Cycle News

CHAMPIONSHIP VOL. 52 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 11, 2015 P97 wracking was the fact that it took Beach a while to realize what happened to Herrin. "We had a signal for my pit board in case Herrin crashed out and I came around one lap and they had it on there," said Beach. "And then the next lap it wasn't there," he said. "I never look back in a race and I kept looking back. I'm like, 'where is he at?' Then I finally realized he wasn't there." Naturally, Beach was over- joyed to take home the number one plate in the inaugural Mo- toAmerica Supersport Champi- onship. It was still hard to absorb top of his class. All Beach needed to secure his second AMA National Road Race title a weekend early was one point. Basically, he had to finish ahead of Herrin. In the first part of the race, a mistake looked to make that a difficult task. In part two, an even bigger mistake by Herrin, who was now out of the picture, made it his to lose. "That was definitely the hard- est five laps I've ever had to ride," Beach said. "I was riding so timid and just trying to finish. It's just an amazing feeling." Making it even more nerve- longer. Beach, like many racers, battled with a piss-poor job market for road racers. Follow- ing his championship in the AMA Pro Road Racing's Supersport East division in 2010—which was more closely related to MotoAmerica's Superstock 600 class—Beach impressed with his fourth-place finish at the Daytona 200 and showed some flashes of brilliance on a Superbike. But a string of troubled races sent him backwards, and he was nearly written off. It's taken five years to get back to where he started—at the MOVIN' ON UP The newly crowned Su- perstock 600 Champion Joe Roberts moved up to the Supersport class, as he did at the inaugu- ral round at the Circuit of The Americas during the Grand Prix weekend when the Superstock 600 class wasn't included. It was a much bet- ter showing this time around for Roberts (who ended with a DNF in the downpour at CoTA [Circuit of The Americas]) with a fourth-place finish to cap off his title secured at the previous round at Laguna Seca. The Wheels In Motion/ Motorsport.com/Meen Yamaha rider was satisfied with his effort, but felt that he could've done better. "It was a good race for me, coming from Superstock," Roberts said. "I think it was important to show that I could run the pace. A little unfortunate about the start but it's fine. I'm happy with the race, how it went." Although it wasn't decided yet, Roberts was hoping to race Supersport at the upcoming MotoAmerica season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park. "Maybe I'll run it in New Jersey," he said. "We haven't decided yet, but it would be interesting to see if I can maybe get out front next time." Roberts has already proven his dominance in the Superstock 600 class, taking multiple wins this season. Now that the title is locked up, he wants a shot at trying to run up front with the best 600 class riders. "You really do learn something when you get up front with those guys," he said. "I think that's really key." The other advantage is that a pure MotoAmerica weekend will have a lot more track time, and give the young California rider a true crack at Supersport. "We'll have more track time," he said. "This weekend was just a huge rush and it's actually the first time I've been on the Supersport bike. At CoTA, I was kind of on a mix of my Superstock, and I only had the [Supersport] engine on my Superstock bike. I think with more time on this bike, I know I have the pace and I can run at the front with those guys. We'll see what happens." Joe Roberts (27) hopes to have another go at Supersport at the season finale in New Jersey.

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