MotoAmerica Championship Of Monterey

MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Series

WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

Monterey, California

June 23, 2018

Motul Superbike Race One Results (all on Dunlop tires):

1. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R1), 23 laps, Total Race Time 33:01.203, Best Lap Time 1:24.527

2. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R1), -5.403 seconds, 1:24.638

3. Roger Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), -9.012, 1:24.878

4. Garrett Gerloff (Yam YZF-R1), -11.998, 1:25.419

5. Mathew Scholtz (Yam YZF-R1), -15.397, 1:25.454

6. Danny Eslick (BMW S1000RR), -23.892, 1:25.232

7. Cameron Petersen (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), -27.077, 1:26.063

8. Jake Lewis (Suz GSX-R1000), -29.654, 1:25.811

9. Kyle Wyman (Yam YZF-R1), -34.035, 1:26.423

10. David Anthony (Kaw ZX-10R), -38.947, 1:26.542

11. Bobby Fong (Yam YZF-R1), -75.991, 1:26.669

12. Sebastiao Ferreira (Yam YZF-R1), -84.550, 1:28.423

13. Toni Elias (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, crashed twice, 1:25.049

14. Max Flinders (Yam YZF-R1), -1 lap, 1:28.745

15. Bruno Silva (Kaw ZX-10R), -1 lap, 1:29.829

16. Sam Verderico (Yam YZF-R1), -1 lap, 1:29.944

17. Roi Holster (Yam YZF-R1), -1 lap, 1:32.239

18. Jayson Uribe (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), DNS

Championship Point Standings (after 9 of 20 races):

1. Beaubier, 178 points

2. Elias, 154

3. Herrin, 135

4. Scholtz, 116

5. Gerloff, 87

6. Lewis, 85

7. Wyman, 73

8. Eslick, 67

9. Hayden, 63

10. Anthony, 56

11. Fong, 53

12. Ferreira, 44

13. Petersen, 36

14. Silva, 28

15. Verderico, 20

16. Flinders, 13

17. Barrett Long, 10

18. Brad Morris, 4

19. Jeffrey Purk, 1

20. TIE, Uribe/Jeremy Coffey/Holster, 0

More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:

Beaubier Wins Race One At WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

Jason Madama Takes Twins Cup Win

MONTEREY, CA (June 23, 2018) – Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Cameron Beaubier won his third race in a row today, the two-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion winning race one of the Championship of Monterey on a hot, sunny day at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Beaubier, who won the Motul MotoAmerica Superbike title in 2015 and 2016, beat early race leader Josh Herrin by 5.403 seconds with the Attack Performance/Herrin Compound rider exhausted after taking part in both the MotoAmerica and World Superbike races today.

For Beaubier, it was win number three on the season and win number 27 of his Superbike career. He is now one short of tying Ben Spies for fourth on the all-time Superbike win list.

In addition to winning on the racetrack, Beaubier also won big in the championship as his rival Toni Elias crashed his Yoshimura Suzuki twice in the race, ending up 14th and earned just three points. Beaubier, who started the day two points ahead of Elias, is now 24 ahead, 178-154, after taking home the maximum haul of 25 points.

“I’m happy I increased my points for sure,” Beaubier said. “That race was tough. I got shuffled back. I got such a bad start, kind of like always. I need to work on those. (Josh) Herrin was putting the laps together at first out front. I saw the red band on his tire and I noticed that he went with the super soft option, and I went with the second soft option. To be honest I didn’t really notice a huge difference on the tires in the practices and qualifying we did. That was the tire we decided to go with and I think it was the right choice. I felt pretty consistent the whole race. Honestly, from the start of the race my tires just felt kind of greasy. It’s a little hotter than the past couple years here, but I enjoyed it. I was able to get through the pack somewhat clean and slowly catch Herrin. It could have been a different story if Herrin didn’t have a race before. He’s been on fire all weekend, so hats off to him and also Roger (Hayden). I’m just really, really happy to put my R1 up on the top step. It’s been kind of a slow start to the season. We had some podiums. We’ve had some good races, some bad races. I’m really, really happy. We’re just moving in the right direction after Road America. Just chipping away, and hopefully tomorrow put my head down again and see what happens. I know these guys are going to be tough. Thanks to all you fans for coming out.”

Herrin, who earned his first MotoAmerica Motul Superbike pole position earlier in the day, led the first eight laps before giving way to Beaubier.

“As you said, I did a lot of laps this weekend,” Herrin said. “It was a lot hotter than the weather said it was going to be. Can’t ever trust the weatherman. It’s been difficult for sure. I think we kind of hurt ourselves racing World Superbike as well and not putting in as many laps in MotoAmerica practices as we should have to learn the tires. But that’s just what we had to do to make sure we minimized the amount of time I was on the bike to be able to finish the races today. Just happy to be up here, to be honest. It feels good to be in second. I was pretty disappointed at first just because the weekend was going so well with MotoAmerica practices. I was real confident we were going to be able to fight up front the whole time. Cam was riding a hell of a race. I don’t know how much of a difference or how much the tires came into play. I was definitely sliding a lot, but it could have been the same for him.”

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden also put in a day’s work today, the Kentuckian starting all the way back in 12th and on the fourth row of the grid after crashing on the first lap of Superpole. Hayden got a good start and worked his way through the pack for his second third-place finish in a row.

“Yeah, definitely didn’t make things easy for me,” Hayden said. “Crashed in qualifying the first lap. But that’s the way it goes sometimes. I got a good start and went through the pack pretty quick. These two have been fast all week. They were fast and just a little bit better than us today, so we have a little homework we have to do tonight to try to find a little speed. I’m happy to be on the podium. Got a good start and made some passes pretty quick and got into third pretty early. Tried to catch these guys, but it just wasn’t happening. I had a big gap to the guy behind me. Josh (Herrin) was a little bit in front of me. I could tell he was just managing our gap so we’ll try and find a little speed tomorrow. Hats off to these two guys.”

Fourth place today went to Beaubier’s teammate Garrett Gerloff, the Texan some three seconds behind Hayden and some four seconds ahead of Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz.

Scheibe Racing’s Danny Eslick qualified on the front row and pushed hard in the opening laps, but eventually faded back to sixth by the end of the 23-lap race. Still, the result matched his best effort of the season.

Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda’s Cameron Petersen ended up seventh, racing mostly alone and finishing two seconds ahead of M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis. Cycle Gear/KWR’s Kyle Wyman and Fly Street Racing’s David Anthony rounded out the top 10.

For Elias it was a tough day at the office with two crashes both caused by false neutrals.

“Great start and then did a neutral into turn one, unfortunately running off and losing the front on the gravel,” Elias said. “Then I was working for tomorrow, trying different things on the bike to get more information for my team. Then I lose the front going into (turn) one again. Since the new tire arrived we are having a lot of problems and then here mixing with traction control problems. I’m 24 behind now. 24 points or Cameron Beaubier is not my problem. The problem is myself and my bike and when that is like it was before we will be okay again.”

Twins Cup – Madama Again

There was one Twins Cup race on the docket for MotoAmerica at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and polesitter Jason Madama made the most of it as he won the pole on his #213 Altus Motorsports Yamaha FZ-07/MT-07, pulled the holeshot at the start, and ran a flawless race to take the checkers by nearly nine seconds over second-place finisher and current points leader Chris Parrish, the Tennessee rider aboard his #128 Ghetto Customs Suzuki SV650.

Third place went to Twins Cup series newcomer Cody Newman, who put his #386 GERT Racing Yamaha FZ-07/MT-07 on the podium in his very first race in the class. Parrish, who is four for four in podium finishes this season, continues to lead the championship but by just two points over Madama.

“The plan was to set a gap at the beginning and just check out, and it worked out,” Madama said. “I’ve never raced here before, so it was awesome to come and just keep picking up time and picking up time. I got to thank my sponsor, BJ. He came out this weekend to watch, and I got a win for him with Conquest. My team Altus has been awesome this weekend, my crew chief, my chassis tech. Everybody’s been kicking butt, and it shows. Like I said, this is awesome. Second win in a row. I’ll keep them coming.”

Motul Superbike

1.Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)

2.Josh Herrin (Yamaha)

3.Roger Hayden (Suzuki)

4.Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha)

5.Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)

Twins Cup

1.Jason Madama (Yamaha)

2.Chris Parrish (Suzuki)

3.Cody Newman (Yamaha)

4.Danielle Diaz (Kawasaki)

5.Robert Fisher (Suzuki)

More, from a press release issued by Yamalube/Westby Racing:

Mathew Scholtz Takes The Fifth In Saturday’s MotoAmerica Superbike Race At WeatherTech Laguna Seca As His Confidence Is Restored

Monterey, CA – June 23, 2018 – Following a tough weekend during the previous round of the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship, Mathew Scholtz got off to a better start to his weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca during Round 5 of the series as he finished fifth in Saturday’s Superbike Race 1. And, almost more important than the result is the fact that Mathew’s confidence in the handling of his #11 Yamalube/Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 has returned.

It was a solid result for Mathew, and one that he and his crew can build upon as they acclimate to the new, larger Dunlop rear tire that debuted for the first time in racing conditions at Road America, which was Round 4 of the series.

“After Friday’s practice sessions, we made a few changes overnight, and this morning’s practice was really positive for us,” Mathew commented. “We really felt like we made the bike a lot better. Superpole wasn’t that great for us, and we ended up in eighth place, but that didn’t really matter too much because we knew our race pace was really good.

“In the race, my jump off the line was alright but, because I was further back on the starting grid, the first few corners were just mayhem. Guys were trying to make passes everywhere, and it was a bit of a mess. I passed a couple of guys, and I was in sixth place behind (Garrett) Gerloff and Danny (Eslick), and I managed to reel in Danny. We got to about the halfway point, and we hadn’t put together lot of fast laps consecutively, and the bike started to behave differently than it had been all weekend long. I kind of dropped off the back of Garrett. But then, I started getting used to how the bike was sliding, and how to handle it, and my laptimes started getting quicker. Over the final five or six laps, I was doing pretty decent times, so that was a really positive step for us. Now, we can see pretty clearly where we made the bike better and where we need to make it better. I’ve gotten my confidence back in the front end, which we lost when we switched to the new (larger) Dunlop (rear) tire. So, I’m very happy, considering how the first couple of races (with the new Dunlop tire) have gone. Finishing fifth is nothing to have a massive party about, but I’m just really happy that we have the bike back in a place where I feel confident. So, we’ll do some more work overnight, look at the data, and hopefully be part of the podium battle tomorrow.”

Superbike Race 2 is set to go green at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Sunday at 3:15 PM Pacific 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:

Team Hammer got the first race of the combined MotoAmerica/WorldSBK race weekend under its belt on Saturday afternoon at Laguna Seca.

The team’s Supersport riders had the day off after completing their first of two qualifying sessions on Friday and watched from the fences as former Superbike Rookie of the Year Jake Lewis went to work in the premier class.

First, Lewis piloted his Superbike-spec M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000 to the second row of the grid with a solid outing in Superpole. There, the lanky Kentuckian secured the sixth spot on the grid with a quick time of 1:24.155.

Lewis then took full advantage of his prime starting slot, powering into the top five in the early stages of the 23-lap race. However, he was unable to maintain that front-running pace for long and ultimately took the checkered flag in eighth. It marked just the third occasion all season long that Lewis has finished outside the top five.

“Race one’s result definitely wasn’t what we had planned,” said Lewis.”It was the most difficult finish of the year for us. We had a good qualifying and got a good start. I was in fourth coming around after the first lap and just went backwards from there. We had a couple of issues and it was frustrating for us not to have done better today. We will make some changes and I’m confident we will come back strong tomorrow.”

Heading into Sunday’s Race 2, Lewis now ranks sixth in the MotoAmerica Superbike title fight with 85 points, just two back of fifth.

Lewis will be rejoined by Team Hammer’s 600cc contingent on Sunday as they’ll return to the fray to complete their second qualifying session early in the morning and then take part in their 19-lap race, which will round out the combined MotoAmerica/WorldSBK weekend late in the afternoon.

On Friday, M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Valentin Debise picked right up where he left off at Road America, throwing down the fastest lap of MotoAmerica Supersport qualifying at 1:26.987 — more than three 10ths better than any other rider.

M4 medAge Suzuki’s Nick McFadden was seventh fastest at 1:28.390, while M4 RiCK! Suzuki’s Daytona Anderson also ranked inside the top 10 of the deep, 36-rider field at 1:29.590, good enough for 10th overall.

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 69 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races, have finished on AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National podiums 194 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 Yamaha:

Beaubier Lands Third-Straight 2018 MotoAmerica Superbike Victory at Laguna Seca

Yamaha bLU cRU Riders Rule Saturday’s MotoAmerica Racing Action

Monterey, Calif. – June 23, 2018 – Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Cameron Beaubier continued his MotoAmerica Superbike winning streak by clinching Race 1 on Saturday during Round 5 of the MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship in Monterey, California. Along with MotoAmerica Superbike and Twins Cup racing, Race 1 of the FIM World Superbike Championship took place, making for an eventful start to the weekend at the historic and legendary Laguna Seca Raceway.

Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing Superbike Team

When the green flag waved to start MotoAmerica Superbike Race 1, Cameron Beaubier found himself shuffled from the front row of the starting grid to fourth-place, setting the stage for a tough run to the front of the pack. Beaubier quickly demonstrated his skills as a two-time Superbike Champion, remaining poised and focused while charging through the field and into second place by the end of lap two. After carefully studying the lines of race leader and fellow Yamaha bLU cRU rider Josh Herrin, Beaubier made his move on lap nine with an inside pass going through Turn 11 to take over the lead. From there, Beaubier rode flawlessly aboard his R1 to separate himself from the pack and earn his third-straight Superbike victory, extending his championship lead by 24 points.

Meanwhile, Garrett Gerloff battled both his fellow competitors and health issues thanks to a head cold. Despite the challenges, Gerloff was determined to make his first race at Laguna Seca on his R1 in the Superbike class a success. Digging deep, he summoned his skillset as a two-time Supersport Champion to move from eighth place at the end of lap one all the way to fourth place on lap thirteen. Gerloff held on to the position until crossing the finish line, gaining valuable championship points and experience from the race.

Cameron Beaubier – #6 YZF-R1

“I’m very happy with how today went and just the start of the weekend altogether. Friday, in both practices, we were able to lead the session and we’ve got the bike set-up good around the Dunlop tires. It felt really good today. At the beginning, I was pretty frustrated because I got a terrible start but we were able to get through the pack somewhat quick. I was able to track [Josh] Herrin down and I followed him around for a little bit. I tried to pass him once and didn’t make it stick, but I was able to get by and just put my head down. I kind of smoothed it out a little bit and we were able to click off some decent times and pull away. All-in-all, the day was good and we were able to increase our points, too.”

Garrett Gerloff – #31 YZF-R1

“I thought I got a good launch in the beginning of the race, but at first, I only saw Cameron [Beaubier] and Josh Herrin in front of me. Then, right as I got across the finish line, I saw three guys out of nowhere and they pinched me off a little bit, so it was a good start until it wasn’t. It was just a battle the whole time – I was fighting myself, fighting the heat and fighting other guys around me. I was doing everything I could to catch Roger [Hayden] in third, that was the only feasible thing that I could have done. It was happening, but with five or six laps to go, I really had trouble putting my marks together and doing consistent laps and he started to get away. It’s a little frustrating to be so close to the podium but I have another shot at it tomorrow.”

Tom Halverson – Team Manager

“Cameron is in a really good place right now. He’s really happy with the bike set-up that we have, and it’s his third win in a row, so he’s definitely very comfortable. Garrett continues to learn and experience his first time on most of these tracks with a Superbike, and Laguna, in particular, is a pretty difficult track. If you don’t hit your marks and you’re not smooth, it’s really easy to start going backwards. But he’s figuring it out quickly, like he has at every other track, and I think he’s having a fantastic rookie year. I’m confident he’ll have some more podiums before the year is over.”

2018 MotoAmerica Superbike Standings – 9 of 20 Series Races Completed

Pos.Rider Points

1 Cameron Beaubier – Yamaha 178

2 Toni Elias – Suzuki 154

3 Josh Herrin – Yamaha 135

4 Mathew Scholtz – Yamaha 116

5 Garrett Gerloff – Yamaha 87

7 Kyle Wyman – Yamaha 73

Superbike Race 2 will go green on Sunday at 3:15 p.m. PST.

Additional Yamaha bLU cRU Rider Notes

It was a full day of racing for Attack Performance/Herrin Compound/Yamaha’s Josh Herrin, who competed in both FIM World Superbike and MotoAmerica Superbike races. After claiming the MotoAmerica Superbike Superpole, Herrin was quick to lead Race 1 and held strong while being challenged by Cameron Beaubier early on. Tight racing between the two riders ensued, even after Beaubier made his move to take over the race lead on lap nine. Having already ridden plenty of hard laps during FIM World Superbike Race 1, Herrin eventually settled into a steady pace to finish in second place and gain valuable championship points.

It was a solid day for Altus Motorsports/AP MotoArts rider Jason Madama, who qualified in the pole-position on his Yamaha MT-07 before claiming an impressive victory in Saturday’s Twins Cup race. Joined by GERT Racing’s Cody Newman in third place, who was also riding an MT-07, the Yamaha bLU cRU was well-represented on the Twins Cup podium.

JD Beach and the Monster Energy/Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha Team will continue their bid for the 2018 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship on Sunday in Monterey. The only Supersport Race of the weekend will go green at 4:10 p.m. PST.

Riders in the Graves/Yamaha YZF-R3 Support Program will also do battle on Sunday for their one-and-only Junior Cup race of the weekend at 11:10 a.m. PST. 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.