All’s Well That Ends Well At Road Atlanta For Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha Factory Racing As Beaubier Wins Race 2 & Hayes Is Second

Braselton, GA  – The Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha Factory Racing team experienced the agony and ecstasy of Superbike racing all in one day at Road Atlanta, and it was all sweetness and light at the conclusion of the race weekend as defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier got back to his winning ways with a victory in Race 2. Cameron’s teammate and four-time AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes finished second.

In Race 1, with Cameron in the lead and Josh in second place and close behind Cameron, things got a little too close as the front wheel of Josh’s Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike made contact with the rear wheel of Cameron’s R1, which sent both Yamaha Factory riders and their bikes into the gravel and out of the race.

The Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha Factory Racing Superbike team and their two riders quickly regrouped, rebuilt their #1 and #4 R1 Superbikes, and were ready for Race 2.

When Sunday’s second Superbike race went green, Josh got the jump on Cameron, who earned the pole position in Saturday’s final qualifying. Cameron slotted into the lead pack and quickly worked his way into second where he raced in close formation with Josh throughout the entirety of the 22-lap main event, with the two teammates swapping the lead on several occasions. As the laps wound down, Cameron put his #1 R1 in front for good and took the checkers for his first Superbike victory of the season.

After the podium celebration, Cameron talked about what transpired in Superbike Race 1 followed by his comments about Race 2. He said, “Obviously, Josh has been racing a long time, and I really look up to the guy. I know he didn’t mean to have that happen, so we’ll move on and look forward. In Race 2, I felt like I could make some passes a little more easily than I could in Race 1. Josh did not make it easy, though. He wants to win just as badly as I do, and regardless of what happened in Race 1, we were both going for the win in Race 2. This win was important for my team and me, after the start we’ve had to the season. It’s great to get back to where we belong, and that’s winning races.”

Josh also gave his account of the events of Race 1, followed by his thoughts on Race 2, saying, “In Race 1, it was an unfortunate incident. It was late in the race, and the tires were getting to be a handful. When we were going into the turn, it felt like Cam went in there just a little bit different than he had been. I definitely ran into him, and I feel terrible about it. Race 2 went a lot more like I expected. We were able to draft each other a little bit and swap the lead. He pulled a little bit of a gap on me there at the end, and I tried to get back closer to him, but I just couldn’t catch him.”

The Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha Factory Racing team will be back in action in two weeks as the MotoAmerica Championship travels to the Northeast for the race at New Jersey Motorsports Park on April 29 – May 1.

*Leads the MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Points Standings.

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For more information and airtimes for MotoAmerica races on BeIN SPORTS and BeIN SPORTS CONNECT, check out http://www.motoamerica.com/bein-sports-watch-motoamerica-and-world-superbike-racing-this-weekend?src=SOC&dom=tw

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More, from a press release issued by Jimmy Winters Racing:

MAZZIOTTO WINS IN ATLANTA

Anthony Mazziotto III kicked off his 2016 AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship campaign in outstanding fashion at Road Atlanta this past weekend. The 15-year-old rising star made his KTM RC 390 Cup title ambitions clear with his results and leaves the opening round tied for the champion lead.

Mazziotto stormed to pole position on with a blistering 1:48.898 lap on Saturday morning and then backed that up with a stirring performance in the season’s opening race later that afternoon.

The 11-lap contest was a back-and-forth affair, with multiple riders dueling for the win throughout. Anthony was as far back as sixth place in the early going after getting a less-than-ideal start but swiftly powered into the lead on the race’s second lap. He jockeyed for the top spot for the remainder of the battle, bouncing anywhere from first to fifth as the laps ticked off in the hard-fought drafting war.

Mazziotto finally managed to break free his competition on the final lap, stretching out a 1.315-second lead the claim the checked flag and the first victory of the ’16 RC Cup season.

Sunday’s rematch took a similar shape as once again several riders had a shot at the win. After going from first-to-second-to-first on the last lap, the 2014 AMA Horizon Award winner was narrowly edged out in the race’s final corner and ultimately finished second by a scant 0.105-second margin.

Mazziotto’s 1-2 weekend sees him with walk away with 45 points, a share of the points lead, and a great deal of momentum heading into his home race at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

Anthony summed up his weekend, saying, “On Friday, I was just getting into the groove of things during qualifying, and then it started to rain so the times for that session were based on just the first couple laps. But when we came back for second qualifying on Saturday, I was able to put it on pole on the last lap. Race 1 was great. It was a tough battle all the way to the end and we were able to pull a little gap at the end. Race 2 was another great one, and it came down to the last turn. Unfortunately, it didn’t play out in our favor but that happens in racing and you have to move on from there.

“I feel really confident going to Jersey. It’s my home track, and I’m going to do a lot of training between now and then. I’m hoping to be the fittest racer out there and hopefully pull away from the pack and pick up more points in the championship.

“I really want to thank the team owner, Jimmy Winters, and the whole Jimmy Winters Motorsports crew who helped us out tremendously. I’d also like to thank my mom and dad, Arai helmets, Markbilt Racebikes, RS Taichi, Yamaha Champions Riding School, and everyone else who has helped us out.”

Mazziotto will be back in action for Round 2 of the KTM RC 390 Cup at New Jersey Motorsports Park on April 29-May 1.

More, from a press release issued by Team Hammer:

THREE PODIUM WEEKEND FOR TEAM HAMMER IN ATLANTA

Team Hammer went from strength to strength at the second round of the AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship this weekend at Road Atlanta. Following last weekend’s podium-earning opener, the squad combined to score its 140th, 141st, and 142nd AMA Pro National podium finishes during the weekend’s action in Braselton, Georgia.

Once again leading the charge was series rookie Valentin Debise. The 23-year-old Frenchman not only kept his perfect MotoAmerica podium record intact, he one-upped his Austin third with a pair of runner-up results in the weekend’s twin Supersport races.

After qualifying second aboard his M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki GSX-R600, the French ace twice pulled free from third to claim clear second-place finishes, underlining his potential to challenge for this year’s title

Debise said, “In the first race, I pushed hard every lap from the beginning and tried to catch the leader. Ultimately, he proved impossible to catch. The second race was similar, but really, I couldn’t honestly ask for a much better result this weekend. What we were able to do here on my first race weekend at Road Atlanta was much higher than our expectations coming into the round. I’m very happy with these two second-place finishes. It’s just amazing.

“I want to say a big thank you to my team. They did a great job and gave me the bike that I wanted, and I did everything I could to run fast lap times and get the best finish possible. It was a great weekend for us.”

17-year-old Xavier Zayat also added to the team’s celebrations, claiming a third-place finish in Sunday’s Superstock 600 contest. The up-and-coming American rider qualified with  time in the category and looked set to take the Saturday Superstock 600 win but crashed with just over a lap remaining.

He bounced back on Sunday to put his M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki GSX-R600 on the box with his third-place result.

Teammate Cameron Petersen also impressed on the weekend. The South African secured two additional top-five finishes in the Supersport class with a Saturday fourth and a Sunday fifth.

Meanwhile, team newcomer, M4 LOXY Suzuki’s Caroline Olsen finished just outside the Superstock 600 top 10 both times out, stringing together 12th and 11th-place results.

Unfortunately, the team’s Superbike pilot, M4 Suzuki’s Chris Ulrich, was unable to compete at Road Atlanta. The Californian attempted to grit out the weekend with a damaged shoulder and qualified his M4 Suzuki GSX-R1000 17th on the combined Superbike/Superstock 1000 grid, but was forced to pull out of Sunday’s two main events.

Ulrich said, “I aggravated my shoulder when I crashed last weekend at COTA, and it came to a head at Road Atlanta. I tried to power through but decided that I had to pull out after the morning warm-up. I’m going to get it checked out this week and we’ll know more about my status in the days ahead.”

Team Hammer will be back in action in two weeks, as Round 3 of the AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship will take place on April 29-May 1 at New Jersey Motorsports  Park.

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 59 AMA Pro National races, have finished on AMA Pro National podiums 142 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.