Two-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion and current series point leader Cameron Beaubier was the fastest rider during Motul MotoAmerica Superbike qualifying practice Friday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, in Monterey, California.
Riding his Monster Energy/Yamalube Yamaha YZF-R1 on Dunlop control tires, Beaubier lapped the historic 2.2-mile road course in 1:24.231 to lead the field of 18 riders.
“It was a kind of a funky session,” Beaubier told Roadracingworld.com. “We went out on the softest tire that Dunlop brought, the [new Super Soft compound] with the red band on it. We just wanted to go out and see how it would do over race distance.
“We got 15 or 16 laps out of it, and it was OK. I didn’t really take advantage of it because I was just feeling the track out, because for whatever reason in the first session today it was super squirrely out there after the [World Superbike riders with their] Pirellis were out there. I don’t know if it was in my head or what, but it felt slick to me. But the second session was fine.
“I ended up throwing on the second-softest option, the compound that we’ve raced on here in the past, and we were able to do our fastest time on that. So that was good. All in all, we’re running in the right direction. We’ve got a couple of more things to try tomorrow, but I’m enjoying myself.”
Beaubier posted the fastest time in each of the two MotoAmerica Qualifying Practice sessions, but he did so with laps at the very end of each session, overtaking Josh Herrin, who spent most of each session in the top spot.
Herrin, who is racing his sole Attack Performance/Herrin Compound Yamaha YZF-R1 in World Superbike and in MotoAmerica Superbike (as Attack Performance/2 Wheel Legal Yamaha) this weekend, finished World Superbike practice sessions immediately before each MotoAmerica session Friday. Warmed up and dialed in, Herrin immediately posted very fast lap times in each MotoAmerica session. In fact, Herrin’s 1:24.603 in MotoAmerica Superbike QP1 was his only flying lap in the session, and the 1:24.269 Herrin did in MotoAmerica Superbike QP2 was one of only a handful of laps he did in the session.
Herrin made it clear that he has the speed to challenge for the MotoAmerica Superbike pole position during Superpole on Saturday, but how Herrin will fair when he has to do World Superbike and MotoAmerica Superbike races — 25 laps and 23 laps, respectively — back to back on Saturday and then again on Sunday remains to be seen.
Defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Toni Elias ended up third-fastest Friday with the 1:24.943 he did on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R100 in QP2, but Elias also ended up in the gravel trap when he pushed too hard in Turn Two on the very next lap. Elias told Roadracingworld.com that he was looking for more stability and more grip from his motorcycle, but he was pleased to only be 0.7 second behind Beaubier with his Suzuki not working at its best.
Valentin Debise set the pace in Supersport practice and then claimed the provisional pole position with a time of 1:26.987 on his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R600 in Qualifying Session One.
“Last December we fund a good setup base, and now we just go with this base,” said Debise. “It seems like it’s was working well at Road America and it’s working well here. I’m happy with this setup. I know the bike is working, and if it’s not the best I am able to manage it. We changed some small stuff, and once again it gives me more space to push the bike, which I’m happy with. Now my goal is to be more precise. My lap time is good and consistent, but I think I can gain a bit more.”
Monster Energy/Yamalube/Y.E.S. Yamaha’s JD Beach was second in each Supersport session Friday and said he wasn’t completely comfortable on his YZF-R6 yet. RiCKdiculous Racing Yamaha’s Hayden Gillim ended up third-fastest Friday, and crowd-funded Cory West matched Gillim with an identical 1:27.699 on his 2016-model TSE Racing Yamaha YZF-R6.
Kris Turner, a 26-year-old former AMA Pro racer, ended a self-imposed two-year hiatus by coming to Laguna Seca and making his MotoAmerica Twins Cup debut on a Turner’s Cycle Racing Suzuki SV650 he recently purchased. In spite of his layoff and never having ridden at Laguna Seca before, Turner claimed provisional pole position with a time of 1:36.351, which was 0.8 second faster than anyone else. Altus Motorsports/AP MotoArts’ Jason Madama was the best of the rest on his Yamaha FZ-07, with Ghetto Customs’ Chris Parrish not far behind on his Suzuki SV650 and DDR’s Danielle Diaz a competitive fourth on a newly-homologated 2006-model Kawasaki Ninja 650R.
AGVSPORT America/MonkeyMoto’s Marc Edwards finished Friday with the provisional pole position in the Liqui Moly Junior Cup class thanks to his lap of 1:39.443 on his Yamaha YZF-R3. MP13 Racing Yamaha’s Cory Ventura led the opening practice session and was second in provisional qualifying. Ashton Yates, riding a new Ninja400R.com Kawasaki Ninja 400 built by Jeremy Toye, was a close third in qualifying. Alex Dumas, riding his Orange Brigade/JP43 Training KTM RC 390 R with the newly-mandated 13 extra pounds of ballast, was fourth in provisional qualifying.
On Saturday, MotoAmerica’s Superbike class will finish qualifying with Superpole and run 23-lap Race One and Twins Cup competitors will complete qualifying and run their one and only 12-lap race at the end of the day. MotoAmerica Supersport and Junior Cup riders will not turn any laps on Saturday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.