ROAD RACE
2017 MOTOAMERICA AMA/FIM NORTH AMERICAN ROAD RACING
ROUND 1 / APRIL 22-23, 2017
CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS / AUSTIN, TEXAS
P78
the season and I've had a lot of suc-
cess here the past couple of years,"
said Elias after Saturday's race. "Roger
was riding really good, I tried to open a
gap on him, but he kept me honest the
entire race. I found some new lines the
last few laps and was able to hold on
for the win."
Hayden gave it all he had, but came
up short. It was his third straight sec-
ond-place finish at COTA, giving Suzuki
a 1-2 finish on the new GSX-R1000R.
"The plan was to try and make a
pass stick somewhere where he [Elias]
would least expect it," said Hayden.
"It was close, but I came in to the turn
a little too deep and was finished just
short. Overall, it was a good race and
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On Saturday, Elias beat Hayden by 1.7
seconds across the finish line after
Hayden's last-lap attempt at victory
came up short.
Elias led for the majority of the race
with Hayden in his shadow. On the
final lap, Hayden tried a late-braking
move into turn 12, went under Elias,
but drifted wide and allowed Elias
to come back past. That was all the
former Moto2 World Champion and
MotoGP race winner needed to win his
seventh career MotoAmerica race.
"COTA is one of my favorite tracks of
(Above) Elias,
on Suzuki's new
GSX-R1000R, leads
Roger Hayden and
Superstock 1000
winner Bobby Fong.
(Right) Hayden
(95) gave Suzuki a
perfect 1-2 start in
race one. A third on
Saturday was still a
strong way to start
the season.
