MotoAmerica Championship Of Virginia

MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Series

VIRginia International Raceway

Alton, Virginia

May 4, 2019

Provisional EBC Brakes Superbike Race One Results (all on Dunlop tires):

1. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R1), 23 laps, Total Race Time 32:44.765, Best Lap Time 1:24.510

2. Toni Elias (Suz GSX-R1000), -3.509 seconds, 1:24.659

3. Garrett Gerloff (Yam YZF-R1), -9.462, ran off track, 1:24.920

4. JD Beach (Yam YZF-R1), -13.955, 1:24.747

5. Jake Lewis (Suz GSX-R1000), -27.117, 1:25.152

6. Jake Gagne (BMW S1000RR), -40.860, 1:26.251

7. David Anthony (Kaw ZX-10RR), -41.181, 1:26.264

8. Cameron Petersen (Yam YZF-R1), -55.849, 1:25.923

9. Kyle Wyman (Duc Panigale V4 R), -58.480, 1:26.649

10. Max Flinders (Yam YZF-R1), -1 lap, 1:28.680

11. Samuel Trepanier (BMW S1000RR), -1 lap, 1:28.497

12. Sam Verderico (Yam YZF-R1), -1 lap, 1:29.878

13. Josh Herrin (Suz GSX-R1000), -9 laps, DNF, retired, 1:24.788

14. Mathew Scholtz (Yam YZF-R1), -22 laps, DNF, crash, 1:27.307

Championship Point Standings (after 5 of 20 races):

1. Elias, 110 points

2. Beaubier, 102

3. Beach, 53

4. Gerloff, 52

5. Lewis, 51

6. Herrin, 49

7. TIE, Scholtz/Anthony, 45

9. Petersen, 38

10. Kyle Wyman, 32

11. Flinders, 24

12. Verderico, 19

13. Gagne, 18

14. TIE, Geoff May/Trepanier, 14

16. Travis Wyman, 12

17. TIE, Bradley Ward/Felipe MacLean, 4

More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:

Beaubier Rules Race One At VIR

PJ Jacoben Takes First MotoAmerica Supersport Win

ALTON, VA (May 4, 2019)– VIRginia International Raceway has long been a frustrating venue on the MotoAmerica schedule for Cameron Beaubier. In the first eight races at VIR, Beaubier had rather amazingly only won one of them. Today that all changed with win number two, a dominant victory over Toni Elias, his rival who beat him twice here a season ago. This one, however, belonged to Beaubier, the three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion beating Yoshimura Suzuki’s Elias by 3.5 seconds on his Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing YZF-R1.

Both Beaubier and Elias had difficult Superpole sessions on the first two-day MotoAmerica event of the season. Beaubier crashed so early in the session that his lap that put him second on the grid actually came on race tires – not very confidence-inspiring for those going slower than him on qualifying tires. Elias, meanwhile, had bike troubles and was ultimately stranded on the track for the majority of the time. He started the race from the third row after qualifying eighth. Pole position went to Beaubier’s teammate Garrett Gerloff, the Texan’s second of the season.

Beaubier didn’t start the race in the lead, but he was in second place when race leader Mathew Scholtz crashed out on the second lap. From there it was all Beaubier, the defending champion inching away to ultimately win by 3.5 seconds for this second win of the season.

“Just started off today feeling pretty good,” Beaubier said after the 34th Superbike win of his career. “I felt pretty comfortable on the R1 out there. We were able to get up to pace pretty quick. I feel like I’ve kind of struggled getting that pace here in the past. This one just feels really, really good. I know how fast these guys are at this track and this year. It felt really good to be able to win with a little bit of a margin. I’m sure tomorrow is going to be tougher. Both these guys are going to go back and it’s going to be a dog-fight tomorrow. Just in the past we’ve always been fast here. I feel like the R1 works pretty good here. I think I have one win to my name at this track in the past five years or something like that. That’s frustrating for a track that we know that we’re pretty strong at. This one felt really good. Got a couple things I might try in the morning depending on wet or dry. It’s going to be tough but looking forward to racing.”

Elias rebounded from his difficult day with second place, despite starting from the third row.

“Everything was good,” Elias said. The bike stopped and then it stopped again (in Superpole), but I finished second and saved some points for the championship. But we are happy. I started good. I think one of my best starts ever. In the first corner I was too cautious, and I gave up everything in the first two corners. I was in fifth or sixth position. I did my rhythm at the beginning and I felt comfortable with the second bike. Cameron (Beaubier)… his pace was faster than mine, so it was okay. Second position today was good for me. He did an amazing job. So, I take these 20 points.”

Gerloff was hot on Elias’ heels when he ran off in turn one, losing out on a chance to get second place.

“I felt good in the first part of the race, and then just as we started getting to around halfway, I just was really struggling,” Gerloff said. “Just stuff with the bike a little bit. So, I just started kind of fighting myself and the bike and that kind of wore me out. Then Toni (Elias) got around me and I made a mistake. Just kind of not my cleanest performance. It’s just good to finish the race. Last year I didn’t have a good first race. I didn’t finish either one of them, so it’s a lot better than it was last year when I ended up in the hospital. There are definitely some things that I want to change for tomorrow for the race. We have a direction to go, which is good. Sometimes you don’t really know which way to go, but I think we do. So, we’re going to do that, and we’ll see how she goes. Start loosening up a little bit and stay with these guys up front.”

Fourth place went to Attack Performance Estenson Racing Yamaha’s JD Beach, some four seconds behind Gerloff and 13.2 seconds ahead of M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis.

Lewis, in turn, was way ahead of Scheibe Racing BMW’s Jake Gagne, who had his hands full to the finish with FLY Racing/ADR Motorsports’ David Anthony. Omega Moto’s Cameron Petersen battled muscle-cramping to finish eighth with KWR Ducati’s Kyle Wyman and Thrashed Bike Racing’s Max Flinders rounding out the top 10.

Elias leads Beaubier by eight points going into tomorrow’s finale of the Championship of Virginia, 110-102, with Beach jumping ahead of non-finishers Josh Herrin and Scholtz and into third with 53 points. Lewis is fourth with 51 points and Herrin is now fifth on 49 points.

Supersport – Jacobsen’s First!

In Saturday’s Supersport race one, Rickdiculous Racing Yamaha rider Hayden Gillim crashed out early, and then M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Bobby Fong crashed out of the lead. The race was red-flagged and both riders were on the sidelines when the race was restarted.

The situation created a golden opportunity for Celtic HSBK Racing Yamaha rider PJ Jacobsen whose two toughest competitors were out of the contest. At the start, Jacobsen got a great jump and began building a substantial lead, which he managed all the way to the checkered flag. When he crossed the finish line, the former World Superbike and World Supersport rider won by more than three seconds over Richie Escalante, who was aboard the Hudson Motorcycles – HB Racing Yamaha. It was Escalante’s best Supersport finish to date.

One of the big stories of the day was the return of four-time AMA Superbike champion Josh Hayes to racing in MotoAmerica, his trademark number 4 emblazoned on his MP13 Racing Yamaha. With his wife Melissa Paris as his team owner and crew chief, Hayes finished on the podium in third.

“I kind of had a good plan there in the beginning,” Jacobsen said after his first MotoAmerica victory. “I was following Bobby (Fong). I said to myself, with 10 or eight laps left in the race, I was going to try to get out front and push and see what lap times I could run to pull a gap. Obviously, that didn’t work out with the red flag, so I tried to do the same thing in the restarted race and it worked out for me. With, like, six laps to go, I really just managed the gap. It worked out for us. The bike is really strong. I’m very happy with it. I improved myself and these guys improved a little bit, so it’s really good. I’m happy to be racing again with Josh (Hayes). He’s an animal out there. He comes back and puts it on the box, which is great. Richie (Escalante), as well. He’s really stepped up from last year. It’s good. It was a good race.”

Liqui Moly Junior Cup – Landers, Again

After winning both Liqui Moly Junior Cup races in round one at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Landers Racing’s Rocco Landers had a new wrinkle in his race plan. He missed the start of the warmup lap for Saturday’s race and, by rule, had to start from the back of the 21-bike field. Despite the literal setback, the 14-year-old Californian was nonplussed by the challenge and, after the race went green, he proceeded to quickly and methodically work his way to the front of the field aboard his Kawasaki

Eventually, Landers got into a battle with Quarterley Racing/On Track Development rider Dallas Daniels, who started from the pole aboard his Kawasaki. The pair swapped the lead a couple of times on the final lap, with Daniels in front heading onto the front straight. Landers pulled out of Daniels’ draft and just nipped him by .023 of a second at the finish line to notch his third race win in a row.

Finishing third was Altus Motorsports rider Kevin Olmedo, who completed the Kawasaki podium sweep.

When Landers was asked what caused his tardiness in making the start of the race, he said, “It was kind of a weird situation. I was in my pit and I actually got the time of the race mixed up with the time pit lane opened. So, I was starting to get my gear on when I should have been heading out for the warmup lap.

“I was over at the exit of pit lane and I was like, ‘I’ve got to go. If I’m going to get a podium I have to go as hard as I possibly can. Then I was like, ‘I’ve got to go to the back of the grid.’ Then I went to the back of the grid and I was trying to visualize a straight line into turn one as much as possible and I made up around eight positions or so going into turn one on the front straight. I tried to make as good a first lap as possible. Made it up to ninth in the first lap and just continued to try to push through. Got into fourth, I think, in the woods. I saw them ahead of me and I was like, ‘They’re like five seconds ahead. I’ve got to go as hard as I possibly can to come close to catching them.’ Then I caught up to them. I passed Hunter (Dunham). He was riding super-well and then I got right past him. He dropped down a little there going through turn five. I was sad. Then going through later that lap I was able to get by him and almost got by him in turn one, then kind of stood behind him for that lap and then got by him the next lap. That was the white-flag lap. Then I got by him going into turn one that one lap, and he actually got by me again on the back section over there. I was like, ‘Okay, I’ve got to go as hard as possible to see if I can maybe get past him over on the straight. That happened. Everyone was going super-fast.”

More, from a press release issued by Estenson Racing:

JD Beach Finishes Fourth in Race One at VIR

The pace was hectic with an all-new two-day format, but JD Beach continued to make progress in his debut MotoAmerica Superbike season, finishing fourth in a challenging race one on Saturday, May 4, at VIRginia International Raceway.

Although Beach didn’t get his signature holeshot in the race, he was right there in the mix of the lead group aboard his Attack Performance Estenson Racing Yamaha YZF-R1. It was a battle for fourth with the dirt track/road racer ultimately losing position, albeit not far behind the “Factory Four”. The heat of the afternoon made for some challenging conditions but he put his head down and kept it. Around lap eight, Beach was able to retake fourth and hold onto it to score his fourth top-five finish in 2019.

While the weather forecast looks ominous for tomorrow’s race two at VIR, Beach and the team look to continue their forward progress rain or shine.

JD Beach — MotoAmerica Superbike #95:

“It was a crazy day because we were on track four times. It was real packed, but it ended up being a good day. We started out quick. The bike was good. I think for the race we struggled a little bit with the front tire. I don’t know if it was the setup we had or if it was just the track temp coming up a lot for the race. It’s kind of hard to say. I was struggling a lot. I felt like I was going to lose the front at every turn. It made for a tough race. We closed the gap a little bit to the front guys, but not as much as I would have liked. Every time we get on the bike and every race we do, we’re getting quicker and we’re getting closer. We’re definitely moving forward. We just have some more work to do, but I think the steps that we are taking are good.

“Wet or dry tomorrow, I don’t really care. I think the little bit of time that we’ve had on the bike in the wet, the bike felt great. For me, I prefer to race in the dry just because it’s a little bit more fun, but if it’s wet, dry, it doesn’t matter. We’ve got to race either way, so it’ll be fine.”

MotoAmerica Superbike race two at VIR will be aired on FS2 Sunday, May 5 at 6:30 p.m. ET. You can also stream all the action live on MotoAmerica Live+ starting at 10:15 a.m. ET.

Stay up to date with Estenson Racing on Facebook, Twitter , Instagram and YouTube.

More, from a press release issued by Westby Racing:

Westby Racing’s Two MotoAmerica Riders Had Opposite Outcomes On Saturday At VIRginia International Raceway

Alton, VA – May 4, 2019 – It was an up-and-down Saturday for the two-rider Westby Racing team at the MotoAmerica Championship of Virginia, the two-day event taking place at VIRginia International Speedway.

On the upside, the team’s new rider Sam Lochoff, who competes aboard the #57 Yamaha YZF-R3 in MotoAmerica’s Junior Cup class, took top honors for the tuning-fork brand when he finished a solid fourth and just off the podium in Saturday’s race one. Sam qualified in sixth position earlier in the day, and he was able to improve two spots at the end of the 12-lap race.

“I had an extremely good start to the race,” Sam said. “On the first lap, I was in third place, and then, we were battling left and right throughout the whole race. On the third corner, my foot slipped off the footpeg, and I lost the tow from the rider in front of me, so I focused on riding the pace of the riders from fifth to eighth. The rider in third then crashed out, so I began battling for third again. Rocco (Landers, the race winner) came past all of us and I tried to stay in his draft, but I couldn’t, so I maintained my pace and stayed in fourth till the finish line.”

On the downside, Mathew Scholtz, pilot of the #11 Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1, slid off the track on just the second lap of the afternoon’s Superbike race. Earlier in the day, Mathew had qualified third-fastest in Superpole, giving him a front-row start in the race. The grid position served him well as he rocketed off the line and immediately into the lead.

Despite crashing out of the lead, however, Mathew was encouraged by the fact that he was able to lead a dry race, which is a milestone in the 2018 MotoAmerica Rookie of the Year’s still-developing career.

This was the first race event that MotoAmerica has had a two-day schedule, so today was really busy,” Mathew said. “In the first practice, we made a swingarm-angle change. Ever since we switched to the taller rear Dunlop tire (last year beginning at Road America), we’ve been struggling with getting the bike to turn. The swingarm-angle change made a huge difference in the feel of the bike, and the handling improved a lot similar to the way it felt before we switched to the taller rear tire. So, that was a big, big step forward for us. Our race pace was really good, consistent and fast, and I was happy to qualify on the front row in Superpole.

“In the race, I got the best start of my life, and I passed (polesitter Garrett Gerloff) going into the first turn. Then, it was ‘ride for your life, Charlie Brown.’ I came around the first lap in the lead, and I had pulled a gap of almost half a second at the front. But, unfortunately, I crashed at the top of the hill. It was good to actually lead a fully dry Superbike race. Until today, every time I’ve led a race, it’s been because we were racing in wet conditions. So, today was the first time I’ve led a full Superbike field in the dry. And, even though I crashed out, it gives me a lot of confidence for tomorrow. It kind of shows that we are now a force to be reckoned with for race wins.”

Sunday’s Junior Cup Race 2 is at 1:10 PM Eastern and Superbike Race 2 is at 3:00 PM Eastern.

For more updates about 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:

LEWIS RETURNS TO THE TOP FIVE IN VIRGINIA

Team M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis backed up his first top-five MotoAmerica Superbike result of the 2019 season — scored last time out at the Circuit of the Americas — with another top-five on Saturday at Virginia International Raceway.

Lewis continued his determined push to the front of the field as he continues to recover from a lingering leg injury, again flashing the speed and skill necessarily to eventually fight for the podium.

Just as he did in Texas, the Kentuckian held station on the tail end of the lead pack aboard his Team M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000 during the opening half of the race before slowly fading into his own race.

Lewis has steadily picked up momentum as the season has taken shape, improving or maintaining the previous finish each time out. In chronological order, his 2019 results have been seventh, sixth, sixth, fifth, and fifth.

As a result, Lewis now ranks fifth in the MotoAmerica Superbike championship standings, just two points behind third.

After the race, Lewis said, “Today’s race wasn’t too bad. I got a good start compared with the last few races and the pace was pretty good in the beginning. Since I’ve been injured, I haven’t been able to train as much as I would like. I was pretty worn out so I brought it home in fifth and got some more good points. We ran strong early so I am encouraged that we are making progress.”

Meanwhile, Team Hammer’s Supersport duo of Bobby Fong and Sean Dylan Kelly suffered through a deeply disappointing Saturday at VIR after opening the season in such sensational form.

Despite qualifying eighth on his Team M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R600, Kelly was unable to make the start for Saturday’s race. The unfortunate combination of a late qualifying crash, a delay in getting the bike back, and extremely limited time to make repairs before the start of the race ultimately kept him off the grid.

Fong, however, leapt into the race lead after qualifying fifth and starting on Row 2. And the Team M4 ECSTAR Suzuki pilot would stay in the lead for the first six laps of the race.

But Fong suffered a vicious highside and was thrown over the front of his bike moments after starting lap 7. The Californian had the wind knocked out of him in the violent tumble, and in the time it took for him to recover his breath and his bearings, the race was red-flagged.

Despite being medically cleared to rejoin the race by three doctors in the track medical center, Fong was declared unfit by Race Direction and not allowed to grid up for the restart.

Even with the setback, Fong remains third in the Supersport title fight and within 10 points of the championship lead.

Due to the two-day weekend’s condensed schedule, the Twins Cup and Stock 1000 competitors each took part in just a single practice session on Saturday.

Roadracing World Young Guns Suzuki’s Alex Dumas was eighth fastest (1:35.143) and Autovest Suzuki’s Joseph Blasius 14th (1:37.000) aboard their Suzuki SV650s in the Twins Cup session. Team M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Felipe MacLean was 13th (1:32.417) on his Suzuki GSX-R1000 in the Stock 1000 practice.

The entire Team Hammer contingent will be on the grid and gunning for top results as the Virginia International Raceway weekend concludes on Sunday.

About Team Hammer

The 2019 season marks Team Hammer’s 39th consecutive year of operating as a professional road racing team. Racebikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 71 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races, have finished on AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National podiums 207 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.

More, from a press release issued by Scheibe Racing:

MotoAmerica
Championship of Virginia // VIRginia International Raceway – Race 1

Jake Gagne finished sixth in
Race 1 of the MotoAmerica EBC Brakes Superbike Series on the Hayes Brakes
equipped Scheibe Racing BMW S1000RR at VIRginia International Raceway. This
event is the first time MotoAmerica has shortened an AMA/FIM North America Road
Racing Championship event weekend to two days, leaving little room for error to
get laps and experience with the track in before the races.

Steve Scheibe, of Scheibe
Racing, was happy with Jake’s results. “He’s been injured and we’ve had a
couple problems building consistency. A minor event caused a DNF in the second
race at Road Atlanta where he was running very strong. At Circuit of the
Americas, he hit a wet patch on the track, and fell before the first race so we
never got going there. Then here, during qualifying for Superpole, the chain
derailed after a violent headshake event after going over some curbing.”

Jake came into this weekend
recovering from an ankle injury he sustained in a training incident in January.

“I’m still nursing my leg a
little bit. I’m a little sore, but honestly a lot better off than I was in
Atlanta and Texas. I can’t really ride the bike yet how I want to ride it with full
input through my feet. Getting there though, slowly but surely, and now I have
two weekends off to recover before Road America.”

“It was a little bit weird
going straight to the race.” Gagne noted. “We’ve had a minimal amount of time
with this bike on this track, and I’m happy we made progress. I felt
comfortable right away. The bike felt nice, nice and fast, nice and smooth. I
got a good understanding of it for a full 23 laps, and we have a good idea of
some of the things we need to work on and improve. It was a smooth race for me.
I didn’t want to do anything crazy, we just wanted to bring it home nice and
clean, to start and finish some races to build some momentum.”

Scheibe is optimistic. “I’m
happy that despite everything that’s happened, we’ve been able to regain
forward movement and that we were able to get 6th. I can project that to even
better things ahead, so I’m excited.”

Scheibe Racing, founded by Steve Scheibe in 2001, is a Wisconsin
based MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North America Road Racing Championship team.

Sponsored by: Hayes Brakes, VP Racing
Lubricants, Akrapovic, Renthal Chainwheels, Regina Chains, and Alpha Racing.