Cameron Beaubier, the two-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion, is due to have surgery on his right shoulder Friday, September 8 in Southern California, and even though the surgery will end his 2017 season and his bid for a third straight title, Beaubier says it’s the smart thing to do.
Beaubier suffered the injury during MotoAmerica Motul Superbike/Bazzaz Superstock 1000 Race Two August 27 at Pittsburgh International Race Complex when Beaubier’s Monster Energy/Yamalube Yamaha YZF-R1 bucked so violently that it ripped his right shoulder out of its socket. Beaubier didn’t crash and the shoulder was relocated into its joint a few hours later at a local hospital, but Beaubier’s shoulder suffered significant soft tissue damage.
“If I’m not paying attention, if I’m just doing something it feels like it could just fall out,” Beaubier told Roadracingworld.com in a telephone interview Thursday from his home near Sacramento, California. “Like if I walk up and open the fridge without thinking about it, it feels like it could come out if I’m not watching it.”
After returning home from the event near Pittsburgh, Beaubier underwent an MRI scan, which was evaluated by noted orthopedic surgeon and motorcycle track day enthusiast Dr. Thomas Bryan. Dr. Bryan gave Beaubier his options and recommendations, and after consulting with his team, Beaubier decided to have season-ending surgery.
“How [Dr. Bryan] explained it to me he was looking at the MRI and he said my shoulder isn’t horrible,” said Beaubier. “He was looking for torn tendons and ligaments and stuff like that. All that was OK, other than some stretching and stuff from the trauma from it being out. What he said was the problem is the tissue is pretty torn up, and that’s what holds it in place. So he has to tighten up the tissue and pull it all back together. If not, it’s going to keep happening.
“I’ve had some injuries over the last five years, and I want to be smart about this and not let it get worse [to where] it’s not fixable. I just don’t want to have to deal with it forever. If I can get it fixed now and move on that would be great.
“I would feel pretty dumb if I went and tried to race the last two rounds and something bad happened because it’s not 100%. So I think I’m doing the right thing. I talked about it with Keith [McCarty, Yamaha Motorsports, Racing Division Manager] and the team and Dr. Bryan, and we all thought it was the best option.”
There’s never a good time to suffer an injury, but Beaubier’s injury came at a terrible time, when he was just turning his season around. Although Toni Elias had a commanding point lead in the Superbike Championship, Beaubier had won three straight races and a slim chance at winning a third title…before he was injured.
“Overall, looking at the year, I’m bummed that my number one plate is going to get taken away,” said Beaubier, “but I’m super happy how we were down in the dumps and kind of scratching our heads and we were able to dig ourselves out of that hole and win the last three races we finished. There definitely was some highlights to the year, but it is a bummer not to be able to finish out the season with the guys. It’s part of it, I guess, right?”
As far as Yamaha’s selection of Josh Herrin to fill in for him at the two remaining rounds, Beaubier thinks Herrin is the best possible choice.
“It seems like it’s a pretty good fit,” said Beaubier. “All my guys are the same guys he worked with when he previously rode the [Yamaha] Superbike. In my eyes, I think he’s the best guy they could’ve picked to put on that bike and go get some results. I think he will do good. I know he’s done good at Jersey and Barber in the past, so I think he’ll finish out the season strong.”
Beaubier’s surgery will obviously force him to miss this coming weekend’s MotoAmerica event at New Jersey Motorsports Park, but Beaubier is planning to attend the season finale at Barber Motorsports Park to support his Yamaha team and teammates.