QUICK LINKS IN THE WIND 24 LEADERBOARD 118 FIRST TEST YAMAHA NIKEN DOUBLE VISION

Transcription

1 QUICK LINKS IN THE WIND 24 LEADERBOARD 118 FIRST TEST YAMAHA NIKEN DOUBLE VISION

2 CONTENTS P4 REVEALED KTM MOTOCROSSERS Factory Edition is now the norm HUSQVARNA MOTOCROSSERS Two- and four-stroke roundup RACED 56 LAKEWOOD MX Tomac reaches new heights 64 MUGELLO MOTOGP Italy s celebration day 74 THE RED MILE Mees finds the groove 84 ELKHART LAKE MOTOAMERICA Draft-dodger Beaubier TESTED 94 YAMAHA NIKEN Hey, we re into weird 104 DUNLOP Q4 TIRE TEST Keeping the rubber side down DEPARTMENTALIZED 6 VOICES 8 CAPTURED 24 IN THE WIND 112 STUFF 116 CALENDAR 118 LEADERBOARD 120 RACING ON THE TUBE 122 ARCHIVES 124 BIKES OF THE STARS 126 LOOKING BACK 128 IN THE PADDOCK On The Cover: Yes, you are seeing double. We test the bizarre Yamaha Niken with its LWM (Leaning Wheel Motorcycle) technology. PHOTOGRAPHY BY YAMAHA MOTOR EUROPE QUICK LINKS IN THE WIND 24 LEADERBOARD 118 VOL. 55 ISSUE 22 JUNE 5, 2018 FIRST TEST YAMAHA NIKEN DOUBLE VISION LAKEWOOD MOTOCROSS TOMAC ROLLS ON MUGELLO MOTOGP LORENZO, DUCATI, ITALY S DAY LEXINGTON HALF MILE BACK TO NORMAL ROAD AMERICA BEAUBIER TAKES OVER ALSO PRODUCT TEST: DUNLOP Q4 BAJA 500 ERZBERGRODEO ROUTE 66 NHRA ARCHIVES: TONI ELIAS FASTEST TO 40

3 PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE HOENIG VOL. 55 ISSUE 22 JUNE 5, 2018 P5 The AFT Singles class is ready to get down to business at The Red Mile in Lexington, Kentucky. They entertained the crowd with some firstclass racing action before Kolby Carlile squeaked out the win.

4 GSX-R SUPERIORITY Proving yet again the extraordinary performance of the legendary GSX-R sportbike, Team M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider Valentin Debise dominated the competition to win an epic 600 Supersport race on Saturday at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Professional rider in closed-course competition. Suzuki, the S logo, and Suzuki model and product names are Suzuki Trademarks or Suzuki Motor of Ameri

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8 ROUND 3 / JULY 2, 2018 THUNDER VALLEY PARK / LAKEWOOD, CALIFORNIA MOTOCROSS LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP P60 eighth, after having been riding exceptionally well before the race was red flagged. With shades of the first moto, Barcia grabbed the holeshot, followed by Roczen, Tomac and Baggett. No sooner had Tomac gotten around Roczen when Barcia went down, landing in a deep rut and blocking Tomac enough to allow Roczen to get back by, as well as Baggett. A few laps later Baggett made a mistake that had him off track, allowing Tomac to get past. With Roczen out front, Tomac gradually reeled him in, at about a bike-length per lap. To watch these two riders in close proximity to one another was a study in contrasts. Roczen was silky smooth, carefully choosing lines to reduce the pressure on his still-healing wrist, while Tomac muscled his Kawasaki with an aggressiveness that was sometimes scary. For several laps Tomac had been experimenting with an inside line after the finish hill. With about 10 minutes left, Tomac put the inside strategy to work and got the run on Roczen through the rollers to take the lead, which he never relinquished. Tomac almost instantly opened up an impressive 10-second lead over Roczen. Baggett circulated in a somewhat lonely third, with Musquin running an even lonelier fourth. Bloss got around Barcia for fifth. The final overall tally for the 450s was an easy lesson in math; Tomac took the win with a 1-1, Roczen was second with a 2-2, Baggett finished third with a 3-3, and Musquin was fourth with a pair of fours. Tomac leaves Colorado with tremendous confidence and a full moto s win worth of points over Musquin. Roczen says he s happy with his recovery and is now having fun, as opposed to all the hype and pressure over his return to racing after two serious injuries. And Barcia certainly must be thinking what might have been. 250MX When the gate dropped on the first 250MX moto it was rookie Justin Cooper (Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha) with the holeshot, followed in close proximity by top qualifier Joey Savatgy (Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki), with Jordon Smith (Geico Honda), Zach Osborne (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), the Martin Brothers Jeremy and Brothers Alex (left) and Jeremy Martin talk about their duel for the win in the second 250MX moto. They ended up finishing 1-2 overall with Jeremy taking the win. Alex ahead of points leader, Aaron Plessinger (Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha). Cooper and Savatgy opened up a small gap to third place Smith. Cooper, despite being hounded relentlessly by Savatgy, remained composed. However, at the three-quarter mark, Cooper had a slight bobble and Savatgy was able to capitalize. But Cooper wasn t ready to let go of the lead and kept the Kawasaki rider within striking distance, once again exhibiting the calm of a much more seasoned rider. Further back Jeremy Martin got around Smith to take over third, as Osborne, who came into the race nursing a sore thumb that he aggravated in a small crash in practice earlier that morning, slipped back to

9 VOL. 55 ISSUE 22 JUNE 5, 2018 P61 iii My Own Race: 1 ELI TOMAC 1ST 450MX (1-1) I felt good all day, Eli Tomac said. At first, the track didn t have a whole lot to it after the first practice it was going to be pretty easy. But it developed good character. Ken was riding good today and the roost was not good to be behind someone. I had to be patient and find a couple of good lines and get some momentum. 1 ZACH OSBORNE 11TH 250MX (5-20) Today was a learning experience for me, Zach Osborne said. I got off to a good start in the first moto and was able to hold on for a fifth. Then, I was hit in the first turn at the start of the second moto and popped my shoulder out. It took me a second to get it back in before I could get going. There s 18 motos left and a lot of points still on the table. 25 MARVIN MUSQUIN 4TH 450MX (4-4) It was definitely a tough day for me, Marvin Musquin said. I struggled. Even though I felt like I rode good here last year, it s always a unique one here with the altitude and trying to work on the bike. Unfortunately, I never got a great start and I found myself both motos behind the top three and even top four and charged through the motos but missed a little bit of speed today. 62 JUSTIN COOPER 3RD 250MX (1-8) I was comfortable, said Justin Cooper of his first-moto win. I just felt good today. I ripped the holeshot. I knew that Joey [Savatgy] was there and had a section where he was faster than me; I tried to defend myself in that section every lap but he eventually got me in that section; I couldn t figure it [that section] out. Overall, I felt good, I was riding my own pace I don t know what happened to [Savatgy s] bike but I got lucky but I ll take it how I can get it. Cooper later admitted that he was sick during the week and felt a little drained after the first moto. When I get healthy again, we ll be fine for two motos. fifth. When the two-lap board came out it looked as though Savatgy had the moto win in hand, with Cooper within two bike-lengths. But coming down the big hill, Savatgy slowed, pulling off the track with a blown engine, allowing a visibly surprised Cooper to resume the lead and go on to earn his first-ever national moto win. I came off the jump and saw Joey, Cooper said. It looked like he was going slower than usual. I was like, wow, and then realized something was wrong with his bike. I had a pretty solid lead at that point [with two laps to go], so it was nice to have that cushion and take a little bit of a parade lap [on the last lap]. Behind Cooper at the checkered flag were the brothers Jeremy and Alex Martin (TLD/Red Bull KTM), Smith, Osborne, Plessinger and Austin Forkner (Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki), who finished seventh after a midpack start left him struggling to get through the pack. First up the 250-eating start hill for moto two were the Martin brothers: Alex, followed by Jeremy, Briefly... not pretty. We ve made some improvements [since Hangtown] and can at least see the guys that are winning the races [instead of] almost getting lapped by them. DEALING WITH THE HAND Ken Roczen is now three races into the season since returning from a hand injury, and he says it s still pretty sore but he can deal with it. My hand has been kind of the same for the last couple of weeks, just because when you have inflammation it s like tendonitis and since I aggravate it [every time I ride], it doesn t really go away. Actually, today in practice, it didn t feel that great but it kind of stayed right there and almost felt better in the second moto than it did in the first moto. It s so weird; I don t even understand why. I ve been getting stronger and strong, racing fitness. Overall, I m more than stoked to be back on the podium.

10 ROUND 3 / JULY 2, 2018 THUNDER VALLEY PARK / LAKEWOOD, CALIFORNIA MOTOCROSS LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP P62 Justin Cooper (62) captured his firstever moto win in the 250MX class. Zach Osborne (1), however, had a forgettable day. with first moto-winner Cooper in third. But a huge first-turn pile-up consumed Savatgy and Osborne. Savatgy was able to remount quickly, but found himself midpack, which was a whole lot better than Osborne faired, who looked at first like he was going to sit the rest of the moto out, but then remounted, finding himself in dead last with a sore shoulder from the crash, a full 20 seconds behind the next rider in front of him. He would eventually finish the race in 20th, nabbing one valuable point for all of his effort. Meanwhile, up at the front, the Martin brothers went at it for nearly the entire moto, Alex leading Jeremy, giving absolutely no quarter to one another. Eventually, Jeremy found a way around his older brother. Behind them, Forkner had blasted up through the pack from a dismal start, leading Plessinger, Smith, Chase Sexton, RJ Hampshire and a fading Cooper. This is the way they would finish, with Jeremy Martin scoring a 2-1 to take the overall ahead of Alex, who went 3-2 for second. Cooper managed a third overall with his 1-8 finishes. After the race, Cooper revealed he had been sick earlier in the week, which explained his loss of endurance in the second moto. Plessinger s sixth overall dropped him to second place in the series, handing the red number plate to Jeremy Martin going into the two-week break before the series resumes at High Point Raceway. CN 450MX OVERALL 1. Eli Tomac (1-1) 2. Ken Roczen (2-2) 3. Blake Baggett (3-3) 4. Marvin Musquin (4-4) 5. Benny Bloss (6-5) 6. Justin Barcia (5-6) 7. Weston Peick (7-7) 8. Phil Nicoletti (8-8) 9. Dylan Merriam (9-10) 10. Brandon Scharer (14-9) 250MX OVERALL 1. Jeremy Martin (2-1) 2. Alex Martin (3-2) 3. Justin Cooper (1-8) 4. Austin Forkner (7-3) 5. Jordon Smith (4-5) 6. Aaron Plessinger (6-4) 7. Chase Sexton (10-6) 8. Shane McElrath (9-9) 9. Garrett Marchbanks (8-11) 10. RJ Hampshire (13-7)

11 ROUND 8 / JUNE 3, 2018 THE RED MILE / LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY FLAT TRACK AMERICAN FLAT TRACK SERIES P74 MEES BACK ON TRACK

12 VOL. 55 ISSUE 22 JUNE 5, 2018 P75 JARED MEES BOUNCES BACK WITH THE RED MILE WIN BY DAVE HOENIG PHOTOGRAPHY BY FLAT TRAK FOTOS Following a one-race hiccup, defending Grand National Champion Jared Mees (Indian Motorcycle/Rogers Racing Indian Scout FTR750) returned to his winning ways with yet another dominating performance on the Red Mile. The mile oval developed a tiny, unforgiving groove that fit Mees talents like a glove. On a track like this, it was so technical and so important to carry good corner speed on entry and through the corner and not bust the groove, said Mees. If you got off that groove, you were a sitting duck and going backwards quick. But I kind of grew up on this stuff, and I guess out of all the racetracks we race, this is my specialty. By recording the fastest time in qualifying at seconds, Mees positioned himself ideally. As fast qualifier, Mees had a choice of starting his heat from the inside or outside. The obvious outside choice offered a direct line to the After a surprising loss the week before in Springfield, Jared Mees bounced back and dominated the Red Mile in Lexington. Bryan Smith (4) was the runner-up.

13 ROUND 8 / JUNE 3, 2018 THE RED MILE / LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY FLAT TRACK AMERICAN FLAT TRACK SERIES P76 Brad Baker (6) edged out Henry Wiles for third. groove and an instant advantage in every race all night. In the 25-lap AFT Twins main event, Mees played it perfectly and grabbed a huge lead going into the first turn Grand National Champion Bryan Smith (Indian Motorcycle/Allstate Motorcycle Insurance Indian Scout FTR750) scrambled into second with a safe lead over a swarming hoard trying to position themselves on the valuable black notch. Henry Wiles (Bandit Industries/Wilco Racing Indian Scout FTR750), Brad Baker (Indian Motorcycle/Allstate Motorcycle Insurance Indian Scout FTR750) and last week s winner Jeffrey Carver (Roof-Systems of Dallas TX/Indian of Metro Milwaukee Indian Scout FTR750) were tightly bunched about 10 yards behind Smith. Teammates Sammy Halbert (Harley-Davidson Motor Company/Vance & Hines Harley- Davidson XG750R) and Brandon Robinson (Harley-Davidson Motor Company/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson XG750R) were right behind. The first of several incidents happened immediately sending Baker and Wiles high off the groove in turn two. Halbert took full advantage and grabbed third over Carver. Smith slightly closed the gap for a couple of laps before Mees methodically pulled away. If I tried to go any faster to make up any time on him or maybe pass him, I d mess up, said Smith. I would settle in and then make a little bit of a charge and then I d mess up and he would pull away a little more. While Mees and Smith were presenting the sold-out crowd with a boring race, for the remainder of the field it was a bare-knuckle brawl. Carver held third with Halbert and Wiles exchanging fourth. Robinson, Baker, Davis Fisher (Double D Performance/Bob Lanphere Beaverton Motorsports Indian Scout FTR750), Stephen Vanderkuur (Amsoil/Hodder Racing Kawasaki Ninja 650) and Jake Johnson (Estenson Racing/McCandless Truck Center Indian FTR750) were the leaders of the next group. Red lights stopped the race on lap 10, as contact between Baker and his Washington neighbor Davis sent Davis to the ground. Although uninjured, Davis was unable to make the restart. The restart was a replay as Mees roared off. Smith was

14 ROUND 8 / JUNE 3, 2018 THE RED MILE / LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY FLAT TRACK AMERICAN FLAT TRACK SERIES P78 close for a very short period of time. I was very thankful that I didn t screw up the restart. I was only one position off the groove and it felt like an eternity to get there, said Smith. I could only imagine being down on the inside in all the marbles. It was like starting on ice with no studs. I had a great restart pick position. That gave me a good gap on the first lap, said Mees. His lead grew to nearly three seconds before the race was over. Baker came out the best on the restart, leapfrogging Carver and Wiles. Wiles and Carver then had disastrous trips off the groove and fell to ninth and fourteenth, respectively. Halbert, Robinson, Johnson and Mikey Rush (G&G Racing/Machete Energy Yamaha FZ-07) filled the void. With the Harley-Davidson factory riders fighting over fourth, Wiles put his head down and fought his way back to the front. With five laps to go Wiles took fourth from Halbert and somehow closed on Baker, who was alone in third. When the last lap started, Wiles held third, but the battle was far from over and when the checkered flag fell it was Baker back in third, giving the Indian Factory their first podium sweep of the year. Halbert held on to fifth, but Chad Cose (Indian Motorcycle of Oklahoma City/Englehart Research & Technology Indian Scout FTR750), who was last on the first lap, climbed all the way to a solid sixth-place finish. Robinson, Carver, Johnson and Kenny Coolbeth rounded out the top 10. AFT SINGLES The 15-lap AFT Singles main started with a dash to the narrow black stripe leading to turn one Red Mile winner Kevin Stallings (Roof-Systems of Dallas, TX/Woody Kyle Racing Honda CRF450R) led the way. Defending AFT For the first time this year, factory Indian riders (Smith, Mees and Baker) swept the podium.

15 VOL. 55 ISSUE 22 JUNE 5, 2018 P79 The factory Harley- Davidson team had a good night with Brandon Robinson (44) taking seventh and Sammy Halbert (69) cracking the top five. Singles champion Kolby Carlile (Estenson Racing/McCandless Trucking Center Yamaha YZ450F) and Shayna Texter (Husqvarna Motorcycles/JCS Racing Husqvarna FC 450) were right on Stollings tail. The three leaders proceeded to thrill the full house with a 15-lap classic mile race. Each led laps, Stollings (6), Texter (3) and Carlile also with six, including the all-important 15th lap. The lead was rarely more than 0.03 of a second. Jesse Janisch (Roof-Systems of Dallas, TX/West Bend Harley-Davidson Yamaha YZ450F) was just back by himself in fourth. Most of the rest of the 18-rider field made up a large pack fighting over fifth. The slightest mistake would cost many positions much quicker than they could be made back. The chess game was being played out at over 100 miles per hour. Texter has the most mile experience and the most wins, but could she position herself to draft for the win. Ideally you do not want to lead off turn four on the last lap of a tight race like this, but that is ex- Briefly... BACK TO NORMAL Jared Mees quickly recovered from the disappointment of his second-place finish last week at the Springfield Mile as he continues to pad his AFT Twins points lead, now 170 to 116 over Henry Wiles. Brad Baker (101), Jeffrey Carver (99) and Kenny Coolbeth (99) are the top five. STILL IN CONTROL Despite being stuck in the middle of a wild race for fifth place in the AFT Singles main, Dan Bromley extended his points lead with a ninth-place finish. Bromley now has a 28-point lead over the injured Brandon Price, Jesse Janisch (105), Kolby Carlile (97) and Ryan Wells (95) round out the top five. ESTENSON INDIAN DEBUT After riding the first seven rounds on the Estenson Racing Yamaha FZ-07, Jake Johnson made his first ride on the Estenson Racing Indian Scout FTR750. Johnson bounced around from sixth to 10th before settling into a ninth-place finish. BACK ON TRACK The Harley-Davidson Motor Company/ Vance & Hines team improved on their disappointing Springfield results, as Brandon Robinson and Sammy Halbert were in and out of the top five the whole race. After all three team Harley- Davidson XG750Rs failed to make 10 laps at Springfield, they followed that up with solid fifth-, seventh- and 14thplace finishes by Halbert, Robinson and Jarod Vanderkooi. BETTER BUT While the track was still a narrow groove it was an improvement over last year s effort. The track is better than

16 ROUND 8 / JUNE 3, 2018 THE RED MILE / LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY FLAT TRACK AMERICAN FLAT TRACK SERIES P80 The Singles final featured great racing with Kolby Carlile (1) eventually taking the win. Shayna Texter (52) was third behind second-place Kevin Stollings (behind Texter). actly where Carlile found himself. It came down to the wire. Coming off of four, I didn t think I was going to win, said Carlile. I was hoping one of these two would pass me down the backstretch, but they were a little smarter than me, passing up the front stretch. But it worked out. I ve got to give it up to Shayna and Kevin. We kept it clean, and it was a great battle; the fans loved it I m sure. Stollings was just of a second away from repeating his Red Mile win and Texter was another back, looking to give Husqvarna its first dirt track win. Janisch was fourth well ahead of the scrum over fifth that went to Jordan Harris (S&J Coal / Roy Built Honda CRF450R). Tristan Avery (Honda), Morgen Mischler (Yamaha), Ryan Wells (Honda), Dan Bromley (KTM), Cameron Smith (Honda), Tanner Dean (KTM) and Ben Lowe (Honda) were all packed together shooting for fifth through 12th place. CN Briefly... it was last year. It s just narrow and hard to pass, said Bryan Smith. If I would have been a click better in the corners, Jared and I would have probably been drafting back and forth every lap and it would have been a show. It wouldn t have seemed so boring. This place could probably be cool, like Pomona where there is not a groove but a little bit of fluff. They had the right idea earlier trying to keep it loose. It needed more water; it was just a day late and a dollar short on that. Maybe the next time they will get the water in it earlier and we can have multi-line racing. At least something to catch you if you get off the groove. You are just ice skating and twiddling your thumbs until you get back on the groove.

17 ROUND 8 / JUNE 3, 2018 THE RED MILE / LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY FLAT TRACK AMERICAN FLAT TRACK SERIES (L-R) Stollings, Carlile and Texter celebrate on the Singles podium. P82 AFT TWINS 1. Jared Mees (Ind) 2. Bryan Smith (Ind) 3. Brad Baker (Ind) 4. Henry Wiles (Ind) 5. Sammy Halbert (H-D) 6. Chad Cose (Ind) 7. Brandon Robinson (H-D) 8. Jeffrey Carver Jr. (Ind) 9. Jake Johnson (Ind) 10. Kenny Coolbeth Jr. (Ind) AFT SINGLES 1. Kolby Carlile (Yam) 2. Kevin Stollings (Hon) 3. Shayna Texter (Hus) 4. Jesse Janisch (Yam) 5. Jordan Harris (Hon) 6. Tristan Avery (Hon) 7. Morgen Mischler (Yam) 8. Ryan Wells (Hon) 9. Dan Bromley (KTM) 10. Cameron Smith (Hon) iii My Own Race: 1 JARED MEES 1ST AFT TWINS Jared Mees race strategy was simple and flawless. Starts were important. If you were on the pole, you were on the groove, said Mees. You were able to get on the groove and take off. By the time you came off the corner, you were gone. You could put in such a good lap on the very first lap and you could break them. We were still a little bit better than Bryan every lap. We did what we had to do. I don t think Bryan was shifting and I was trying to shift, that could have been part of it. 4 BRYAN SMITH 2ND AFT TWINS Jared was a click better all day, but we made a couple changes for the main and I thought I could run with him, said Bryan Smith. I knew he was going to be hard to beat, but if I stayed with him we could get away from all the chaos that was going on back there, I m sure. Every time I would try to push, I d mess up. I could only go that pace. Finally, towards the end, I just settled in. Then I thought I better not settle in too much because someone is going to stuff me. I picked it up a little bit there at the end. Luckily, I had a big gap and I could kind of cruise for second. 6 BRAD BAKER 3RD AFT TWINS It was not an easy one, that s for sure. We had to work for it. You had to be aggressive, but not too aggressive, said Brad Baker. You either made a mistake or a dangerous move. We were all fighting for a two-foot groove. It didn t seem like you were able to make draft passes early. You just kind of had to run into the corner, but not too deep, where you blew the groove. If you did that you kind of messed up your friend. Unfortunately, Davis Fisher s handlebar hit my boot in the middle of three and four. He tried to do an outside pass, which was kind of ballsy, really. I m glad that he s okay. I never want to run into anybody like that on a mile. Henry Wiles and I seem to be finding each other on the track a lot tonight. I was able to out-school him on the last lap. I got him going into three then I pushed him wide, but he almost got me at the line.

18 ROUND 4 / JUNE 1-3, 2018 ROAD AMERICA / ELKHART LAKE, WISCONSIN ROAD RACE P84 MOTOAMERICA AMA/FIM NORTH AMERICAN ROAD RACING CH Cameron Beaubier came out the winner of a bruising two races at the iconic Road America venue, reinvigorating his championship hopes BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK PHOTOGRAPHY BRIAN J NELSON The 2018 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship just stepped up a gear. The beautiful surroundings of Road America saw two bare-knuckle boxing matches between the factory machines of Cameron Beaubier (Monster Energy/Yamalube Yamaha Factory Racing YZF-R1) and Toni Elias (Yo- RUBBIN S RA shimura Factory Suzuki Racing) and the privateer Attack Performance/ Herrin Compound Yamaha of Josh Herrin, with former two-time champ Beaubier taking a double victory his first wins of the year and a new championship lead. In the Supersport class, Valentin Debise (M4 Ecstar Suzuki) made a triumphant return to AMA competition after his brutal Daytona crash, taking race one with JD Beach Cameron Beaubier (6) kept hounding Josh Herrin (2) in both races to take his first wins of the season.

19 AMPIONSHIP VOL. 55 ISSUE 22 JUNE 5, 2018 P85 (Monster Energy/Yamaha Extended Service/Graves Yamaha) top of the pops in race two. The Junior Cup wins were shared by KTM Orange Brigade/JP43 Training s Alex Dumas and Yates Racing Kawasaki rider Ashton Yates, New Zealander Shane Richardson Jr. (Woolich Racing Kawasaki) took his first American victory in the Stock 1000 category and Altus Motorsports/Yamaha s Jason Madama took the Twins win. Superbike No quarter asked and absolutely none given. That s how one could view the two Superbike races at Road America. Beaubier, Elias and Herrin were the class of the field as they often used each other as berms, clashing and bashing into each other over two epic 13-lap races. For Superpole winner Beaubier, the race one win came after several close encounters with current champion Elias, the last of which saw the Spaniard tumbling through the gravel trap after Beaubier dove up the inside with a couple of corners to go. Elias had previously pushed Beaubier wide into turn one, and at that point the red mist came down. CING

20 ROUND 4 / JUNE 1-3, 2018 ROAD AMERICA / ELKHART LAKE, WISCONSIN ROAD RACE MOTOAMERICA ROAD RACING CHAMPIONSHIP P86 Herrin (2) rode an inspired weekend, leading many laps but coming up short of the wins. Toni Elias (1) had a weekend to forget as he lost the championship lead. Coming into the last lap, I think there s a difference between aggression and plain out, kind of dirty, said Beaubier. I felt like he probably might have got sucked in a little deep into one. [He] bounced off me and I got angry. Determined to get his lead back, Beaubier lunged up the inside of Elias, with the two making contact and the 2010 Moto2 World Champion coming off the worst. All three (Herrin, Beaubier and Elias) were summoned to race direction at the end of the race, but no action was taken. I do not have to say anything; the image speaks for itself, Elias said of the video replay of the contact between him and Beaubier, resulting in Elias crash. I don t agree of the decision of MotoAmerica [not to penalize Beaubier], but I have to respect the decision and that s it. Arguably the hero of Road America was Josh Herrin on his privateer Yamaha. The former AMA Superbike Champion was inspired across the weekend, pulling some audacious passes and putting on a show Beaubier and Herrin go for the line in race one. The win went to Beaubier (6) by just of a second. for the fans. After the Beaubier/Elias incident, Herrin hit the lead and looked set for a fairytale victory until Beaubier got the ultimate slipstream to steal the race one win by just of a second.

21 ROUND 4 / JUNE 1-3, 2018 ROAD AMERICA / ELKHART LAKE, WISCONSIN ROAD RACE Valentin Debise s (53) return to AMA competition couldn t have gone better with a memorable race-one win. P88 MOTOAMERICA AMA/FIM NORTH AMERICAN ROAD RACING CH He had a perfect view of Elias crash, and had his own strong views about it. Once I got up to those guys and I saw Toni go under Cam into turn one, I was like, that was pretty dirty, said Herrin. Then I passed Toni into the chicane and went to the left, and then kind of squirted out to the right and had the pass on him. Then he [Elias] just closes the door and leaves nowhere to go, so you just run out of space. That s exactly what he did to Cam into Canada Corner. He goes on the brakes, Cam s got the pass. He [Elias] released the brakes, closes the door, and you re thinking, Screw the guy behind me. I don t care about him. And then when you hit him, he cries about it. It s really dangerous. Nobody s going to say anything about it, but I am. Beaubier s teammate Garrett Gerloff was five seconds adrift of the battling trio at the flag, besting Jake Lewis (M4 Ecstar Suzuki) and Roger Hayden (Yoshimura Factory Suzuki Racing) rounding out the top five. Race two was red-flagged early after Mathew Scholtz (Westby Racing Yamaha) went down, and the restart boiled down to an all- Yamaha affair, with Beaubier and Herrin engaging in a race-long tussle. Herrin, spectacular as ever on his bucking and sliding Yamaha, was trying all he knew to make amends for his race-one defeat. He ducked up the inside of Beaubier early in the lap but ran wide with three corners to go. Beaubier got back underneath only for Herrin to attack again on the last corner and again run slightly wide, the neat and tidy Beaubier sneaking back in front for the win by seconds. Roger Hayden had his best race since round one with a third-place finish, heading Elias and Bobby Fong (Quicksilver/ Lexin Moto/Hudson Motorcycles

22 AMPIONSHIP VOL. 55 ISSUE 22 JUNE 5, 2018 P89 Yamaha YZF-R1) in an excellent ride to fifth. In the championship, Beaubier leaps to the front on 153 to Elias 151, Herrin sits third on 115, Scholtz fourth at 105 and Lewis fifth with 77. Supersport Three months ago, Valentin Debise suffered one of the biggest crashes of his life when he high-sided out of the lead of the Daytona 200, fracturing his L3 and L4 lumbar vertebrae. The Frenchman showed absolutely no ill effects of the accident on his return to MotoAmerica competition, storming to the Superpole win and taking a memorable victory over JD Beach by of a second in race one at the same venue in which he scored his debut MotoAmerica victory in Once we were here, I thought maybe I could make a plan, and maybe I could win at the end, Debise said. That s exactly what happened. I was in first and I knew I had competition right behind me. I checked out the big screen on the side of the track and saw he was a bit further back, so I knew that was my chance. I pushed and kept my head down to the finish line. This win means so much to me. I want to thank my crew for waiting for me. Third went to Rickdiculous Racing Yamaha s Hayden Gillim from Cory West (TSE Racing Yamaha) and Bryce Prince (Excelsus Print Solutions/KWR Yamaha) rounding out the top five. Beach got his revenge in race two but only just, as he took a second win over Debise with Gillim, once again, third from West and Nick McFadden (M4 medage Suzuki) making it two Suzukis in the top five. I was riding hard and I couldn t make any kind of gap at all, said Beach. Every time he did draft by me, he had some speed. It was a lot of fun racing. We were racing hard. In the championship, Beach is sitting pretty on 140 to Gillim s 97, West sits third on 79 from Braeden Ortt at 60 and McFadden fifth with 59. Junior Cup With more parity measures put in place by MotoAmerica, there was a good spread of manufacturers at the pointy end of the Junior Cup at Road America. Race one went to KTM s Alex Dumas his fourth win of the year. The French Canadian finished a massive eight seconds clear of Kawasaki s Ashton Yates, who, in turn, was 10 seconds ahead of Sean Ungvarsky (KTM Orange Brigade/Ghilliman Racing RC390). Ungvarsky headed a four-rider freight train to take third from Attack Performance/ Herrin Compound Yamaha rider Gavin Anthony, MP13 Racing Yamaha s Cory Ventura and RiderzLaw Racing Yamaha rider Jackson Blackmon. Race two saw Yates do a Dumas and streak clear to a iii My Own Race: 31 GARRETT GERLOFF 3-6 SUPERBIKE I m pretty disappointed, Gerloff said at the end of race one. I feel like I had the pace to be right there; I just have to figure out how to race at a track like this with a bunch of straightaways, a bunch of drafting and stuff like that. But I felt good and the bike felt good. We didn t get to use one of the compounds on the rear tires that I think we wanted to use, so I noticed a little bit of a difference from qualifying to the race and I had to kind of get used to that. We haven t raced in a month, so that s kind of the biggest thing. 95 ROGER HAYDEN 5-3 SUPERBIKE It felt great to get back on the podium, Hayden said after Sunday s race. I felt like I had a chance to win today, but I made a couple of mistakes late in the race that caused me to fall back a bit. Still, it s a good boost to my season to get back to running up front. I feel like I ve finally got the season started and I hope to be up there regularly the rest of the year.

23 ROUND 4 / JUNE 1-3, 2018 ROAD AMERICA / ELKHART LAKE, WISCONSIN ROAD RACE P90 MOTOAMERICA AMA/FIM NORTH AMERICAN ROAD RACING CH 7.8-second win over Ventura, Ungvarsky, Anthony and Blackmon, with Jay Newton (AGVSport America MonkeyMoto Yamaha) and Jamie Astudillo (Quarterley Racing/On Track Development Kawasaki) rounding out the top seven. Second to seventh place was separated by just of a second. Race one winner Dumas failed to finish after crashing on lap two while holding the race lead. I knew I needed to get to the front and make something happen, said Yates. I was pushing really hard when I got to the front of the group. I rode my butt off. In the championship, Dumas still leads on 100 to Yates 98, Ungvarsky third on 79, Ventura fourth with 68 and Anthony fifth on 66. Stock 1000 New Zealander Shane Richardson Jr. got his reward for two years of busting his butt in America with a win at the Stock 1000 class at Road America. Richardson held off Andrew Lee (RidersLaw Racing Kawasaki) and Andy DiBrino (EDR Performance/DiBrino Racing Yamaha) in the eight-lap encoun- Alex Dumas (23) took a dominant race-one win and looked set to repeat the feat in race two, but crashed out early. Ashton Yates (22) took the win in race two. ter, with Lee moving into the title lead after former leader Travis Wyman who had earlier qualified on pole crashed out on the fifth lap unhurt. This is my first win in MotoAmerica since coming here last year, so we re pretty stoked with that, said Richardson. I just tried to put together the best laps I could, lap by lap. I was waiting for the fight to come, but luckily I got away with it. Lee heads the title race on 60 to Wyman s 50, Richardson on 38, Timothy Bemisderfer on 34 and Stephen Incledon on 26. Twins The Road America Twins race saw a little bit of history as Altus Motorsports Yamaha s Jason Madama became the first Yamaha MT-07 rider to take a class victory after leader Chris Parris (Ghetto Customs Suzuki) ran wide on the final lap. Parrish recovered for second ahead of Dustin Dominguez aboard his Dustin Dominguez Racing Suzuki, the Oklahoman making his return to professional road racing at Road America. The plan was to just suck into the bubble and wait it out, said

24 AMPIONSHIP VOL. 55 ISSUE 22 JUNE 5, 2018 P91 Shane Richardson (28) holds off Andrew Lee, Travis Wyman, Andy DiBrino and Dustin Dominguez in Stock It would be the New Zealander s first American victory. Madama. I kind of had a strategy to stay in the bubble and wait until a straightaway where I could muscle around [Parris], but obviously it wasn t working out very good because he was able to suck in my draft and pass me down the straightaway. It ended up being a really good battle. If it wasn t for his mistake, it would have been a lot tougher. So he made it easier on me. It was a great race. CN Superbike Race One 1. Cameron Beaubier (Yam) 2. Josh Herrin (Yam) 3. Garrett Gerloff (Yam) 4. Jake Lewis (Suz) 5. Roger Hayden (Suz) Superbike Race Two 1. Cameron Beaubier (Yam) 2. Josh Herrin (Yam) 3. Roger Hayden (Suz) 4. Toni Elias (Suz) 5. Bobby Fong (Yam) Jason Madama (213) won his first MotoAmerica Twins Cup race of the year with a win over Chris Parrish (128).