Cameron Beaubier, the two-time and defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion, was the fastest rider on Thursday, the first day of a two-day test – the first multi-team test of the 2016/2017 off-season — at Thunderhill Raceway Park, in Willows, California.
Riding his Monster Energy/Factory Yamaha Racing/Graves Yamaha YZF-R1, Beaubier lapped the undulating 3.0-mile road course in 1:47.2, according to his Crew Chief Rick Hobbs.
“Today went pretty good,” Beaubier exclusively told Roadracingworld.com. “I felt like we made some pretty good progress with our electronics. We mostly worked on that. We made some changes here and there chassis-wise but mainly worked on the electronics. I feel we’re pretty lucky. We got perfect temperatures, perfect track conditions today. Hopefully, we get the same tomorrow. I’m looking forward to riding more tomorrow and keep progressing.”
Testing ahead of a new season is always important, but testing ahead of the 2017 season is exceptionally important to MotoAmerica Superbike riders because they are being allowed to use aftermarket forks and swingarms for the first time in years while they are being required to employ new advanced engine management electronics.
Asked how the new chassis components on his Yamaha feel compared to his 2016 YZF-R1, Beaubier said, “It’s hard to explain, really, because we haven’t ridden them back-to-back except at Buttonwillow. The forks, to me, feel more plush. We haven’t done a back-to-back comparison with the swingarm, so it’s hard to find differences in that, but honestly it feels pretty close to the standard one. But the forks definitely feel stiffer mid-corner and more plush on the brakes. I think it’s something in the right direction. I’m excited to see how they work on tracks we’re going to race on.”
Second-best with a lap time of 1:47.4 was Yoshimura Suzuki’s Toni Elias, who was seeing the challenging Thunderhill track for the very first time and testing his new works GSX-R1000 for only the second time.
“It’s a new track for me, and also today is like the second day for us,” said the former Moto2 World Champion, who got his first taste of his new Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 at Sepang International Circuit in January. “We have been in Malaysia, and we waste the first and second day with some electronic problems. The third day was good, but it means the third day in Malaysia was the first normal day. We make some progress, but today is the second day and we continue that progress. We have a lot of things to do. We’re working on electronics and chassis and engine. It’s not easy. We have a lot of things to do, but I’m happy.”
In comparison, Thursday marked the Yamaha factory Superbike team’s fifth test of this off-season, but the first four were each one-day tests.
Posting an impressive third-fastest overall 1:48.09 on his 600cc Supersport machine was Monster Energy/Yamaha Extended Service/Yamalube/Graves Yamaha’s Garrett Gerloff on his 2017-model Yamaha YZF-R6. All was not perfect for Gerloff, however, as he suffered a third-gear highside crash late in the day. Gerloff, the defending MotoAmerica Supersport Champion, walked away from the fast crash, and his crew was hopeful that they could get his one and only motorcycle back to running order for Friday’s testing.
Beaubier’s teammate, four-time MotoAmerica/AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes was fourth in unofficial lap times with a 1:48.2 on his YZF-R1. In spite of his position in the unofficial time sheet, Hayes was quite pleased with the progress he and his team made with their new electronics package and new suspension components on Thursday. Hayes said he was really enjoying riding his new Superbike.
Josh Herrin, a former MotoAmerica/AMA Superbike Champion and the current MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Champion, was right behind Hayes with a time of 1:48.48 on his Meen Motorsports Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike, which was not in the same state of tune it will be in at the start of the season, according to his team.
Elias’ Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Roger Hayden had a rough day Thursday. His relatively slow lap time of 1:48.8 was a byproduct of multiple technical problems keeping him in the pits rather than out on track. Hayden, however, said his team seemed to get things sorted out at the end of the day, which made him optimistic for better things on Friday.
Bobby Fong crashed his Quicksilver Latus Motors Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R early in the day while testing new brake components. The crash resulted in his engine suffering catastrophic damage and forced the Superstock 1000 competitor to switch to a spare machine, which he used to do a 1:49.5.
Meen Motorsports’ Bryce Prince, the 2016 MotoAmerica Superstock 600 Champion and a newcomer to the Superstock 1000 class, recorded a 1:50.1 on Herrin’s Championship-winning Yamaha YZF-R1. Prince said it was his second time riding at Thunderhill.
Gerloff’s teammate JD Beach, the 2015 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion, did a 1:50.4 on his new Yamaha YZF-R6.
Privateer Michael Gilbert, the only Superstock 600 competitor at the event, tested new Dunlop tires on his Yamaha YZF-R6, but Gilbert’s best lap time was not made available to Roadracingworld.com prior to post time.
Testing resumes Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. local time.
MotoAmerica Test
Thunderhill Raceway Park
Willows, CA
March 2, 2017
Unofficial Lap Times (as supplied by each team, all on Dunlop tires):
1. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 1:47.2
2. Toni Elias (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 1:47.4
3. Garrett Gerloff (Yam YZF-R6), Supersport, 1:48.09
4. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 1:48.2
5. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 1:48.48
6. Roger Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike 1:48.8
7. Bobby Fong (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, 1:49.5
8. Bryce Prince (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, 1:50.1
9. JD Beach (Yam YZF-R6), Supersport, 1:50.4
10. Michael Gilbert (Yam YZF-R6), Superstock 600, no time reported