2021 MOTOAMERICA PREVIEW
P90
FEATURE
in World Superbike. Ducati wants
this title again, and with Baz and
the Panigale they may just have the
combination to do it.
Then there is defending champi-
onship-winning team, Fresh N' Lean
Attack Performance Yamaha. Team
owner Richard Stanboli is a master-
class builder in the vein of past
legends of the championships such
as Rob Muzzy, Pops Yoshimura,
Udo Gietl and Eraldo Ferracci. If
anything, the Yamaha R1 Superbike
Stanboli supplied to Cameron Beau-
bier last year was actually better than
the full-fledged factory rigs he raced
in seasons prior. That is good news
for team riders Jake Gagne and
Josh Herrin.
Gagne could also lay claim to pre-
season favorite. He was after all, the
runner-up in last year's champion-
Baz's intro into MotoAmerica feels very reminiscent of Toni
Elias' stunning debut in 2016 where he won the first three races
he entered. Baz may have even more potential out of the box
than Elias. Elias was riding an outdated Suzuki GSX-R1000 when
he came into the series. When they gave him the new and im-
proved GSX-R, he won the championship the next season.
Baz is already ahead of the game in that department, riding
the factory Ducati Panigale V4 R, possibly an overdog among
the entire world of Superbikes. So, Baz has the mount to win the
title, no doubt. The key question is how quickly he will adapt to
MotoAmerica-spec Dunlop tires and the American circuits, most
of which will be completely new to him. Ducati is trying to stack
the odds in their favor by already having Baz test on at least two
of the circuits (New Jersey Motorsports Park and VIRginia Inter-
national Raceway) that MotoAmerica will visit this season.
Ducati has not won the MotoAmerica/AMA Superbike Cham-
pionship since 1994 when Australian Troy Corser stopped off
and accomplished the feat in 1994 en route to his stellar career
