Precision Track Days brings you the results of this weekend’s events.
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Cameron Beaubier won MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike Race One Saturday at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), in Austin, Texas. Riding his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000 RR on Dunlop Sportmax Slicks, the five-time Champion took the lead on lap 11 of 12 and won the race — his fifth of the season — by 1.830 seconds.
Josh Herrin led from the start on his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R, but late in the race he suffered a big front-end slide that caused him to adjust his pace and settle for second place. That adjustment, however, allowed him to come away with a larger 54-point lead in the Championship standings.
In spite of sitting out with injuries since the opening round of the 2024 season, not being able to train normally, and getting a bad start, Richie Escalante was able to come through the field and score third place on his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000R.
Herrin’s teammate Loris Baz passed Beaubier’s teammate JD Beach late in the race to get fourth.
After getting a strong start, Beach crossed the finish line in fifth.
Bobby Fong also got a good start on his Wrench Motorcycles Yamaha and converted it into a sixth-place finish.
Escalante’s teammate Brandon Paasch came home seventh.
Ashton Yates took eighth overall — and the Superbike Cup victory — on his Jones Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP.
Danilo Lewis took ninth on his Team Brazil BMW.
Benjamin Smith rounded out the top 10 finishers on his new FLO4LAW Racing Yamaha Superbike.
Cameron Petersen’s problems from Qualifying Two followed him into the race and led to him finishing 11th on his Attack Performance/Progressive Yamaha.
More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Beaubier Wins, But Herrin Still Controls Championship Chase
Cameron Beaubier Wins At Circuit Of The Americas, Josh Herrin Leads Championship By 55 Points After Finishing Second
AUSTIN, TX (September 14, 2024) – Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier kept his slender championship hopes alive with a win in the first of three Steel Commander Superbike races at Circuit of The Americas on Saturday, with the five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion catching and passing runaway championship leader Josh Herrin in the closing laps of the 12-lap race on a brutally hot Saturday in Austin.
The win was the fifth of the season for Beaubier and the 64th of his Superbike career, and it moved him into second in the 2024 Steel Commander Superbike Championship – 55 points behind Herrin with four races left in the series (two tomorrow at COTA and the final two in a few weeks at New Jersey Motorsports Park).
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Herrin did most of the leading, putting his Fast By Ferracci liveried Panigale V4 R out front for 10 of the 12 laps, but it was Beaubier leading the two that counted most to take five points away from Herrin.
In the early going, it looked to be fairly smooth sailing for Herrin as he led EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly and Beaubier. It got a bit easier when Beaubier nearly ran into the back of Kelly.
Beaubier was right behind Kelly when the Floridian’s BMW gave up the ghost and the Californian was fortunate to not rear-end him. That gave Herrin a bit of a gap that Beaubier was able to whittle away at. He was helped by Herrin losing the front and almost crashing, a moment that caused Herrin to re-think things and ease up, if only by a little.
Beaubier crossed the line 1.8 seconds ahead of Herrin, who in turn was 4.3 seconds ahead of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante with the Mexican fighting back from a poor start. Escalante was in just his second race back from the serious injuries he suffered in the season opener at Road Atlanta.
Fourth place went to Herrin’s teammate Loris Baz, the Frenchman also recovering from a bad start. He was some 10 seconds behind Escalante and 1.3 seconds ahead of Beaubier’s teammate JD Beach, who rounded out the top five.
Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong was sixth, well clear of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch with Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates, Team Brazil’s Danilo Lewis and FLO4LAW Racing’s Benjamin Smith filling the top 10.
Notable non-finishers included Kelly (mechanical), and Xavi Forés, who crashed his Attack Performance/Progressive/Yamaha Racing YZF-R1.
Superbike Race 1
- Cameron Beaubier (BMW)
- Josh Herrin (Ducati)
- Richie Escalante (Suzuki)
- Loris Baz (Ducati)
- JD Beach (BMW)
- Bobby Fong (Yamaha)
- Brandon Paasch (Suzuki)
- Ashton Yates (Honda)
- Danilo Lewis (BMW)
- Benjamin Smith (Yamaha)
Quotes
Richie Escalante – Third
“Yes, I’m really happy to finish on the podium. This year my goal is just back to finish the season, race Ohio, this weekend, and New Jersey, then thinking for next year. I feel really good here. For some reason, the Suzuki is working very well in this track. I like it. So today, I forgot to press the button to the launch control, so my start is very bad. I think in turn one maybe P9, P10. Then I just recovered positions. After that, I just maintained my pace. I’m really happy to finish in the podium, especially behind Cam Beaubier and Josh Herrin, super champs. Really, really happy.”
Josh Herrin – Second
After the front tuck, I just kind of reevaluated a little bit. Obviously, I still was trying to win the race. It’s not like I just gave up. I just was like, ‘all right, maybe I’m pushing a little too hard.’ So, I started kind of easing up a little bit on the brakes. Probably wasn’t the best idea. I probably was just off-line or had a little bit too much brake pressure or too much lean angle and just had a moment and let it kind of spook me for the rest of the race, which isn’t good. To come out here with a second place, I’m happy. It’s hard to be happy because I’ve had such a good run of race wins and fighting for the lead and stuff, that now you want to win. Once you get a taste of not just one but two or three, it starts to eat at you when you can’t win. It was a difficult race. It’s super-hot out there. When Cam (Beaubier) came by me, I saw him make a couple mistakes. It seemed like he was having the same issues I was, just lack of grip and it was hot, everything was greasy. I thought about it for a sec, trying to cut back under him. I think he ran wide off the back straight or somewhere. I just started thinking a little too much, but I think it was probably a good thing because we have a healthy lead, and I don’t want to be dumb out there. I looked bummed on the podium but was really happy. Just super-hot and wanted to get out of the sun and prepare for tomorrow. Thank you to my whole team. Excited to come back out tomorrow.”
Cameron Beaubier – Winner
“I was really close to SDK. I almost ran right into the back of him. Even before that, the first couple laps when I had first passed (Josh) Herrin, I was going before the long right-hander. I must have barely touched my shifter. It wasn’t a false neutral. I just clicked it into second on the side of the tire and just had nothing. Luckily, they didn’t run into me there. So, Josh and SDK got by me there. Then after that, I just tried to kind of settle in and build into the race and not go too crazy at the beginning. I think for all of us, it was pretty greasy out there. The track temperature… I don’t know exactly what it was, but it was super-hot, super greasy. Sliding around front, rear. I definitely felt better in practice yesterday and this morning, grip-wise. The race kind of came to me a little bit. Josh had a good pace going there in the middle after I almost ran into SDK. It was pretty tough to close in on him without doing anything too crazy. Then there at the end, I wanted to make a good pass on him and put my head down and see if I could pull something and we were able to do it today. But honestly, I think obviously he settled. It would have been maybe a different story if he kept his head down. But he’s got a lot to lose right now. He’s 55, 60 points out in the lead, points-wise. He’s had a great year. It’s good. Going to go back and see what we can improve tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be tough. It was hot and sticky today.”
More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:
Petersen Rides to 11th in Superbike Race 1 at COTA
Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Cameron Petersen finishes 11th in a challenging start to the MotoAmerica Superbike tripleheader in Texas
MARIETTA, Ga. – September 14, 2024 – Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Cameron Petersen overcame adversity to score an 11th-place finish in the opening race of the MotoAmerica Superbike tripleheader at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. Filling in for Jake Gagne, Xavi Forés unfortunately crashed in the challenging conditions and withdrew from the race.
Riders were met with high temperatures at the penultimate round of the championship, making for tricky conditions on the newly resurfaced 3.4-mile track. It was a challenging beginning to the weekend as Petersen unfortunately had a technical issue in the second qualifying session and was 11th in the combined times. The South African found himself 15th after the opening lap and was struggling with grip, but rode on to cross the line 11th.
Making his Superbike debut with the team, Forés worked to find his comfort zone on the bike. Despite crashing and missing most of the second qualifying session, the Spaniard qualified sixth to start from the second row of the grid. From there he got a good start in fifth, but ultimately was shuffled to seventh on the second lap. Undeterred, he continued to push and advanced to sixth after the halfway mark, but the competition regained the position. Unfortunately Forés lost the front on the following lap going into Turn 1. He rejoined the race in 16th but ultimately withdrew with damage to the bike from the crash.
The Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing team looks to come back swinging tomorrow for MotoAmerica Superbike Race 2 and Race 3 of the tripleheader at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.
Richard Stanboli – Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing Team Manager
“It was a tough start to the weekend. Xavi crashed, and Cam was struggling with grip. We will come back tomorrow and are confident that we can do better.”
Cameron Petersen – Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing #45
“It’s been a tough weekend so far, and unfortunately Race 1 wasn’t any better. I’m looking forward to bouncing back tomorrow.”
Xavi Forés – Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing #34
“It was a tough day. We improved quite a lot from yesterday with our feeling on the bike, but unfortunately I had a crash early in Q2. We had to repair the bike and head out on the Q tire, but I was able to improve my lap times and get on the second row, which I was happy with. I had a good start in the race but I started to not have a good feeling with the tire. I tried to manage it, but in the end, I crashed trying to get close to the top four. Unfortunately, the footpeg came off, and I couldn’t finish the race. Two more to go tomorrow. We are going to do some work overnight with the bike to improve a little bit. Let’s see if we can get closer to the front pack and get the most information possible for Jersey.”
About Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A.
Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. (YMUS), is a recognized leader in the outdoor recreation industry. The company’s ever-expanding product offerings include Motorcycles and Scooters, ATV and Side-by-Side vehicles, Snowmobiles, Personal Watercraft, Boats, Outboard Motors, Outdoor Power Equipment, Power Assist Bicycles, Golf Cars [sold, serviced, and distributed by Yamaha Golf-Car Company], Power Assist Wheelchair Systems, Surface Mount Technology and Robotic Machines, Unmanned Helicopters, Accessories, Apparel, Yamalube products, and much more. YMUS products are sold through a nationwide network of distributors and dealers in the United States.
YMUS has a corporate office in California, three corporate offices in Georgia, as well as facilities in Wisconsin, Alabama, and Florida. YMUS subsidiaries Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation of America (YMMC), based in Georgia, and Yamaha Jet Boat Manufacturing U.S.A. (YJBM) based in Tennessee, each assemble and manufacture selected Yamaha brand products. YMUS owns Skeeter Boats [Texas] with its division G3 Boats [Missouri]. Additional U.S.-based subsidiaries include Yamaha Marine Systems Company, Inc. (YMSC) with subsidiary Siren Marine [Rhode Island] and divisions Bennett Marine [Florida], Yamaha Marine Rotational Molders [Wisconsin] and Yamaha Precision Propeller Inc. [Indiana].
Yamaha Motor Finance Corporation, USA, dba Yamaha Financial Services, is an affiliate of Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA offering financing solutions to support Yamaha Dealers and loyal Yamaha Customers nationwide.
