’s time with a faster lap of his own on lap 14. The final circulation of the 21-lap race saw both riders dicing for the win, and despite having to pass lapped riders, JD nearly matched his fastest lap from earlier in the race as he took the checkered flag for his third race victory in 2016.

“My ride wasn’t super-smooth today, but I did what I could,” commented JD. “It was so fun to race with Garrett, Joe, and all the guys. There was a lot of passing back and forth, which I like. It feels great getting the double-win here at Barber for the second year in a row. As for the Championship, I’m just going to go for wins because I’ve got nothing to lose. All the weight is on Garrett’s shoulders right now since he’s in the lead, so we’ll see what happens ”

Garrett said, “JD was riding really well, and I was doing all I could to stay with him. With a couple of laps to go, I was able to get past him, but it didn’t last long with the pace he was going. It was a tough race just like yesterday was, but I’m glad to get two second-place finishes this weekend, especially against a flat tracker like JD.”

The Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha Supersport team will race again in two weeks when the MotoAmerica Championship will be at Utah Motorsports Campus in Tooele, UT, on June 23-25.

2016 MotoAmerica Supersport Standings 6/12/16

Pos. Rider Points

1 Garrett Gerloff – Yamaha 230

2 JD Beach – Yamaha 197

3 Valentin Debise 168

4 Cameron Petersen 139

5 Joe Roberts – Yamaha 118

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More, from a press release issued by Team Hammer PR:

DEBISE EXTENDS PODIUM STREAK IN ALABAMA

Team Hammer extended its podium streak at Round 6 of the 2016 MotoAmerica FIM North American Road Racing Championship at Barber Motorsports Park, in Birmingham, Alabama.

M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki’s Valentin Debise registered a brave and gritty effort on Saturday to notch up his seventh Supersport podium of the season. The Frenchman has now assembled a remarkable run in which he has stood on the podium in every weekend of his developing MotoAmerica career.

Debise managed this despite suffering a huge crash during qualifying just hours before the race, which limited his strength during a contest held in blisteringly hot conditions. Area lightning forced the race to be halted and called complete a few laps early, earning Debise a third-place result.

Debise narrowly missed scoring a second third on Sunday. After running in fifth aboard his M4 SportbikeTrackGear.comSuzuki GSX-R600 for the bulk of the race, the emerging ace went to work on the final lap and came up just 0.014 seconds short of the podium with a fourth-place finish at the checkered flag.

M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki teammate Cameron Petersen enjoyed a strong weekend himself, twice battling for the podium. On Saturday, the South African crashed while contending for third but remounted and charged his way back up to ninth when the race was ended early.

He worked his way into another podium dogfight in the second race. Petersen controlled third for much of the race before finishing in fifth, less than three tenths removed from the podium.

Debise now sits third in the ’16 MotoAmerica title fight with 168 points, one win, and seven podiums. Petersen is fourth with 139 points, one win, and three podiums.

“I got a good start on Saturday, but I knew it was going to be difficult to fight for the win,” Debise admitted. “The crash in the morning robbed me of all my strength and I wasn’t able to ride the way I wanted to. I have to thank the team for giving me such a great bike, which allowed me to get third. I did all I could and finishing on the podium was a great result for me in that race. I couldn’t ask for any more than that.”

Superstock 1000 contender Jake Lewis continued to adapt to the M4 Suzuki GSX-R1000. Lewis threw down the fastest time in Superpole 1 and ultimately notched up the sixth fastest lap among STK 1000 competitors in Superpole 2.

Lewis backed that up with a pair of top 10s results, finishing 10th and seventh in the respective Superstock 1000 races.

Meanwhile, youngster Xavier Zayat scooped up a pair of top 10s in Superstock 600. He piloted his M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki GSX-R1000 to eighth and 10th. M4 LOXY Suzuki’s Caroline Olsen twice finished directly behind Zayat, coming home in ninth and 11th.

Team Hammer will next travel to Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, for Round 7 of the 2016 AMA/FIM North American Road Racing on June 23-25.

This year marks Team Hammer’s 36th consecutive season of operating as a professional road racing team. During that time, racebikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 61 AMA Pro National races, have finished on AMA Pro National podiums 149 times and have won five AMA Pro National Championships (the most recent in 2012), as well as two FIM South American championships. The team has also won 133 endurance races overall (including seven 24-hour races) and won 13 Overall WERA National Endurance Championships with Suzuki motorcycles, and holds the U.S. record for mileage covered in a 24-hour race. The team also competed in the televised 1990s Formula USA National Championship, famously running “Methanol Monster” GSX-R1100 Superbikes fueled by methanol, and won the F-USA Championship four times.

More, from a press release issued by KTM North America:

BRANDON PAASCH AND ANTHONY MAZZIOTTO SPLIT RACE VICTORIES AT ROUND 5 OF THE KTM RC CUP

Round 5 – KTM RC Cup 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – New Jersey natives Brandon Paasch and Anthony Mazziotto III once again highlighted the MotoAmerica race weekend as each rider claimed a race victory at Round 5 of the KTM RC Cup Series at Barber Motorsports Park.

Mazziotto held pole position for the fourth time this season and used the favorable start position to his advantage as he claimed the early lead in race one. Coming off his first career victory at the last round, Ashton Yates shot to the front of the group on lap two but the Georgia native bumped into Mazziotto, which caused both riders to slow down and allowed Paasch to establish himself as the new leader of the race.

Yates regrouped and settled into the 2nd place position while Mazziotto dropped back to 5th place as the contact with Yates damaged his exhaust, making it difficult to make right-hand turns. Jody Barry challenged Yates for the 2nd place position several times throughout the 11-lap race and the Illinois native finally made his move on the last lap. In the end, Paasch took the race one victory, followed by Barry in 2nd and Yates in 3rd.

Mazziotto salvaged 4th place in race one, followed by Josh Serne in 5th. Draik Beauchamp matched his best finish of the season with 6th place, with Jackson Blackmon in 7th, Alejandro Gutierrez in 8th, Nolan Lamkin 9th and Ezra Beaubier rounding out the top ten.

In Race two, Mazziotto grabbed the early lead but Yates and Paasch interjected themselves into the battle early on, with Barry close in tow. The top four riders put a gap on the rest of the field as they swapped the lead position for the remainder of the race. Mazziotto made a big pass for the lead in the final moments of the race, leaving the rest of the pack to battle for the remaining podium positions.

Mazziotto captured the victory, with Yates in 2nd and Paasch rounding out the podium in 3rd. Barry finished just off the podium in 4th, with Gutierrez in the 5th place position.

Benjamin Smith put in his best finish of the season with 6th, followed by Renzo Ferreira in 7th, Lamkin in 8th, Blackmon in 9th and Serne in 10th.

Next Event: Utah Motorsports Campus / June 23 – 25, 2016

Race 1 Results –

1. Brandon Paasch

2. Jody Barry

3. Ashton Yates

4. Anthony Mazziotto III

5. Josh Serne

6. Draik Beauchamp

7. Jackson Blackmon

8. Alejandro Gutierrez

9. Nolan Lamkin

10.Ezra Beaubier

Race 2 Results –

1. Anthony Mazziotto III

2. Ashton Yates

3. Brandon Paasch

4. Jody Barry

5. Alejandro Gutierrez

6. Benjamin Smith

7. Renzo Ferreira

8. Nolan Lamkin

9. Jackson Blackmon

10.Josh Serne

Championship Point Standings –

1. Brandon Paasch – 205

2. Anthony Mazziotto – 195

3. Ashton Yates – 140

4. Jody Barry – 137

5. Alejandro Gutierrez – 105

More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:

Beaubier’s Double Podium At Barber Maintains His MotoAmerica Superbike Points Lead; Hayes’ Two Fourth-Place Finishes Keep Him In Second Place

Birmingham, AL – Amidst extremely hot and humid weather conditions that tested the riders’ conditioning, defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier’s two third-place results on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park moved him closer to winning his second-consecutive Superbike title. Meanwhile, his Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha Factory Racing teammate Josh Hayes maintained second place in the points standings with two fourth-place results.

As in Superbike Race 1, which ran earlier on Sunday, Cameron started from the pole, but in Race 2, he got a better start off the line and slotted in behind Toni Elias while going into turn one. Josh moved quickly into fourth-place behind Roger Hayden, as the four main title contenders began their battle.

Hayden managed to get past Cameron, which moved him back to third place. The racing was close throughout the 23-lap contest, but Elias and Hayden ran a quick pace, and Cameron and Josh weren’t able to close the gap enough to make a pass for the lead before the checkered flag flew.

After his second podium result of the day, Cameron said, “I was struggling pretty bad driving off the corners, and I just couldn’t get close enough to the front. Normally, I’d be pretty bummed about two third-place finishes, but Toni and Rog really had the pace today. I’m looking forward to going to Utah, which is closer to my home.”

The Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha Factory Racing team will be back in action in two weeks when the MotoAmerica Championship will be at Utah Motorsports Campus in Tooele, UT, on June 23-25.

2016 MotoAmerica Superbike Standings 6/12/16

Pos. Rider Points

1 Cameron Beaubier – Yamaha 208

2 Josh Hayes – Yamaha 195

3 Roger Hayden 194

4 Toni Elias 189

5 Claudio Corti 108

For more Yamaha racing news, results, photos, and videos, visit http://www.YamahaMotorsports.com/Racing

Also, check out “YamahaMotorUSA” on your favorite social media site.