MotoAmerica Motul Superbike Championship point leader Cameron Beaubier earned the provisional pole position during qualifying Friday with a near-lap-record time at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP), in Millville, New Jersey.
Riding his Monster Energy/Yamalube Yamaha YZF-R1 factory Superbike, Beaubier lapped the 2.2-mile, 12-turn road course in 1:20.400, which was just shy of Roger Hayden’s lap record of 1:20.378 set in 2017. Beaubier, however, did his lap time on a race-compound tire and not a qualifying tire.
“Everything went pretty good today,” Beaubier told Roadracingworld.com. “At the beginning of the first session I felt good and started going fast right away, which was a surprise because I didn’t get to ride here last year because I was injured. We made some changes for the afternoon and got some more confidence and got some good laps at the end. I’m happy to be riding here. I like this track.”
Josh Herrin led Qualifying Practice One (QP1) and finished second in Qualifying Practice Two (QP2) with a time of 1:20.720 on his Attack Performance/Herrin Compound Yamaha YZF-R1. Although Friday was the first day for the Attack Performance/Herrin Compound Superbike at NJMP, Herrin did get to race the factory Yamaha Superbike in New Jersey in 2017, when he filled in for injured Beaubier.
Defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Toni Elias ended Friday in third with a 1:20.897 on his Yoshimura Suzuki. Elias said, “I am happy. We are close. We are more close in rhythm than we are close in lap time, but I am ready to fight.”
Elias trails Beaubier by 56 points in the Championship and if he doesn’t finish in front of Beaubier in both races this weekend the 2018 Superbike Championship could be clinched by Beaubier before the final round.
Beaubier’s teammate Garrett Gerloff was fourth in QP2 with a 1:21.137, just ahead of Elias’ teammate Hayden and his 1:21.324.
Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda’s Cameron Petersen returned from injury Friday and found himself as fast as ever with a sixth-quickest 1:21.398 on his CBR1000RR SP2. Petersen said it is uncomfortable to shift with his injured left foot but his level of confidence on the bike is as high as it’s ever been.
Danny Eslick finished the day ranked seventh with a 1:21.429 on the Schiebe Racing BMW S1000RR.
Mathew Scholtz started the day dialing in his Yamalube/Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 as he’s been racing it, and then in QP2 his team installed a new Öhlins RSP rear shock, the same shock run by the factory Yamahas. Although his best lap time, a 1:21.639, put him eighth in QP2, Scholtz said he was more focused on finding a setup to be fast for 23 laps, the distance of the races.
Petersen’s new teammate Bobby Fong ended the day ninth on the time sheets with a 1:21.680 and on the ground. Fong said he was pushing for a faster time lap in QP2 when he lost the front at the exit of Turn 10 and crashed. Fong said he was uninjured.
Kyle Wyman was as high as third in QP2 but he slipped to 10th at the finish with his best time of 1:21.684, just 0.3 second from fifth. Wyman said he lost some track time while working through some issues and will be looking to shave more time from his race pace on Saturday.
Fly Street Racing’s David Anthony improved his time from 1:22.589 in QP1 to 1:21.757 on his Kawasaki ZX-10RR in QP2. Still, that left Anthony 11th in QP2 and 12th in the combined qualifying results – the last rider to make it into Superpole.
Jake Lewis lost a significant amount of time during QP2 changing some clutch settings on his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000 and could only manage a 1:21.859, which left him 12th in that session. But the 1:21.530 Lewis did in QP1 ranked him eighth-fastest overall on the day.
The 15-minute Superbike Superpole session to sort out the top 12 spots on the grid is scheduled to take place at 11:30 a.m. local time on Saturday.
MotoAmerica Championship Of New Jersey
MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North America Road Racing Series
New Jersey Motorsports Park
Millville, New Jersey
September 7, 2018
Motul Superbike Qualifying Practice Two Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R1), 1:20.400
2. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R1), 1:20.720
3. Toni Elias (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:20.897
4. Garrett Gerloff (Yam YZF-R1). 1:21.137
5. Roger Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:21.324
6. Cameron Petersen (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), 1:21.398
7. Danny Eslick (BMW S1000RR), 1:21.429
8. Mathew Scholtz (Yam YZF-R1), 1:21.639
9. Bobby Fong (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), 1:21.680, crash
10. Kyle Wyman (Yam YZF-R1), 1:21.684
11. David Anthony (Kaw ZX-10RR), 1:21.757
12. Jake Lewis (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:21.859
13. Max Flinders (Yam YZF-R1), 1:24.203
14. Bruno Silva (Kax ZX-10R), 1:25.694
15. Sam Verderico (Yam YZF-R1), 1:25.758