IN
THE
WIND
P22
HERRIN, ROBERTS GET A FRESH START
W
ill MotoSport.com/
Meen Yamaha be
the team of the come-
back kids for 2015? It
certainly has the chance
to be just that after Yama-
ha announced that the
team will feature Josh
Herrin and Joe Rob-
erts in MotoAmerica's
600cc classes. They
will be campaigning Ya-
maha R6 machines, with
Herrin in the Supersport
class and Roberts in the
Superstock 600 class.
At the very least the
pair will be able to com-
miserate over their 2014
seasons and look forward to a
brighter future. After a stellar
2013 for both Herrin and Roberts
they were hailed as two of the
most promising American road
racing prospects. But then they
hit major bumps in the road last
season.
Fresh from winning the 2013
AMA Superbike Championship,
Herrin launched his GP career
in Moto2 with AirAsia Caterham
Moto Racing. It was an ill-fated
season for Herrin from the begin-
ning with a crash on the first lap
of the first race. He never gained
momentum after that but instead
suffered a series of crashes and
injuries and was eventually re-
leased by the team midseason.
After his stunning AMA debut
in 2013, which saw him go un-
defeated in Supersport races,
Roberts also had a challenging
2014 trying to overcome racing
an uncompetitive motorcycle in
the Daytona SportBike class.
Like Herrin he ended up on the
ground too often, missed races,
and when he did ride, often did
so with nagging injuries.
Both will be looking to turn
their careers back in the right
direction in 2015 and they'll be
doing so with MotoSport.com/
Meen Yamaha.
"I'm excited to be back racing
in the U.S., again, especially in
MotoAmerica's inaugural sea-
son," said Herrin. "I've got unfin-
ished business in the 600 class
and aboard the Yamaha R6, so
I'll be racing hard for the cham-
pionship."
Roberts, in addition to being
the winner of five AMA Pro Su-
perSport races in 2013, was also
a former Red Bull Rookies Cup
race winner.
"I'm really excited to be riding
for Meen Motorsports," Roberts
said. "They are a proven team—
one of the best in the paddock—
and it feels fantastic to go into
the 2015 season with them be-
hind me. We're looking forward
to doing really well in the new
Superstock 600 class. It's go-
ing to be an exciting season with
Wayne Rainey and the KRAVE
Group taking over the series."
Larry Lawrence
Josh Herrin looks to bounce back
from a nightmare 2014 season in
the Moto2 World Championship.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
