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/795513
IN THE WIND P46 ELIAS FASTEST AT MOTOAMERICA THUNDERHILL TEST T oni Elias and the brand new Suzuki GSX-R1000R set the fastest time at the two-day Mo- toAmerica test at Thunderhill in Northern California, March 2-3. In all, 10 riders took part in the two days of testing: Cameron Beaubier (Superbike), Josh Hayes (Superbike), Roger Hayden (Su- perbike), Toni Elias (Superbike), Josh Herrin (Superbike), Bobby Fong (Superstock 1000), Bryce Prince (Superstock 1000), Garrett Gerloff (Supersport), JD Beach (Supersport) and Michael Gilbert (Superstock 600). When all was said and done it was Yoshimura Suzuki's Toni Elias coming away with the fast- est lap time, the Spaniard circu- lating the three-mile road course in 1:46.10, accord- ing to lap times supplied by the team and garnered by Roadrac- ingWorld.com. This was Elias' first time at Thunderhill Raceway Park and his second test on the brand new GSX-R1000R. "The new bike is really good," Elias said. "There is a lot of poten- tial in that bike. It is better than last year's package and it is only the third real test day for us. I'm very happy with the work we did here and now we must work for the next test at COTA." Elias and his teammate Roger Hayden tested previously at the Sepang test in Malaysia. CN Unofficial Thunderhill Times 1. Toni Elias (Suz) 1:46.10 2. Cameron Beaubier (Yam) 1:46.28 3. Roger Hayden (Suz) 1:46.80 4. Josh Herrin (Yam) 1:47.25 5. Josh Hayes (Yam) 1:47.33 6. Garrett Gerloff (Yam) 1:47.64 7. Bobby Fong (Kaw) 1:48.20 8. Bryce Prince (Yam) 1:49.02 9. JD Beach (Yam) 1:49.17 10. Michael Gilbert (Yam) 1:51.50 JOHN MCGUINNESS: A LIFE BEHIND BARS A n Isle of Man TT rider is unlike most other mo- torcycle racers. And John McGuinness is unlike most other TT racers. The bricklayer from Morcambe in in England's northwest has won an astonishing 23 races around the Isle of Man Mountain Course, putting him second only to his childhood hero, Joey Dunlop, on 24 victories. McGuinness has always famously shot straight from hip. His no-BS approach to racing the world's oldest and most dangerous motorcycle race is as re- freshing as it can be confronting, and these views are plainly expressed in this video where he talks about the dangers of the TT and of losing some of his best friends to the race. In 2017, McGuinness will team with long-time rival Guy Martin in what will be his return to the TT after a year's absence in the Honda Racing factory team. Can the Morcambe Missile finally equal (or even surpass) Dunlop's record in 2017? This film gives you a revealing insight into just who this man is, what makes him so damn good around the TT and why he simply hates going to the gym. CN Toni Elias and the new Suzuki are already seriously fast with minimal development time under their belts.