VOL. 56 ISSUE 14 APRIL 9, 2019 P71
Round one of
MotoAmerica 2019
provided plenty of
and spills, but
in top-level
the cream
to the top
THINGS
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J NELSON
T
he great thing about a new year
is the renewed optimism it can
generate. The beginning of a
new season presents the ideal chance
for a dark horse to make its presence
known, for a new name to, as Eminem
so aptly said, "please stand up."
But at the end of round one, Mo-
toAmerica 2019 looked exactly like
MotoAmerica 2018, with Toni Elias (Yo-
shimura Suzuki) and Cameron Beaubier
(Monster Energy Yamaha) at the top of
the tree.
EBC BRAKES SUPERBIKE
The two who have shared the last three
MotoAmerica Championship wins be-
tween them were once again unassailable
in Georgia, with notable performances
coming from the bullheaded South African
Mathew Scholtz (Westby Racing Yamaha),
class returnee JD Beach (Attack Perfor-
mance Estenson Racing Yamaha) and the
man under arguably the most pressure in
2019, Elias' Yoshimura Suzuki teammate
Josh Herrin.
At the end of the second race, it was
race winner and new father Elias who
would leave with a four-point title lead after
taking second in race one to Beaubier,
setting himself up nicely for round two next
week at Circuit of The Americas, a venue
he's won at multiple times in the past.
"Everybody was telling me that," Elias
said of his pace being slowed with hav-
ing a child. "I was kind of worried. When
he was born, in my head I said, 'what the
heck? Now I have a really strong reason to
fight for,' so that's what happened."
JD Beach leads the
way in Superbike early
in race two.
CHANGE…
