MotoAmerica Championship at Sonoma Raceway

MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Series

Sonoma Raceway

Sonoma, California

August 12, 2017

Provisional Motul Superbike/Bazzaz Superstock 1000 Combined Race One Results (all on Dunlop tires):

1. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, 22 laps, Total Race Time 35:45.750, Best Lap Time 1:35.875

2. Toni Elias (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, -6.144 seconds, 1:36.877

3. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, -7.744, 1:37.173

4. Jake Lewis (Suz GSX-R1000), Superstock 1000, -9.346, 1:36.929

5. Mathew Scholtz (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, -30.007, 1:37.264

6. Sylvain Barrier (BMW S1000RR), Superbike, -43.038, 1:37.817

7. Danny Eslick (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, -43.440, 1:38.030

8. Kyle Wyman (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, -43.611, 1:38.631

9. Hayden Gillim (Suz GSX-R1000), Superstock 1000, -46.628, 1:38.759

10. Jason DiSalvo (BMW S1000RR), Superbike, -51.202, 1:38.286

11. Bryce Prince (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, -71.101, 1:39.185

12. Tyler O’Hara (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, -72.912, 1:39.430

13. Wyatt Farris (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, -78.309, 1:40.328

14. Sebastiao Ferreira (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, -94.625, 1:39.776

15. Mathew Orange (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, -1 lap, 1:41.908

16. Jeremy Coffey (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, -1 lap, 1:42.282

17. Barrett Long (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, -1 lap, 1:42.170

18. Sam Verderico (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, -1 lap, 1:42.293

19. Jason Lauritzen (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, -1 lap, 1:42.191

20. Roi Holster (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, -2 laps, 1:42.175

21. Max Flinders (Yam YZF-R1), Superstock 1000, -4 laps, 1:42.204

22. David Anthony (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, DNF, retired, 1:38.807

23. Jake Gagne (Hon CBR1000RR SP2), Superbike, DNF, retired, 1:37.139

24. Bobby Fong (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, DNF, crash, 1:36.683

25. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R1), Superbike, DNF, crash, 1:42.389

26. Roger Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000), Superbike, -22 laps, DNF, crash, no lap time recorded

27. Cameron Peterson (Kaw ZX-10R), Superstock 1000, DNS

Bazzaz Superstock 1000 Race One Results (all on Dunlop tires):

1. Jake Lewis (Suz GSX-R1000), 22 laps, Total Race Time 35:55.096, Best Lap Time 1:36.929

2. Mathew Scholtz (Yam YZF-R1), -20.661 seconds, 1:37.264

3. Danny Eslick (Yam YZF-R1), -34.094, 1:38.030

4. Hayden Gillim (Suz GSX-R1000), -37.282, 1:38.759

5. Bryce Prince (Yam YZF-R1), -61.755, 1:39.185

6. Tyler O’Hara (Kaw ZX-10R), -63.566, 1:39.430

7. Wyatt Farris (Kaw ZX-10R), -68.963, 1:40.328

8. Jeremy Coffey (Kaw ZX-10R), -1 lap, 1:42.282

9. Sam Verderico (Yam YZF-R1), -1 lap, 1:42.293

10. Jason Lauritzen (Kaw ZX-10R), -1 lap, 1:42.191

11. Roi Holster (Yam YZF-R1), -2 laps, 1:42.175

12. Max Flinders (Yam YZF-R1), -4 laps, 1:42.204

13. David Anthony (Kaw ZX-10R), DNF, retired, 1:38.807

14. Bobby Fong (Kaw ZX-10R), DNF, crash, 1:36.683

15. Cameron Peterson (Kaw ZX-10R), DNS

More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:

Beaubier Dominates Race One At Sonoma Raceway

Supersport Victory To Gerloff

SONOMA, Calif. (August 12, 2017) – Cameron Beaubier put together the best performance of his season today in the MotoAmerica Championship at Sonoma Raceway, the two-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion riding his Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing R1 to a 6.1-second win in a race that was never in doubt.

Beaubier, who lives just 90 minutes away from Sonoma Raceway, was fast from the get-go as he led every session on Friday and Saturday, earning pole position this morning in Superpole. In the race he was dominant from the beginning, leading off the start and never letting up. By the end of the race he was over six seconds clear of his rival Toni Elias as he stormed his third Motul Superbike win of the season.

“Overall, it’s been a good weekend so far,” Beaubier said. “As soon as we rolled the bike off the truck on Friday I felt comfortable on the thing. We made a couple changes here and there but we put ourselves in a good position after Superpole and I just tried to nail my start. I knew I was first going into the second corner, but I didn’t expect to see a one second gap coming into the second lap. I just put my head down after that. From what Toni (Elias) said it was pretty crazy on that first lap so I think I got a little relief from that. I’m super happy with how today went and I know tomorrow is going to be a little tougher. This one is definitely for my team because I know how hard they work back at the shop and they like winning just as much as I do, if not more. It feels good to put my bike back on the top step for this race and hopefully we turn it around for the rest of the season.”

Yoshimura Factory Suzuki’s Elias had a rougher road to the front as he got bunched up off the start and found himself well back in the pack while he watched Beaubier streak away at the front. The Motul Superbike Championship leader didn’t panic and instead methodically picked his way through the field on a march to the podium. Late in the race he moved around M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis to take over second spot and he held that to the finish for his 12th podium in 13 races.

Elias was rewarded for his efforts with 20 points and he goes into Sunday’s race two with a 60-point lead over his Yoshimura Factory Suzuki teammate Roger Hayden, as Hayden was taken out of the race on the opening lap when Josh Herrin crashed into him in the Carousel. Combine Hayden’s non-finish with Elias’s second place and the Spaniard now leads the title chase by 60 points, 280-220, over Hayden. Beaubier is third in points, 75 behind Elias with 205.

“I felt very comfortable during the weekend,” Elias said. “The bike is working good. The pace is good. Cameron (Beaubier) is another step this weekend. Of course my goal was to have a good start and then try to win but I saw in the second corner that was impossible because everyone was so aggressive trying to pass. In five or six corners Cameron was like ‘see you’ and was very far (away)! I saw a lot of mistakes and crashes so I just tried to stay calm and make my rhythm. Everyone was pretty aggressive and I didn’t want to make a mistake so when everything started to clear up I was able to find my rhythm again. I honestly felt so good during the race. Then it was just a question of time and luck. I knew I could arrive on the podium but I didn’t expect to be second. We are in a good position for a championship but I don’t think about that. Tomorrow we have another race.”

Third place went to Beaubier’s Yamaha teammate Josh Hayes, the four-time Superbike Champion also having to fight his way through the pack to score his fourth podium finish of the season at a racetrack where he’s won Superbike races five times in his career. Hayes passed Lewis on the final lap to take the last podium spot.

“The start was a little frantic but okay,” Hayes said. “As things started to spread out I was able to take advantage of Toni, jump in there with him and just try to focus on moving forward. A few people made some mistakes that helped me out a little bit. As the race wore on I was able to make some more passes but I made a mistake and it cost me a little bit of time. It wouldn’t have been so bad but we immediately caught a large group of traffic that hurt me. Towards the end I got a good run off of turn one and was able pass him (Jake Lewis) heading into turn two, so third is what I got today. We learned a few things during the race and hopefully we can improve a little bit tomorrow.”

Lewis had the best race of his season, the Kentuckian holding down second for most of the race before being passed by Elias and Hayes after getting a bad run through lapped traffic. Although he slipped to fourth in the Superbike class, he won the Bazzaz Superstock 1000 class for the third time in the 2017 season.

“That was the plan after about halfway through the race (to get on the Superbike podium),” Lewis said. “I got a good start because of my qualifying. I saw Roger (Hayden) and Josh (Herrin) crash at the beginning and I was kind of stuck behind Matthew (Scholtz) and saw Bobby (Fong) getting away so I knew I had to go because for me and Bobby we both have to win for the championship. Once I caught up to him he crashed in the carousel so I just decided to keep pushing. Josh (Hayes) passed me late in the race but at that point I decided to play it safe and win the Superstock race, not pitch it down the road. Hats off to the whole M4 ECSTAR Suzuki team because I pretty much put a bike in the garbage can yesterday in free practice two so thanks to them for putting a good bike underneath me. I just need to keep winning races.”

Fifth-place went to Bazzaz Superstock 1000 Championship leader Mathew Scholtz, the Yamalube/Westby Racing Yamaha rider taking second in class to minimize any attacks on his championship points lead. Scholtz now leads the championship by 46 points over Lewis with Bobby Fong, the unluckiest of the championship hopefuls as he crashed out of second place on the Quicksilver Latus Motors Kawasaki.

Sylvain Barrier had his best outing of the season, the Frenchman riding his Brixx Performance BMW to sixth place after narrowly beating TOBC Racing’s Danny Eslick. Eslick, however, was third in the Bazzaz Superstock 1000 class.

Kyle Wyman rode his Décor Brilliance/Lucas Oils/KWR Yamaha R1 Superbike to eighth with Cycle World Suzuki’s Hayden Gillim and Team WD-40/Scheibe Racing’s Jason DiSalvo rounding out the top 10.

Gerloff Wins Big In Supersport

Garrett Gerloff’s fifth win of the season in Supersport was equally as impressive as Beaubier’s, the Monster Energy/Yamalube/Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha rider beating his teammate JD Beach by 6.2 seconds after also dominating every session in practice and qualifying.

Gerloff took off from the start and was never headed, though Beach kept him honest in the opening laps. With Gerloff gone at the front, Beach found himself with his hands full in the closing laps as M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Valentin Debise closed in. At the finish Beach was just .4 of a second ahead of the Frenchman.

With his fifth win of the season, Gerloff opens up a nine-point lead on Beach heading into tomorrow’s second race in the class. Debise, meanwhile, moved into a tie for third in the series standing with Team H35 Honda’s Benny Solis, the CBR600RR rider finishing fourth today.

“Me and my team talked a lot about what we wanted to do for this round so as soon as the bike came off the truck we were on the right page and just working to make things a little more comfortable and improve the pace,” Gerloff said. “I’ve got some things to work on for tomorrow, not so much with the bike, but with me and being more consistent. I’m still happy to be up here on the podium again and I just want to keep having fun and having good races. I’m ready for tomorrow and can’t thank the team and MotoAmerica enough. It’s awesome to see all the people and fans out here.”

The Superstock 600 class win went to Tuned Racing’s Braeden Ortt, the Canadian finishing fifth overall and holding off a tightly knit group of five behind him in winning for the first time in the class. Ortt topped Superstock 600 points leader Jason Aguilar and his Riderz Law/Aguilar Racing Yamaha, Palmetto Motorsports Team New Zealand’s Shane Richardson, Team MG55’s Michael Gilbert and Deion Campbell Racing’s Deion Campbell. Jayson Uribe rounded out the top 10 on his Supersport-spec Rickdiculous Racing Yamaha.

Aguilar further increased his championship lead over Gilbert, 180-152. Connor Blevins is third in the series standings.

Smith Also Dominates KTM RC Cup

Runaway victories in the KTM RC Cup are rare. Wins with an 11.9-second margin of victory are unheard of, but that’s what Quarterley Racing/On Track Development’s Benjamin Smith did to the competition on a sunny Saturday at Sonoma Raceway.

Smith destroyed the competition in the first of two KTM RC Cup presented by Riderz Law races, besting CSVMoto’s Cory Ventura by 11.9 seconds. Third place went to first-time MotoAmerica podium finisher Brett Voorhees with Smith’s teammate Jackson Blackmon finishing fourth. Roadracing World Wild Card Team’s Tyler Linders rounded out the top five.

Smith now leads the title chase by 41 points over Blackmon going into tomorrow’s race two, 172-141.

“It was a great race,” Smith said. “That was one of the hardest races of my life just trying to stay out front and consistent by myself. But I’m really happy to get more of a points lead; it really gives me a lot of confidence heading into the final rounds.”

More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:

Winning Is Near And Dear To Beaubier’s Heart As He Notches MotoAmerica Superbike Race 1 At Sonoma Raceway; Gerloff Wins Supersport Race 1

Sonoma, CA – August 12, 2017 – Sonoma Raceway was “Home, Sweet Home” for Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Cameron Beaubier, as the two-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion, who lives in nearby Roseville, CA, earned the pole position and then notched a dominant win in Saturday’s Superbike Race 1. It was Cameron’s third victory of the 2017 season. His teammate Josh Hayes also finished on the podium, in third place, for his fourth rostrum result this year.

Cameron said, “Overall, it’s been a good weekend so far. As soon as we rolled the bike off the truck, I’ve felt good on it at this track. I got a pretty good start in the race, and I was kind of relieved to be ahead of the fray. I was able to click off a bunch of consistent laps, and that helped me stretch out a comfortable gap. This one is definitely for my team. They like winning just as much as I do, and hopefully, we can keep this momentum going through the rest of the season.”

“My start was a little frantic, but OK,” Josh said. “As things kind of spread out, I was able to focus on moving forward. Some guys were making mistakes here and there, and that handed me a couple of positions. Toni (Elias) got by me, and I could see that he was running a really good pace, so I stayed with him, and that helped me quite a bit, too. With four laps to go, I focused on running four clean laps, and I got a good run towards the front and was able to make another pass, which put me on the podium. So, it was a pretty good day for me. We were able to string together a lot of really good laps. I’m feeling good for tomorrow’s race.”

Superbike Race 2 is on Sunday at 3:15 PM PST.

In Saturday’s MotoAmerica Supersport race, polesitter Garrett Gerloff continued the same dominance that he has displayed all weekend at Sonoma Raceway, as he won by more than six seconds over his Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha teammate JD Beach, who lined up second on the starting grid and also finished second in the race. Garrett’s win widened his lead in the Championship to nine points over JD in second.

“My team and I talk all the time about what we want to do, and we had a plan coming into this weekend to get our bike set up well for the race,” commented Garrett. “It’s been a great weekend so far, and I’m having a lot of fun. I’m happy to get up on the top of the podium in this race. We’ve got another race tomorrow, so we’ll work hard to keep things going and try to get another win.”

JD said, “Garrett’s been on it from the moment we got here this weekend, and we’ve had to play ‘catch-up’ a little bit. But we improved a lot today, and I was able to finish second, plus, we got a lot of good data for tomorrow’s race. I’m looking forward to racing again tomorrow, and my team and I will be ready.”

Supersport Race 2 from Sonoma Raceway will go green on Sunday at 2:25 PM PST.

2017 MotoAmerica Superbike Standings 8/12/17

Pos.RiderPoints

1Toni Elias – Suzuki280

2Roger Hayden – Suzuki220

3Cameron Beaubier – Yamaha205

4Josh Hayes – Yamaha140

5Mathew Scholtz – Yamaha123

2017 MotoAmerica Supersport Standings 8/12/17

Pos.RiderPoints

1Garrett Gerloff – Yamaha221

2JD Beach – Yamaha212

3Benny Solis – Honda140

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 Team Hammer:

LEWIS AND TEAM HAMMER WIN IN SONOMA

Team Hammer raced back into action following the MotoAmerica summer break with a triumphant win in Superstock 1000 on Saturday at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. The team earned its 175th podium in AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races and then added a 176th podium for good measure.

M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis was spectacular in the day’s Superbike/Superstock 1000 race, at times lapping faster than any other rider on track regardless of class. The Kentuckian got away strongly aboard his fire-breathing 2017 GSX-R1000 from his second-row grid position, tracked down the early race leader in the STK1000 class, and pushed hard from close behind.

His rival then made a critical mistake and Lewis promptly took over the lead. His pace allowed him to control second place on the combined order deep into the race before ultimately taking the checkered flag with the Superstock 1000 victory while running fourth overall.

Lewis’ third victory of the season elevated him to second place in the Superstock 1000 championship point standings.

After his win, Lewis said, “It was a great race for me. I qualified well, which set us up well, and then I got a good start on top of that. I just put my head down to catch the class leader, and unfortunately, he crashed. I then saw the Superbike leader out in front, and, honestly, I felt like I was catching him for a little while out there. I thought I had second overall, but with a few laps to go, I caught a huge pack of lappers, which hurt me big time. I lost a lot of time. But really, I’m super happy because what I need to do is win in the Superstock 1000 class, and that’s what I did today.

“We’re still facing a big points deficit, but I told my team and all my friends and family back home that I’m going for it until the end of the season. I just need to get race wins and I pushed to the limit every single lap today. I couldn’t be more proud of the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki team. They put a great bike underneath me after I put one in the weeds yesterday and totaled it out. A win today was a nice way to thank those guys for all their hard work. We’ll try to get another one tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, teammate Valentin Debise enjoyed an excellent outing of his own in the Supersport race aboard his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R600. Newly confident following a productive test the team conducted during the summer break, Debise was back to his corner-charging ways of old at Sonoma Raceway, a track he had not been on before the start of practice on Friday.

The Frenchman reeled in a rival running in second position late and crossed the finish line right on his rear wheel, in third position. Delighted, Debise is looking for even bigger things in Sunday’s rematch.

Back up into third in the Supersport championship standings after securing his seventh podium of 2017, Debise said, “I would like to thank my M4 ECSTAR Suzuki team because they gave me a big opportunity to make some tests despite the expense. We went testing with Öhlins and we tried like 10 sets of forks and finally found something that works really well for me. So now instead of crashing I can push a little bit more into the corner which is really helpful. As you see, it was a big step forward for us. I was third and really close to second and not that far off first. Tomorrow we will try one more time, and why not try to push for the win? I’m feeling really confident, and I’m really excited for Sunday’s race.”

M4 medAge Suzuki’s Nick McFadden finished eighth in the Superstock 600 race (14th overall). The Kentuckian found himself embroiled in an thrilling ten-rider scrap for position much of the race and missed out finishing one position higher by just 0.028 seconds.

Just behind McFadden, M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Cleland scored his fifth top-ten result of the STK600 season in tenth (16th overall).

Unfortunately, M4 Rickdiculous Racing Suzuki’s Daytona Anderson was forced out of the Supersport/STK600 race early due to a stomach illness.

Team Hammer will look to build on the weekend’s success with more trophies on Sunday.

About Team Hammer

The 2017 season marks Team Hammer’s 37th consecutive year of operating as a professional road racing team. Racebikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 68 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races, have finished on AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National podiums 176 times and have won five AMA Pro National Championships, as well as two FIM South American Championships. The team has also won 134 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.