This weekend’s results are brought to you by 6D Helmets.
More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Beaubier Gets The 50th Superbike Win Of His Career
50 Wins In 105 Starts For The Champ
BIRMINGHAM, AL (September 19, 2020) – Earlier this year, Cameron Beaubier celebrated the 100th AMA Superbike race of his career with a victory in Pittsburgh. Today, he went out and won for the 50th time in the premier class of the MotoAmerica series in what was his 105th start. That translates to a winning percentage of .476. In other words, Beaubier has won nearly half of the Superbike races in which he has started. Impressive stuff.
Today’s win came in HONOS Superbike race one of the MotoAmerica Superbikes at Alabama round of the 2020 MotoAmerica Series at Barber Motorsports Park and, like the majority of his wins in 2020, it was a dominant one. Beaubier ran wide on the opening lap in turn five, allowing Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz to squeeze past. The four-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion, however, wasted little time in re-passing the South African and from there he was never headed, winning his 12th race of the season by 4.5 seconds with a celebratory stand-up wheelie across the finish line.
The win puts Beaubier at 300 points after 13 races and gives him an 89-point lead over his Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha teammate Jake Gagne heading into Sunday’s race two at Barber.
“To be honest, it’s just weird,” Beaubier said of winning this 50th Superbike race. “It makes me feel old when you say I got 50 races. That’s crazy right now how fast everything goes by when you’re a motorcycle racer, I guess. It’s been incredible. It’s crazy. I don’t even know what to say about that. It’s pretty cool to be next to some of the greats on the books. In regard to today, I knew going into the race it was going to be pretty tough because both these guys had pretty strong pace, especially Mat (Scholtz) yesterday afternoon. He was just clicking off low 24s and high 23s. I knew today was going to be tough. I feel like we found a little bit of something this morning after practice going into Superpole. I just got really comfy out there on my bike. Put my head down there in the beginning. I almost ran off the track going down into Charlotte’s Web (turn five) and slotted into second. I knew I had pretty good new-tire pace, so I just wanted to try to get by Mat (Scholtz) as soon as I could and put my head down. He squared me up and passed me in the last corner, and then I was able to square by him on the straightaway. And then from there on I just put my head down and it seemed like they got in a little fight and I was able to sneak away early. Actually, my front tire, it felt like it started shredding there towards halfway to the end of the race. I was pretty nervous when I felt that feeling. I feel like every rider knows that feeling when you start to push that front and you feel it in almost every right-hander. It’s like you’re surfing. Just pushing over the pavement. It was pretty early on and I was like, ‘oh no, I’m done.’ But the thing hung in there and I was still able to do a couple high 23s and low 24s on it. I was surprised. I came in and it was cheese grated, but it still hung in there. So, hats off to Dunlop for bringing good tires this weekend. I feel like no one really knew what to expect going into this round and how the asphalt was going to be. Like I’ve said all weekend, the owners have done such a good job resurfacing this place.”
Gagne ended up second in the 20-lap race, coming out on top of a battle with Scholtz and earning himself a 10-point lead over Scholtz in the battle for second in the championship. For Gagne it was his 11th podium of the year and his seventh second-place finish.
“We’ve just been a little behind all weekend,” Gagne said. “We didn’t have the best day yesterday. Made a couple mistakes on a couple different sides of things. Reset today. We had a different bike today than we did yesterday. Kind of the bike that we brought from New Jersey. It just wasn’t working here yesterday. We kind of made a couple little mistakes, like I said. But hats off to the crew. They never give up. We’re always looking for those little improvements. Cam’s flying. Mat’s flying. We knew we were off yesterday, so we made it happen and had a better bike today. Got off to a pretty decent start. Mat and Cam were duking it out there on that first lap, so I had a good front-row seat for that. I saw Cam kind of really pull the pin and he took off. Now it was kind of me and Mat. I got a really good drive and slipped underneath him down the back straight there. Just tried to put my head down. I think all of us weren’t exactly sure how these tires were going to hold with the situation we’ve had all weekend. So, I think I was just trying to click off consistent paces. We were kind of there in the low 24s and mid 24s. I just kind of wanted to click off something I could keep doing until the end. The tires held up. These Dunlops held up good. Hats off to the team again. We’ll see if we can make a couple of changes tomorrow and try to pick up the pace a little bit, especially at the beginning when Cam’s out there.”
For Scholtz it was podium number nine on the season.
“Once Jake (Gagne) came past me I kind of thought that he would be quicker for the first half, but we kind of got to the halfway point and I wasn’t catching him as quick as I thought that I would,” So just have to go back to the trailer tomorrow and try to (find some) drive out of the corners. I feel like that’s where we were losing our time to Cam (Beaubier) and Jake. Cam was just flying, and Jake definitely pulled something out of the hat today.”
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Toni Elias finished fourth, 19.1 seconds behind Beaubier and 5.7 seconds ahead of Altus Motorsports’ Cameron Petersen, the South African impressive in putting his Stock 1000-spec Suzuki GSX-R1000 in the top five of a HONOS Superbike race.
Sixth went to Elias’ teammate Bobby Fong, some two seconds behind Petersen. KATO Fastenings/KWR Ducati’s Kyle Wyman was seventh behind Fong and well in front of Scheibe Racing BMW’s Josh Herrin.
FLY Racing ADR Motorsports’ Andrew Lee ended up ninth in his HONOS Superbike debut in his first ride on the team’s GSX-R1000 and his first ride of any kind on a Suzuki. Lee came out on top of a race-long battle with Travis Wyman Racing’s Travis Wyman by just .013 of a second.
Race two of round seven of the series will take place tomorrow afternoon at Barber Motorsports Park.
More, from a press release issued by Westby Racing:
Westby Racing’s Scholtz Podiums In Superbike And Wyman Is Eighth In Junior Cup At Barber Motorsports Park
Birmingham, AL – September 19, 2020 – Barber Motorsports Park is a favorite venue for Westby Racing, and the team’s performance on Saturday at the Alabama racetrack underscored the reasons why. Mathew Scholtz finished on the podium in the afternoon’s Superbike race, and Cody Wyman was eight in Junior Cup.
Mathew, who has reached the podium in 9 out of the 13 races so far this season, started from the second position on the grid aboard his Westby Racing YZF-R1 Superbike, got a good jump off the line, took it straight to championship leader and polesitter Cameron Beaubier, and even led the race briefly before Cameron passed him back and went on to win the race. Mathew then had to contend with Cameron’s teammate Jake Gagne. Jake also got by Mathew, but then, Mathew held onto third place tenaciously for the remaining 17 circulations of the 20-lap event and rounded out the all-Yamaha podium.
“Once Jake came past me, I kind of thought that he would be quicker for the first half, but we kind of got to the halfway point, and I wasn’t catching him as quickly as I thought that I would,” Mathew said. “So, we just have to go back to the trailer tomorrow and try to find some drive out of the corners. I feel like that’s where we were losing our time to Cam and Jake. Cam was just flying, and Jake definitely pulled something out of the hat today.”
Sunday’s Superbike Race Two is at 3 PM Central and will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) and Eurosport, as well as streamed on MotoAmerica Live+.
In Saturday’s Junior Cup race and aboard the only Yamaha YZF-R3 in the field, Cody qualified 12th, which put him back on the fourth row and at a distinct disadvantage from the start. And, as has been the case this entire season, he found himself mired in a pack of seven riders who were all battling for fourth place in the results. Being in the best position on the final lap and across the finish line is, of course, the name of the game, and considering where he started, finishing eighth at the checkers was a decent result and an admirable job by Cody.
“I made it really hard on myself in qualifying,” Cody said. “We tried getting a tow in the final qualifying session this morning, but it just didn’t work out, and I had to start at the end of the fourth row in 12th. In the race, even though I didn’t get the best start, I managed to get around a couple of riders. I was only a couple of seconds behind a big battle, and I fought hard to catch the group. I made some passes and got shuffled around. One time, I think I passed four or five bikes going into turn five. I was pretty happy to be in a battle for fourth for the last half of the race. As most of the Junior Cup races are, though, the shuffling continued, and I ended up in eighth at the finish. Overall. it wasn’t a bad race. The softer suspension settings that we went with gave me more confidence and more front-end feel, which is something that I was lacking yesterday and this morning. We’ll try to do better tomorrow and hopefully finish in the top five.”
Sunday’s Junior Cup Race Two is at 2:15 PM Central and will be broadcast via tape-delay on FS2 (check your local listings for FS2 airtimes), in addition to being live-streamed on MotoAmerica Live+.
For more updates about Westby Racing, including news, photos, and videos, visit http://www.WestbyRacing.com
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More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:
Beaubier Keeps Win Streak Rolling at Barber
Reigning MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier scored his 12th victory of 2020 in Saturday’s race one at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama. Teammate Jake Gagne joined him on the podium for another Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha Racing 1-2 finish.
Beaubier continues to raise the bar and smash track records. He topped his lap record on Friday, throwing down a 1:22.676 to take his sixth Superpole of the season in seven tries. He grabbed the holeshot from pole position, but then ran wide at Charlotte’s Web, allowing Mathew Scholtz through. Beaubier tried to counter but the Westby Racing Yamaha rider held him off. He got the drive out of the final corner and retook the lead before the start of lap two and never looked back, scoring a commanding 50th-career superbike victory. Beaubier’s 12th win of the season gives him a round total of 300 points, 89 points clear of his teammate with seven races remaining.
Gagne qualified third for an all-Yamaha front row. The Californian got a decent start in third and after Beaubier made his way into the lead, Gagne waited for his opportunity to pass Scholtz. Hot on his heels, he was able to make the move on lap four after the fast chicane along the back straight. Gagne put in some consistent laps to score a solid second-place finish, his 10th podium of the season.
The Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha Racing team heads into Sunday’s race two looking to return to the top of the podium at Barber Motorsports Park.
Richard Stanboli – Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha Racing Team Manager
“Today’s 1-2 finish was extra satisfying since Westby Racing Yamaha brought their A-game and made us work hard for our result. Both Cameron and Jake rode great and our Yamaha R1s performed flawlessly, as usual. We look forward to tomorrow’s race.”
Cameron Beaubier – Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha Racing
“It was a great day at Barber today with the track record in Superpole and another win in the books. My bike feels so good around this place. We wore the front tire pretty good, so we may have to make some changes going into race two. Other than that, all is well and I’m looking forward to getting back at it tomorrow.”
Jake Gagne – Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha Racing
“Hats off to the team because we started the weekend off not feeling too comfortable with the bike. We made some good changes today and the bike was much better. I got off to a good start and after a few laps, got into second and then just tried to click off consistent times. I wasn’t sure how the tires would wear but they held up better than I expected, so we should be able to push it a bit harder tomorrow.”
