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CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE T he 2018 MotoAmerica AMA/ FIM North American Road Racing Championship is com- plete and the season featured a number of milestones to takes its place nicely in the 43-year-history of the series (formerly known as the AMA Superbike Champion- ship). The biggest takeaway from 2018 was the strong comeback by Cameron Beaubier and Ya- maha after losing the MotoAmer- ica Superbike Championship to Toni Elias and Yoshimura Suzuki in 2017. Both Beaubier and Elias marched up the ranks on the all-time wins list and Suzuki hit a major milestone being the first manufacturer in series history to reach the 200-win mark. From a longtime observer's eye, the series appeared to continue to grow at a steady rate, in terms of race attendance. But there were also challenges, most noticeably on the TV side with the impasse of beIN Sports and several of its cable providers. Here is a look at some of the highlights of the 2018 MotoAmerica season. Beaubier Hits His Stride Cameron Beaubier earned his third MotoAmerica Super- bike Championship in 2018. It was a remarkable bounce back for Beaubier and Yamaha after Yoshimura Suzuki dominated 2017 P116 2018 MOTOAMERICA'S PLACE IN HISTORY Motorsports Park. In a wet race two on Sunday, Beaubier led from the start and was never headed. Beaubier was 13.65 seconds ahead of Yoshimura Suzuki's Hayden. The win was the 32nd of Beaubier's AMA Superbike career, a mark that put him in a tie for third on the all-time win list with Miguel Duhamel. The Beaubier/Elias rivalry is certain to continue in 2019. The Monster Energy Yamaha R1 and Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 ap- pear to be evenly matched, so it is likely to come down to a rider's consistency. Beaubier will be 26 next year; Elias is 10 years older. The pattern seems set between these two, with Beaubier slightly more consistent over various tracks and conditions, but Elias finishing first and second with Toni Elias and Roger Hayden. At 25, Beaubier is just now entering the prime of his racing career and it would be tough to pick anyone but him as the favorite to win the title in 2019. Yamaha rallied and gave Beaubier a remarkably consistent potent R1 Superbike. He was good rain or shine and was solid from circuit to circuit. The season started off slow for Beaubier, but then he went on a midseason tear winning seven of eight races at one stretch from June to August and that, com- bined with costly crashes by Elias, opened the door for Beaubier to clinch the championship with two races remaining in the series. Beaubier won his title in style earlier this month at New Jersey As far as growth, it was a positive year for MotoAmerica.