VOLUME 56 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 17, 2019 P135
F
or the fourth time in five years, we find
ourselves chatting with Monster Energy
Yamaha's Cameron Beaubier as the premier
Superbike racer in the United States.
Four titles put the Californian in rarefied air, as he
now ties Yamaha legend Josh Hayes for second in
the all-time title tally. And this year had it all—a ma-
turing and sometimes threatening teammate in Gar-
rett Gerloff, an old rival in Toni Elias, and a points
deficit to turn around that looked near impossible
with three rounds to go.
"This year, it was really good, mentally, I feel
like," Beaubier said. "We were kind of struggling,
but we just kept digging, we never gave up. It was
a good reminder for the future. Things will come
around. You just got to keep your head down and
keep chipping away."
What he had to chip away at was a mammoth
35-point deficit to Yoshimura Suzuki's Toni Elias
with just two rounds to go, after the 2017 Mo-
toAmerica Champion had strung together win
after win at the beginning of the year and built
that sizeable gap.
Following a solid pre-season test program,
Beaubier hit the ground running with the first
win of the year at round one at Road Atlanta.
Yet by the sixth round of the series in La-
COMING
FROM BEHIND
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J. NELSON
CAMERON BEAUBIER PROVED THE VALUE OF SELF-BELIEF IN 2019, TURNING AROUND WHAT SEEMED
AN UNASSAILABLE DEFICIT INTO A LAST-ROUND, LAST-RACE CHAMPIONSHIP VICTORY
