MotoAmerica Championship At Road America
MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Series
Road America
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
June 2, 2018
Supersport Race One Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Valentin Debise (Suz GSX-R600), 11 laps, Total Race Time 25:41.256, Best Lap Time 2:19.107
2. JD Beach (Yam YZF-R6), -0.337 second, 2:19.117
3. Hayden Gillim (Yam YZF-R6), -4.298 seconds, 2:19.805
4. Cory West (Yam YZF-R6), -21.771, 2:20.089
5. Bryce Prince (Yam YZF-R6), -24.702, 2:21.133
6. Braeden Ortt (Yam YZF-R6), -24.712, 2:21.112
7. Nick McFadden (Suz GSX-R600), -24.761, ran off track, 2:20.338
8. Anthony Mazziotto III (Yam YZF-R6), -24.929, 2:20.770
9. Miles Thornton (Suz GSX-R600), -25.422, 2:21.200
10. Michael Gilbert (Yam YZF-R6), -26.758, 2:21.381
11. Jason Aguilar (Yam YZF-R6), -28.543, 2:20.902
12. Richie Escalante (Yam YZF-R6), -46.502, crash, 2:19.662
13. Joseph Giannotto (Yam YZF-R6), -57.028, 2:23.264
14. Carl Soltisz (Yam YZF-R6), -70.792, 2:25.092
15. Jaret Nassaney (Suz GSX-R600), -71.335, 2:25.263
16. Kinzer Naylor (Kaw ZX-6R), -71.665, 2:24.973
17. Lucas Silva (Yam YZF-R6), -72.213, 2:23.076
18. Jeremy Simmons (Yam YZF-R6), -85.365, 2:26.344
19. Fernando Silva (Yam YZF-R6), -93.100, 2:23.076
20. JC Camacho (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap, crash, 2:24.703
21. Aaron Graham (Yam YZF-R6), DNF, 2:24.686
22. Mauricio Roque (Yam YZF-R6), DNF, 2:27.454
23. Nolan Lamkin (Yam YZF-R6), DNF, crash, 2:24.630
24. Ashton Yates (Yam YZF-R6), DNF, retired, 2:27.093
25. Xavier Zayat (Yam YZF-R6), -11 laps, DNF, crash, no lap time recorded
26. Benjamin Smith (Suz GSX-R600), -11 laps, DNF, crash, no lap time recorded
27. Daytona Anderson (Suz GSX-R600), DNS
28. Caroline Olsen (Yam YZF-R6), DNS
Championship Point Standings (after 5 of 18 races):
1. Beach, 115 points
2. Gillim, 81
3. West, 66
4. Ortt, 52
5. McFadden, 48
6. Mazziotto, 47
7. Escalante, 42
8. Prince, 39
9. Thornton, 33
10. TIE, Yates/Aguilar, 30
12. Debise, 25
13. Camacho, 21
14. Gilbert, 16
15. Anderson, 11
16. Giannotto, 10
17. TIE, Lucas Silva/Max Angles, 7
19. Daniel Paine, 6
20. Smith, 5
More, from a press release issued by Team Hammer:
In March, Team Hammer’s Valentin Debise was seriously injured when he crashed out of the lead of the Daytona 200 at 135 mph. Today, Debise celebrated his return to MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Supersport action by taking a spectacular victory at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
The Frenchman battled his way back from multiple injuries of various severity, most notably fractured L1 and L3 lumbar vertebrae. He showed absolutely no signs of rust or wear in Saturday’s Supersport showdown.
Debise was in the mix from the launch off the grid aboard his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R600. After dicing back and forth for the lead through the middle stages of the race, Debise ultimately took control at the front as the laps ticked away. After eking open a small advantage over second, Debise charged to the fastest lap of the race on the very last lap to take the checkered flag and secure an emotional victory in his MotoAmerica return.
After winning again at the same circuit where he claimed his maiden MotoAmerica win back in 2016, Debise said, “I have no words for what I’m feeling now. I was a long time away, and I only had a half day on the bike before this weekend. I didn’t know where I’d be exactly.
“Once we were here, I thought maybe I could make a plan, and maybe I could win at the end. That’s exactly what happened. I was in first and I knew I had competition right behind me. I checked out the big screen on the side of the track and saw he was a bit further back, so I knew that was my chance. I pushed and kept my head down to the finish line.
“This win means so much to me. I want to thank my crew for waiting for me. So thank you M4 ECSTAR Suzuki. All my guys made a big job, and I could not have done this without their help.”
A bit further down the order, M4 medAge Suzuki’s Nick McFadden was embroiled in a massive drafting battle for fifth. Successful slingshots and subsequent counterattacks saw the Kentuckian shift anywhere from fifth to outside the top ten as the race evolved. On the final lap, McFadden blasted over the stripe in seventh position, falling just 0.059-second short of a spot in the top five.
M4 RiCK! Suzuki’s Daytona Anderson did not make the start of the Supersport race after running into an issue on the warm-up lap.
Meanwhile, M4 ESCTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis continued his impressive run of premier-class top fives in Superbike Race 1 at Road America. The one-time Superbike Rookie of the Year executed a final-lap strike to claim his best result of 2018, crossing the line in fourth position by a 0.004-second margin.
As a result, Lewis has now finished inside the top five in six of the seven Superbike races held so far this season.
Debise and co. will return to the track as Team Hammer completes the MotoAmerica doubleheader weekend at Road America.
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 193 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.