Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha rider Cameron Beaubier earned the first-ever MotoAmerica Superbike pole position Friday at Circuit of The Americas. The 22-year-old Californian lapped the 3.4-mile road course in 2:09.653 on his YZF-R1, topping the field by over half a second and capturing pole position for this weekend’s two races.
“To get pole here at the first MotoAmerica round is pretty special, also in front of the MotoGP paddock, guys I haven’t seen in a long time,” Beaubier told reporters. “It [qualifying] started off a little bit rough. I just was kind of struggling to get my flow going. I came in and saw Jake [Gagne] and Josh [Hayes] were already in the low 2:10s. So I put on a new tire and just put my head down with five minutes to go. I saw the 2:09 on my dash and went, ‘Whoa!’ Then I came in and saw I had pole. I’m really happy.”
Beaubier’s fastest lap came at the very end of the session and displaced his teammate Hayes, who was on top of the time sheets with a 2:10.198 on his new Yamaha YZF-R1.
“Today was all about the team,” said four-time and defending AMA Superbike Champion Hayes. “Yesterday, I felt like I was really struggling and came in, ‘Oh woe is me. I don’t know what to do.’ I was trying so hard. They came up with some good answers.
“We only got 25 minutes [in qualifying]. We threw some stuff in there, and it was pretty much a different bike than what I rode yesterday. Things went pretty well. I’m happy with the result. Cameron went pretty darn fast, but I’m going to try to force him to do 15 of them [laps, race distance] tomorrow.”
Third overall in the combined Superbike/Superstock 1000cc session was Gagne, who did a 2:10.286 on his Superstock-spec Red Bull/Roadrace Factory Yamaha YZF-R1. In fact, Gagne held the top spot overall in the shortened qualifying session until his time was surpassed by Hayes and Beaubier. Still, he will start the combined races from the third and final position on the front row.
“I went out right at the beginning of that session, and I was rolling around and feeling good,” said Gagne, the 2014 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Champion. “I had a good little flow going. Then we threw the soft [rear tire] in at the end and kind of put my head down and went for it. I was a little bit surprised with the time we were able to pull off.”
Fourth overall was Roger Hayden, who did a 2:10.449 on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike. Hayden’s teammate Jake Lewis qualified fifth with a 2:12.075 in his first-ever Superbike qualifying session. Dustin Dominguez earned the sixth spot overall and the final spot on row two with a time of 2:12.342 on his Superstock-spec HSBK Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory.
Row three qualifiers included Chris Fillmore, who did a 2:13.185 on his KTM RC8R Superbike; Tyler O’Hara, who did a 2:15.551 on his Motul/JCR Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 Superstock machine; and Taylor Knapp, who qualified ninth with a 2:16.083 on his Sportbike Track Time/Apex Manufacturing Yamaha YZF-R1 Superstock entry.
Row four will be composed of Chris Ulrich, who did a 2:16.125 on his GEICO Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike; Dominguez’s teammate Devon McDonough, who turned a 2:16.611 on his Superstock Aprilia; and Geoff May, who did a 2:16.928 while riding in place of the late Dane Westby on the Superstock-spec Yamalube/Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1.
MotoAmerica Superbike/Superstock 1000cc Race One is scheduled to start at 5:00 p.m. local time Saturday.
MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship
Circuit of The Americas
Austin, Texas
April 10, 2015
Provisional Superbike/Superstock 1000cc Qualifying Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 2:09.653
2. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 2:10.198
3. Jake Gagne (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock, 2:10.286
4. Roger Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 2:10.449
5. Jake Lewis (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 2:12.075
6. Dustin Dominguez (Apr RSV4 Factory), Superstock, 2:12.342
7. Chris Fillmore (KTM RC8R), Superbike, 2:13.185
8. Tyler O’Hara (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock, 2:15.551
9. Taylor Knapp (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock, 2:16.083
10. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 2:16.125
11. Devon McDonough (Apr RSV4 Factory), Superstock, 2:16.611
12. Geoff May (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock, 2:16.928
13. Elena Myers (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 2:17.075
14. Mark Heckles (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock, 2:17.452
15. Marcel Irnie (BMW S1000RR), Superstock, 2:17.468
16. Barrett Long (Duc 1199 Panigale R), Superstock, 2:18.215
17. Bernat Martinez (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 2:18.648
18. Eddie Thornton (BMW S1000RR), Superstock, 2:18.696
19. Max Flinders (EBR 1190RX), Superstock, 2:19.214
20. Aaron Hersh (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, 2:21.402
21. Carlos Lescale (BMW S1000RR), Superstock, 2:21.639
22. Jeff Wrobel (Suz GSX-R1000), Superstock, 2:22.376
23. Ricky Orlando (Kaw ZX-10R), Superbike, 2:22.547
24. Mathew Orange (BMW S1000RR), Superbike, 2:23.906
More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
MotoAmerica COTA Qualifying: Beaubier On Top
Cameron Beaubier earns Superbike pole at Circuit of The Americas
AUSTIN, TX, APR. 10 – The MotoAmerica Series officially got started today at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, with Cameron Beaubier earning the first Superbike pole position of the new era of AMA racing. Beaubier rode his Monster Energy/Graves Yamaha to the top spot, besting teammate Josh Hayes and Roadrace Factory’s Jake Gagne in the afternoon session, held on a dry racetrack after a day of mostly rain at the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas.
While Beaubier’s 2:09.653 gave him the third Superbike pole position of his career, it was Gagne’s front-row spot that drew a lot of attention, as the Red Bull-backed Californian was riding a Superstock 1000-spec Yamaha YZF-R1 in the combined Superbike/Superstock 1000 class. With his third overall quickest time, Gagne was obviously the fastest of the Superstock 1000 class, besting the Aprilia RSV4 ridden by Aprilia HSBK Racing’s Dustin Dominguez by a tick over two seconds.
Due to weather delays and a dog on the track (yes, a dog) that brought out a red flag during a MotoGP session, the MotoAmerica qualifying sessions originally scheduled for the morning hours were scrapped. That meant two 35-minute sessions (Superbike/Superstock 1000 and Supersport) would decide the first pole position earners of the new season.
So with very little track time and nearly a full a day of waiting to get back on track, the Superbike men got up to speed rather quickly and Beaubier’s 2:09.653 leading they way (Beaubier had led the MotoAmerica test three weeks ago with a 2:10.730).
“To get pole here in the first MotoAmerica round is pretty special,” Beaubier said. “We’re in front of the GP paddock and guys I haven’t seen in a long time. It’s good. It started off a little bit rough. I was struggling getting a flow going and I came in and saw that Jake [Gagne] and Josh [Hayes] were already in the low 10s. I put on a new tire and just put my head down with five minutes to go and I saw a 2:09 on my dash and I was like, ‘Whoa.’ I came and saw that I had the pole and I’m really happy. Our team has been working so hard over the off-season getting our new bikes going for us and it’s shaping up to be a good year and I’m looking forward to the races.”
The Supersport class also completed its qualifying today in a 35-minute session held on a mostly dry track and it was Yamalube/Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha’s Garrett Gerloff earning pole position – his first in the class (formerly Daytona SportBike). Gerloff lapped at a best of 2:13.082 to top Latus Motors Racing Triumph’s Bobby Fong and Wheels In Motion/Motosport.com/Meen Motorsports’ Josh Herrin, the former AMA Superbike Champion suffering a mechanical problem that saw him complete only half the laps of his competition. Fong was .764 of a second off Gerloff’s best and .221 of a second faster than Herrin.
“It went really well,” Gerloff said. “My session yesterday didn’t go as I hoped it would, so today I knew what I had to do. The session got shortened by 15 minutes so I knew it was going to be short and sweet. I got ready mentally, got two tires and went out there and felt like I rode pretty well. I’m still working to try and make the bike fit me a little better. I’ve kinda changed up my riding style this year so we’re still working on stuff and feeling good. Everything is meshing really well.”
The Supersport class will race tomorrow at 3:30 with the Superbikes racing in their first of two races at 4:15 p.m. On Sunday, the Superbikes will race in the second race of their doubleheader at 3:30 p.m.