RACING CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 54 ISSUE 16 APRIL 25, 2017 P77
TROUBLE
BY THE CN STAFF
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J. NELSON
L
ike MotoGP winner Marc Marquez, Toni
Elias knows how to get around the Circuit
of the Americas pretty good, too. The
Spaniard chalked up his fourth consecutive
MotoAmerica Superbike race win at the facility
over the past two years. The wins, however,
weren't handed to him on a silver plate, as
he had to fight off a strong field in both races
before taking the checkered flag and getting a
jump on the 2017 MotoAmerica Championship.
In Saturday's first race, the Yoshimura
Suzuki rider had to fend off his teammate
Roger Hayden and in Sunday's race he
had to do the same to defending champion
Cameron Beaubier, who went down in Sat-
urday's race.
In the Superstock 1000 class, Bobby
Fong was a double winner, which included
a third overall in Saturday's race, and JD
Beach recovered from a disastrous off-sea-
son to win the Supersport class, putting him
in good position to perhaps earn back the
number-one plate.
The opening round of
the 2017 MotoAmerica
Championship got started
at COTA much like it did last
year, with Toni Elias winning
both Superbike legs.
