Cycle News

CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE I t was a historic season in many respects. Toni Elias became the first European to win the MotoAmerica/AMA Superbike Championship (depending on how you count Reg Pridmore, a British expat who'd been living in America for over a decade when he won the title) and Suzuki ended Yamaha's record-tying streak of championships. It was a remarkable personal story for Elias who 18 months ear- lier was sitting at home in Spain considering retirement when he got the call to fill in at Yoshimura Suzuki for the injured Jake Lewis. Originally Elias was only slated to race a couple of rounds, but when he won three of the first four rounds of 2016, Suzuki was quick to get Elias signed for the rest of the season and then again for 2017. It proved to be a wise decision by Suzuki. This year Elias came out strong, once again win- ning three of the opening four rounds. It was Elias' archrival, Yamaha's defending champ Cameron Beau- bier, who faltered early. By the time Beaubier found his rhythm and got a winning streak going, starting at Sonoma Raceway in California, it was too late. Elias, who ended up winning nine of the 20 rounds, was too far gone in the points. By that point the series title was a longshot at best for Beaubier, but when his Yamaha flicked violently while he was leading at Pittsburgh's race two, it separated Beaubier's shoulder and the championship belonged to Elias. It was a dream season for Elias, in which in 20 races he only finished worse than second twice, once for a crash that was no fault of his own. "I'm so happy, for many reasons, first of all because Suzuki gave me this important deal last year," Elias said. "I found an incredible team [with] good bosses, 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 situa- tion came better and better. "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. I will enjoy this mo- ment, and congratulations to my rivals, Josh, Roger, Cameron, they have been so strong. We've had big battles. We enjoy, we suffer and they did an incred- ible job. They pushed me hard and in the end, we finish perfectly." It was an epic debut for the latest incarnation of Suzuki's iconic GSX-R line of sport bikes. The 2017 Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 came a year later than hoped, but the motorcycle was worth the wait. Yoshimura had essentially been campaigning the same machine since 2009 and it had fallen woefully behind Yamaha's R1. The new Suzuki was lighter, more compact with more sophisticated electronics and the lap times fell and wins racked up quickly. A Look Back at MotoAmerica 2017 P118 The MotoAmerica Championship continues to enjoy growth since its debut in 2015.

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