Yamaha bLU cRU Riders Prevail at MotoAmerica Preseason Test
Beaubier Claims Fastest Lap at Barber Motorsports Park
Cypress, CA – With less than three weeks until the start of the 2018 MotoAmerica Championship season, Yamaha bLU cRU riders proved that they are ready to go racing after successfully completing the Dunlop Preseason Test at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. Monday’s portion of the test saw 2017 Supersport Champion and 2018 Superbike rookie, Garrett Gerloff, set the overall fastest lap of the day on his Monster Energy/ Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing #31 YZF-R1, while his teammate, Cameron Beaubier, claimed the overall fastest lap time of the test on his #6 YZF-R1 on Tuesday.
Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing Superbike Team
Having entered the Dunlop Preseason Test with a focus on chassis and suspension set-up for their YZF-R1’s, it was clear by the end of the two-day test that the Monster Energy/Yamalube/ Yamaha Factory Racing Superbike Team had accomplished their goals with the duo of Beaubier and Gerloff.
Adjustments to the chassis on Monday, along with some electronics and suspension tuning, helped Gerloff find a winning combination on his way to the fastest lap time of the day (1:25.335).
Utilizing feedback they gained from both riders on Monday, the team concentrated on fine-tuning each YZF-R1 to suit Gerloff’s and Beaubier’s preferences on Tuesday. Beaubier managed to find the winning combination first, and ultimately prevailed with the fastest overall lap time of the two-day test (1:24.677).
Tom Halverson, Superbike Team Manager
“Overall it was a great test for the Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing Team, with Cameron and Garrett both putting in solid rides with some new settings. Dunlop brought some great tires for us to test, and the team worked together to find the set-up that was best for both the bikes and riders. With Cameron not riding here since 2016, it was fantastic to see him finish with the fastest lap time. Garrett also did an incredible job of leading a few sessions and ending up third overall in his first time on a Superbike at this track, in what was his first real official test on a Superbike.”
Cameron Beaubier, MotoAmerica Superbike #6 – Yamaha YZF-R1
“I was happy to ride here at Barber because I haven’t ridden here since 2016 [due to injury]. I enjoy this place but I’ve kind of struggled here in the past, so it felt good to be competitive with these guys. I felt good and I’m happy with where we’re at. The guys have been working really hard getting me comfortable on the bike and so far, the testing has gone well. We had a good bit of confidence coming into this test, and knowing it’s the last one, it’s time to go racing. I’m ready to go racing! My off-season has been a little longer than everyone else’s, so I’m ready to line up and do the thing.”
Garrett Gerloff, MotoAmerica Superbike #31 – Yamaha YZF-R1
“This was a really productive test. I think I learned more in the last two days than I have in the past five tests that we’ve done. We really made some big steps with the bike and how I feel and ride the bike, and the lap times were good and consistent. I’m really feeling good, like we’ve prepared well for Road Atlanta, and I can’t wait to get out there and see what’s going to happen.”
Monster Energy/Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha Supersport Team
On Monday, JD Beach rode his #95 Monster Energy/Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/ Yamaha YZF-R6 to the fastest lap time of the day (1:28.214) in the Supersport class. For Beach and his team, finding the right chassis, suspension, and electronics set-up to coincide with some new components was the focus for their two-day test.
Beach and his crew worked tirelessly into the final test sessions on Tuesday, claiming the second fastest lap time of the test (1:27.312).
Chuck Graves, Team Manager
“We’re putting the bike through its paces, but we’ve only had a couple of tests this year and the machine is new. The engine package is a little bit different than last year, the exhaust pipe is different, and the electronics are different. I think we’re pretty happy with the results in the end, and it looks like we’re going to have a really competitive class this year, so that’s always exciting.”
JD Beach, MotoAmerica Supersport #95 – Yamaha YZF-R6
“The test was decent, but we definitely had some bike issues at first and we lost a lot of time. That was disappointing a little bit but the crew worked hard and got it sorted out. We all have worked hard over the past two days and we’re just missing something right now, but we’ll go back to work and see what happens. We’ll keep working hard and be ready for the first race.”
Additional Yamaha bLU cRU Rider Notes
Josh Hayes, the Yamaha Factory Racing Ambassador and bLU cRU Rider Coach, was in attendance to assist Yamaha teams and riders with evaluation, advice and guidance.
The 2018 Graves/Yamaha YZF-R3 Support Program continued at Barber, with the Dunlop Preseason Test being the second major group test of the year. The crew from Graves Motorsports assisted teams and riders throughout the test with everything from set-up advice to spare parts.
Matthew Scholtz led the Yamalube/Westby team to the second fastest Superbike lap time of the test (1:24.695) on his YZF-R1, joining Beaubier and Gerloff for a sweep of the podium by Yamaha bLU cRU riders in the class.
Hayden Gillim clinched the overall fastest lap time of the test in the Supersport class (1:26.804) on his Rickdiculous Racing YZF-R6, while Tuned Racing’s Braeden Ortt locked down the third fastest lap time in the test (1:28.910) on his YZF-R6. Together with JD Beach, the three riders made a clean sweep of the podium for test results in the Supersport class.
In the Twins Cup class, Brad Perdiew rode his AP MotoArts Yamaha MT-07 to claim the fastest lap of the test (1:38.256), while Altus Motorsports rider Jason Madama posted the second fastest lap in the class (1:38.571) aboard his MT-07.
Jackson Blackmon also completed a successful test on his RiderzLaw Racing YZF-R3, finishing with the third-fastest lap time (1:40.094) in the Junior Cup class.
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