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/824646
ROAD RACE 2017 MOTOAMERICA AMA ROUND 3 / MAY 12-13, 2017 VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY / ALTON, VIRGINIA P88 My Own Race: 4 JOSH HAYES 4-1 SUPERBIKE Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha's Josh Hayes was thrilled to nab his first win of the year. "On the grid, I kept telling myself, 'You've done this before. You can do this!'" he said after his race-two victory. "I finally got a good start, and I made up my mind that I was going to be re- lentless and make everybody run my pace. It was nice to be able to stretch out a comfortable lead, and then manage it. I'm happy to get this win for my team." 1 GARRETT GERLOFF 1-2 SUPERSPORT Saturday's Supersport winner Garrett Gerloff enjoyed battling with his teammate JD Beach both days. "It was super-fun racing with JD," said Garrett after Sunday's race. "It's great to go out there and mix it up with my teammate. We're strong in different areas on the track, so that made it a really fun race. We were passing each other back and forth, and it came right down to the last corner on the last lap. He got the best of me in that final turn leading up to the finish line." 35 BENNY SOLIS JR. 3-3 SUPERSPORT "I was there when it counted today and the bike was good enough to run a decent pace towards the front of the field," said Team H35's Benny Solis Jr. after his second third-place finish of the weekend. "The goal was to be as consistent as I could, which I feel like I was with my lap times and also by staying a little bit closer to the leaders. We're doing okay with the package that we have and I feel we'll continue to get closer to the front as we get more time on the bike." 55 MICHAEL GILBERT 1-1 SUPERSTOCK 600 Team MG55's Michael Gilbert was a double winner in Superstock 600. "It feels better to win today than it did yesterday because it is nice to leave the weekend sitting on top," he said after completing the sweep. "I didn't have the best start and was able to get around some of the guys in front of me, allowing me to run some clean laps. The pit board showed the guys were right on my tail for a while, but I kept digging and digging, which helped me open a cushion and manage it until the end. The tires were getting pretty greasy at the end and you had to be careful not to push too hard or you risked the chance of a mistake." 50 BOBBY FONG 1-1 SUPERSTOCK 1000 Bobby Fong won both Superstock 1000 races, which included a third overall against the Superbikes. "It was a long shot to repeat my COTA performance, but I always try and reach for the stars. I've had a lot of pressure since the beginning of the season and high expectations to run with the superbike guys. I want to be smart for the championship, but the other part of me is a racer and I want to get up there with these guys. The race was tough, however, I managed my tires really well and had great grip come the end of the race. It was difficult riding with Toni [Elias] and Josh [Herrin], they were holding up the pace quite a bit and they are both really hard to pass. They played cat-and-mouse, which isn't cool, we should be working together to catch Roger. I've just got to get a little bit more aggressive in the future if I am trying to pass them." 618 JACKSON BLACKMON 2-1 KTM RC CUP "The race was awesome and I got off to a really good start, pushing into turn one pretty hot," said race-two RC Cup winner Jackson Blackmon (Quaterly Racing/On Track Development). I put my head down once I got into the lead and saw I had a comfortable gap a just a few laps in. I saw Draik [Beauchamp] behind me for a while, but then I saw my pit board had me six seconds ahead and figured something had happened to him. My wrist was getting pretty sore, but I found a good rhythm and just tried to bring it home from there. At this point I'm not trying to look at the championship, but rather focus on the rest of the season and win as many races as I can. It's unfortunate my teammates crashed, but I was able to make up some good points today. The tires were pretty hot on some of the tight turns and it definitely made for a few slick spots."