ROAD RACE
MOTOAMERICA AMA/FIM NORTH AMERICAN ROAD RACING CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 9 / SEPTEMBER 11, 2016
NEW JERSEY MOTORSPORTS PARK / MILLVILLE, NEW JERSEY
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BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J. NELSON
L
ap 17 of the final MotoAmer-
ica Superbike race of 2016
will live on in Cameron
Beaubier's mind as the moment
his title defense almost went up
in smoke. Lying a safe fourth
behind leader Toni Elias (Yo-
shimura Suzuki Factory Racing),
Roger Hayden (Yoshimura Suzuki
Factory Racing) and title rival and
Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha
teammate Josh Hayes, Beaubier
needed only to circulate the 2.25-
mile New Jersey Motorsport Park
layout seven more times to be
crowned a back-to-back Mo-
toAmerica Superbike Champion.
And then, bang.
SUPEBIKE/
SUPERSTOCK 1000
In a heartbreaking scene, Beaubi-
er's factory Yamaha lunched itself
and poured white smoke from the
back of the machine, the young
champion out of the final round
of the MotoAmerica Superbike
Championship through no fault of
his own.
"I nearly high-sided a couple
of times before in some strange
spots on the track, and I was
looking down to see oil but I
couldn't see any," said Beaubier.
"Then it just died on the straight. I
looked down and my boots were
wet—not with oil—it was something
else like coolant, so I just parked
it at turn one."
It was an astounding scene
as Beaubier slumped over his
stricken YZF-R1 as the race took
That smile just
replaced a face of
pure anguish as
Cameron Beaubier
claimed a lucky
second title.
THE AGONY
CAMERON BEAUBIER SAW HIS
CONCLUSION TO THE
