MotoAmerica Championship Of Virginia
MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Series
VIRginia International Raceway
Alton, Virginia
May 5, 2018
Provisional Motul Superbike Race One Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Toni Elias (Suz GSX-R1000), 20 laps, Total Race Time 28:27.812, Best Lap Time 1:24.583
2. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R1), -0.114 second, 1:24.631
3. Mathew Scholtz (Yam YZF-R1),-10.909, 1:25.100
4. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R1), -17.988, ran off track, 1:24.948
5. Jake Lewis (Suz GSX-R1000), -18.766, 1:25.508
6. David Anthony (Kaw ZX-10RR), -18.818, 1:25.580
7. Kyle Wyman (Yam YZF-R1), -27.944, 1:25.776
8. Danny Eslick (BMW S1000RR), -41.854, 1:26.124
9. Sebastiao Ferreira (Yam YZF-R1), -81.266, 1:28.427
10. Max Flinders (Yam YZF-R1), -1 lap, 1:28.975
11. Sam Verderico (Yam YZF-R1), -1 lap, 1:29.944
12. Bruno Silva (Kaw ZX-10R), -1 lap, 1:29.537
13. Cameron Petersen (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), DNF, 1:25.754
14. Bobby Fong (Yam YZF-R1), -20 laps, DNF, crash
15. Garrett Gerloff (Yam YZF-R1), -20 laps, DNF, crash
16. Roger Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), -20 laps, DNF, crash
Championship Point Standings (after 5 of 20 races):
1. Elias, 113 points
2. Scholtz, 87
3. Beaubier, 83
4. Herrin, 62
5. Gerloff, 48
6. Lewis, 44
7. Wyman, 42
8. Anthony, 33
9. Eslick, 30
10. Ferreira, 26
11. TIE, Fong/Hayden, 20
13. Silva, 18
14. Verderico, 12
15. Barrett Long, 10
16. TIE, Petersen/Flinders, 6
18. Brad Morris, 4
19. Jeremy Coffey, 0
More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Elias Over Beaubier In VIR Thriller
Defending Champion On Top After 20-lap Slugfest
ALTON, VA (May 5, 2018) – Yoshimura Suzuki’s Toni Elias continued to show he has an uncanny knack of being able to win close races in the closing laps, the defending MotoAmerica Motul Superbike Champion stalking race-long leader Cameron Beaubier before taking the lead and ultimately the win with two laps to go at VIRginia International Raceway.
Elias’ victory in the Championship of Virginia today was his fourth of the season and the 20th of his MotoAmerica Superbike career. It also gives him a 26-point lead in the championship going into tomorrow’s second of two Motul Superbike races at VIR.
Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Beaubier was a frustrated second, just .114 of a second from victory after leading the majority of the 20-lap race.
The race was red-flagged before the completion of lap one when Beaubier’s teammate Garrett Gerloff crashed. Quicksilver/LEXIN/Hudson Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong and Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden also went down trying to avoid Gerloff. While Fong was able to restart (and crash again), Hayden was a bit banged up and didn’t make the second start. Gerloff, meanwhile, was transported to a local hospital for precautionary chest X-rays.
“We could see this morning that (Cameron) was so strong,” Elias said. “The same situation I was in COTA (Circuit of The Americas). For me, it was clear: make a good start in the beginning. He start to attack. I could defend. When he start to go his pace, it was difficult for me. I was struggling a lot, especially in traction areas. I need to find something for tomorrow. But at the end, the race become easier at and I start to play my cards. I could see he was playing his cards. Both we are playing really good, and at the end I could win but I was not sure. I was not sure because was some struggle. I could feel him in the back. I saw him a couple of times. Always, the victory is nice. Thanks to my team. They are working really hard.”
Beaubier, who had been fastest in practice and also earned his first pole position of the season in this morning’s Superpole session, was frustrated with second place after leading for so much of the race.
“It’s always frustrating to come up short when you lead most of the race, but I’ve got to hand it to (Elias),” Beaubier said. “He rode really good the last couple laps. We were going back and forth, and he was protecting the insides really good on the last lap. We tried to go around him, which didn’t work. I was a little frustrated there in the middle of the race just because I felt like I didn’t have the grip I did in practice, but we’re going to go back and maybe make some changes for tomorrow and hope for a good race tomorrow. I felt comfortable as soon as the bike rolled off the truck this weekend. Yesterday, I had some good practices, felt comfortable. Had good pace and feeling just loose and good on the bike. So, it’s a bummer not to win, but I’m glad I’m up here (on the podium). I got second. We’ve got tomorrow to try again. I just want to give a shout out to Garrett (Gerloff). It sucks to see your buddy and your teammate go down like that. Hope he’s back for tomorrow.”
Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz, the South African who has won the two races that Elias hasn’t won this season, finished third and now trails Elias by 26 points in the title chase. Scholtz battled early with Attack Performance/Herrin Compound Yamaha’s Josh Herrin, who ran off the track shortly thereafter and ended up fourth.
“I got a pretty decent jump off the line,” Scholtz said. “I was following Cam and Toni. I don’t think we were setting a really fast pace in the first couple laps. (Josh) Herrin passed me. He was taking really tight lines. Unfortunately, that kind of slowed us down, and Cam and Toni were able to get some breathing room. Then I tried passing Josh. I was running him wide, he was passing me back, then he kind of dropped off. I’m still really happy to finish on the box. It’s been a really awesome weekend for us. I’m happy to be the first privateer. It’s been a pretty focused weekend. The bike’s been working great. I think we can make one or two changes to help us in the second race and hopefully bring something for these two guys.”
Fifth place went to M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis, the Kentuckian riding with a heavy heart after his father’s tragic passing this week. Lewis only lost out to Herrin for fourth in the final laps. It was Lewis’ third fifth-place finish of the young season.
Fly Street Racing’s David Anthony finished sixth, well clear of 6D Helmets/KWR’s Kyle Wyman, the team owner/racer suffering with a bad back that almost kept him off the bike yesterday.
Scheibe Racing’s Danny Eslick, Omega Moto’s Sebastiao Ferreira and Thrashed Bike Racing’s Max Flinders rounded out the top 10.
In addition to Fong, Gerloff and Hayden, Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda’s Cameron Petersen also crashed, the South African in sixth place at the time of the get-off.
Supersport: Beach Over Gillim
For 2015 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion JD Beach, his Saturday at VIR got off to a rocky start in final qualifying, as he suffered a mechanical issue and, after his Monster Energy/Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha YZF-R6 was repaired, he crashed and the bike had to be rebuilt in time to start the race.
Everything came good for the Kentuckian, though, as he got a great start, pulled the holeshot, and was never headed all the way to the checkers. Rickdiculous Racing’s Hayden Gillim, also R6-mounted, finished a close second and Quicksilver/LEXIN/Hudson Motorcycles rider Richie Escalante completed the Yamaha R6 podium sweep with his third-place result.
“Yesterday kind of started out a little rough… had a few incidents,” Beach said. “Then, this morning, I destroyed the bike. It’s been a little hard this year just because, unfortunately, it is different just having one rider (on my team). The staff is a little smaller, and we’re still trying to figure it all out. I think the race today was great. It was good to get a win. Hayden was pushing really hard. We definitely have some work to do. We’re going back to that drawing board and see if we can get a bit more speed for tomorrow.”
Liqui Moly Junior Cup: KTM On Top
Following the balancing measures that MotoAmerica took to level the playing field in the Liqui Moly Junior Cup, Saturday’s race saw two brands of motorcycles reach the podium, with Orange Brigade/JP43 Training KTM rider Alex Dumas notching his second win out of the three races held so far. Attack Performance/Herrin Compound Yamaha rider Gavin Anthony was second, and AGVSPORT America/MonkeyMoto Yamaha’s Jay Newton earned the first podium result of his MotoAmerica racing career.
After his victory, Dumas said: “We made a change on the bike between qualifying and race one, and I couldn’t manage the bike at first. But, as soon as I figured it out, I was able to get a gap on these guys, and I won by a few seconds. So, I’m happy.”
Twins Cup: The X-Man Cometh
In the Twins Cup race, it was an RBoM Racing sweep. The team fielded six riders aboard Suzuki SV650s at VIR, and three of them reached the podium. Xavier Zayat, who has previously competed in MotoAmerica’s KTM RC Cup and Superstock 600 classes, won the Twins Cup race with Road Atlanta Twins Cup winner Chris Parrish finishing second and Curtis Murray, who was third in Atlanta, rounding out the VIR podium again in third.
“Practice and qualifying was my first time on the bike, first time racing in this new series,” the 19-year-old Zayat said. “We ran into a couple of tire issues. We ran the same front tire all weekend and it didn’t give us any grief. It gave us a little grief in the race, so we should have swapped it. On the start, I got away. I had a little strategy just to get out of the gate. I just wanted to get away from the pack. I got a good jump off the line. I was able to do that and fortunately my comrades didn’t follow through. But, we still made it up here. Big shout out to (RBOM Racing’s) Russell and Mike. They are the living, breathing spirit of our team and this (Twins Cup) class. He was able to bring (six) entries on board. Hopefully, this is what they want changed for rules and everything like that because it will only make it fair and better racing, for sure.”
More, from a press release issued by Yamalube/Westby Racing:
Machine & Man Mesh As The #11 Yamalube/Westby Racing Superbike & Its Rider Mathew Scholtz Reach The Podium In Superbike Race 1 At VIRginia International Raceway
Alton, VA – May 5, 2018 – After qualifying third in Saturday’s Superbike Superpole competition at the MotoAmerica Championship of Virginia, Mathew Scholtz lined up on the front row of the starting grid for the afternoon’s Superbike Race 1, with high hopes for another podium finish. And, true to form, the “Durban Dynamo” brought his #11 Yamalube/Westby Racing/Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike across the finish line in third place to capture his fourth podium out of five races so far this season.
VIRginia International Raceway is a 14-turn, 2.25-mile natural road course with a technical layout featuring left-right transitions that favor a quick-handling motorcycle and a strong rider who can muscle his machine back and forth. Thankfully, the Yamalube/Westby Racing team has both of those in spades–an extremely agile Superbike thanks to technicians Dustin Meador, Frank Shockley, and the rest of the crew along with a supremely fit rider who seems chiseled from stone by Michelangelo himself. And, with machine and man in near-perfect sync again, Yamalube/Westby Racing maintained their second-place position in the Championship points standings.
Following Saturday’s event, Mathew, who has been working hard to improve his race starts commented, “I got a pretty decent jump off the line. I was following Cam (Beaubier) and Toni (Elias). I don’t think we were setting a really fast pace in the first couple laps. (Josh) Herrin passed me. He was taking really tight lines. Unfortunately, that kind of slowed us down, and Cam and Toni were able to get some breathing room. Then I tried passing Josh. I was running him wide, he was passing me back, and then, he kind of dropped off. I’m still really happy to finish on the box. It’s been a really awesome weekend for us. I’m happy to be the first privateer. The bike’s been working great, and I think we can make one or two changes to help us in the second race tomorrow.”
Superbike Race 2 is set to go green at VIR on Sunday at 3:30 PM Eastern 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 Yamaha:
Beaubier Takes Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing to the Podium in Superbike Race 1 Battle
Beach Leads Yamaha bLU cRU Podium Sweep in Supersport Action
Alton, Virginia – May 5, 2018 – The 2018 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship made its way to VIRginia International Raceway for the third stop of the series in Alton, Virginia, this weekend. Yamaha bLU cRU riders got off to a great start with seven podium finishes for the first day of racing in the Championship of Virginia.
Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing Superbike Team
When the green flag waved to start Superbike Race 1, pole-sitter Cameron Beaubier rocketed his R1 from the starting grid to engage in a battle for the lead early on. He stalked race leader Tony Elias for the first few laps before making his move on lap four, and kept the lead for the next 15 laps while Elias was hot on his heels. With two laps to go, Beaubier was passed by Elias, but he kept his head down and made another attempt at reclaiming the lead. At the finish line, Beaubier claimed second place with only a 0.114 second gap between him and Elias.
Beaubier’s teammate, Garrett Gerloff, was involved in a crash on the opening lap that ended his day before the completion of lap one. After a trip to the hospital for evaluation, the Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing Superbike Team is standing by to support Gerloff if he is cleared by his doctors to line up for Sunday’s Superbike Race 2.
Cameron Beaubier – #6 YZF-R1
“It’s always frustrating to come up short when you lead most of the race. I have to hand it to him [Tony], he rode really good the last couple of laps. We were going back-and-forth and he was protecting the insides really good on the last lap and it forced me to try and go around him, which didn’t work. I was a little frustrated there in the middle of the race just because I felt like I didn’t have the grip I did in practice, but we’re going to go back and maybe make some changes and hope for a good race tomorrow.”
Tom Halverson – Team Manager
“First we are very thankful that Garrett is ok after a very hard crash. We are waiting to see if he will be able to race tomorrow or not.
Cameron was dominant in practice and qualifying so we were confident he could win, but after leading Race 1 for 15 laps, he lost the lead with two laps to go and finished just 0.114 seconds behind Elias. Tonight we are going to study what we need to do for tomorrow and go for the win in Race 2.”
2018 MotoAmerica Superbike Standings – Race 5 of 20 Completed
Pos.RiderPoints
1 Tony Elias – Suzuki 113
2 Mathew Scholtz – Yamaha 87
3 Cameron Beaubier – Yamaha 83
4 Josh Herrin – Yamaha 62
5 Garrett Gerloff – Yamaha 48
Superbike Race 2 will go green on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. EST.
Monster Energy/Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha Supersport Team
JD Beach notched his second win of the season on Saturday after racing his Monster Energy/Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha YZF-R6 to a commanding win in Supersport race one. Beach had a rough start to the day with a crash in the morning’s qualifying session, but his Monster Energy/Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha Team immediately went to work in rebuilding his R6 to put the team on the top of the podium for race one.
JD Beach – #95 YZF-R6
“The weekend started out a little rough. We had a few issues yesterday and then this morning I destroyed a bike, but I think the race day was great. It was good to get a win. It’s hot and Hayden [Gillim] was pushing really hard. We definitely have some work to do. We’ll go back to the drawing board and see if we can get a bit more speed for tomorrow.”
Chuck Graves – Team Owner
“After a close qualifier and a morning warmup tip over, JD and the team pulled everything together and made us proud with a victory in today’s race. We’ve opened up a 5-point lead in the championship standings, but we’ll be working hard to make sure we have everything we need to repeat our performance again tomorrow.”
2018 MotoAmerica Supersport Standings – Race 3 of 18 Completed
Pos. Rider Points
1 JD Beach – Yamaha 70
2 Hayden Gillim – Yamaha 65
3 Cory West – Suzuki 37
Supersport Race 2 will go green on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. EST.
Additional Yamaha bLU cRU Rider Notes
Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz made his fourth podium appearance of the series on Saturday with a third-place finish in Superbike Race 1. Scholtz got off to a great start aboard his R1 and pushed himself to stay with the lead duo of Cameron Beaubier and Tony Elias. After swapping positions with Josh Herrin through the middle of the race, Scholtz pulled away to solidify his third-place position on the podium.
Josh Herrin did not have a great position in the field of riders after the start of the race, but he quickly put his Attack Performance/Herrin Compound/Yamaha R1 into podium contention by the end of lap one. Herrin put up a good battle with Scholtz, but he ultimately finished fourth in Superbike Race 1.
With the Monster Energy/Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha R6 of JD Beach at the top of the podium, and the Rickdiculous Racing R6 of Hayden Gillim in second, Richie Escalante made it a podium sweep for the Yamaha bLU cRU when he clinched third in his second MotoAmerica appearance of the season on his Quicksilver/LEXIN/Hudson Motorcycles R6.
Seven days prior to this weekend’s race, MotoAmerica provided new technical guidelines designed to create parity among the different motorcycles that are eligible for the Junior Cup class. The Graves Motorsports crew immediately went to work on developing and delivering a new spec package for the Graves/Yamaha R3 Support Program riders and teams, who wasted no time getting up to speed.
Attack Performance/Herrin Compound’s Gavin Anthony rode his R3 to a second-place finish in Race 1, followed by AGVSPORT America/MonkeyMoto’s Jay Newton in third place. Chuck Graves and bLU cRU Rider Coach Josh Hayes were on hand to provide guidance to the young riders as they continue to work towards honing their bike set-up and riding skills in the new class.
The Yamaha bLU cRU riders will return to action tomorrow for day two of racing from Round 3 of the 2018 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship series at VIRginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia. For complete schedule details, visit: http://motoamerica.com/.
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 Team Hammer:
Team Hammer continued to rack up top-five results as race action resumed on Saturday at Virginia International Raceway for Round 3 of the 2018 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Series.
Super-sub Cory West again filled in admirably for injured French ace Valentin Debise on the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R600 with an inspired performance in the day’s Supersport contest.
West had his work cut out for him after qualifying on the outside of Row 3 in ninth and finishing the opening lap in that same position, but the Arkansas native was quickly on the charge. He continued to pick up speed as the race progressed, throwing down laps nearly a half-second faster than his qualifying best to close down a big gap to a multi-rider battle that also included teammate Nick McFadden on the M4 medAge Suzuki for the final spot on the podium.
West dispatched each rider in succession to move into third — albeit temporarily. A back-and-forth final lap ended with West taking checkered flag in fourth after a final slingshot bid for the podium fell a wheel short at the stripe.
McFadden, who qualified on the front row and ran as high as third in the contest, took seventh, just 0.13s back of sixth. Meanwhile, the team’s third Supersport entry, M4 RiCK! Suzuki’s Daytona Anderson, finished 15th after qualifying 18th.
Like West, M4 ESCTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis raced his way to the top five after lining up on Row 3 following a ninth-place result in Superpole.
Lewis was riding with a heavy heart following the recent passing of his father; nevertheless, the lanky Kentuckian registered a brave ride to fight his way to fifth, fending off a last-lap challenge from a rival by .052s.
“Today went well for the team,” said Team Hammer’s Chris Ulrich. “Cory had great charge through the Supersport field and fought for the podium. Nick continues to progress; he qualified on the front row, but just missed the set up for the race. Daytona made progress over qualifying and managed to move forward in the race.
“Jake Lewis charged to another solid top-5 finish. He’s done a great job considering the circumstances and we are happy to have him at the races doing what he does best, going fast!”
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.