VOL. 53 ISSUE 53 FEBRUARY 23, 2016 P25
MOTOAMERICA TESTS AT THUNDERHILL
M
otoAmerica's top teams
headed to Thunderhill
Raceway Park in Northern Cali-
fornia for another preseason test
on February 17-18.
Yoshimura Suzuki, Monster
Energy Graves Factory Rac-
ing Yamaha, Meen Motorsports
Yamaha, Yamaha Extended
Services Yamaha and Latus Mo-
tors Kawasaki were all present at
Thunderhill, with the test ham-
pered by cold and windy condi-
tions for the 11 riders that took to
the track.
"We had a couple of new
parts to try, a couple of dif-
ferent shocks and stuff, and
I feel like we definitely made
forward progress," said defend-
ing MotoAmerica Superbike
Champion Cameron Beaubier.
"Our lap times weren't as good
as in previous tests here, but I
definitely think we made a step
in the right direction and it's
always good to ride. It set us up
good for the COTA test and by
that time we'll be thinking about
going racing."
The test saw the debut of
the Latus Motors team's new
Superstock 1000-spec Kawa-
saki ZX-10Rs that Bobby Fong
and David Anthony will race in
the 2016 championship. The
duo were busy turning laps on
the new bike in an effort to get
it close to race ready for the
COTA test, but both riders were
impressed with how good the
new bike is.
"I like it; the Kawasaki is
good," said Anthony near the
end of day two. "For com-
ing straight out of the box,
it's really good. We made a
lot of changes, but we pretty
much went back to where
we started; back to how we
turned up here with it. We've
got one more test, the COTA
test, and that's it, so it's hard
to judge where we stand.
We're still a few seconds off
the Superbikes, but it's hard to
tell. Superstock-wise, we're all
about the same speed. I think
we'll be close right away."
The test also saw the debut
of Dakota Mamola in the Meen
Motorsports team, who took to
the track alongside supersport
teammate Joe Roberts and
Superstock 1000 rider Josh
Herrin. CN
MotoAmerica Superbike
Champion Cameron
Beaubier leads Supersport
Champion JD Beach. Beach
was a late faller in the test,
suffering a bruised pelvis.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
BRIAN
J.
NELSON
