VOLUME ISSUE MAY , P65
second Warhorse Ducati of Baz
and the impressive privateer
Bobby Fong on the Wrench Mo-
torcycles Yamaha in fifth.
The final race of the triple-
header format again had Beau-
bier in full command, although
this time he missed the hole-
shot, and it was Petersen
making the early running from
Beaubier and Herrin with Kelly
breathing down his neck.
Petersen's lead lasted all of
one lap, as Beaubier's BMW
horsepowered his way easily
past the Yamaha into turn one.
But he didn't quite make the
break like he did in race two,
Petersen hanging on for grim
death and keeping the gap to
under 1.1 seconds by lap 10.
Kelly who pulled a perfect pass
on Petersen to put his BMW
on the podium (how many Ps
can we use?). The Floridian set
Petersen's number 45 Yamaha
up at the penultimate corner,
block-passed him at the final
corner, and used the superior
horsepower of the BMW to drag
the Yamaha to the line, Kelly
sealing a first career MotoAmer
-
ica Superbike podium and first
for the TopPro team in just his
fourth start.
Petersen was third, furious
at himself for leaving the door
open, but he did hold off the
Panigale just before the wall. He
remounted but later retired with
the damage done too much to
continue.
By half race distance, Beau-
bier was four seconds clear of
Petersen, but the man in sec-
ond yesterday was nowhere to
be seen. Gagne was dropping
down the order like a stone, with
personal or machinery troubles
haunting him. Turns out it was
the former, as the dreaded arm
pump for which he's had four pre
-
vious operations on in attempts
to cure, made an unwelcome
return. He would eventually finish
eighth, some 29 seconds down
on winner Beaubier.
The battle was for the second
and third places, and it would be
Logan Cunnison (58) makes it two
from two with the second Junior
Cup race win at Barber.
