(Left) Kelly's 2021
season bought the
gift of a national
supersport title. Now
he wants to make
his mark in Europe.
(Below) American
Racing Team
Academy youngsters
Kensei Matsudaira
(left, with father Kuni),
and Travis Horn (right,
with father Jeremy).
Both are aiming for
GP's in the future,
with Matsudaira set
to race in Spain this
year in the junior
Moto5 championship
and Horn riding in the
MotoAmerica Ohvale
Mini Cup series.
and physically hang off the bike
more. I've always had more of
a neutral riding style, so that's
been a little bit tough to adapt to.
And there's the politics of
the Dunlop control tire, which
is very different in its character
than the control Dunlop used in
MotoAmerica.
"I feel like grip-wise, they're
not much different," Beaubier
says. "It's just the way the whole
bike reacts. The front tire is a
little bit wider and it's just a super
vague tire. It does not give you
much feeling, but you have to
ask for so much grip out of it,
because everyone else is.
"I've had a lot of crashes
where I release the front brake,
where I'm already in the corner,
and the tire is not loaded. That's
where a lot of them have been.
FEATURE I AMERICAN RACING TEAM
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Besides that, I'm stoked to have
that year under my belt. I'm going
to keep progressing.
Newly married to long-time
partner, Shelby, who will join
him for the majority of the 2022
season at his base about a half
hour's drive from Barcelona in
Sant Pere De Ribes, everything
is looking rosy for Beaubier to
have a successful year in Moto2
against a field of riders hungrier
