MOTOAMERICA READIES FOR COTA OPENER
M
onster Energy Graves
Yamaha's Cameron Beau-
bier topped the timesheets at
the two-day Dunlop tire test at
the Circuit of The Americas in
preparation for the MotoAmerica
AMA/FIM North American Road
Racing Championship season
opener in three-weeks time.
After leading the first day in
mixed conditions, Beaubier
improved on his time, drop-
ping down in the 2:10s with a
2:10.730 in the final session.
"We started out strong today
and put in a solid race stint,"
Beaubier said via release. "This
track is super physical and I just
wanted to make sure I was solid
in a race situation, a race stint. I
felt good. I was plugging away at
laps and not pushing like crazy.
Kind of riding around at 80
percent and getting a good flow
going.
"We put some new tires on
for the last session and went out
and did some fast laps. I didn't
get a perfect lap in, I made a
couple of mistakes and ran into
a couple of guys, but I think
coming back here for the race
we'll be ready. I can't thank my
guys enough for all the hard
work they put in. It's been crazy.
They've been staying up until two
in the morning getting ready for
the test. It's pretty cool they're
working that hard. I just need to
keep my hard work up too and
get ready for the season."
Defending AMA Superbike
Champion Josh Hayes trailed
his young teammate by .349 of a
second. Hayes was happy to get
the track time at a track that the
former series had never raced.
"I'm very thankful that Mo-
toAmerica had this test prior
to the race," Hayes said. "This
was super beneficial for me. We
IN
THE
WIND
P26
Cameron
Beaubier leads
the way at the
Circuit of The
Americas.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
BRIAN
J
NELSON
