MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Series
Circuit of The Americas
Austin, Texas
April 21, 2018
Motul Superbike Race One Provisional Results (wet conditions, all on Dunlop tires):
1. Mathew Scholtz (Yam YZF-R1), 15 laps, Total Race Time 37:37.134, Best Lap Time 2:26.150
2. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R1), -12.630 seconds, 2:29.183
3. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R1), -51.482, crash, 2:26.956
4. Toni Elias (Suz GSX-R1000), -65.018, 2:32.032
5. Jake Lewis (Suz GSX-R1000), -68.037, 2:30.057
6. Kyle Wyman (Yam YZF-R1), -73.732, 2:31.973
7. Garrett Gerloff (Yam YZF-R1), -114.425, 2:33.015
8. David Anthony (Kaw ZX-10RR), -140.804, 2:36.189
9. Bobby Fong (Yam YZF-R1), -150.357, 2:35.008
10. Barrett Long (Yam YZF-R1), -160.003, 2:38.295
11. Danny Eslick (BMW S1000RR), -1 lap, 2:46.022
12. Sam Verderico (Yam YZF-R1), -2 laps, 2:56.019
13. Brad Morris (Yam YZF-R1), -2 laps, 2:55.306
14. Bruno Silva (Kaw ZX-10R), DNF, 2:39.117
15. Roger Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), DNF, retired, 2:34.520
16. Cameron Petersen (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), DNF, 2:37.763
17. Jeremy Coffey (BMW S1000RR), DNF, 2:44.755
18. Sebastiao Ferreira (Yam YZF-R1), DNS
Championship Point Standings (after 3 of 20 races):
1. Elias, 63 points
2. Scholtz, 61
3. Beaubier, 43
4. Herrin, 36
5. Wyman, 33
6. Gerloff, 32
7. Lewis, 22
8. Fong, 20
9. Anthony, 16
10. TIE, Ferreira/Eslick, 14
12. Silva, 12
13. Hayden, 11
14. Long, 6
15. Verderico, 4
16. Morris, 3
17, TIE, Petersen/Coffey/Max Flinders, 0
More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Rain Master Scholtz Takes COTA Race One
South African Ends Elias’ Texas Winning Streak
AUSTIN, TX. (April 21, 2018) – Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz showed once again that when it rains, he pours it on. The South African won his second career MotoAmerica Motul Superbike race and, like the first one at the end of last season in Alabama, this one came on a soaking wet track in the Championship of Texas at Circuit of The Americas.
Scholtz, who won his first-career MotoAmerica Superbike race in the final race of the 2017 season at Barber Motorsports Park, got off the line poorly but started to storm through the pack immediately, ending the first lap in fifth place. From there he continued to lap at a quicker pace than early race leader Josh Herrin and his pursuer Cameron Beaubier, but initially it was the Herrin/Beaubier battle that had everyone’s attention.
Herrin moved around fast-starter Toni Elias and his Yoshimura Suzuki on the opening lap, despite starting from the fourth row. Once in the lead, Herrin opened a gap. On the second lap, Beaubier moved his Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing past Elias and set off after Herrin, taking over the lead on the ninth lap. It was short-lived, however, as the two-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion crashed a lap later, giving way to both Attack Performance/Herrin Compound Yamaha’s Herrin and Scholtz as he remounted to eventually finish third.
Two laps later, Scholtz passed Herrin and then cruised to his first win of the season and his third straight podium to start the year. Scholtz ended up beating Herrin by 12.6 seconds. Beaubier was third, 51 seconds behind Scholtz.
“The start was terrible for me,” Scholtz said. “I found that I got shuffled back pretty far, but I just kept on passing guys. I made it past, maybe, four or five guys on the first lap, and I could see that I was catching everyone that was just up the road in front of me. And then, once I got up to third, Josh (Herrin) and Cameron (Beaubier) had a pretty decent gap and I kept on pushing hard, and I could see that my sector times were getting better. Unfortunately, Cameron crashed, and I focused on catching Josh. There were some sections on the track where he was slightly quicker than me, but in the sections where I was quicker, I was making up massive time. Fortunately, I got up to Josh, and he was protecting his lines, and he was fighting for it. I managed to pass him with about three laps left, and I just put my head down and took the victory. I’m really happy, and I’ve got to give a big shout-out to the Yamalube/Westby guys. They gave me a faultless bike today.”
Herrin, who a week ago at Road Atlanta was forced to ride his track bike when his team’s semi broke down in Louisiana with his Superbike in it, was pleased with the result in what was his first outing on the Attack Yamaha YZF-R1.
“I didn’t have any launch control on my bike, and I think that was maybe why we got such a good start,” Herrin said. “I don’t know. All the other guys seemed to be just sitting there, and just, somehow, launched off pretty good. I was in fifth or sixth going into turn one and it kind of felt like, after the warm-up lap, I could go a lot quicker than what they were doing, so I just starting charging. I think I was in first (place) by, like, turn four or five. I just felt super-comfortable. I told the guys to put the bike as soft as they could because it seems like that was the only way that I could ride the bike in the rain. All last year, we had pretty bad luck in the rain – I was like seventh or eighth place in the rain – so they set it up as soft as they could and it seemed to work out. The bike was moving around a lot, but I felt comfortable on it. Once I heard Cameron (Beaubier) behind me, I knew that he was going to go a little bit quicker. He caught up, and I was thinking, ‘Just kind of ride protective.’ He got around me and, as soon as I saw how quick he was going, I just kind of gave up after trying for half a lap. When he had a little lowside, I had a chance to win this thing, but I knew Scholtz was coming. I could see, in turn one, they were showing him on the camera, and I figured if they were showing him on the camera, he’s gotta be doing some fast times, and I know how fast he is in the wet. He’s always a couple of seconds quicker in the wet because he’s a crazy bastard. I was just trying to have fun, and I all I could think of, the whole race, was how hard the guys have been working to get this bike ready and how much it would mean to them if we could just get on the podium. I was pushing as hard as I could, but trying to be smart at the same time. It feels really good to bring the Attack boys a podium in the first race on the bike. I’m a little nervous about the dry (track) tomorrow. Hopefully, we can get this thing working, and have a result.”
Despite crashing out of the lead after working so hard to get there, Beaubier wasn’t overly disappointed with third. He was fortunate to be able to remount quickly and still make the podium and he also gained some points on championship leader Elias, the defending series champion finishing fourth in the rain.
“It was pretty interesting,” Beaubier said. “I got off the line decent, but I kind of got swallowed up in the first corner, and I was slotted back to fourth or fifth. I was able to make a couple of early passes. I made sure that kind of I shoved my way through the pack a little bit at first because I saw (Josh) Herrin open up a couple-second gap already. I was just, like, it’s a 15-lap race, which is a long time around this place, and in the wet, and I just paced myself and told myself, ‘Calm down a little bit.’ and I started inching my way up to Herrin. He was setting a really good pace. I tried a couple of passes (on Herrin), ran wide in a couple of areas, he snuck up under me, and it was a fun little battle. I was just trying to stay out of the (water) spray as much as I could, especially on the back straight. I saw Maty Scholtz. He was charging pretty hard. In the stadium section, I could glance over to the left, and I saw him. He was taking seconds out of us. And so, I was like, ‘Man, I need to try to do something if I’m going to win this thing.’ I was able to get around Herrin going into the left-hander off the back straight, and I put my head down and was trying to be smooth and just hit my marks, and stuff like that, and I ended up throwing it down the road, which was a bummer. I was really happy that I was able to pick it up, and salvage a third-place position, and get some points out of here after crashing again.”
With Elias fourth, fifth went to a fast-closing Jake Lewis on the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki, the Kentuckian finishing three seconds adrift of Elias at the end of the 15-lap race. Motovation USA/KWR’s Kyle Wyman was sixth, one spot better than Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Garrett Gerloff, the Texan finishing seventh.
Fly Street Racing’s David Anthony, Quicksilver/LEXIN/Hudson Motors’ Bobby Fong and Thrashed Bike Racing LLC’s fill-in rider Barrett Long rounded out the top 10.
With three races complete in the 2018 MotoAmerica Motul Superbike Series, Elias holds the lead with 63 points – just two points better than Scholtz. Beaubier is third, 20 points behind Elias. Herrin moves to fourth with 36 points and Wyman is fifth on 33 points.
Today marked the first time that Elias has been beaten at COTA, the Spaniard coming into this year’s race riding a four-race win streak.
“It is not the result I wanted, but anyway I’m very happy because today was the day to lose many things,” Elias said. “I didn’t feel comfortable and losing the rear more than normal. I decide to use my brain and be smart and bring some good points home. We achieved the goal and that is why I’m happy. Today was the day to lose many things and we lose nothing. So perfect.”
Elias’ Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Roger Hayden, crashed and remounted but eventually pulled out of the race.
The second of two Motul Superbike races will begin at 3:45 p.m. tomorrow in what is expected to be dry conditions in Austin.
More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A.:
Yamaha bLU cRU Riders Sweep Saturday’s MotoAmerica Superbike Podium
Rain-Soaked Race at Circuit of The Americas Provides Plenty of Action
Austin, TX – April 21, 2018 – The 2018 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship series rolled into the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas, this weekend, running in conjunction with FIM-sanctioned US MotoGP. The event launched the second round of competition for riders in the premier Superbike class, which is the only MotoAmerica class featured during the weekend program.
With rain arriving just before the riders headed out on the track, the 15 action-packed laps of Saturday’s late afternoon Superbike race brought plenty of excitement to the MotoGP atmoshpere. After several lead changes throughout the race, Yamaha bLU cRU riders emerged victorious, claiming all three podium positions on their YZF-R1’s.
Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing Superbike Team
Starting from the first and second rows respectively, Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Cameron Beaubier and Garrett Gerloff charged hard into the first lap of the race despite limited visibility in the wet conditions, with Beaubier emerging in third position.
By lap 2, Beaubier moved from third to second place after lining up Tony Elias for a strategic pass. Only a few laps later, Beaubier passed race leader Josh Herrin as the two pushed their YZF-R1’s to the limits in the wet conditions and pulled away from the field. Herrin quickly regained the lead, and the pair swapped positions again before Beaubier eventually made a pass for first place and pulled away on lap 11.
Unfortunately, only a few corners later, Beaubier suffered a low-side crash. In true champion style, he picked up his R1 and returned to the race in third position, holding on to finish the race on the podium.
Beaubier’s teammate, Superbike rookie Garrett Gerloff, rode a smart race and finished in seventh position while still getting familiar with his R1 in the rain.
Cameron Beaubier – #6 YZF-R1
“It was a bummer that I crashed because I felt like I had a good pace to win. I just tried to make a good clean pass on Herrin and put my head down and dropped a couple of seconds and I was telling myself ‘just chill, ya know, you’ve got some time.’ I was in the stadium section where I was pretty low in the RPM and I just spun out. When I crashed I slid, and water was up inside my visor. Luckily, I was able to pick up the bike as quickly as possible and fire it up and keep going. Props to the team on all of the meticulous work they do on crash preparation for the worst-case scenario. We were able to salvage third place points in what could have been a DNF. We’ve got tomorrow, so we’ll see how it goes.”
Garrett Gerloff – #31 YZF-R1
“During the race today, I had a few things in my head that were there even though I was trying not to think about it. It took me a while to get confidence in the track. I’ve had some previous experience here in the rain that wasn’t the best. After the rain race a week ago when I ended up on my head on the second lap, it’s obviously hard to get over it when I’m still trying to get used to the bike. The last three laps I felt a hundred times better than the first three, so it’s just progression and I wish I could have started the race where I ended it. All in all, I’m just happy that I finished it on two wheels, and I’m ready for some dry racing tomorrow!”
Tom Halverson – Team Manager
“There were tough conditions out there today with not getting to ride on a wet track until right before the race. Cameron was definitely fast and had the speed to win, and just made a little mistake. Thankfully, he was able to get it picked up and finish on the podium, which was great. One of the things we work on is making the bike crash well, which sounds kinda crazy, but we work really hard to make sure everything remains functional, and that work paid off today. Garrett is continuing with his learning curve, so a little bit of tough race for him but I’m sure he’ll recover and come back tomorrow very strong. We had a Yamaha sweep of the podium, so we are really excited about that!”
Additional Yamaha bLU cRU Rider Notes
Race winner Mathew Scholtz rode an amazing race on his Yamalube/Westby Racing YZF-R1, overcoming a challenging start to steadily gain ground on the frontrunners with each lap that passed. On lap 12, he made his move on race leader Josh Herrin and charged to the victory at the checkered flag.
Josh Herrin’s 2018 MotoAmerica Superbike season was off to a rough start when his R1 Superbike and spares never made it to the first round at Road Atlantadue to major mechanical issues leaving the team transporter on the side of the road in Louisiana. After prepping and riding his 2016 YZF-R1S to impressive results there, he climbed aboard his Attack Performance/Herrin Compound/Yamaha R1 Superbike to race it for the first time at COTA.
Herrin proceeded to set the pace for the race, blasting away from the starting line to place himself in second position and challenge race leader Tony Elias on the first lap. He quickly took the lead one lap later and held strong until eventually surrendering the position to Cameron Beaubier, and ultimately Mathew Scholtz, to finish the race in a hard-fought second place.
The Yamaha bLU cRU riders will return for more battle at COTA in Superbike Race 2 on Sunday, April 22nd at 3:45 PM CST.
2018 MotoAmerica Superbike Standings – Race 3 of 20
Pos. Rider Points
1 Tony Elias – Suzuki 63
2 Mathew Scholtz – Yamaha 61
3 Cameron Beaubier – Yamaha 43
4 Josh Herrin – Yamaha 36
5 Kyle Wyman – Yamaha 33
6 Garrett Gerloff – Yamaha 32
For more Yamaha racing news, results, photos, and videos, visit http://www.YamahaMotorsports.com/Racing
More, from a press release issued by Yamalube/Westby Racing:
In The Texas Rain, Mathew Scholtz Takes The Reins Of His Yamalube/Westby Racing Superbike, Then Reigns Supreme With A Dominant MotoAmerica Victory At The Circuit of The Americas
Austin, TX – April 21, 2018 – Three races into the 2018 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship, and Mathew Scholtz has already hit for the cycle. He notched second- and third-place race finishes last weekend at Road Atlanta, and on Saturday at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA), he completed the set with a superb victory in the rain aboard his #11 Yamalube/Westby Racing/Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike.
Mathew is the only Superbike rider this season to have finished on the podium in all three races thus far. He won Saturday’s Race 1 at COTA by nearly 13 seconds over the second-place finisher, which was even more remarkable considering that he had to race up through the pack to take the lead, pull away, and win convincingly.
“The start was terrible for me,” Mathew said bluntly. “I found that I got shuffled back pretty far, but I just kept on passing guys. I made it past, maybe, four or five guys on the first lap, and I could see that I was catching everyone that was just up the road in front of me. And then, once I got up to third, Josh (Herrin) and Cameron (Beaubier) had a pretty decent gap, and I kept on pushing hard, and I could see that my sector times were getting better. Unfortunately, Cameron crashed, and I focused on catching Josh. There were some sections on the track where he was slightly quicker than me, but in the sections where I was quicker, I was making up massive time. Fortunately, I got up to Josh, and he was protecting his lines, and he was fighting for it. I managed to pass him with about three laps left, and I just put my head down and took the victory. I’m really happy, and I’ve got to give a big shout-out to my Yamalube/Westby Racing team. They gave me a faultless bike today.”
Mathew will try to keep his podium streak going tomorrow in Superbike Race 2, which goes green at 3:45 PM Central Time.
For more updates about Yamalube/Westby Racing, including news, photos, and videos, visit http://www.WestbyRacing.com
Also, follow “Westby Racing” on your favorite social media sites.
More, from a press release issued by Team Hammer:
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis took advantage of an opportunity for redemption in Saturday’s wet MotoAmerica Superbike race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, less than one week after crashing out in similar conditions at Road Atlanta.
Minutes before the race was scheduled to get underway, the skies opened up, changing the complexion of the race entirely. Balancing a desire to strike in order to make up ground in the early-season title fight with the need to not repeat last week’s mistake, Lewis registered a calculated ride to fifth place.
That’s precisely where the Kentuckian started after qualifying in fifth. However, Lewis’ path to that position in the race was not quite as simple as that, as he pushed as high as second and fell back as low as seventh in the wet and wild affair.
A late charge saw Lewis overhaul a rival and move into fifth for good with two laps remaining. He successfully defended the top-five position to the checkered flag.
Lewis said, “It was a good race. I got a really good start — I was second coming out of Turn 1. After last week’s crash in the rain, I definitely wanted to keep it on two wheels today. I just rode smart. I think I was in sixth or seventh place and one guy crashed, and I passed into fifth place with a couple laps to go. I’m happy with my top five. We definitely needed to get some good points and not crash.”
The former Superbike Rookie of the Year is now excited about what he and his team can accomplish in better conditions aboard the squad’s developing GSX-R1000 racebike.
He said, “We have good pace in the dry. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race and seeing what we can do. Honestly, the team has been working really hard, and we made a big step with the bike from Round 1 to now. It’s just the time and the effort everyone has put in, from myself to all the guys on my crew. We’re making a lot of progress with the electronics and getting a good set-up on the bike.
“It’s really paying off. We qualified fifth behind the two factory teams and were up in third during this morning’s warm-up. It’s confidence inspiring. I was hoping for a dry race today, but we’ll have to wait to see what we can do tomorrow. It’ll be important to see where we stack up because you really don’t know until you get in a race situation and put a full race distance on, but I think we’ll be good.”
About Team Hammer
The 2018 season marks Team Hammer’s 38th consecutive year of operating as a professional road racing team. Racebikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 68 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races, have finished on AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National podiums 191 times and have won five AMA Pro National Championships, as well as two FIM South American Championships. The team has also won 135 endurance races overall (including seven 24-hour races) and 13 Overall WERA National Endurance Championships with Suzuki motorcycles, and holds the U.S. record for mileage covered in a 24-hour race. The team also competed in the televised 1990s Formula USA National Championship, famously running “Methanol Monster” GSX-R1100 Superbikes fueled by methanol, and won four F-USA Championships.