Yamaha Announces MotoAmerica Superbike Team
Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA (YMUS), is pleased to announce a partnership with Attack Performance to field a two-rider team in the 2020 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship. The new Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha Racing team will be headed by four-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier and multi-time support class champion Jake Gagne, both riding YZF-R1s.
Following a World Superbike team structure model used by Yamaha Motor Europe (YME), YMUS reached a two-year agreement with Attack Performance, which is one of the sport’s leading manufacturers of high-performance components and services for modern sportbikes. Together, Yamaha and Attack Performance will work towards the goal of winning championships in the MotoAmerica Superbike Series. Along with key sponsorship from Monster Energy, the team will receive the full support of both YMUS and YME.
Attack Performance principal Richard Stanboli brings a wealth of technical experience to the program. He and his company have scored multiple championships and race wins in professional road racing in the U.S., and during the past two years, Attack Performance’s privateer effort with the YZF-R1 platform was a top contender in MotoAmerica’s Superbike class.
Reigning MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Beaubier returns with Yamaha in 2020 for his seventh season in the premier class and looks to defend his title. The Californian showed great fortitude this year with his dramatic come-from-behind victory in the closing moments of the season to secure his fourth Superbike title with a pair of wins at the finale. He currently sits third on the all-time AMA Superbike wins list with 38 victories.
Joining Beaubier is the 2015 MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Champion, Jake Gagne. The 26-year-old, viewed by many as one of the top talents in the U.S., returned to the MotoAmerica Superbike Series this past season after a year abroad in the World Superbike Championship. In addition to his 2015 title aboard the Yamaha YZF-R1, Gagne was crowned AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Champion in 2014 on a Yamaha YZF-R6, and he looks to continue his championship success with the brand.
Tom Halverson, Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha Racing Team Manager
“When we started planning the new direction for our Superbike team, the first company we thought of was Attack Performance. They have the skill, desire and passion needed to win. Combining our resources, knowledge and personnel with theirs should make for a super-competitive organization. We will work closely together to make everything gel before the first race so we can start the season off strong. From there, we are confident that the team and riders will only get stronger and be in contention for another MotoAmerica Superbike Championship.
“Of course, having Cameron back is key, and we are so pleased he has decided to stay in the U.S. and race with us for at least two more seasons. We are also very happy to have Jake Gagne join us as Cameron’s teammate. Jake is a very talented and popular rider, and I’m sure he will take full advantage of this opportunity and be in the hunt right away.
“Lastly, we wish Garrett (Gerloff) all the success he deserves. We will miss him in the paddock and on the track, but we are also very happy he is able to pursue his dreams and race with Yamaha on the world stage.”
Richard Stanboli, Attack Performance Principal
“Everyone at Attack Performance is very excited to expand our partnership and collaboration with a great company, Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. We have worked with a number of OEMs over the past two decades, and our most recent experience with Yamaha has been nothing but rewarding. The R1 has been a fantastic machine that allowed us, as a private team, to effectively race for the top step of the podium and compete for the championship. In 2020, we will bring to bear everything we have learned, in combination with Yamaha’s wealth of knowledge, to the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship. We will settle for nothing short of the top spot at every single event!
“We are also excited to work with two champions, Cameron Beaubier and Jake Gagne. Cameron is a proven competitor who is a true deal-closer. We have all watched him beat the competition with closing-lap charges that are nothing short of amazing. Jake is also a Yamaha champion with a wealth of talent and potential. His best days are right around the corner, and we are eager to help him.”
Cameron Beaubier, Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha Racing
“I’m looking toward 2020! There will be some changes within our team, but we will always have the same goal. I’ve been working with my crew chief Rick Hobbs ever since I started racing in Superbike back in 2014, but he is retiring this year. We had an amazing run together, and we are on to a new chapter. I am really excited to be working with Attack Performance. The guys at Yamaha, with the addition of Richard Stanboli’s knowledge, I feel confident that they will build a weapon out of the 2020 R1.”
Jake Gagne, Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha Racing
“I could not be more thrilled to go Yamaha Superbike racing! I want to extend a massive thank you to Keith (McCarty, Motorsports Racing Division Manager for YMUS), Tom (Halverson), Jim (Roach, Technical Division Manager for YMUS) and the entire Yamaha family for their belief and nonstop support. It’s a dream come true to be aboard the championship-winning machine and surrounded by such a huge amount of experience and knowledge. I’ve been fortunate to have had my most successful racing years aboard a Yamaha, so I feel like I’m back at home.”
More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Yamaha Partners With Attack Performance For 2020 MotoAmerica Series
Cameron Beaubier and Jake Gagne To Lead Team
COSTA MESA, CA (October 21, 2019)– MotoAmerica is pleased to announce that four-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier will return to the series in 2020 to defend his title, the 26-year-old Californian set to spearhead a two-rider team that’s a partnership between Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. (YMUS) and Attack Performance. Beaubier will be joined on the team by 2015 MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Champion Jake Gagne.
YMUS is following a team structure model used by Yamaha Motor Europe (YME) in World Superbike with the announcement of its two-year agreement today with Attack Performance, the Richard Stanboli-owned team that ran Josh Herrin and JD Beach in 2018 and 2019, respectively, in one-rider teams in the MotoAmerica Series. Along with key sponsorship from Monster Energy, the team will receive the full support of both YMUS and YME.
“When we started planning the new direction for our Superbike team, the first company we thought of was Attack Performance,” said Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha Racing team manager Tom Halverson in a team release. “They have the skill, desire and passion needed to win. Combining our resources, knowledge and personnel with theirs should make for a super-competitive organization. We will work closely together to make everything gel before the first race so we can start the season off strong. From there, we are confident that the team and riders will only get stronger and be in contention for another MotoAmerica Superbike Championship.
“Of course, having Cameron (Beaubier) back is key, and we are so pleased he has decided to stay in the U.S. and race with us for at least two more seasons. We are also very happy to have Jake Gagne join us as Cameron’s teammate. Jake is a very talented and popular rider, and I’m sure he will take full advantage of this opportunity and be in the hunt right away.
“Lastly, we wish Garrett (Gerloff) all the success he deserves. We will miss him in the paddock and on the track, but we are also very happy he is able to pursue his dreams and race with Yamaha on the world stage.”
It was announced earlier today that Gerloff will be moving to the World Superbike Championship with the GRT Yamaha team.
Beaubier, however, will be back, the 38-time AMA Superbike race winner hoping to earn a fifth MotoAmerica Superbike crown.
“I’m looking toward 2020,” Beaubier said. “There will be some changes within our team, but we will always have the same goal. I’ve been working with my crew chief Rick Hobbs ever since I started racing in Superbike back in 2014, but he is retiring this year. We had an amazing run together, and we are on to a new chapter. I am really excited to be working with Attack Performance. The guys at Yamaha, with the addition of Richard Stanboli’s knowledge, I feel confident that they will build a weapon out of the 2020 R1.”
“Everyone at Attack Performance is very excited to expand our partnership and collaboration with a great company, Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A.,” Stanboli said in the team release. “We have worked with a number of OEMs over the past two decades, and our most recent experience with Yamaha has been nothing but rewarding. The R1 has been a fantastic machine that allowed us, as a private team, to effectively race for the top step of the podium and compete for the championship. In 2020, we will bring to bear everything we have learned, in combination with Yamaha’s wealth of knowledge, to the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship. We will settle for nothing short of the top spot at every single event.
“We are also excited to work with two champions, Cameron Beaubier and Jake Gagne. Cameron is a proven competitor who is a true deal closer. We have all watched him beat the competition with closing-lap charges that are nothing short of amazing. Jake is also a Yamaha champion with a wealth of talent and potential. His best days are right around the corner, and we are eager to help him.”
Gagne, who like Beaubier is 26 years old, raced a Scheibe Racing BMW to eighth in the 2019 MotoAmerica Superbike Series a season after getting a taste of the World Superbike Championship with the Red Bull Honda team. In addition to his MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 title, which he won while racing a Yamaha YZF-R1, Gagne was crowned AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Champion in 2014 on a Yamaha YZF-R6, as he looks to continue his championship success with the brand.
“I could not be more thrilled to go Yamaha Superbike racing,” Gagne said in the team release. “I want to extend a massive thank you to Keith (McCarty, Motorsports Racing Division Manager for YMUS), Tom (Halverson), Jim (Roach, Technical Division Manager for YMUS) and the entire Yamaha family for their belief and nonstop support. It’s a dream come true to be aboard the championship-winning machine and surrounded by such a huge amount of experience and knowledge. I’ve been fortunate to have had my most successful racing years aboard a Yamaha, so I feel like I’m back at home.
“Also, I’m really looking forward to working with Richard Stanboli at Attack Performance. I’m filled with motivation, and I’m really looking forward to a productive off-season of training and riding. I know the Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha Racing team will be a very strong force the next two years, and I’m really looking forward to stepping in alongside my new teammate and reigning champ Cameron Beaubier. I know we will both do our best to bring home wins and move the whole package forward. I’m counting down the days till I get to swing a leg over the R1 and start spinning laps with the team. Thanks again to the entire Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha Racing team and all the great sponsors and supporters, as well as MotoAmerica and all the fans who keep us going.”
“We are really happy with Yamaha’s announcement today regarding its MotoAmerica Superbike program,” MotoAmerica President Wayne Rainey said. “They are following Yamaha Europe’s lead in the way they have their World Superbike program set up and we believe that system will work well in the MotoAmerica paddock. I’m sure Richard Stanboli will do a great job with the team. He has a lot of experience and his efforts in our series have been topnotch. Naturally, we’re thrilled that Cameron (Beaubier) is coming back. He’s been with us since the beginning and has won four of the five Superbike Championships since we took over the series. Jake (Gagne) has also tasted success in our series and I think he’s a solid choice for the second seat on the team.”