Rookie Garrett Gerloff topped the MotoAmerica Superbike field by posting the quickest time Monday during Day One of the official Dunlop pre-season test at Barber Motorsports Park, in Birmingham, Alabama. Not only was the lap of 1:25.335 Gerloff did on his Monster Energy/Yamalube/Factory Yamaha YZF-R1 the fastest lap by any Superbike rider, it was significantly better than the fastest lap turned during the MotoAmerica Superbike races at Barber last season (1:26.190), when it was 40 degrees warmer than it was Monday (95°F vs. 55°F).
Asked how it felt to finish the day on top, two-time MotoAmerica Supersport Champion Gerloff said, “Damn good! It feels real good. I feel like I did a good string of laps. I’ve been wanting to be at the top of the board at the end of any day for a while now, and it feels good to actually do it. It gives me some confidence, but at the end of the day it’s still testing. I want it to be like that at the end of a race this year and hopefully Race One at Atlanta.”
Gerloff’s teammate, two-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier was the best of the rest with a 1:25.402.
“It’s nice to ride here, because I didn’t get to race here because of my injury,” Beaubier told Roadracingworld.com. “I got up to speed decently quick and tried a couple of things here and there, just chassis changes. I tried the big tire [Dunlop’s new 200/60-R17 KR4551 rear tire] there at the end. We just need to adjust our bike for the characteristics of the big tire, but all in all it was good. I’m looking forward to riding tomorrow. Tomorrow I think the weather is supposed to be a little nicer, so it should be good.”
Defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Toni Elias, who celebrated his 35th birthday on Monday, was near the top in most of the sessions and closed out the day third with a 1:25.433 on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000.
“It’s a good signal for 2018 to be very competitive in this condition also,” said the former Moto2 World Champion. “I did a mistake in my lap when the tire was in the right moment, but despite that everything is good.”
It may seem that Elias’ teammate Roger Hayden would be unhappy finishing Day One in fourth with a 1:26.364, one second behind Gerloff, but the veteran was actually satisfied with his performance because he felt like he got back on the right track.
“The last couple of tests I struggled a little bit,” said Hayden. “I felt like I’ve maybe changed too much stuff on the bike and kind of lost the feeling I had with it. Today, I just wanted to come out with the same bike I had here last year and do a bunch of laps and ride and kind of get the feeling back, and I feel like I did that. So I was pretty happy with that. Of course we always want to do better than fourth, but I’m actually satisfied with today, to be honest.”
Mathew Scholtz, the 2017 MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Champion, ended up fifth on Day One with a time of 1:26.391 on his Yamalube/Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike. The big story, however, is that Scholtz got that result in spite of only doing a handful of laps due to problems caused by mechanical issues.
In contrast, Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda’s new rider Cameron Petersen had a problem-free day that saw him rank sixth with a 1:27.044 even though it was only his second time testing his new CBR1000RR SP. Considering he was working through a list of things to learn on his new bike, Petersen said he was very pleased with Day One.
Monday was Jake Lewis’ second test on his new M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000R Superbike, and he said he spent a lot of time Monday dialing in a new set of engine electronics and a new clutch, preventing him from going as fast as he would have liked. Lewis was seventh at the end of the day with a 1:28.481.
David Anthony finished eighth with a 1:28.515 on his Fly Street Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R.
Danny Eslick was ninth-fastest on his first day riding his new BMW S1000RR with his new team, Scheibe Racing.
The top 10 were rounded out by former racer and Dunlop test rider Taylor Knapp, who did a 1:28.793 on a Suzuki GSX-R1000.
The fastest rider in the Supersport category was former class Champion JD Beach with a 1:28.214 on his Monster Energy/Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha.
The new Twins class was led by Brad Perdiew, who did a 1:42.019 on his Altus Motorsports/AP MotoArts Yamaha FZ-07.
Ashton Yates blew away the Junior Cup field with a 1:40.018 on a 2018 Kawasaki Ninja 400 that he bought on March 24 and was stock except for a set of Dunlop Q3+ tires.
The Stock 1000 field was topped by Stephen Incledon with the 1:33.570 he did on his Superbike Unlimited Racing Yamaha YZF-R1.
Testing continues Tuesday and is open to the public free of charge.
MotoAmerica/Dunlop Official Pre-Season Test
Barber Motorsports Park
Birmingham, Alabama
March 26, 2018
Combined Day One Results (all on Dunlop tires):
Superbike:
1. Garrett Gerloff (Yam YZF-R1), 1:25.335
2. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R1), 1:25.402
3. Toni Elias (Suz GSX-R1000R), 1:25.433
4. Roger Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000R), 1:26.364
5. Mathew Scholtz (Yam YZF-R1), 1:26.391
6. Cameron Petersen (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), 1:27.044
7. Jake Lewis (Suz GSX-R1000R), 1:28.481
8. David Anthony (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:28.515
9. Danny Eslick (BMW S1000RR), 1:28.729
10. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R1000R), 1:28.793*
11. Sebastiao Ferreira (Yam YZF-R1), 1:31.056
12. Bruno Silva (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:31.692
13. Max Flinders (Yam YZF-R1), 1:32.453
14. Sam Verderico (Yam YZF-R1), 1:34.412
*test rider
Supersport:
1. JD Beach (Yam YZF-R6), 1:28.214
2. Hayden Gillim (Yam YZF-R6), 1:28.336
3. Miles Thornton (Suz GSX-R600), 1:30.684
4. Nick McFadden (Suz GSX-R600), 1:32.378
5. Braeden Ortt (Yam YZF-R6), 1:32.384
6. Ashton Yates (Yam YZF-R6), 1:32.734
7. Daytona Anderson (Suz GSX-R600), 1:32.924
8. Lucas Silva (Yam YZF-R6), 1:33.206
9. Nolan Lamkin (Yam YZF-R6), 1:33.598
10. Jason Aguilar (Yam YZF-R6), 1:33.998
11. Jaret Nassaney (Suz GSX-R600), 1:34.634
12. Mitch Card (Yam YZF-R6), 1:34.726
13. Garrett O’Brien (Yam YZF-R6), 1:34.861
14. Fernando Silva (Yam YZF-R6), 1:35.990
15. Tyler King (Yam YZF-R6), 1:37.430
16. William Sweeney (Yam YZF-R6), 1:43.147
17. Xavier Zayat (MV Agusta F3 675), no time recorded
Twins:
1. Brad Perdiew (Yam FZ-07), 1:42.019
2. Jason Madama (Yam FZ-07), 1:42.022
3. Shane Perry (Suz SV650), 1:42.172
4. Carl Price (Yam FZ-07), 1:43.933
5. Samuel Wang (Yam FZ-07), no time recorded
Liqui Moly Junior Cup:
1. Ashton Yates (Kaw 400), 1:40.018
2. Taylor Knapp (Yam YZF-R3), 1:41.627*
3. Cameron Jones (Kaw), 1:42.351
4. Jackson Blackmon (Yam YZF-R3), 1:42.796
5. Alex Dumas (KTM RC 390 R), 1:42.956
6. Gauge Rees (Yam YZF-R3), 1:43.109
7. Josh Jovi (Yam YZF-R3), 1:44.087
8. Draik Beauchamp (Yam YZF-R3), 1:45.110
9. Tyler Freeman (Yam YZF-R3), 1:45.193
10. Jamie Astudillo (Kaw 400), 1:45.193
11. Hunter Dunham (Yam YZF-R3), 1:45.996
12. Joseph Blasius (Yam YZF-R3), 1:46.133
13. Dallas Daniels (Kaw 400), 1:47.560
14. Trevor Standish (Yam YZF-R3), 1:54.344
15. Sean Ungvarsky (KTM RC 390 R), no time recorded
*test rider
Stock 1000:
1. Stephen Incledon (Yam YZF-R1), 1:33.570
2. Felipe MacLean (Suz GSX-R1000R), 1:33.669
3. Shane Richardson (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:35.365
4. Billy Ethridge (Suz GSX-R1000), no time recorded
5. Martin Biernacki (BMW S1000RR), no time recorded
More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Garrett Gerloff Leads Day One At Barber
JD Beach Tops Supersport Class In Dunlop Test
BIRMINGHAM, AL (March 26, 2018) – Garrett Gerloff introduced himself to the Motul Superbike class today at the Dunlop Preseason Test at Barber Motorsports Park with a firm handshake and a gleam in his eye that said, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
MotoAmerica Motul Superbike rookie Garrett Gerloff was the fastest of the Superbike riders on day one of the Dunlop Preseason Test at Barber Motorsports Park.|Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Gerloff bested the best of the best on a chilly spring day in Alabama, the Motul Superbike class rookie and two-time MotoAmerica Supersport Champion turning in the fastest lap on what was just his eighth day on his Monster Energy/Yamalube/Graves Yamaha YZF-R1. Gerloff did his best lap in the fourth and final session on the opening day of the two-day test.
With the season opener to the 2018 MotoAmerica season just under three weeks away at Road Atlanta, the Dunlop test at Barber is the final shakedown before wheels are turned in anger. With Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden setting a lap record in qualifying last year (with Dunlop qualifying tires) of 1:24.091 and following that up with a lap 1:26.301 in race one en route to victory (Josh Herrin had the fastest lap of race one – a 1:26.190), Gerloff’s lap of 1:25.335 was impressive, especially considering a temperature difference of some 40 degrees.
“The last test we had at Sonoma was not the best test or me, honestly,” Gerloff said. “I didn’t leave Sonoma with good vibes. But I came here with a positive outlook because Barber is a track that I really like. I used to live in (nearby) Trussville, so I consider this my home track and I’ve had a good amount of laps around here. When I got on the bike here this morning, it felt really good. I’m not sure what happened between the Sonoma test and here, but things are working really awesome. I’m really happy and I’m ready to make some changes, go faster tomorrow, and work on being consistent, mainly. It feels good – damn good – to have my name at the top of the timesheets. I put together a string of fast laps, and I’m happy to be at the top of the board on any day.”
Two-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier was just .067 of a second behind his teammate Gerloff and in turn was only a scant .031 of a second clear of third-placed Toni Elias, the defending MotoAmerica Motul Superbike Champion. The came Roger Hayden, with Elias’ teammate a tick over a second off the pace of the lead trio.
“It was a good day,” Beaubier said. “I enjoyed myself. I didn’t get to ride here last year (due to my shoulder injury at Pittsburgh). It was nice to ride here again, and I enjoy this track. We tried a couple of things here and there, but I mostly just worked on getting comfortable on the bike. It was cold the first couple of laps, and I felt like the grip level was a bit down. But it’s supposed to be warmer tomorrow, and I expect the lap times to come down quite a bit. We’ve got a couple of things to work on overnight that we learned today, so I’m looking forward to another day of testing here.”
Birthday boy Elias was left wanting more on his 35th.
“Normally, the track conditions affect me a lot, so to be competitive in these (colder temperatures) is a good signal because I didn’t feel it,” Elias said. “Everything is good. I’m there, which means something. We did a good job today. I wanted P1 today because it’s my birthday, but what can I say? Maybe next year’s test.”
Mathew Scholtz recovered from a blown motor on his Yamalube/Westby Racing Yamaha in the first session to end the day fifth fastest, ahead of fellow South African Cameron Petersen on the Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda.
M4 Suzuki’s Jake Lewis, Fly Street Racing’s David Anthony, Scheibe Racing’s Danny Eslick (on his first day on the BMW) and Dunlop test rider Taylor Knapp rounded out the top 10 of the 17 Superbike/Stock 1000 testers on the day.
Supersport – Beach Over Gillim
Monster Energy/Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha’s JD Beach bested fellow Kentucky resident Hayden Gillim on the opening day of Supersport testing at Barber. Beach, the 2015 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion, ended up ahead of Rickdiculous Racing’s Gillim by .122 of second as those two were well clear of the rest.
“The day started out a little rough,” Beach said. “We had a few bike problems that we weren’t expecting, so we had to change our plan. But, all in all, I think we got a good direction with the bike. It’s nice to have Hayden (Gillim) out there to push me because he’s going really fast, and I’ve got him to compare with since (Valentin) Debise is not here. It’s supposed to be warmer tomorrow, so I expect a few more guys to be up there at the top. It should be a really good day to test.”
Third fastest of the Supersport testers on day one was Altus Motorsports’ Miles Thornton, the Suzuki-mounted rider just ahead of the M4 medAge Suzuki of Nick McFadden. Tuned Racing’s Braeden Ortt ended the day fifth fastest.
Liqui Moly Junior Cup/Twins Cup: All Yates
The two new classes, Liqui Moly Junior Cup and Twins Cup, ran together on track at Barber Motorsports Park and the fastest of them all was Ashton Yates, the Georgian riding his Kawasaki Ninja 400 for the first time after taking delivery of the bike this week. Yates lapped at a best of 1:40.018, which put him 1.6 seconds clear of Dunlop test rider Taylor Knapp.
The first of the Twins Cup riders was third and that was Brad Perdlew on his AP MotoArts Yamaha. Perdlew was just .003 of a second faster than Altus Motorsports’ Jason Madama.
The third fastest of the Junior Cup riders was Cameron Jones on the Jones Racing Kawasaki with Riderz Law’s Jackson Blackmon fourth fastest on his Yamaha R3. Blackmon bested KTM Orange Brigade/JP43 Training’s Alex Dumas, who was just ahead of Rickdiculous Racing’s Gauge Rees.
More, from a press release issued by Wyman Racing:
Where’s Wyman? No Barber test for KWR? Why, man?
KWR will test on the west coast, livery reveal party in Scottsdale, AZ April 7th!
TUCSON, Ariz. (Mar. 26) — Kyle Wyman Racing (KWR) has elected to forgo the Dunlop Official Pre-Season test at Barber Motorsports Park, taking place today and Tuesday in Leeds, Alabama. Rider/owner Kyle Wyman has decided to focus preparation efforts into testing on the west coast of the United States until the season kicks off at Road Atlanta, April 13-15, 2018.
KWR completed a successful test last week at Buttonwillow Raceway Park where Wyman shook down his brand new 2018 Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike, built by none other than Gary Dean at Speed Demon Motorcycles. But, while testing might be going perfectly to plan, when do fans get to take a look at the 2018 KWR Superbike Livery?
The official MotoAmerica Livery Reveal event happened yesterday on March 25th in Alabama, so KWR has scheduled their own reveal party that will take place at Go-AZ Motorcycles, a multi-line motorcycle dealership in Scottsdale, Ariz. The event will start at 11am on April 7th, 2018 and run until 2pm. Food trucks and giveaways will be included, so come grab an autograph and maybe some KWR swag. To RSVP on the facebook event page, click here.
Kyle has been busy the last couple months, and if you’ve been paying attention then you’ve seen him all over TV. Check out the latest beIN Sports promo for the MotoAmerica season, shot at Inde Motorsports Ranch in Willcox, Arizona:
KWR will continue testing this coming weekend during the CVMA races at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, March 31 – April 1, 2018.