Yamaha riders Cameron Beaubier and Garrett Gerloff with the fastest riders in their respective classes during a two-day MotoAmerica test March 18-19 at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), the site of the MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing series season-opener April 10-14.
Beaubier was the quickest rider in the combined Superbike/Superstock 1000cc sessions with a time of 2:10.730 on his new Monster Energy/Graves Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike, which the 22-year-old has taken to quite quickly.
“I’m totally happy with how the test went. I think my team and I made another step together with the new bike, and I think we’re about ready to come back and race,” said Beaubier. “I love this track. It’s a little bit different than I thought. The first corner, going up in there is a little bit more for a car, but the rest of the track is pretty cool. It’s definitely pretty physically demanding. That’s why I wanted to do a race stint, so I knew what I was getting myself into come race weekend, and I felt good. So I’m really looking forward to it.”
Beaubier’s teammate Josh Hayes, the four-time and defending AMA Superbike Champion, said he was a bit off from where he wanted to be on the first day, but after he got some clutch settings sorted out he nearly matched Beaubier with a time of 2:11.079.
Roger Hayden said he was also slow to find the pace while working through his test agenda on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. Hayden sprinted to a competitive time of 2:11.311 in the final session, ranking him third, but he said he was happier with his race pace.
If the performance of Beaubier and Hayes on the all-new 2015-model Yamaha YZF-R1 wasn’t impressive enough, Dane Westby and Jake Gagne were fourth and fifth, respectively, at the end of the test on their Superstock-spec YZF-R1s. Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Westby bounced back from a crash on Day One to turn a 2:11.580 on Day Two, and Roadrace Factory/Red Bull’s Gagne was one of the quickest 1000cc riders throughout the test and ended up with a 2:11.622.
Hayden’s rookie teammate Jake Lewis continued his Superbike education at COTA and finished the test sixth-fastest with a 2:12.289.
Chris Fillmore, riding his KTM/HMC Racing RC8R just as it came off the track at the finale of the 2014 season, posted the seventh-best lap time, a 2:13.219. Fillmore’s Team Owner Mitch Hansen told Roadracingworld.com that due to budgetary issues his team would only compete at selected rounds of the 2015 season.
HSBK Racing Aprilia’s Dustin Dominguez (2:14.372) and Devon McDonough (2:17.933) were eighth and 10th, respectively, on their Superstock-spec RSV4 Factory machines. Chris Ulrich finished ninth-fastest with a 2:14.733 in his very first outing on his new GEICO Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike.
In the Supersport/Superstock 600cc ranks, Gerloff dominated Day One, lapping the 3.4-mile road course 1.4 seconds faster than the next-best rider. On Day Two, however, Gerloff spent his time ruling out settings on his Yamalube/Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha YZF-R6, which allowed the field to close in on his times. Then at the end of the test, Gerloff reverted to his known good setup, mounted some fresh rubber and pushed for his best lap, a 2:13.420.
“On the first day, we were focused on what we knew, on what we had for our bike and seeing how comfortable I could get on that setup,” Gerloff told Roadracingworld.com. “And then today we were trying to go in some different directions with some things to see if by some miracle they worked for me and I could go faster. Everything we tried didn’t seem to help very much. So this last session we went back to what I was running yesterday, and it felt a lot better. I used two Medium[-compound] tires, went out and it felt pretty good. The times were pretty close, and I’m happy to be on top.”
It was no surprise to anyone that Gerloff’s closest challenger was Josh Herrin, the 2013 AMA Pro Superbike Champion who just happened to have raced in the Moto2 World Championship event at COTA in 2014. Herrin said things started to “click” for him in the closing sessions, allowing him to finish with a very competitive 2:13.465 on his Wheels In Motion/Motosport.com/Meen Yamaha YZF-R6.
Bobby Fong finished third-fastest among the middleweight-class racers with a time of 2:13.925 on his Latus Motors Racing Triumph Daytona 675R. Fong said his motorcycle did not benefit much from the new technical rules for 2015 and as a result was down on straightaway speed compared to the Yamahas, but he said his motorcycle was more consistent than in 2014, allowing him to find a very strong race pace.
Gerloff’s teammate JD Beach (2:14.754) was fourth-fastest, just ahead of Herrin’s teammate Joe Roberts, who did a 2:14.850 on his Superstock 600cc-spec Yamaha YZF-R6. Roberts said he was much more comfortable on his new Yamaha than on the Honda CBR600RR he rode in 2014.
Former AMA Pro Supersport National Champion Tomas Puerta ended up sixth with a 2:15.310 on his Roadrace Factory Yamaha Supersport-spec machine. Benny Solis, Jr. recorded the seventh-best lap time while testing tires for Dunlop on a Yamaha YZF-R6. David Anthony finished eighth with a 2:15.822 in his first ride on his new M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki GSX-R600. Puerta’s new teammates Cameron Peterson (2:16.862) and Ben Young (2:17.950) filled out the top 10 testers in the 600cc sessions.
MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Series
Circuit of The Americas
Austin, Texas
March 19, 2015
Superbike/Superstock 1000cc
Day Two/Overall Best Test Times (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R1), 2:10.730, Superbike
2. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), 2:11.079, Superbike
3. Roger Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:11.311, Superbike
4. Dane Westby (Yam YZF-R1), 2:11.580, Superstock
5. Jake Gagne (Yam YZF-R1), 2:11.622, Superstock
6. Jake Lewis (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:12.289, Superbike
7. Chris Fillmore (KTM RC8R), 2:13.219, Superbike
8. Dustin Dominguez (Apr RSV4 Factory), 2:14.372, Superstock
9. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:14.733, Superbike
10. Devon McDonough (Apr RSV4 Factory), 2:17.933, Superstock
11. Marcel Irnie (BMW S1000RR), 2:18.224, Superstock
12. Elena Myers (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:19.341, Superbike
13. Max Flinders (EBR 1190RX), 2:19.906, Superstock
14. Chad Swain (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:20.595, Superstock
15. Johnny Rock Page (Suz GSX-R1000), 2:23.172, Superbike
Supersport/Superstock 600cc
Day Two/Overall Best Test Times (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Garrett Gerloff (Yam YZF-R6), 2:13.420, Supersport
2. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R6), 2:13.465, Supersport
3. Bobby Fong (Tri Daytona 675R), 2:13.925, Supersport
4. JD Beach (Yam YZF-R6), 2:14.754, Supersport
5. Joe Roberts (Yam YZF-R6), 2:14.850, Superstock
6. Tomas Puerta (Yam YZF-R6), 2:15.310, Supersport
7. Benny Solis, Jr. (Yam YZF-R6), 2:15.743, Supersport
8. David Anthony (Suz GSX-R600), 2:15.822, Supersport
9. Cameron Peterson (Yam YZF-R6), 2:16.862, Supersport
10. Ben Young (Yam YZF-R6), 2:17.950, Supersport
11. Kyle Wyman (Yam YZF-R6), 2:18.460, Supersport
12. Tucker Lancaster (Kaw ZX-6R), 2:20.862, Supersport
13. Hayden Gillim (MV F3 675), 2:20.880, Supersport
14. Jay Newton (Yam YZF-R6), 2:21.151, Superstock
15. Kaleb De Keyrel (Yam YZF-R6), 2:22.245, Supersport
16. Kris Lillegard (MV F3 675), 2:25.360, Supersport
More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
MotoAmerica/Dunlop Test Ends With Beaubier On Top
Garrett Gerloff leads the Supersport class after two days of testing at COTA
AUSTIN, TX, MAR. 19 – The two-day Dunlop tire test came to a conclusion this afternoon with Monster Energy Graves Yamaha’s Cameron Beaubier ending the day as the fastest rider at the Circuit of The Americas, the site of round one of the MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship, April 10-12.
The carrot of a sub-2:11 lap was hung at the end of the stick after yesterday’s four sessions when Beaubier completed the opening day of testing, held in mixed weather conditions, with a 2:11.910. Today, Beaubier went out and got it done, the 22-year-old Californian taking over a second off his Wednesday best to break into the 2:10s with his 2:10.730 coming in the final of four sessions.
“We started out strong today and put in a solid race stint,” Beaubier said. “This track is super physical and I just wanted to make sure I was solid in a race situation, a race stint. I felt good. I was plugging away at laps and not pushing like crazy. Kinda riding around at 80 percent and getting a good flow going. I felt really good. We put some new tires on for the last session and went out and did some fast laps. I didn’t get a perfect lap in and I made a couple of mistakes and ran into a couple of guys, but I think coming back here for the race we’ll be ready. I can’t thank my guys enough for all the hard work they put in. It’s been crazy. They’ve been staying up until 2 in the morning getting ready for the test. It’s pretty cool they’re working that hard. I just need to keep my hard work up too and get ready for the season.”
Beaubier’s best was .349 of a second quicker than that of his teammate Josh Hayes, the defending four-time AMA Superbike champion lapping at 2:11.079 in the final session.
“I’m very thankful that MotoAmerica had this test prior to the race,” Hayes said. “This was super beneficial for me. We started off a little bit frustrated yesterday but we found some better direction today and I feel better about today than yesterday. I feel like it’s going to be a long couple of weeks before we come back here because I want to keep working. Fortunately, with the MotoAmerica format we’re going to have a bit more time to where we can sort out the motorcycles rather than racing on the very first day that we show up. I’m looking forward to getting back to work.”
Roger Hayden also set his fastest time in the fourth and final session, the Yoshimura Suzuki rider ripping off a 2:11.311. Hayden was pleased at the progress he’d made during the test, but wasn’t happy at being third fastest. He left wanting more, but he’ll get his chance in three weeks.
“For the most part, I’m happy,” Hayden said. “I got going pretty quick this afternoon and consistently so I’m pretty happy with that and we got the tire life a little bit longer too. You’re never happy when you’re a half a second off, but at the same time yesterday we were a lot farther off than that. And I could do those times now by myself. We’re satisfied. As always we could be a little better, but I think we have a good setup for when we come back her for the race. I’m not fighting any big problems. We just have a few little things that we could get working a little better at the low :11s pace, which would have been nice if I could have gotten to the lower :11s a little sooner. Overall we’re happy, but you never leave a test completely happy when you’re third quick.”
Yamalube/YES Graves Yamaha’s Garrett Gerloff was fast yesterday and again today, the Texan leading the way in the combined Supersport and Supertock 600 sessions. Gerloff’s best came in the fourth and final session.
“I’m really happy we got to come test here with everybody and see everybody on the same track, in the same weather conditions,” Gerloff said. “We can see where everybody stacks up so that was really good. It’s also really cool being so close to my hometown of Houston, so it’s all good things. I think we worked a lot and hopefully we’ll come back here with some more speed.”
The fastest of the Superstock 1000 riders was Yamahalube/Westby Racing’s Dane Westby, the Oklahoman putting his Yamaha R1 fourth overall in the combined Superbike/Superstock sessions.
The Superstock 600 class was led by Meen Motorsports’ Joe Roberts with a lap that would have put him fifth overall in the combined 600 timesheets.
The MotoAmerica Series opener will be held in conjunction with the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas, April 10-12.
More, from a press release issued by Yamalube/Westby Racing:
Aboard His #00 Yamalube/Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1, Dane Westby Is Fastest MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Rider At Circuit of The Americas
Austin, TX – March 20, 2015 – With his brand-new #00 Yamaha YZF-R1 Superstock 1000 bike still in preseason bodywork, but proudly displaying the logo of his primary sponsor Yamalube, Dane Westby and his Yamalube/Westby Racing crew successfully participated in the Official MotoAmerica Test at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA). Dane recorded the fastest 1000 Superstock lap time, along with the fourth-fastest time of any rider overall, which includes the Superbike participants at the Test.
The team worked methodically and diligently to get Dane more and more comfortable on the new R1, and things progressed quickly, in more ways than one. On the second day of the Test, Dane’s lap times dropped both significantly and suddenly, an obvious indication that the team, the bike, and the rider had found their sweet spot.
“We did 16s on our first day here, and we thought that was ripping around pretty good,” Dane commented. “And, on the second day, we did 11s. So, it’s amazing just how quickly we lowered our laptimes. We just kept chipping away at suspension settings, threw some tires at it, threw this at it, and every single thing kept taking huge chunks out of our lap times.
“When I ran the 2:11.580, it didn’t feel that fast. Before the session, we had discussed that we probably had a 12 in us, so the 11 was like…‘wow.’ This new R1 is phenomenal. I can’t say enough good things about it, and we still haven’t reached the bike’s potential. So, I’m looking forward to coming back here to COTA in a couple of weeks.”
Yamalube/Westby Racing will return to COTA with their #00 R1 in full 1000 Superstock race trim on April 10-12 where they will compete in the 2015 MotoAmerica Series.