Beaubier Doubles In Return To Sonoma Raceway

Gerloff Supreme Again In Supersport

SONOMA, Calif. – Cameron Beaubier put together a dream weekend for himself in the MotoAmerica Championship at Sonoma Raceway, the two-time defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion sweeping both Motul Superbike races at his home track for his first double-win of the season.

After storming to victory in Saturday’s Motul Superbike race, Beaubier came back to the track in Northern California’s wine country with aspirations of doing the same thing. And that he did, the Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing-backed Beaubier winning Sunday’s race by 7.2 seconds for the 23rd AMA Superbike win of his career.

“I’m just really happy with how the whole weekend went,” the 25-year-old Beaubier said. “We made a few changes here and there to get a bit more comfortable but I think we made a good step fine tuning the electronics, which we had been struggling with a bit this year. All in all it was a really successful weekend for us. Today’s race was quite a bit tougher than yesterday. Yesterday when Josh (Herrin) and Roger (Hayden) went down I think that made the race. It made the race a little easier midway. When I went to settle down I had about a 4.3-second gap and I started calming down a little bit to not make any big mistakes. I didn’t want to go throw it down the road and then Toni (Elias) shrunk the gap so I just kept my head down, kept pushing the whole way and tried to keep that gap the same. We were able to hold on, he (Toni) was riding really good, and I’m just happy I can get this done for Yamaha. I know how hard they work and they want to win real bad. I’m ready to go win in Pittsburgh.”

For the second straight day, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Toni Elias finished second to Beaubier. This time the Motul Superbike Championship points leader got to second place quicker than yesterday after again starting from ninth on the grid. Once he got to second, the Spaniard was able to chip away a little bit at Beaubier’s lead, but the Yamaha rider responded in kind to pull back away. Elias, with a 70-point lead in the championship, didn’t keep up the fight and faded to finish a tick over seven seconds behind. It was Elias’ 13th podium finish in 14 races.

“After yesterday’s race I felt there was nothing left to lose so we tried the super soft (Dunlop) tire, not the extra soft like yesterday,” Elias said. “What we calculated was perfect. I did a good start and quickly passed some riders and soon I was in second. We tried to keep that pace (with Beaubier) without making any mistakes, but he did an incredible job. He maintained that pace and was so strong. Of course, I wanted to win but I tried with all my horses and second was only so good. Sorry again for Roger (Hayden), it’s not good, but races are like this. We would like to continue like this (in the championship) and to win races. When that’s impossible, like today, then second is enough. A big thanks to my team, they always work hard and give me the best bike possible.”

Elias’ points lead didn’t suffer this weekend as his closest rival coming into Sonoma Raceway failed to finish either race. Roger Hayden was taken out of yesterday’s race by Helmet Sounds/Western Services/Meen Racing’s Josh Herrin on the opening lap. Today, Hayden crashed by himself on the third lap, leaving Northern California with no points gained in the two races. Hayden’s bad luck allowed Beaubier to move into second, 70 points behind Elias, 300-230. Hayden is third with 220 points.

Beaubier’s teammate Josh Hayes put himself on the podium for the second straight day, the four-time Superbike Champion finishing third again.

“Today at the beginning of the race it was a little bit cleaner and everybody got through a little bit better so I had some more work to do during the race,” Hayes said. “It took me a little while to get through everybody and I had to pick my spots a little more carefully. I had what felt like a little bit better pace than yesterday and overall felt like I had a little bit better motorcycle. Overall, I felt like it was a more solid day. The work I did on the bike this weekend felt like an improvement so hopefully I can carry that through to Pittsburgh and the rest of the series and be a little bit more of a permanent fixture closer to the front.”

Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz finished fourth and with that earned his sixth Bazzaz Superstock 1000 victory of the year, the South African suffering from arm pump but still holding off M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis and Quicksilver Latus Motors Kawasaki’s Bobby Fong in the final laps.

“Yesterday was a really difficult race,” Scholtz said. “After the Friday practice I felt like I had the pace to battle with these Superbike guys and take the Superstock win, but it just didn’t seem to work out like that. Jake Lewis was phenomenal, he made me look silly. We went back to the drawing board last night and changed the bike slightly and that definitely seemed to help me out, but I had some serious arm pump. I’m really happy to take the Superstock win and open up the championship lead, that’s why we’re here. Next we head into Pittsburgh and that’s where I had a really good test and I’m hoping I can just carry on taking some more wins and take the championship. That’s the ultimate goal for us.”

Herrin ended up seventh on his Superbike-spec Yamaha R1, the Georgian some 16 seconds behind Fong and three seconds ahead of Brixx Performance’s Sylvain Barrier. Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda’s Jake Gagne and TOBC Racing’s Danny Eslick rounded out the top 10 finishers.

Gerloff Again In Supersport

The start wasn’t an exact repeat of Saturday’s Supersport race at Sonoma Raceway, but the outcome was the same as Monster Energy/Yamalube/Y.E.S./ Graves Yamaha’s Garrett Gerloff won again, this time by 8.004 seconds over his teammate and championship rival JD Beach.

While Gerloff streaked away at the start of yesterday’s race, today he got off to a fourth-place start while Beach tried to make a break at the front. But before two laps were complete, Gerloff was out front. From there he methodically pulled away, a 10th of a second here, a 10th there until the gap at the finish was just a tick over eight seconds.

Beach managed to limit the damage to as little as possible, the Owensboro, Kentucky resident finishing second and losing five more points to his teammate Gerloff, who now leads the series standings by 14 points, 246-232, with three rounds (six races) remaining in the series.

“It feels good after a month off to come back and feel good on the bike and feel comfortable,” Gerloff said. “I felt a lot better in that race – just everything was clicking real nice. We made some changes to our bike yesterday because I knew there were a few things to improve for consistency and it definitely helped today. It’s nice to win again, to get the double, I haven’t done that all year and I’ve been wanting that. It’s a good track for me and we have a couple of tracks coming up that are good for me too so we’re going to go there (Pittsburgh) and try my best to get some more wins.

M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Valentin Debise finished third, matching his effort from Saturday. Team H35 Honda’s Benny Solis again had a lonely ride to fourth.

The battle for fifth overall was fought out until the very end with Team MG55’s Michael Gilbert getting the spot and victory in the Superstock 600 race, Presented by Riderz Law. The win was Gilbert’s third of the year and it allowed him to gain some points on championship leader Jason Aguilar. Aguilar ended up fifth in the Superstock 600 class on Sunday at Sonoma and he leads the standings by 14 points, 191-177.

Andrew Lee Racing/Tri-County Power Sports’ Andrew Lee and Palmetto Motorsports Team New Zealand’s Shane Richardson finished sixth and seventh overall and second and third in Superstock 600, respectively.

Ventura Turns The Tables On Smith

A day after getting beat up by Benjamin Smith in the first of two KTM RC Cup Presented by Riderz Law races at Sonoma Raceway, CSVMoto’s Cory Ventura turned the tables on the Quarterley Racing/On Track Development rider by beating him to the flag by .394 of a second to win his third KTM race of the season.

On Saturday, Smith won the race by over 11 seconds but Ventura was having none of that on Sunday, the resident of nearby Union City, California, catching Smith before the Pennsylvanian could get away and eventually passing him for victory.

Ventura not only scored the victory, but the win also propelled him into second in the championship standings. He now trails Smith, 192-155.

“With struggling a bit with mistakes yesterday and with him (Smith) putting a little bit of a gap on me, it was definitely a good confidence builder going into Pittsburgh,” Ventura said. “Last night I sat down with my coach and talked about it a bit. I was losing a lot of time in sector one and we really broke it down. We noticed that Ben really got a good drive out of one and today we knew we just had to do it.”

RESULTS

Motul Superbike

1.Cameron Beaubier, Roseville, Calif., Yamaha

2.Toni Elias, Barcelona, Spain, Suzuki

3.Josh Hayes, Gulfport, Miss., Yamaha

4.Mathew Scholtz, Durban, South Africa, Yamaha

5.Jake Lewis, Owensboro, Ky, Suzuki

6.Bobby Fong, Stockton, Calif., Kawasaki

7.Josh Herrin, Dublin, Ga., Yamaha

8.Sylvain Barrier, Oynnax, France, BMW

9.Jake Gagne, San Diego, Calif., Honda

10.Danny Eslick, Tulsa, Ok, Yamaha

Motul Superbike Championship Standings

1.Toni Elias, Barcelona, Spain, Suzuki – 300

2.Cameron Beaubier, Roseville, Calif., Yamaha – 230

3.Roger Hayden, Owensboro, Ky., Suzuki – 220

4.Josh Hayes, Gulfport, Miss., Yamaha – 156

5.Mathew Scholtz, Durban, South Africa, Yamaha – 136

6.Jake Lewis, Owensboro, Ky, Suzuki – 117

7.Bobby Fong, Stockton, Calif., Kawasaki – 116

8.Josh Herrin, Dublin, Ga., Yamaha – 114

9.Danny Eslick, Tulsa, Okla., Yamaha – 97

10.Kyle Wyman, Macedon, N.Y., Yamaha – 88

Bazzaz Superstock 1000

1.Mathew Scholtz, Dublin, South Africa, Yamaha

2.Jake Lewis, Owensboro, Ky, Suzuki

3.Bobby Fong, Stockton, Calif., Kawasaki

4.Danny Eslick, Tulsa, Okla., Yamaha

5.David Anthony, Melbourne, Australia, Kawasaki

6.Bryce Prince, Bakersfield, Calif., Yamaha

7.Tyler O’Hara, Petaluma, Calif., Yamaha

8.Wyatt Farris, Calistoga, Calif., Kawasaki

9.Jeremy Coffey, Vancouver, Wa., Kawasaki

10.Sam Verderico, Wenatchee, Wa., Yamaha

Bazzaz Superstock 1000 Championship Standings

1.Mathew Scholtz, Durban, South Africa, Yamaha – 286

2.Jake Lewis, Owensboro, Ky., Suzuki – 235

3.Bobby Fong, Stockton, Calif., Kawasaki – 214

4.Danny Eslick, Tulsa, Okla., Yamaha – 194

5.Hayden Gillim, Philpot, Ky., Suzuki – 151

6.Bryce Prince, Bakersfield, Calif., Yamaha – 147

7.Max Flinders, Preston, England, Yamaha – 108

8.David Anthony, Murrieta, Calif., Kawasaki – 58

9.Tyler O’Hara, Petaluma, Calif., Kawasaki – 54

10.Anthony Kosinski, Crumstown, Ind., Yamaha – 37

Supersport

1.Garrett Gerloff, New Waverly, Texas, Yamaha

2.JD Beach, Owensboro, Ky., Yamaha

3.Valentin Debise, Albi, France, Suzuki

4.Benny Solis, North Hollywood, Calif., Honda

5.Michael Gilbert, Santa Ana, Calif., Yamaha

6.Andrew Lee, Clovis, Calif., Yamaha

7.Shane Richardson, Wellington, New Zealand, Kawasaki

8.Braeden Ortt, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Yamaha

9.Jason Aguilar, Placentia, Calif., Yamaha

10.Jayson Uribe, Napa, Calif., Yamaha

Supersport Championship Standings

1.Garrett Gerloff, New Waverly, Texas, Yamaha – 246

2.JD Beach, Owensboro, Ky., Yamaha – 232

3.Valentin Debise, Albi, France, Suzuki – 156

4.Benny Solis, North Hollywood, Calif., Honda – 153

5.Jason Aguilar, Placentia, Calif., Yamaha – 95

6.Michael Gilbert, Santa Ana, Calif., Yamaha – 89

7.Daytona Anderson, Riverside, Calif., Suzuki – 79

8.Nick McFadden, Owensboro, Ky., Suzuki – 79

9.Shane Richardson, Wellington, New Zealand, Kawasaki – 75

10.Connor Blevins, Oklahoma City, Okla., Kawasaki – 73

Superstock 600

1.Michael Gilbert, Santa Ana, Calif., Yamaha

2.Andrew Lee, Clovis, Calif., Yamaha

3.Shane Richardson, Wellington, New Zealand, Kawasaki

4.Braeden Ortt, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Yamaha

5.Jason Aguilar, Placentia, Calif., Yamaha

6.Nick McFadden, Owensboro, Ky., Suzuki

7.Deion Campbell, San Jose, Calif., Yamaha

8.Ashton Yates, Milledgeville, Ga., Yamaha

9.Andy DiBrino, Tualatin, Or., Yamaha

10.Conner Blevins, Oklahoma City, Okla., Kawasaki

Superstock 600 Championship Standings

1.Jason Aguilar, Placentia, Calif., Yamaha – 191

2.Michael Gilbert, Santa Ana, Calif., Yamaha – 177

3.Conner Blevins, Oklahoma City, Okla., Kawasaki – 147

4.Shane Richardson, Wellington, New Zealand, Kawasaki – 144

5.Nick McFadden, Owensboro, Ky., Suzuki – 138

6.Braeden Ortt, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Yamaha – 121

7.JC Camacho, Deer Park, Texas, Suzuki – 99

8.Andrew Lee, Clovis, Calif., Yamaha – 91

9.Anthony Mazziotto III, Hammonton, N.J., Yamaha – 65

10.Ashton Yates, Milledgeville, Ga., Yamaha – 58

KTM RC Cup

1.Cory Ventura, Union City, Calif., KTM

2.Benjamin Smith, Glenmoore, Pa., KTM

3.Draik Beauchamp, Knoxville, Tn., KTM

4.Alex Dumas, Quebec, Canada, KTM

5.Tyler Linders, Mission Viejo, Calif., KTM

6.Brett Voorhees, Placerville, Calif., KTM

7.Gavin Anthony, Hillard, Oh., KTM

8.Trevor Standish, Roswell, Ga., KTM

9.Nate Minster, Oak Grove, Minn., KTM

10.Toby Khamsouk, Banning, Calif., KTM

KTM RC Cup Championship Standings

1.Benjamin Smith, Glenmoore, Pa., KTM – 192

2.Cory Ventura, Union City, Calif., KTM – 155

3.Draik Beauchamp, Knoxville, Tn., KTM- 141

4.Jackson Blackmon, Rock Hill, SC, KTM – 136

5.Alex Dumas, Quebec, Canada, KTM – 123

6.Toby Khamsouk, Banning, Calif., KTM – 102

7.Trevor Standish, Roswell, Ga., KTM – 91

8.Gavin Anthony, Hillard, Oh., KTM – 83

9.Sergio Rodriguez, Oxnard, Calif., KTM – 63

10.Nate Minster, Oak Grove, Minn., KTM – 60

More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:

Double-Double Was No Trouble For Beaubier & Gerloff Who Notch Two Race Wins Apiece At Sonoma Raceway

Sonoma, CA – Yamaha’s bLU cRUSuperbike and Supersport teams dominated the MotoAmerica weekend at Sonoma Raceway with two-time and defending Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier winning both Superbike races and defending Supersport Champion Garrett Gerloff racing to victory in both Supersport races.

For Cameron and Garrett, it was a perfect weekend with neither rider putting a wheel wrong. Both of them led every practice and qualifying session in their respective classes–including both earning the pole–leading up to their double victories.

Cameron led Sunday’s Superbike race from flag to flag, and it was the fourth victory of the season for Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s #1 rider, which moved him up to second place in the Championship standings.

And, like Saturday’s Superbike Race 1 result, Cameron’s teammate Josh Hayes, who is a four-time Superbike Champion, finished third for the second day in a row, putting both factory Yamaha riders on the podium twice at Sonoma Raceway.

After his win, Cameron, who lives in nearby Roseville, commented, “I’m just really happy with how the whole weekend went. The bike has been great all weekend long, and we were able to make it even better after yesterday’s race by fine-tuning the electronics even more. Still, though, today was a difficult race for me than yesterday, and I had to keep up a good pace with Toni (Elias) in second (place). I’m really thankful that I could get this double-win for Yamaha, and I’m also glad that Josh and I were able to get two Yamaha’s up on the box today. Also, it was great to return to Sonoma Raceway again!”

“Today was a little cleaner for me,” Josh said. “It looked like Toni was able to squeak through (the field) fairly easily, and I had to pick and choose my spots. But, I thought, overall, I had better pace and a better motorcycle today. So, finishing third today felt better for me than the third-place finish I got yesterday. It was a good weekend.”

In Sunday’s MotoAmerica Supersport race, polesitter Garrett Gerloff completed his perfect weekend with another dominant performance, which added another five points to his Championship lead over his Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha teammate JD Beach. Like yesterday, the Yamaha YZF-R6 tandem went 1-2 on the day, and that has been a recurring theme as the MotoAmerica Supersport Championship has progressed this year.

“It feels good, after a month off, to come back and feel so comfortable on the bike and at this track,” said Garrett. “We made some changes to my R6 overnight, and I felt even better on the bike today than I did yesterday. Once I got out front, I was able to concentrate on running my race, and being smooth.”

JD commented, “We can’t win all the races, but we sure will try. I felt decent in the first few laps of today’s race, and I got a good start, but we just couldn’t match Garrett’s pace today. But, we’ve got a couple of weeks till our next race, so we’ll keep working, and come back strong in Pittsburgh.”

2017 MotoAmerica Superbike Standings 8/13/17

Pos.RiderPoints

1Toni Elias – Suzuki300

2Cameron Beaubier – Yamaha230

3Roger Hayden – Suzuki220

4Josh Hayes – Yamaha156

5Mathew Scholtz – Yamaha136

2017 MotoAmerica Supersport Standings 8/13/17

Pos.RiderPoints

1Garrett Gerloff – Yamaha246

2JD Beach – Yamaha232

3Valentin Debise – Suzuki156

Yamaha’s Factory Superbike and Factory-Supported Supersport Teams will be back in action on August 25-27 for the Championship of Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania.

For more Yamaha racing news, results, photos, and videos, visit http://www.YamahaMotorsports.com/Racing

Also, check out “YamahaMotorUSA” on your favorite social media site.

More, from a press release issued by Yoshimura Suzuki:

ELIAS SCORES TWO MOTOAMERICA SUPERBIKE PODIUMS IN SONOMA ON YOSHIMURA SUZUKI

Elias Extends Points Lead After Hayden Suffers Two Crashes

Chino, CA (Aug. 14, 2017) – Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s Toni Elias scored a pair of come-from-behind runner-up finishes on his 2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike in MotoAmerica’s return to Sonoma Raceway in California wine country. Elias actually extended his championship lead to 70 points, in part owing to a tough weekend for his teammate Roger Hayden.

After qualifying on the front row, Hayden scored no points at Sonoma after being taken out by another rider in Saturday’s race and then crashing again on his own in Sunday’s race. The end result was that Hayden dropped to third in the standings and is now 80 points out of first.

For Elias both races saw him using the power and precision handling of the 2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000 to slice his way through the field. The former Moto2 World Champion methodically made his way up to second in both races with passes on a slew of top-notch riders.

It marked the first visit to the hilly and scenic Sonoma Raceway for the championship in five years.

Even though for the first time in four rounds Elias didn’t experience victory , he was still happy he was able to work through heavy traffic in both legs and extend his series lead.

“I am very happy that I was able to get second in both races, even though I had to work very hard to get there,” Elias said. “On Saturday’s race I was pushed wide in the first turn and fell many positions. Sunday things went better early in the race and I was able to get into second much faster. My hope was to gain on Cameron (Beaubier), but he was riding very well and it was not possible.

“For the championship the weekend was very good. I now have a 70-point lead and am in a very good position. I was sorry that Roger had a bad weekend, but in our sport sometimes these things happen. We still have a lot of racing, so I hope to continue with strong finishes to make the championship possible. My team is doing a great job and we are working all towards the goal of winning this title.”

After his disappointing weekend in Sonoma, Hayden now looks forward to getting back on track in the coming event.

“We had a tough weekend here at Sonoma,” Hayden explained. “In race one another rider ran into the back of me and knocked me down. In race two I was just pushing a little too hard and went down early in the race. We qualified well and made some progress on the bike. I’m glad we only have one weekend off. I’m looking forward to Pittsburgh.”

The series now moves to Pittsburgh International Race Complex, for the Championship of Pittsburgh on August 25-27.

For additional details on the upcoming event visit www.MotoAmerica.com

You can keep up with the team’s progress by visiting yoshimura-racing.com and www.suzukicycles.com/Racing and via YouTube at www.suzukicycles.com/Racing