Gagne, meanwhile, pushed
to the front, and Beaubier came
with him—the two riders with
every MotoAmerica Superbike
Championship between them
since 2015, bar the title Toni
Elias won in 2017—taking control
of the race, with Fong in third.
On the penultimate lap, Beau
-
bier put the move on Gagne at
the final chicane, but Gagne got
the drive of drives, shooting past
into the final corner to retake the
lead heading into the last lap. An-
other session of paint swapping
at
turn seven/eight had Gagne
leading onto the back straight
for the last time, but the superior
horsepower of the BMW meant
Beaubier was back into the lead
heading down the hill.
Beaubier left his braking way
later than Gagne, somehow
stopping the Tytler's BMW in
time and ensuring Gagne had no
recourse. Beaubier thus took the
Fong surprised everyone
with a 1:23.640 to take the
first pole of the year on the
R1, heading Kelly and Herrin.
After taking the lead on the
exit of turn one, Herrin would
lead the first of seven laps, but
Fong barged past at the final
corner of lap seven, pushing
the number-two Ducati off the
track and into the gravel. Herrin
eventually fought his way back
to fifth by the flag.
ROUND 1 / APRIL 19-21, 2024
ROAD ATLANTA / BRASELTON, GEORGIA
OFF-ROAD I FIM NORTH AMERICAN ROAD RACING CHAMPIONSHIP
P88
76 LORIS BAZ
6-7 SUPERBIKE
"It was a damage limitation week-
end, especially for today after the big
crash we had after the finish line of
race one yesterday," Loris Baz said
after race two. "It was a big impact,
and I was very sore this morning, so
for today, I was just praying for rain.
That at least made it possible for me
to race, but we don't know the bike
so well in those conditions. I couldn't
do the warm-up in the morning due
to the effects of the crash, and I just
started the race as calm as possible.
I needed to figure out how to ride
with my injured foot, and I started to
increase the pace because in the full
wet conditions, the bike wasn't too
bad, especially the rear grip. But as I
went faster, I had a moment where I
lost the rear and had some huge pain
in my ankle, so I decided to just bring
it home and be safe. That meant
seventh for us today."
MYOWNRACE
