QUICK LINKS IN THE WIND 28 LEADERBOARD 136 FIRST TEST KTM 250 XC-W TPI THE FUTURE IS HERE

Transcription

1 QUICK LINKS IN THE WIND 28 LEADERBOARD 136 FIRST TEST 2018 KTM 250 XC-W TPI THE FUTURE IS HERE

2 VOL. 54 ISSUE 22 JUNE 6, 2017 LAKEWOOD NATIONAL MX BAGGETT S BACK! MUGELLO MOTOGP DOVI AND THE DESMO ROAD AMERICA ROAD RACE BAUBIER, ELIAS WAIL IN WISCONSIN THE RED MILE KNOTTED UP IN KENTUCKY FIRST LOOK 2018 YAMAHA STAR VENTURE ALSO 49 TH SCORE BAJA 500 CHEROKEE NATIONAL ENDURO ISLE OF MAN TT UPDATE ARCHIVES: SHINICHI SAHARA

3 CAPTURED P20

4 VOL. 54 ISSUE 22 JUNE 6, 2017 P21 Feeling It Brad Baker gets in tune with his factory-backed Indian Scout FTR750 prior to The Red Mile in Lexington, Kentucky. Baker edged out teammate Bryan Smith to get on the podium in third place. PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREA WILSON

5 2017 INDIAN MOTORCYCLE INTERNATIONAL, LLC. ALWAYS WEAR YOUR HELMET. NEVER DRINK AND RIDE.

6 JARED MEES TAKES THE CHECKERED FLAG IN A BATTLE AT THE RED MILE.

7 ROUND 3 / JUNE 3, 2017 LAKEWOOD, COLORADO / THUNDER VALLEY RACEWAY MOTOCROSS get going in that second moto. I was up there in the hunt, but those guys were just like a corner ahead of me. I tried my best, and we came real close. Osborne ended up fifth in the moto, then came Ferrandis, Savatgy s teammate Justin Hill, Harrison, McElrath and Osborne s rookie teammate Michael Mosiman. In the championship chase, Osborne still leads it, but the points cushion has been narrowed from 21 points to nine over Alex Martin, followed by Jeremy Martin nine points further back. Savatgy is now fourth in the points standings, with Forkner right on his tail. CN 450MX 1. Blake Baggett (KTM) Marvin Musquin (KTM) Jason Anderson (Hus) Justin Bogle (Suz) Eli Tomac (Kaw) Cole Seely (Hon) Dean Wilson (Hus) Broc Tickle (Suz) Justin Barcia (Suz) Martin Davalos (Hus) MX 1. Joey Savatgy (Kaw) Alex Martin (KTM) Jeremy Martin (Hon) Austin Forkner (Kaw) Zach Osborne (Hus) Dylan Ferrandis (Yam) Colt Nichols (Yam) Mitchell Harrison (Yam) Shane McElrath (KTM) Michael Mosiman (Hus) LUCAS OIL/AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS Briefly... Rocky Mountain ATV-MC KTM s Blake Baggett didn t come out of nowhere to win the race in Colorado. After a solid, but not spectacular, performance at Hangtown, where he went 6-8 on the day, he went testing with his team and changed a ton of stuff, including suspension settings, steering angle, and even the engine mounts, changing how the engine sits in the frame. With that, he ended up finishing second in moto two at Glen Helen, leading part of the moto. But he and his team weren t done yet. From last weekend to this weekend, we changed some front-fork settings, and the rear shock, so we re still searching, and the work isn t over until you re out front every time, Baggett said. We re going to keep working on the bike and try to make it better, and just not stop. Just keep trying to do what we did today. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna s Jason Anderson has never finished in the top five in Colorado, and last year he had to leave the event after only a few laps. He has a history of suffering from altitude sickness, and his heart rate rises too much when he s in thinner air. At Glen Helen, Anderson indicated that he thought he d be okay in Colorado, because he survived at the Salt Lake City Supercross, but he still didn t know. In the end, Anderson skipped the podium after finishing second in the first moto, but it was just a precautionary measure to get back and try to recover quickly. In moto two, he duked it out all the way to the P70 checkered flag with Josh Grant for fifth. Grant got the spot in the end, but the 2-6 gave Anderson third overall. Chaparral Yamaha s Cooper Webb has been dealing with some physical ailments early in his rookie 450MX National title chase. The reigning 250MX National champ had trouble early in the first moto and had to pull into the pits with a technical problem on his Yamaha, and then could only manage to catch back up to 22nd at the finish. But in moto two, he was in a battle the entire time, and eventually battled his way by Josh Grant, twice, to take fourth. It was his best moto finish so far of the season. Geico Honda s Jimmy Decotis almost missed the start for the second 250MX moto when his fork was found to be leaking. The brake had to be swapped out on the start line. He went for 16th on the day. It turns out that it was a failed front brake master cylinder that caused Eli Tomac grief the week before at Glen Helen, the same part that also caused him problems at the Arlington Supercross earlier this year. In both cases, the master cylinder was damaged before it malfunctioned. At Glen Helen, the damage reportedly came from a rock that hit it early in the second moto. In Colorado, the team had the master cylinder covered with a piece of carbon fiber for protection.

8 ROUND 8 / JUNE 3, 2017 THE RED MILE / LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY FLAT TRACK 2017 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP P72 MEES ANSWERS JARED MEES FINDS A WAY TO PUT A HALT TO BRYAN SMITH S WIN S

9 VOL. 54 ISSUE 22 JUNE 6, 2017 P73 TREAK STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE HOENIG / FLAT TRAK FOTOS For the fourth week in a row, the American Flat Track Championship visited a mile racetrack. This week it was The Red Mile in Lexington. The oddshaped race track that normally features horse racing proved to be very challenging to the teams and riders. The hard, sandy surface developed a narrow, slick groove that by the end of the night was choppy and very slick. Turns three and four, where mile track races are usually decided, was the most difficult to get right. All day long Indian Motorcycle/Rogers Racing s Jared Mees had been the fastest rider in the AFT Twins class on his Indian Scout FTR750. Fast qualifier, fast heat winner and winning his semi by over 13 seconds all made it look like the outcome of the 25-lap main event was easy to see. Jared Mees (9) edges out Sammy Halbert for The Red Mile win in Kentucky.

10 ROUND 8 / JUNE 3, 2017 THE RED MILE / LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY FLAT TRACK 2017 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP P74 Maybe not. Richie Reynolds Racing/Otten Racing s Chad Cose got the holeshot on his Kawasaki, but Mees shot around the outside and into the lead in turn one. Then the unexpected hap- pened Mees led the first lap, but Sammy Halbert had his Estenson Logistics/TruLinebacked Yamaha right on Mees rear wheel. The crowd roared as Halbert took the lead down the back straight and the war was on. Halbert led a lap, then Mees led two before Halbert was back on top. The lead duo pulled clear of another tight race, as Chad Cose split the Indian Motorcycle/Allstate Insurance team of

11 VOL. 54 ISSUE 22 JUNE 6, 2017 P75 The Red Mile played out in front of a soldout crowd of Bryan Smith and Brad Baker. The track was terribly unforgiving as any slip off the groove resulted in lost ground and usually lost positions. Jared was strong today, too, and we knew that going in, said Halbert. I was able to catch on to his draft and luckily pull away from everyone else. It was a dogfight between us. Honestly, it fell like a big short track race with the way the corners were. It felt like another typical Wednesday night short track battle with Jared, like we ve done so much. You just had to skid it in there and then get through the pot holes and get back to racing off the corners. Some of Mees problems could be traced to a broken shift

12 ROUND 8 / JUNE 3, 2017 THE RED MILE / LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY FLAT TRACK 2017 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP P76 lever, (much like the problem he had in Phoenix). I lost the shifter again, two laps in. I was shifting in three and four, but not one and two, said Mees. I couldn t rail off four like I wanted to. Man, it was unfortunate because I was really looking to put a whooping on them. I don t know if I could have done it, but I felt a lot better when I could shift that thing in three and four. When I couldn t do it, I just had to go to old-school racing. I had to pull that tall gear and roll through that corner. In turns one and two Sammy Halbert (69) led much of the race but couldn t quite hold off Mees at the end. was faster than me. I wasn t shifting in that corner so he was going to be faster than me anyway, said Mees. That s where he kept passing me on the first couple laps. Turns one and two were easier for me to get through. Turns three and four were a lot slicker, said Halbert. It was a little harder for me to get off of there. I couldn t tell what was going on behind me too much. I would look back coming off of two a couple times and I had a decent size gap a couple times. After the halfway point, things settled down with Halbert in the lead, but Mees was always in his shadow. Obviously there was a lot of strategy with the draft, said Halbert. His strategy seemed to be to follow and I wasn t sure if that was good or not. I thought I would just keep my head down and see if I can break him. It s so easy to make a mistake out there so I figured it would be better to be out front and hope he made a mistake versus me making a mistake.

13 ROUND 8 / JUNE 3, 2017 THE RED MILE / LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY FLAT TRACK 2017 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP P78 While the leaders had most of the attention, Smith and Baker s battle for third was joined by Brandon Robinson (Harley- Davidson Motor Company/ Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson XG750R) and Briar Bauman (Zanotti Racing/Rod Lake Racing Kawasaki), making it four brands in the top six. We matched pace with Jared and Sammy, but the problem was we were a half straightaway behind, said Smith. There were a couple times that I made up just a bike length or two. When you would try to go a little bit harder you would lose it all. I screwed up, then me and Brad got racing and that was it. I knew I was racing for third. Instead of using his starting pick for a front row spot that he had qualified for, Baker opted to start on the second row. I decided to take outside second row for starting position, to get the groove quicker and it ended up paying off. I got a good start, said Baker. I came around fourth or fifth, but I drafted into third. I passed Chad Cose going into three on the first lap. I soon lost all the good time that I made on the start. I gave third place away to Bryan on the second lap. I slipped off the groove going into three on the next lap and Bryan and Chad got back by me. I got back by Chad and then I ran down Bryan. With three laps to go, Baker took over third, knocking his teammate off the podium for the first time in It was good to bring it home in third. I felt like I ran a smart race, said Baker.

14 VOL. 54 ISSUE 22 JUNE 6, 2017 P79 (Left) Brad Baker (6) got around fellow Indian rider Bryan Smith to get on the podium. (Right) Baker, Mess and Halbert celebrate on the AFT Twins podium. (Below) Smith (1) saw his fourrace win streak come to an end after struggling to adapt to the Kentucky track.

15 ROUND 8 / JUNE 3, 2017 THE RED MILE / LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY FLAT TRACK 2017 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP P80 My Own Race: 9 JARED MEES 1ST AFT TWINS Jared Mees had been dominant all day, but when Halbert flexed the Yamaha s muscles he was forced to use a different approach. When the laps ran out it all came down to last lap strategy. I kind of wanted to lead it off four, said Mees. Sammy would get off of four good one lap, and then spin it up bad off four one lap and kill my momentum, because I didn t have that drive. He was kind of going to the inside and I just went around on the outside. It feels amazing to finally get a mile win this year on the Indian, and stop Bryan s streak. It was a good night for us, honestly. We got it done and that s all that matters. I wanted a perfect race. You can t have it all. I am excited to get back to winning. 69 SAMMY HALBERT 2ND AFT TWINS Thus far in 2017 Halbert is one of the few riders able to challenge the Indian dominance and this race he was just of a second from posting Yamaha s first twin win in many years. I led a lot of that one, he said. The Estenson Racing, Yamaha FZ-07 was running strong. I figured I would just need to block a little bit going into turn three, which I did. It worked. I led into turn three, like last weekend, which is what I think we both wanted to do. Unfortunately he just got a good run off of four and just nipped me at the line. 6 BRAD BAKER 3RD AFT TWINS It basically took Baker the whole race to make up for his lap-two mistake. I was so fast in one and two. If I could have had the speed I had in one and two, in turns three and four, I think we would have had a pretty solid chance at the win, said Baker. Whatever I would make up in one and two, I would lose in three and four, and then some. I tried so many different things. I just couldn t seem to keep the thing in line; I d get sideways and lose all my drive. I would set it off into turn one as far as I could and make up time on Bryan. That was basically the story of the whole race. Finally I started shifting in three and four. I was at least able to kind of maintain the speed through there. That s really all I needed to do. Even though they were racing for third, not first, it was a satisfying conclusion for Baker. I waited until three to go and I passed him (Smith) going into three. I was able to lead down the front straight away. I kind of hung there for a lot of the race because I knew that if I showed him that I could do that, he would go into a strategy. I blitzed through one and two where I knew I was faster. I just knew if I got a little bit of a gap, that maybe he wouldn t have enough time to capitalize on me, and sure enough he didn t. Even though I made a bunch of mistakes, I learned during it. I changed my riding style. I was able to at least come home with a podium finish. I still haven t got that first win of the year yet, but it feels good to be back on the box. Brandon Robinson and Briar Bauman hooked up and ran down the Indians, but stalled out once they caught up. They AFT SINGLES Goodroe Racing s Parker Norris was able to grab the lead of the 15-lap final on his Honda, but it only lasted a lap as Kevin Stollings (Ben Evans Racing/ Dave s Cycles) blasted into the lead on lap two and never looked back. Stollings pushed his Honda to a huge lead. Stollings increased his lead margin every lap and held a massettled for fifth and sixth place finishes, respectively. Another 12 seconds back, Ben Evans Racing/Carver s BBQ s Jeffrey Carver brought his Kawasaki home alone in seventh. Chad Cose, Johnny Lewis (Lloyd Brothers Motorsports Ducati) and Kenny Coolbeth (Harley-Davidson Motor Company Harley-Davidson XG750R) filled out the top 10.

16 VOL. 54 ISSUE 22 JUNE 6, 2017 P81 1 BRYAN SMITH 4TH AFT TWINS By Bryan Smith standards, the defending Grand National Champion had a poor day and actually struggled to just make the main out of the semi. It was all right, especially after in the semi going off the groove and not being in a transfer spot for a minute, said Smith. I started on the second row and on a track like this, it s sketchy. I was thankful to just get up there. I sure had hopes of battling for the lead, even though it was farfetched. I thought I still had third but just missed it by of a second I think. 44 BRANDON ROBINSON 5TH AFT TWINS The race marked a big turnaround for Brandon Robinson as he has struggled to come to grips with the new Harley-Davidson XG750R. It feels good. It feels like a win, honestly, for the way this year has been going, said Robinson. I m excited with the progress we are making. I was kind of by myself for the majority of it and I ended up running down Bryan and Brad with five or six laps to go. I found something in three and four; I was kind of riding a little higher. I couldn t ride the bottom around the groove with those guys. I was losing time and decided to go up there and it stuck and worked. I was able to run those guys down slowly but surely. It took the entire race, but I got there. Once I got there, I really didn t have anything else to go around either of them. Honestly it is just good to get back up front for myself. This has probably been the most mentally tough year in my career. Things haven t been going good. We ve crashed and we ve had mechanicals. 14 BRIAR BAUMAN 6TH AFT TWINS Briar Bauman has been fighting his own 2017 gremlins. It felt good just to finish the main at this point. This is only the third race I ve finished this year, out of seven or eight, said Bauman. On the last lap, I was thinking, let s just bring this thing home. I didn t look back or anything. I didn t care if I got drafted at the line. I just wanted to finish this thing wherever we re at and get some points. Robinson and I were racing pretty hard there for a while. His bike had a little bit of a leg on me, so I would have to late draft him. Finally he came by me and signaled hop in. At that point, I had already thought that I need to relax. So I hopped in behind him, and we basically just pushed each other up to the Indians. Once we started rolling up on them I thought, no way. We were getting close, closing the gap. This was working. He did more pulling than I did. I was just kind of on his wheels. I give a lot of credit to him and Harley. At least for tonight, they ve got their stuff figured out and working well. The race between him and me for pretty much the whole main event was not much racing, but we were there. By the end of it, we were on the Indian guys, Brad and Bryan. sive six-second lead when the checkered flag fell. His dominating ride overshadowed a great race for second. Norris, Shayna Texter (Richie Morris Racing/McElroy Packaging Honda), Kolby Carlile (Parkinson Brothers Racing Honda), Tristan Avery (Ron Ayers Racing Honda), John Vanderlaan (Zane Amaro Farms Honda), Brandon Price (Don s Kawasaki /DPC Racing Kawasaki) and Cameron Smith (Carroll Motor Fuels Honda) were all in contention. Stollings blistering pace took its toll on his pursuers. First Vanderlaan dropped out on lap 12, then a lap later, Norris engine blew; he was able to safely get off the track in turn two. With Stollings holding over a six-second advantage, the race for second was everyone s focus. Avery was able to hold off Texter at the line by less than a 10th of a second. Carlile and Price followed all three were within 0.3 of a second. Unfortunately under post-race inspection, Stollings Honda could not pass the sound test. At some point during the race, the header bolts had loosened and the exhaust leak led to a failed test.

17 ROUND 8 / JUNE 3, 2017 THE RED MILE / LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY FLAT TRACK 2017 AMERICAN FLAT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP P82 Tristan Avery (16) won a hardfought battle for second in the Singles main, which ended up being for the win. Even though there was no competitive advantage, the rule calls for disqualification. Suddenly the great race that was for second became a race that had been for the win. Avery officially posted his first win of the year with Texter credited with second and Carlile moving up to third. CN AFT TWINS 1. Jared Mees (Ind) 2. Sammy Halbert (Yam) 3. Brad Baker (Ind) 4. Bryan Smith (Ind) 5. Brandon Robinson (H-D) 6. Briar Bauman (Kaw) 7. Jeffrey Carver Jr. (Kaw) 8. Chad Cose (Kaw) 9. Johnny Lewis (Duc) 10. Kenny Coolbeth Jr. (H-D) AFT SINGLES 1. Tristan Avery (Hon) 2. Shayna Texter (Hon) 3. Kolby Carlile (Hon) 4. Brandon Price (Hon) 5. Cameron Smith (Hon) 6. Jordan Harris (Hon) 7. Damon Coca (Hon) 8. Dylan Bell (Hon) 9. Shane Narbonne (Hon) 10. Jay Newton (Yam)

18 VOL. 54 ISSUE 22 JUNE 6, 2017 P83 Briefly... Motorcycles last visited The Red Mile in 2001 when the Formula USA series held a race. With a sold-out crowd of over 6000 it probably will not be 16 years until the next race. This may not be the best news for the riders who struggled to figure out the odd oval. There was something about the track today; I just couldn t get that next little step that I needed, said Bryan Smith. The track isn t an oval. It s a weird surface. The groove was sticky, but then it got kind of greasy in the main. You were kind of under the groove and above it then you get in the marbles. The easiest way to say it was it was weird. Smith s teammate Brad Baker was also fighting track conditions. It was definitely more technical in three and four. One and two actually had enough moisture above the groove, said Baker. That s how I was getting through one and two pretty fast. Above the groove actually had some grip from when they watered it. Three and four were a lot slower, a lot tighter corner. You had to scrub off a lot more speed. It broke apart right in the center. It had literally a big pothole right past the apex of the corner. You really had to have the thing straight up and down and not get too out of shape there. It made it really hard on gearing. Three and four were so much tighter and slower because of the surface, that the motorcycle would bog. It wouldn t pull the gear coming off the corner. If you really had a bad corner the thing would take so much time to pick the speed back up. One and two was a more open corner and it was in better shape. You almost needed gearing for two different racetracks. That is why some of us were deciding to shift in three and four. We would shift down to third and then back up to fourth. Some of these motorcycles don t speed shift all that great. It made it really technical as well. Definitely a tricky race track tonight. After winning the first two races of the year and following that with a string of podium finishes, Jared Mees still trailed Bryan Smith in the points as Smith had reeled off four consecutive wins. It feels amazing to finally get a mile win this year on the Indian, and stop Bryan s streak, said Mees. It was a good night for us, honestly. Heading into an off weekend, Smith and Mees are tied in points at 152. Smith has the tie-breaking advantage of four wins to Mees three. Sammy Halbert is third, but 43 points down and 17 ahead of Brad Baker. The win was Jared Mees 23rd Grand National victory, which ties him for 13th on the all-time win list with Joe Leonard and Steve Morehead. Dick Mann is next on the list with 24. Once again, there was a glimmer of hope in the Harley-Davidson camp, this time it was Brandon Robinson leading the Harley charge. It was uneventful, really. I got a decent start and stayed up front the entire time, for once, said Robinson. It s been a slow uphill battle, but we re definitely getting closer. I m very excited about that. I wasn t shifting today, our power range was pretty good and it was pulling really well. It s been tough and it s been hard on me, mentally. To get a good run and get a top five again, it feels awesome. I m excited to go to Oklahoma and get on some cushion now. Briar Bauman was another rider who survived a late-race scare and is looking forward to the next couple of races. I actually hit the kill switch going into turn three on the very last lap, not that I was going to draft him [Robinson] anyway. I was just so nervous. I just wanted to finish it. It s been a while. I hit the kill switch and thought, Whoa, whoa, whoa. I flipped it back on and got it going again and finished. It was a difficult racetrack. There wasn t much passing unless you had more horsepower than the next guy. The groove was really, really narrow. The AFT Singles points standings are much closer and have had the unusual occurrence of two winners being disqualified post race. Shayna Texter rebounded from her Springfield TT troubles and has once again taken over at the top. Texter holds a two-point lead over Kolby Carlile. Brandon Price is 14 points behind Texter with Cameron Smith and Ben Lowe a somewhat distant fourth and fifth.

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21 G CHAMPIONSHIP VOL. 54 ISSUE 22 JUNE 6, 2017 P115 able to pull away and I led a good amount of laps during today s race. I couldn t hear them coming up the hill and wasn t sure if they were planning to set me up and roll me out, so I just kind of went for it in Canada Corner and everything seemed to work out. I m just so pumped to get this win after everything that we had happen yesterday. Smith still leads the KTM RC Cup Championship over Beauchamp, fourth on Sunday, Blackmon jumps to third in the title chase, 30 points behind Smith after three rounds and six races. CN Benjamin Smith leads Jackson Blackmon in the first of two very exciting KTM RC Cup races. Both came away with wins. CSVMoto s Cory Ventura and Satuday s winner Smith. At the finish, Blackmon had his second win of the season by just of a second over Ventura with Smith just of a second from victory. That was probably one of the most fun battles that I ve ever had and I think it s a really good experience for us as well on the KTM [RC 390] by helping prepare us for the bigger bikes and our race craft is getting better and better, Blackmon said. We [Ventura and Smith] were Superbike Race One 1. Cameron Beaubier (Yam) 2. Toni Elias (Suz) 3. Roger Hayden (Suz) 4. Josh Herrin (Yam) 5. Jake Lewis (Suz) Race Two 1. Toni Elias (Suz) 2. Roger Hayden (Suz) 3. Cameron Beaubier (Yam) 4. Josh Hayes (Yam) 5. Mathew Scholtz (Yam) Superstock 1000 Race One 1. Jake Lewis (Suz) 2. Bobby Fong (Kaw) 3. Mathew Scholtz (Yam) 4. Danny Eslick (Yam) 5. Bryce Prince (Yam) Race Two 1. Mathew Scholtz (Yam) 2. Bobby Fong (Kaw) 3. Jake Lewis (Suz) 4. Danny Eslick (Yam) 5. Hayden Gillim (Suz) Supersport Race One 1. Garrett Gerloff (Yam) 2. JD Beach (Yam) 3. Benny Solis (Hon) 4. Connor Blevins (Kaw) 5. Shane Richardson (Kaw) Race Two 1. JD Beach (Yam) 2. Garrett Gerloff (Yam) 3. Valentin Debise (Suz) 4. Benny Solis (Hon) 5. Brandon Paasch (Suz) Superstock 600 Race One 1. Conner Blevins (Kaw) 2. Shane Richardson (Kaw) 3. JC Camacho (Suz) 4. Jason Aguilar (Yam) 5. Andrew Lee (Yam) Race Two 1. Conner Blevins (Kaw) 2. Michael Gilbert (Yam) 3. Jason Aguilar (Yam) 4. Nick McFadden (Suz) 5. Shane Richardson (Kaw) KTM RC Cup Race One 1. Benjamin Smith (KTM) 2. Gavin Anthony (KTM) 3. Draik Beauchamp (KTM) 4. Jake Leahey (KTM) 5. Sergio Rodriguez (KTM) Race Two 1. Jackson Blackmon (KTM) 2. Benjamin Smith (KTM) 3. Cory Ventura (KTM) 4. Draik Beauchamp (KTM) 5. Alex Dumas (KTM)

22 ROUND 4 / JUNE 3-4, 2017 ROAD AMERICA / ELKHART LAKE, WISCONSIN ROAD RACE 2017 MOTOAMERICA P116 My Own Race: 85 JAKE LEWIS 1-3 SUPERSTOCK 1000 It s an amazing feeling because it feels like I really earned this one, Jake Lewis (Team Hammer/M4 Ecstar Suzuki) said of his exciting win in race one. I got a really good start, but that s because I qualified so well. I tried to hang with the superbike guys and pull a little gap on the guys behind me. They were inching back late, but I knew where they were the whole time. I just played it smart and brought home a win for the team. When you work that hard and don t give up, that s what happens. I want to keep these wins coming. 4 JOSH HAYES DNS-4 SUPERBIKE Monster Energy Yamaha s Josh Hayes talked about his crash in the first race. I went through a section of the track that was shaded by trees, and I couldn t see that it was damp on the race line till it was too late, he said. It happened so fast that there was nothing I could do. I m beat up, and I feel like I was hit by a bus. But I ve got my trainer Riggs [Klicka] here with me, and we re working on a plan. My intention is to ride tomorrow. 53 VALENTIN DEBISE 7-3 SUPERSPORT It was very important for me to finish that race, said Valetin Debise (Team Hammer/M4 Ecstar Suzuki) on Sunday after making amends for his seventh-place finish in Supersport on Saturday. In that race, the team elected to go with dry tires in the wet-to-dry race. By the time the track dried out, it was too late to make up for lost ground. But on Sunday, he got on the podium. I felt I could stay with the front two but only by taking too many risks with my bike. I figured it was better to slow down, finish the race, and get the podium. We ll step things back up next race and look to fight for more wins. 176 GAVIN ANTHONY 3-6 KTM CUP It feels awesome being up here with Benjamin [Smith] and Draik [Beauchamp], said runner-up Gavin Anthony after the first KTM Cup race. I got off to a good start by pulling the holeshot, but ran a little wide going into turn three and got passed by Benjamin and Jackson. The leaders got away from me a little bit, but I m super happy with second place. I didn t expect to be up here on the podium this quickly, but I thought I could get up here by the end of the season.