IN
THE
WIND
P42
BEACH, GERLOFF BACK FOR MORE
Y
amaha officially announced
that it will again be support-
ing its Monster Energy/Yama-
lube/Yamaha Extended Service
(Y.E.S.)/Graves/Yamaha road
racing team in 2017 and will be
competing aboard the 2017 Ya-
maha YZF-R6 in the Supersport
class of the 2017 MotoAmerica
AMA/FIM North American Road
Racing Championship.
Defending Supersports
champ Garrett Gerloff and 2015
title-winner JD Beach are both
back.
Garrett said, "I'm so excited to
be a part of the Yamaha fam-
ily again for 2017! And family is
no exaggeration. Yamaha has
stood by my side since I be-
came a professional, through
the ups and downs, and they
make me feel like I am a part of
something bigger than myself.
I am so happy that I feel like I
was able to repay them for all
of their hard work and sacrifice
over the years by winning the
2016 MotoAmerica Supersport
Championship.
"Now, I'm working even
harder on becoming a smarter
racer and more consistent rider
so that I have the best chance
at holding the number-one plate
in the air, again, at the end of
2017. One thing that should also
make that goal a little easier is
the brand new R6, with new
features that will help JD and I
find more speed on the track. I
am also very happy to have JD,
one of my biggest competitors,
as my teammate again. We push
each other to be the best we
can be every time we show up
to the track. So, overall, 2017 is
going to be a challenging year
(like every year), but I feel con-
fident in my team and myself, ex-
cited to have a new motorcycle
to play with, and I'm ready to line
up on the grid at COTA in April."
Beach, said, "I'm really look-
ing forward to the 2017 season
and the new challenges that lay
ahead. Not only do I get to run
my beloved number 95 again,
but also, I get to work extra-hard
to put it at the front aboard the
brand new R6! I'm really looking
forward to racing the new R6
and to re-claim the title on a new
machine with the number 95 on
it. It would put the icing on the
cake. I'm getting as old as my
teammate Josh Hayes now, so
to have new challenges keeps
me motivated after all these
years racing."
The 2017 MotoAmerica
Supersport road racing season
gets underway on April 20-23 at
the Circuit Of The Americas in
Austin, Texas. CN
Garrett Gerloff (pictured), JD
Beach and Yamaha set to return
to MotoAmerica.
