Magical Mugello provides smiles all round at the American Racing Team with Cam Beaubier finishing 7th just off the back of the podium battle, and Sean Dylan Kelly having his closest ever finish time to the winner in his rookie season.
After a stunning ride from well outside the top 25 to 8th in last year’s Italian Grand Prix, Cam was cautiously excited coming into the weekend, though despite a direct seeding through to Q2, he was unable to capitalise on that second qualifying session and ended up starting from 18th on the grid. An outstanding opening lap in the race left him hot on the tails of the top 10 riders, charging through like the five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion does best but ultimately falling short of a top four finish by half a second.
Sean’s weekend got off to a less than ideal start, with a crash in FP1 leaving him on the back foot. But taking the lessons from previous races in work method & ethic throughout the practice sessions, he picked up the pace substantially in FP3 and carried it through to the race on Sunday, where he finished with his closest time gap to the winner yet, and running pace matching those of the points finishers in the second half of the Grand Prix.
Experience from private and official testing leaves Sean excited for next weekend’s race in Barcelona, where he hopes to close the gap even further and take a big leap towards his next set of World Championship points in Moto2!
Cameron Beaubier #6 – 7th
“I’m honestly pretty happy with the way the race went after qualifying. No BS, I was struggling super bad to go fast here alone. I needed a reference to put in a good lap time – when I get in with a group, not even someone faster than me but just a reference up the road, it helped me so much here – so the way that qualifying went and knowing how much I struggled last year here, it felt good to put in a good showing in the race.
The first two laps I was able to make some good passes and safely too, not going crazy at all! I was able to make some good clean passes and not screw myself up by running too wide. Coming into the race I wanted to be methodical with my passes, make them clean and not screw myself up by running too wide, as especially on this track, you run wide and riders pass you, with one corner leading to another here… that’s not ideal!
I tried to chase Vietti and bridge the gap to the front group but I was riding out my skin to catch up, so I thought I’d better reel it back in. I’m happy with the tyre choice we made though, we went with the harder rear option so I felt pretty good and consistent the whole race, which I’m not sure how it would have been on the soft.
Even right there at the end, I saw fourth all the way to the chequered flag. I didn’t have anything to fight anyone at the end but I’m super stoked with a seventh. Mugello and Barcelona, going off last year, these are the two toughest tracks for me with the long flow corners and corners that turn around on themselves, that’s where I struggle with this bike. So I’m happy with that and onto the next one!”
Sean Dylan Kelly #4 – 23rd
“Overall it was another interesting but I think a positive weekend for me. We started off on the wrong foot on Friday with a crash in FP1, which took us a step back. But we learned a lot doing a full session non-stop in FP2, allowing me to make a step up in FP3 where I was able to find a feeling on the bike I had been missing. Qualifying was difficult due to the conditions really, being so mixed. We were able to carry what we found in FP3 into Sunday though, making the most of warm up in even more difficult conditions and finishing in the top 10 just before race time – which always helps the confidence!
We managed to finish with our smallest gap to the front & P1, which is a big step. There’s of course more to work on in that area but my pace in the last ten laps of the race was pretty strong, it was the same as fighting for points so if I can make a step up in the first ten laps of the race, in that phase, I’ll be able to fight further forward. So I’m happy we were also able to turn it around from Friday and the tough weekends we’ve been having! See you guys in Barcelona!”
John Hopkins, Racing Director –
“I think Cam rode perfectly all weekend, though qualifying didn’t go to plan and that’s the only thing that hindered him from being on the podium this weekend. But as far as the race goes, he rode perfectly.
A perfect start straight from the beginning after we made a plan at the start to execute as I have a lot of experience of coming through the pack here at Mugello specifically. Outside to inside to outside in the first few corners and he made up some awesome positions, which was amazing to see. He had the pace to run with the leaders but got mixed up with Navarro mid-race which separated him from Vietti, allowing the gap to open and losing the draft from the podium contenders. When you lose the draft in Mugello, it’s game over. But he kept his head down and had a great race, exactly what he needed to do…
With Sean, we have some really good positives this weekend. He closed the gap significantly with his best ever result in respect to his time to the leaders, closed by well over 10 seconds compared to previous races at one of the most difficult tracks on the calendar. He’s improved his riding, performance and overall preparation; he’s made that next step and I think Barcelona will be a race where he’s able to show it!”
