Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/697689
IN THE WIND P42 BEAUBIER, ELIAS SHARE UTAH MOTOAMERICA WINS M onster Energy/Graves Yamaha's Cameron Beau- bier moved out of a tie with 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden and into sixth on the all- time AMA Superbike win list with his 18th career victory in race one on a sunny Saturday at the Utah Motorsports Campus in Salt Lake City, Utah, June 24-25. A few hours later, however, Yoshimura Suzuki's Toni Elias turned the tables on his rivals to score the victory, his fifth of the season, in what was the second scintillating Superbike race of the day in Utah. The margin of victory in both races—combined—was just .291 of a second. Unlike the other MotoAmerica rounds, the Utah race held racing on Friday and Saturday, instead of the usual Saturday-Sunday format. Superbike/Superstock 1000 Race one was the normal Su- perbike thriller with Beaubier's teammate Hayes surprising even himself with a pace that had him at the front of the pack from the start and a pace that kept him there for the majority of the race. That was until Beaubier upped the pace with a 1:49.776 lap to take over at the front on the 16th lap. From there he was never headed, winning his seventh race of the season by just .171 of a second over Hayes. Yoshimura Suzuki's Roger Hayden was third, 1.1 seconds behind, with Elias a few tenths behind in fourth and seeth- ing with grip issues. "I felt like I had a couple of areas where I was stronger than Josh [Hayes]," Beaubier said after race one. "But he had a couple of areas where he was stronger than me also. I knew Rog [Hayden] and Toni [Elias] were right there and I didn't want to wait too long to try and make a move on Josh just because I know it's just as easy for Toni and Rog to pass me on the brakes as it is for Josh. I wanted to at least lead going into the last lap and see what hap- pens. I thought I threw it all away when I ran wide into five. I thought Josh was going to squirt up the inside of me, but I was able to get it stood up and on the fat part of the tire to squirt out of there." Fifth place overall went to Bazzaz Superstock 1000 class winner Josh Herrin, the Wheels In Motion/Meen Motorsports rider earning his sixth win of the season and his fifth in a row. Herrin barely bested Yamalube/ Westby Racing's Mathew Scholtz, the South African racing to sixth overall and second in class in his debut for the team. Those two were just fractions ahead of TOBC Racing's Danny Eslick, the Oklahoman third in class. Superbike rider Jake Gagne was eighth on his Broaster Chicken/Roadrace Factory Yamaha R1 with Quicksilver/Latus Motors Racing's Fong and Aprilia Cameron Beaubier won Friday's opening Superbike race, which was his 18 th career victory. PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J. NELSON