ROAD RACE
MOTOAMERICA AMA/FIM NORTH AMERICAN ROAD RACING CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 4 / MAY 15, 2016
ALTON, VIRGINIA / VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
P58
SUPERSPORT/
SUPERSTOCK 600
Garrett Gerloff took another
double win in the MotoAmerica
Supersport Championship at
VIR, cementing his title lead on
145 points and allowing him a bit
of breathing space after his two
main title rivals, Team Hammer's
Valentin Debise and teammate
JD Beach both made incor-
rect tire choices for race one,
dropping them to ninth and 14th
places, respectively.
Both would bounce back to
put on the race of the weekend
for the fans at VIR in race two,
with Debise coming within an
ace of taking his first MotoAmer-
ica race victory, only to be
denied by a drafting Gerloff with
Beach sitting just behind in third.
A brief storm rolled in just
before the start of race one on
Saturday and ravaged the pits,
tearing down awnings and tents
with thankfully no injuries to rid-
ers or personnel, but as soon
as the inclement weather came,
it was gone, making tire choice
critical. Beach went for full wets
while Gerloff and M4 Sportbike-
TrackGear.com Suzuki's Cam-
eron Petersen both chose the
ultimately correct combination
of slicks on the drying surface.
Wheels In Motion/Meen Motors-
ports Yamaha rider Joe Roberts
went for a wet front and slick
rear, a combination that netted
him the final podium position at
the flag.
Beach cleared off at the front,
opening a lead of 12 seconds
but destroyed his tires in the
process, meaning it was all he
could do to nurse the Y.E.S
Graves Yamaha home in 14th
place. Gerloff and Petersen
meanwhile charged through the
field to take a clear first and sec-
ond from Roberts, with Super-
stock 600 rider Michael Gilbert
putting on a sensational perfor-
mance to finish fourth overall
and first in class from Benny
Solis Jr. and Travis Wyman.
"I think it's a little bit of both,"
Gerloff said when asked if his ri-
vals' tire choices played a part in
his decision or if the choice was
his and his alone. "Luckily this
is one of the tracks I've raced at
a lot as an amateur as this is my
home area in the southeast. I've
It was this close all the
way to the flag and it
was Garrett Gerloff
who got the gold.
