(Left) Beaubier
and paddock
buddy Jake Dixon
share a laugh
after placing
second and third
in qualifying in
Portugal. (Right)
Beaubier had
former MotoGP
factory star John
Hopkins in his
corner for his two
years at American
Racing.
INTERVIEW I MOTO2 RACER: CAMERON BEAUBIER
P78
"The difference between this guy's
career is over and this guy is a hero is
one second. It's insane. The racing is
brutal. Basically, if you're not moving
forward, if you're not trying to move
forward, you're going
backwards. Especially
those first couple laps,
if you're not pushing 100
percent, and if you're
not confident, you're go-
ing to see a wheel going
up the inside of you, left
and right. It's definitely
take-no-prisoners out
there, but it's pretty cool,
though. All those guys,
too, no matter if you're
in third or if you're in
23rd, they're still going
to race you like their life
depends on it."
Moving to Europe at
the end of 2020 as MotoAmerica Su-
perbike Champion for a fifth time and
renting a beachside house south of
Barcelona in Sant Pere de Ribes with
wife Shelby and close friend Cam Gish
from Bell Helmets, Beaubier admits to
a false sense of security following his
first test on the Kalex chassis at the
end of 2020 in Jerez, where he ended
up seventh fastest, 0.6 seconds off his
then new teammate, Marco Ramirez.
"We didn't have per-
fect track time at Jerez,"
Beaubier said. "But it
gave me a little under-
standing of the bike. It
was almost like a false
sense of reality because
I actually did pretty good.
I came back at the begin-
ning of last year ready to
start rolling. We did the
official test and a couple
other tests at the begin-
ning of the year, and I
was just dumbfounded
at how fast everyone
was and how different
the bike was once you
started riding it on the limit. And I've
had to change my style so much to fit
this bike. I had to hang off a lot more to
get it turned."
What were the main differences
between the Kalex Moto2 machine
"I WAS JUST
DUMBFOUNDED AT HOW
FAST EVERYONE WAS
AND HOW DIFFERENT
THE BIKE WAS ONCE YOU
STARTED RIDING IT ON
THE LIMIT. AND I'VE HAD
TO CHANGE MY STYLE
SO MUCH TO FIT THIS
BIKE. I HAD TO HANG
OFF A LOT MORE TO GET
IT TURNED."
