VOLUME ISSUE APRIL , P77
In a seesawing race, Beaubier held his nerve and
never really let Gagne have a go at him despite con-
sistent pressure from the reigning champion.
Beaubier thus held on for a famous win, the 55th
of his MotoAmerica career and the first for BMW
since Harry Klinzmann's victory in 1978 at Bryar
Motorsports Park in New Hampshire.
"I was doing everything I could just to keep Jake
behind me," Beaubier said. "I was coming down the
front straightaway and I was looking at Jake's board
and I saw the gap shrinking. I was like, 'Man.' I didn't
have anything left. I was riding as hard as I could. I
was (arm) pumping up a little bit in the first section.
This place is a freaking handful on a big bike. But it
feels so good to get this first win for Tytlers BMW.
All those guys have been working so hard, sunup
to sundown in Florida building the bikes, getting us
ready to race for the season."
In third was a revitalized Josh Herrin. In his debut
on the factory Ducati Panigale V4 R for the War
-
horse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC team he won last
year's MotoAmerica Supersport title with, Herrin
16 EZRA BEAUBIER
1/1 STOCK 1000
"Well, I hope this becomes a habit!" Ezra
Beaubier said after winning Stock 1000
race two. "Honestly, I woke up today just
with a completely different feeling. I finally
had the confidence. I can do this now. I
can run with these guys. I just felt really
good. We found some stuff with the bike
last night and it was really positive. In
warmup, I basically matched my fastest lap
of the race yesterday in warmup. I wasn't
really pushing super hard, so I felt super
good going into the race, super confident. I
felt like I could rip off a bunch of the 1:26's
in the race, and I was able to execute that."
MYOWNRACE
97 ROCCO LANDERS
DNF/1 TWINS CUP
"Yesterday, I knew I was kind of screwed on
lap one. I felt the thing starting to lose power
off the start and then again on turn seven,
but those days happen," Rocco Landers
said. "I didn't even know I was racing until
I think last weekend. I was literally hanging
insulation and my dad comes in and goes,
'Hey, Matt called and he wants to know if
you want to fill in for Ben Gloddy for the
week.' I was like, 'Definitely!' I didn't know if
I was going to be racing. I feel very grateful
towards Matt for giving me that opportunity.
Days like this are what you always want, so
let's hope we can have some more of these,
depending on how long I'm filling in here."
