MotoAmerica Championship Of New Jersey
MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Series
New Jersey Motorsports Park
Millville, New Jersey
September 7, 2019
EBC Brakes Superbike Race One Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Garrett Gerloff (Yam YZF-R1), 23 laps, Total Race Time 31:17.935, Best Lap Time 1:20.588
2. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R1), -1.709 seconds, 1:20.680
3. JD Beach (Yam YF-R1), -14.704, 1:20.786
4. Toni Elias (Suz GSX-R1000R), -25.801, 1:21.708
5. Mathew Scholtz (Yam YZF-R1), -29.753, 1:21.537
6. Jake Lewis (Suz GSX-R1000R), -29.813, 1:21.844
7. Josh Herrin (Suz GSX-R1000R), -34.394, 1:22.046
8. Jake Gagne (BMW S1000RR), -34.563, 1:22.222
9. Kyle Wyman (Duc Panigale V4 R), -46.404, 1:22.657
10. David Anthony (Kaw ZX-10R), -65.870, 1:23.346
11. Max Flinders (Yam YZF-R1), -1 lap, 1:24.569
12. Travis Wyman (BMW S1000RR), -1 lap, 1:25.120
13. Sam Verderico (Yam YZF-R1), -1 lap, 1:25.833
14. Cameron Petersen (Yam YZF-R1), -15 laps, DNF, retired, 1:23.408
Championship Point Standings (after 17 of 20 races):
1. Elias, 320 points
2. Beaubier, 292
3. Gerloff, 276
4. Beach, 195
5. Herrin, 182
6. Scholtz, 172
7. Lewis, 149
8. Gagne, 113
9. Petersen, 104
10. Anthony, 97
More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Gerloff Gets It Done In Race One From NJMP
Landers Crowned In Junior Cup, Jacobsen Wins Supersport
MILLVILLE, NJ (September 7, 2019) – Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Garrett Gerloff continued to hold the hot hand in the MotoAmerica EBC Brakes Superbike Series, the Texan winning race one in the Championship of New Jersey for his fourth win in the last six races.
Gerloff had his hands full for the entire 23 laps of the New Jersey Motorsports Park race with his teammate Cameron Beaubier, the three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion ending up 1.7 seconds behind at the finish line. Attack Performance Estenson Racing’s JD Beach rebounded from a tough stretch of races to finish third, his first podium since his victory in race two at VIR the first weekend in May.
The Gerloff, Beaubier and Beach podium gave Yamaha a one-two-three for the first time this season. Gerloff and Beaubier used their strong finishes to gain some points on championship leader Toni Elias, the Yoshimura Suzuki rider ending up a distant fourth on the day – some 25 seconds behind Gerloff.
With tomorrow’s race two and the two races at Barber Motorsports Park for the season finale remaining, Beaubier trails Elias by 28 points, 320-292, with Gerloff 44 points in arrears in third. Beach strengthened his hold on fourth in the championship with a 13-point gap over Josh Herrin, who was seventh today on the second Yoshimura Suzuki.
“Cameron was right there,” Gerloff said of his teammate. “I got to follow him through the first few laps and our bikes both seemed like they were really good everywhere. I felt comfortable and I saw plus zero forever, and JD (Beach) was right behind us too. So, Yamaha is really doing well with this track, and shining. I found a few spots where I thought it was pretty good. Made the pass on the line and was just trying to put my head down and do laps, but there was no getting away from him. We were together. The track fell apart, for sure. Everything was a little greasy, but the Dunlops felt really good. I felt like I was able to be consistent and hit my marks every lap. That was it. Just tried to be consistent. I feel good for tomorrow. Just motivated, for sure. I just want to finish the year off strong.”
Although he didn’t win, Beaubier had clawed back valuable points on Elias.
“Garrett had a little pace on us in both practices this morning,” Beaubier said. “We made a little change going into – well, a pretty big ride height change going into the race. I felt pretty comfortable right away. But then I started having little problems on the front. I had a couple pretty close calls. Was kind of yo-yo-ing with Garrett behind him. I got by him going into one, but way too deep. I had to try to play catch-up again. It was a tough race. Hats off to him. He rode really good. It’s really good to have three Yamahas up on the box. Obviously, I wanted to win and gain some more points on Toni, but I’ll take what I can get right now. Going to go look at some data and come back swinging tomorrow and see what happens.”
Beach was happy with a return to the podium, the two-time Supersport Champion and the Attack team finding a cure for the chatter issue that has slowed him of late.
“We’ve struggled a little bit all year,” Beach said. “I know I’ve gotten a win this year, but we’ve been off just a little bit. I think it just comes down to this is just my first year on this bike. We just couldn’t get something figured out. We honestly just changed the foot pegs and the tank for race two at Pittsburgh and the bike was way better. Then this morning, this is the first time here on this bike, so the first session out was just kind of trying to fine-tune the bike a little bit. Then in the second session, I was P3 for a while and got fourth at the end, which is my best since I think Virginia. So, I just feel good on the bike again. It’s great to finally feel good and enjoy being out on track and to get third. It feels really good. We still have a race tomorrow. We’ve got some stuff to change, so we’ll see what we can do.”
With Elias a distant fourth, he had some three seconds on Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz, the South African holding off M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis by just .060 of a second for fifth place. Herrin, in turn, hands his full with Scheibe Racing BMW’s Jake Gagne with the Yoshimura Suzuki besting the BMW by .169 of a second.
Lion Fuel/Cyclance/KWR Ducati’s Kyle Wyman finished ninth with FLY Racing/ADR Motorsports’ David Anthony rounding out the top 10.
Supersport: Jacobsen In The Mix
Saturday’s Supersport race started out well for championship contender Hayden Gillim, who battled for the lead until he lowsided out of the race and handed the lead to fellow championship contender Bobby Fong aboard the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki. Fong held the lead over his teammate Sean Dylan Kelly and a hard-charging PJ Jacobsen. Jacobsen bided his time and passed Kelly followed by Fong as the laps wound down. Kelly and Fong drag-raced to the finish line, and Jacobsen prevailed by .046 of a second at the checkers.
For Jacobsen, it was his third win of the season, and he moved up to second in the championship, 15 points adrift of Fong. Gillim’s crash dropped him back to third in the standings, but he is still in contention for the title.
“I got a good start and then led the first lap, but I didn’t feel so good on the first lap,” Jacobsen said. “Kind of weird. But I knew that they were going to come past me with a pretty fast pace. Then after that, there was just some pretty crazy battling. It wasn’t even battling in the corner. It was like on the straightaway. Like, who’s going to just put someone in the fence? So, I just wanted no part of that. I was happy just to even come home after that one. But it was going on for a while, and then Sean looked like he was struggling a little bit with rear grip, so I passed him. Then once I had that rhythm I kept going to the front towards Bobby when Hayden crashed. I felt pretty good, but again when I got to the front, I felt a little strange. I don’t know if the wind picked up or what, I just didn’t feel that great. So, I think I can make some improvements for tomorrow. I just kind of sat there. I rode a pretty good race. I’m pretty happy about that. I got more points on Bobby, so pretty excited for tomorrow, and we’ll see what happens. Hopefully it’s not as crazy as it was in the beginning of the race today, because it was a bit dangerous for a bit. We’ll see what happens.”
Liqui Moly Junior Cup: Landers Crowned!
In Saturday’s Liqui Moly Junior Cup race, Ninja400R.com/Norton Motorsports/Dr Farr Kawasaki rider Rocco Landers won his 11th race of the season, which is the most wins accumulated in one season for any Junior Cup rider in MotoAmerica history. With the victory, Landers clinched the 2019 Championship, and there are still three more races left to go in the season. Second place on the day went to MonkeyMoto/AGVSport/Blud Lubricants Kawasaki’s Jackson Blackmon, with Hunter Dunham Racing’s Eziah Davis finishing third for a Kawasaki podium sweep.
“In the beginning (of the race), I was just trying to get a good first lap and try to see if I could get away, and I couldn’t,” Landers said. “I looked back and Jackson (Blackmon) was there. He got by me. I was like, ‘So what’s going to happen?’ Then I looked back and I had a few seconds on (Kevin) Olmedo and Dominic (Doyle) and Damian (Jigalov), I think it was. Then me and Jackson just rode together. Then, on the last lap, I saw Kevin went by me and then highsided, and I was like, ‘That sucks.’ Then I just tried to get the draft and see what I could do with that and I pulled it off and got the championship.”
More, from a press release issued by Westby Racing:
Mathew Scholtz Takes The Fifth In Saturday’s Superbike Race One At New Jersey Motorsports Park
Millville, NJ – September 7, 2019 – After a pair of fifth-place finishes two weeks ago at Pittsburgh International Race Complex, Mathew Scholtz matched his PittRace results with another fifth-place finish aboard the #11 Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 in Saturday’s Superbike race one at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP).
The day started out well for Mathew and his Westby Racing crew as he qualified on the front row for the afternoon’s feature event. Unfortunately, though, he got a bad start off the line in Superbike race, and was shuffled back in the pack. He raced behind Toni Elias for several laps, and then he withstood being passed by Jake Lewis and got back around him in short fashion. By that point in the race, he started to lose grip in his tires, and he hung on to finish fifth behind Elias.
“It was good to get to the track with a bike that was already pretty close when he took it off the truck,” Mathew said. “In the first practice, we were fifth and then, in the second practice, we ended up third. So that was a really good start for us. We were pretty confident with the bike. It was nice to be on the front row again.
“My start was terrible, as usual. So I had to make up a few places. I got past (Josh) Herrin and (Travis) Wyman. Then Toni (Elias) had a little bit of a gap. I caught up to him. Toni rides very different lines on the Suzuki. It’s obviously what suits that bike best, so it’s very difficult to plan a pass. I was kind of getting sucked into his groove. My lap times dropped off, and then we kind of got to the halfway point, and the bike was just moving around a lot more than it had previously. So, I just really wasn’t able to ride how I wanted to. I also don’t think I was on top of my game there. So, I think we have a lot of work for tomorrow. Obviously we want to be closer to the front, but it’s been our best first race in a long time. Always, the second race, we make big jumps forward. So with such a positive first race, I’m very hopeful for the second race.
“The Westby guys have been working hard. (Data technician) Herschel (Auxier) and (crew chief) Ed (Sullivan) have been really looking at the setup in different points, where to make the bike better to suit me and my riding style better. So the team is working really well. I feel like things are coming together nicely. They’re shaping up nicely for these final two rounds for us. That also really puts us in good shape for 2020. So I’m very, very happy with how things are working out, and I’m looking forward to the second race.”
Superbike Race Two goes green at NJMP on Sunday at 3 PM Eastern Time.
For more updates about Westby Racing, including news, photos, and videos, visit https://www.WestbyRacing.com
Also, follow “Westby Racing” on your favorite social media sites.
More, from a press release issued by Attack Performance/Estenson Racing:
Beach Bounces Back with Podium Finish at NJMP
JD Beach ran a smart race to take his third podium of the season aboard the Attack Performance Estenson Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 in MotoAmerica Superbike race one at New Jersey Motorsports Park on Saturday, September 7.
After a frustrating few race weekends, the team’s hard work paid off as Beach found his comfort zone and the results he was looking for. In spite of the hectic two-day format, he got off to a good start and qualified fourth. Come race time, the dirt track/road racer latched on to the back of the leaders in third. He made a couple attempts at second, but with about eight laps to go, he lost touch with the leaders. Beach then focused on bringing the bike across the line in third, his third podium this season and his best result since his big win earlier this May at VIR. He continues to hold fourth in the MotoAmerica Superbike standings with three races remaining.
JD Beach — MotoAmerica Superbike #95:
“Today we had a great race. One that I think the team really deserved. We have really been struggling with the bike and the front end. It’s something that’s been haunting us all year but the team hasn’t given up on me and we kept working on it. The bike from the truck this morning was a lot better. I knew we were race ready after QP2; we had good pace then. I just wanted to get a good start and try to chase Cameron (Beaubier) and Garrett (Gerloff). After about halfway, they started pulling away a little bit and I realized that I basically hadn’t breathed the whole race. So I settled in to a good pace to bring it home in third. We’ll try again tomorrow. I can’t thank Attack and Estenson Racing enough for all of their support.”
MotoAmerica Superbike race two on Sunday, September 8 at 7 p.m. ET. You can also stream all the action on MotoAmerica Live+ starting at 10:00 a.m. ET. To subscribe to the live streaming click here: https://www.motoamericaliveplus.com/
For more information about the event, click here: https://motoamerica.com/newjersey/
