Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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CHAMPIONSHIP VOL. 54 ISSUE 36 SEPTEMBER 12, 2017 P61 My Own Race: 24 TONI ELIAS 1-1 SUPERBIKE "I'm so happy, for many reasons, first of all because Suzuki gave me this important deal last year," Elias said at the end of race one. "I found an incredible team [with] good boss- es, the technicians, the mechanics, Suzuki from Japan, Yoshimura U.S., (they are) always the best. This year the new bike has been amazing. We could fight a lot with this new bike power. The last rounds the situation came better and better. I didn't want to wait (to win the championship), I wanted to win today and we did it. For me it's not only a champion- ship; it's more than that. It's coming from s**t, because I was in a big s**t. I decide to quit between five or six hundred days ago, and look at how the situation can change, no? Just a phone call [from Yoshimura Suzuki], come here, I start to get good results. This time, being here, winning and being champion is amazing for me. I did some mistakes in the past, and this has been a big lesson I will remember for the rest of my life. I will continue doing my best." 33 KYLE WYMAN 6-2 SUPERBIKE "That's the best race I've ever ridden," Wyman said at the end of race two. "I just put my head down and got a really good start. I was third and Toni went in, I'm not sure if he pushed Roger wide, but he [Elias] ran wide and from there I didn't see him. I just followed Roger. I saw a plus one on my board the whole race, so I knew if it was tight behind me, and it maybe got a little bigger than that. There were actually points in the race where I felt I had a little bit of a run on Roger in a few different areas, but it wasn't going to be beneficial for either of us to force the issue and have a big pack (behind) us, so I kind of just sat there. I don't want to say that I was surprised, because I know what I'm capable of, but it's kind of nice to be sitting there and feeling really good. Hopefully, we can push hard from here and get one step further [for a win]." 11 MATHEW SCHOLTZ 3-1 SUPERSTOCK 1000 "After the 2015 season back home [in South Africa] I nearly hung up my boots because it was just costing my family too much money [to race]," Scholtz said after race two. "In 2016 we took one more final dig at it and I won the championship back home, and then came over here. Fortunately, we ended up winning the championship and I couldn't be happier. It's like a dream come true for me. What I thought was going to happen in the first race [on Saturday] happened in the second race and I managed to just hang onto the superbike guys to open up a gap, and I just maintained it from there. It pretty much just worked out perfectly." 1 GARRETT GERLOFF 1-1 SUPERSPORT "It was super difficult [today]," Gerloff said after race two. "With JD right there I had to be su- per consistent. I made a couple mistakes [and] he was right there and kept trying to make a move on me in turn one. I don't know how I was out-braking this guy, but luckily I had a little more in the tank on the brakes, so I was able to get into turn one before him. It was cool to be racing with him again and I was looking forward to the last couple laps, but I got stuck in some lappers too—maybe not the same as [Beach] but that's part of it. It's nice to have a big points lead. I feel like I can go toss it down the road and have room to play, so that's nice. I'll try to win, but if that's not possible then just stay up, finish and get some points." 85 NICK MCFADDEN 3-3 SUPERSTOCK 600 "I'm happy to be up on the podium again," Nick McFad- den said after race one. "We got off to a good start, and we were in the lead pack. It looked like we were breaking away a little bit but then there was a red flag. On the restart, we ran in the lead pack again. Towards the middle of the race, I was behind a rider who was starting to fade a little bit. I was able to pass him but had to make up some ground so I put my head down. With two corners to go, I made the pass for third. It's been a good season. We've been on the podium a lot and I am looking forward to adding to it these last three races."