Triumph AMA/FIMNA Superbike Challenge of Alabama

MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Series

Barber Motorsports Park

Birmingham, Alabama

June 13, 2015

Supersport Race One Results (all on Dunlop tires):

1. JD Beach (Yamaha), 21 laps

2. Josh Herrin (Yamaha), -0.268 second

3. Bobby Fong (Triumph), -0.596

4. Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha), -1.209 seconds

5. Tomas Puerta (Yamaha), -25.178

6. David Anthony (Suzuki), -27.974

7. Cameron Petersen (Yamaha), -32.609

8. Ben Young (Yamaha), -42.325

9. Kaleb De Keyrel (Yamaha), -57.234

10. Hayden Gillim (MV Agusta), -57.376

11. Kyle Wyman (Yamaha), -69.357

12. Corey Alexander (Yamaha), -79.326

13. Melissa Paris (Suzuki), -85.540

14. Javelin Broderick (MV Agusta), -86.108

15. Kris Lillegard (MV Agusta), -12 laps, DNF

16. Mitch Card (Honda), -16 laps, DNF

Championship Point Standings (after 8 of 16 races):

1. Beach, 165 points

2. Herrin, 160 points

3. Gerloff, 137

4. Puerta, 87

5. Anthony, 86

6. Young, 79

7. Fong, 62

8. Wyman, 56

9. Petersen, 50

10. De Keyrel, 44

More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:

Barber Goes To Beach As JD Wins MotoAmerica Supersport Race 1 At Barber Motorsports Park; Four Yamaha R6 Machines Finish In The Top Five

Birmingham, AL – June 13, 2015 – Once again, the Yamaha YZF-R6 is the hot bike to have in MotoAmerica–and not just because of air temperatures hovering in the 90s at Barber Motorsports Park. Yamalube/Y.E.S./Graves rider JD Beach won his fourth race of the season to best second-place finisher Josh Herrin, who rides for Wheels In Motion/MotoSport.com/Meen Yamaha. JD’s teammate Garrett Gerloff finished fourth and RoadRace Factory/Yamaha rider Tomas Puerta rounded out the top five.

Throughout the race, JD took a noticeably different line around the 2.38-mile, 17-turn road course than did Josh, and it paid off for the Kentuckian as he and Josh swapped the lead several times throughout the race. JD always seemed to get the better of Josh in the final turn on the track, and with a couple of laps to go in the race, JD got under Josh and held on to the lead all the way to the checkers. Both riders ran their fastest laps of the race on the final lap, but JD had pulled enough of a gap to prevent Josh from catching him.

“I’ve watched a lot of old races from here,” JD commented. “I learned a little something for this weekend from watching Ben Spies’ go around this track. I also took a tighter line because I’m a dirt tracker, and I like to take the shortest way around the track, if I can. It worked for me today. There are still a couple of things that I want to work on for tomorrow, but my #95 Yamalube/Y.E.S./Graves R6 ran awesome today!”

The situation remains tight at the top of the 2015 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship, with JD now leading Josh by four points.

MotoAmerica Supersport Race 2 will go green from Barber Motosports Park tomorrow afternoon at 2:40 PM CST. Go to www.MotoAmerica.com, click on “Streaming” under the “LIVE” header in the top-left corner of the page, and then click on “WATCH SUPERSPORT” to watch the race live online.

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 MotoAmerica:

Beach, Roberts And Mazziotto Shine At Barber

Cameron Beaubier Takes Pole For Tomorrow’s Two Superbike Races

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, JUNE 13 – Coming into the 2015 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship, JD Beach was hopeful of winning his first career race in the Supersport class. He checked that box at the very first race in Texas and ever since the Yamalube/Y.E.S./Graves Motorsports Yamaha rider has proven to be the man to beat for the championship. Today, in scorching temperatures at Barber Motorsports Park, Beach became the first four-time winner on the season with a narrow victory over his series rival Josh Herrin.

Close racing was the theme of the day at Barber. Beach’s victory over Herrin was just .269 of a second in the first race of the day. In the second race, things were just as tight with Wheels In Motion/Motosport.com/Meen Motorsports’ Joe Roberts barely besting his championship rival Richie Escalante by a scant .284 of a second to win the Bazzaz Superstock 600 race.

In the second round of the KTM RC 390 Cup, 15-year-old Anthony Mazziotto III beat Hayden Schultz to the line in the red-flag shortened final by just .081 of a second. Championship leader Gage McAllister, meanwhile, was just .302 of a second behind Mazziotto in third place.

Monster Energy/Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Cameron Beaubier was fast on Friday and he was fast again today, the Californian earning his second Superbike pole position of the year and the fourth of his young Superbike career. Beaubier lapped at 1:25.599 to put .455 of a second between himself and Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden going into what is expected to be two hot and tortuous 23-lap races on Sunday. Beaubier’s teammate Josh Hayes will fill the front row of the grid.

The battle for victory in the Supersport final was fought out between four riders – Beach, Herrin, Bobby Fong and Garrett Gerloff – though it looked like it would always be either Beach or Wheels In Motion/Motosport.com/Meen Motorsport’s Herrin with the upper hand. And after 21 hard-fought laps, it was Beach earning his fourth win of the year.

“It was hot out today,” Beach said. “Just like home (Kentucky) – real hot and humid. You could tell how hot it got today because these guys this morning were doing really fast laps. I think the fastest lap in the race was a 1:27.5 so the speed definitely wasn’t as fast, but Josh (Herrin) and Garrett (Gerloff) and Bobby (Fong) were all going really good. I was surprised to be up there really because I’ve struggled this weekend. My bike was working great and we definitely have some stuff we need to work on for tomorrow and hopefully tomorrow the race will be as good today for me.”

Third place went to Fong and his Latus Motors Racing Triumph, the Californian who has struggled with a shoulder injury earning his first podium of the season. Beach’s teammate Gerloff was relegated to fourth, well clear of fifth-placed Tomas Puerta on the Roadrace Factory Yamaha R6.

Heading into Sunday’s second race, Beach leads Herrin by five points, 165-160, in the title chase. Gerloff is third with 137 points.

Thus far this season the Bazzaz Supertock 600 Series has been about three men: Roberts, Escalante and Travis Wyman. Today there were two more interlopers – Bryce Prince and his Tuned Racing teammate Jason Aguilar. Prince was in a battle with Roberts when his bike expired early on, but Aguilar was able to bring glory to the team when he held on for third and his first podium of the season.

Meanwhile, at the front, Escalante gave Roberts all he could handle on the run to the flag, the Mexican fighting back to get to .284 of a second at the checkered flag. The win was Roberts’ fifth on the year and it gives him an 11-point cushion on Escalante in the title chase, 145-134. Wyman, who sits third in the series point standings, had his first non-podium finish of the year on his Kyle Wyman Racing Yamaha. Wyman ended up seventh.

“At the beginning, Bryce (Prince) got a great start and I didn’t really want to sit behind him,” Roberts said. “I wanted to get out and go. He wasn’t really dropping back like I thought he would and he tried to make a move on me going into turn 12. I kinda shut the door on him. I looked behind and he wasn’t there, but I saw Richie (Escalante) and I had a comfortable (one) second lead and I just tried to maintain that. The conditions were a little bit sketchy with how hot it was. I was just trying to maintain that gap and came across some lappers and unfortunately got held up by them. Richie started catching me and it got to the point where on the last lap he was right behind me… I knew if I messed up, Richie would have got by me. Great job by him.”

The KTM RC 390 Cup that started two weeks ago at Road America was back in action today at Barber with a different winner. While Gage McAllister was able to win both races at Road America, today it was Mazziotto’s turn to taste victory. The Jimmy Winters Motorsports rider was the rider in front when the race was red-flagged and ultimately called official because of a downed bike in the racing line. Second went to Hayden Schultz with McAllister taking third.

McAllister, however, maintains his championship lead over Jody Barry, 66-46, with Barry finishing sixth today. Schultz moves to third in the series standings with 32 points.

“I’m glad I was able to finish the race, let alone be on top of the podium,” Mazziotto said after two non-finishes in the opening round at Road America. “It was definitely a great race for me and a great race for them. I wish it would have gone the last two laps, because that would have been an insane last lap. It definitely feels a lot better to be on top of the podium now. I love racing motorcycles and it’s just a bummer when you can’t finish.”

The combined Superbike/Superstock 1000 class held its Superpole sessions on Saturday with Beaubier emerging from the 15-minute session with pole position. The factory Yamaha star will be joined on the front row by Hayden and teammate Hayes.

Row two will consist of the surprise of the weekend, Sheridan Morais. The South African took full advantage of his new Aprilia RSV4 to post the fourth quickest time overall and the fastest lap of the Superstock class for the HSBK Aprilia team. Morais will be joined on the second row by Yoshimura Suzuki’s Jake Lewis and his Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike and Roadrace Factory’s Jake Gagne, the Californian riding his back-up Superstock R1 in Superpole after his number-one bike blew up early in the session – consequently bringing out a red flag and a delay while track workers cleaned up the resulting oil spill.

TOBC Racing’s Taylor Knapp, Turbo Turtle Racing’s Danny Eslick and Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Josh Day will complete row three.

“I felt really good so far this weekend on the R1,” Beaubier said. “I struggled here really bad last year with two crashes and it was a pretty frustrating weekend. To come back here this weekend and have a good Friday practice and good qualifying and practice today, it gives me a little bit more confidence going into tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a tough day tomorrow. I’m just going to try to put together some solid laps. These guys are ripping so it’s going to make for an interesting and really tough two races.”

SUPERSPORT RACE 1: 1. JD Beach (Yamaha); 2. Josh Herrin (Yamaha); 3. Bobby Fong (Triumph); 4. Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha); 5. Tomas Puerta (Yamaha); 6. David Anthony (Suzuki); 7. Cameron Petersen (Yamaha); 8. Ben Young (Yamaha); 9. Kaleb De Keyrel (Yamaha); 10. Hayden Gillim (MV Agusta).

SUPERSTOCK 600 RACE 1: 1. Joe Roberts (Yamaha); 2. Richie Escalante (Yamaha); 3. Jason Aguilar (Yamaha); 4. Wyatt Farris (Yamaha); 5. Nick McFadden (Suzuki); 6. Michael Gilbert (Yamaha); 7. Travis Wyman (Yamaha); 8. Curtis Murray (Suzuki); 9. Ryan Jones (Kawasaki); 10. Christian Crosslin (Yamaha).

KTM RC 390 CUP RACE 1: 1. Anthony Mazziotto; 2. Hayden Schultz; 3. Gage McAllister; 4. Josh Serne; 5. Alejandro Gutierrez Mejia; 6. Jody Barry; 7. Gabe Miller; 8. Mason De Keyrel; 9. Christopher Kosan; 10. Devin Husband.

SUPERBIKE/SUPERSTOCK 1000 QUALIFYING: 1. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha) 1:25.599; 2. Roger Hayden (Suzuki) 1:26.054; 3. Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 1:26.159; 4. Sheridan Morais (Aprilia) 1:26.216; 5. Jake Lewis (Suzuki) 1:26.469; 6. Jake Gagne (Yamaha) 1:26.849; 7. Taylor Knapp (Yamaha) 1:26.950; 8. Danny Eslick (Honda) 1:27.527; 9. Josh Day (Yamaha) 1:27.708; 10. Chris Ulrich (Suzuki) 1:28.055.

More, from a press release issued by Triumph Motorcycles (America):

BOBBY FONG FINISHES THIRD IN SUPERSPORT RACE ONE AT TRIUMPH SUPERBIKE CHALLENGE

ATLANTA (June 13, 2015) – Triumph rider Bobby Fong earned his first podium finish of the 2015 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship as his #50 Latus Motors Racing / Castrol / Triumph Daytona 675R finish third in Supersport race one at the Triumph Superbike Challenge.

Starting second on the grid for the 21-lap race at Barber Motorsports Park, Fong quickly became entrenched in a four-way battle for the lead. A small mistake coming out of the third turn at the midway point of the race saw Fong drop down to fourth. He put his head down and charged back to third, putting himself within striking distance of the leaders. Fong looked to attack for second place in the closing laps before settling for third, a mere 0.596 seconds behind first.

“It feels great to put the Latus Motors Racing / Castrol / Triumph Daytona 675R onto the podium today,” said Bobby Fong. “We always want the win, but I can’t be too disappointed with third after the moment I had. Tomorrow’s another day and I know we’ll be up there again.”

The second MotoAmerica Supersport race will be on Sunday, June 14, at 2:40 p.m. CDT and streamed live at www.FansChoice.TV<http://www.FansChoice.TV>. The Triumph Superbike Challenge of Alabama will air on CBS Sports Network on June 21 at 3:00 p.m. EDT. Further event information, including tickets and a detailed schedule, can be found at www.BarberMotorsports.com<http://www.BarberMotorsports.com>.

About Triumph

Triumph Motorcycles is the British motorcycle marque that produces a wide range of sport, cruiser, adventure and touring motorcycles. From the storied Bonneville to the class-leading Speed Triple and Daytona 675R, Triumph offers a blend of design, character and performance that result in truly distinctive motorcycles. First established in 1902 and now located in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England, Triumph has always set the pace for category-winning machines. The company is solely owned by Bloor Holdings Ltd., and Triumph Motorcycles America, its North American operations, are based in Atlanta. To see the full range of Triumph motorcycles, visit www.TriumphMotorcycles.com<http://www.TriumphMotorcycles.com>.

About Castrol

Castrol, one of the world’s leading lubricant brands, has a proud heritage of innovation and fuelling the dreams of pioneers. Their passion for performance, combined with a philosophy of working in partnership with manufacturers, has enabled Castrol to develop oils that have been at the heart of numerous technological feats on land, air, sea and space for over 100 years. Today, the company’s vast portfolio of high performance lubricants, including Castrol EDGE, Castrol GTX MAGNATEC, Castrol GTX and Castrol Power RS, are available in almost 140 countries worldwide. For more information on Castrol’s premium lubricants, please visit www.Castrol.com<http://www.Castrol.com>