This weekend’s results are brought to you by 6D Helmets.
More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Beaubier Leads Day One At WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
Five-Time Champion Gets 28th Career HONOS Superbike Pole Position
MONTEREY, CA (October 23, 2020) – Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha’s Cameron Beaubier earned the 28th and perhaps final pole position of his Superbike career on a sunny Friday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion signing a contract this week that will see him move to the Moto2 World Championship for the American Racing Team in 2021.
Beaubier’s best was a 1:23.194 and that put him 1.421 seconds clear of his teammate Jake Gagne, who in turn was just .001 of a second ahead of Warhorse HSBK Ducati New York’s Lorenzo Zanetti with the Italian set to fill the first row of the grid for this weekend’s three HONOS Superbike races.
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Bobby Fong had a lap time that would have put him second on the grid, but that time was taken away from him when he was given an exceeding-track-limit penalty, which dropped him to fourth. Fong will be joined by his teammate Toni Elias and Ducati Richmond/KWR Ducati’s Kyle Wyman on the second row of the grid.
Westby Racing’s fill-in rider Niccolo Canepa ended the day seventh with Josh Herrin eighth, the Scheibe Racing BMW rider getting baulked by Zanetti on his fast lap and spending the cool-down lap letting the Italian know about it.
Rock and Sons Racing’s Jayson Uribe ended up ninth on his Honda CBR1000RR, just a tick quicker than 10th-placed Michael Gilbert on the FLY Racing ADR Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R1000.
Times were tight as can be in Supersport Q1 on Friday with M4 ECSTAR Sean Dylan Kelly just .019 of a second ahead of newly crowned Supersport Champion Richie Escalante on the HONOS Kawasaki. Escalante, in turn, was just .028 of a second faster than JD Beach, who was road racing for the first time all season on the Celtic HSBK Yamaha YZF-R6. In total, nine riders ended the day on the same second.
Newcomer Max Toth rode his Floyd’s of Leadville T3 Racing Kawasaki Ninja 400 to the best time in the Liqui Moly Junior Cup, the 14-year-old beating two-time class champion Rocco Landers. In Twins Cup action, BARTCON Racing’s Cooper McDonald was fastest on the day, topping newly crowned class champion Rocco Landers and Dominic Doyle.
Altus Motorsports’ Cameron Petersen ended up the quickest Stock 1000 rider on the day, the South African who recently clinched the 2020 MotoAmerica Stock 1000 title, lapped at 1:26.155 to top Ride HVMC Racing’s Corey Alexander and Travis Wyman Racing’s Travis Wyman.
The Drag Specialties King of the Baggers class made its debut on Friday with Tyler O’Hara leading all three sessions on the S&S Indian Challenger. O’Hara ended up 3.9 seconds quicker than Roland Sands Designs’ Frankie Garcia with Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson’s Hayden Gillim ending the day third fastest.
More, from a press release issued by Ducati North America:
Zanetti and Wyman complete a productive opening day at Laguna Seca for the final round of MotoAmerica 2020
Sunnyvale, Calif., October 23, 2020 – On-track action returned to the hills of Laguna Seca as the nation’s top Superbike riders faced off on day one of the MotoAmerica Speedfest at Monterey in California.
Lorenzo Zanetti (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York) led the Ducati charge, finishing the second qualifying session third, behind pacesetter Cameron Beaubier. Zanetti pounded out 19 laps in session one and 17 laps in session two of Laguna on his first racing visit to the venue, finishing a scant 0.001 seconds off Yamaha’s Jake Gagne in second.
Kyle Wyman (Ducati Richmond/KWR Ducati Team) started the first day off on the right foot, taking third in the opening qualifying session. The Arizona resident slipped to sixth in the second qualifying session, putting in more laps than any other rider bar Beaubier, both men circulating Laguna Seca 22 times in the session to go with his 21 laps of session one.
Wyman’s best lap was just 0.159 seconds off Zanetti, and with a second row start for race two, Wyman is in good shape for race one tomorrow.
Lorenzo Zanetti (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York – Ducati #87)
“I’m happy because this is not an easy track to learn,” Zanetti said. “But I have good WorldSBK experience, so normally I’m pretty quick to learn the track.
“I’m happy, especially as I started with the data from the WorldSBK team when they raced here last year.
“The track is different to Indy but also similar to many tracks in Europe. Some parts I think of Imola or other tracks I’m used to. I’m not totally comfortable on the bike yet, but when I see I’m on the front row, with this sensation, it’s quite good!”
Kyle Wyman (Ducati Richmond/KWR Ducati Team – Ducati #33)
“Today was really good,” Wyman enthused. “It’s the fastest I’ve ever gone around here. I’m happy but also a little gutted because only two more tenths and I’d be in second on the gri d. Everybody is so close.
“The bike is feeling good. We need to get around the flatter corners a little better—the cambered corners we are going well in—so we’ll look at the sectors tonight to find the weak points.
“We didn’t change the bike much today. I just spun a lot of laps. The goal was to try and get more comfortable and not chase the bike around in settings. You can make a lot of time just working on yourself, so that’s where I focused today.
“In the second session, we tried the softer rear tire but it didn’t work with the front, so we threw this morning’s harder used tire on and I immediately went half a second faster, even though the tire was used.
“We have some really good race pace. It’s going to be a scrap this weekend with everyone so close.”
