CHAMPIONSHIP
VOL. 55 ISSUE 15 APRIL 17, 2018 P77
ries in 2015.
MotoAmerica also introduced
another two new classes in
Atlanta in Stock 1000 and Twins,
both of which had only one race
on the card. The Stock win went
to Travis Wyman (Weir Every-
where Racing BMW), with Curtis
Murray (RBOM 180 Racing
Suzuki) taking gold in the Twins
category.
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J. NELSON
T
he more things change,
the more they stay the
same. The 2018 Mo-
toAmerica season opener at
Road Atlanta under the Suzuki
Championship banner heralded
a return to a Superbike-only grid
for the first time in three years,
but it didn't matter to defending
MotoAmerica Superbike Cham-
pion Toni Elias who went 1-1 to
match the number on the front
of his factory Yoshimura Suzuki
GSX-R1000.
In the MotoAmerica Supers-
port Championship, it looks like
it'll be a battle between buddies,
as Monster Energy/Y.E.S./
Graves Yamaha's JD Beach
and his neighbor Hayden Gillim
(Rickdiculous Racing Yamaha)
shared the wins.
The new MotoAmerica Junior
Cup saw a bit of history as Alex
Dumas (KTM Orange Brigade/
JP43 Training KTM) and Ashton
Yates (Yates Racing Kawasaki)
shared the wins, with Jamie
Astudillo (Quarterley Racing/On
Track Development Kawasaki)
becoming the first female to
stand on an AMA podium since
MotoAmerica took over the se-
MOTOAMERICA SUPERBIKE
MotoAmerica Superbike had a familiar flavor to it in Atlanta, as Toni
Elias took his third straight opening round double victory to leave
Georgia with a healthy 16-point advantage over the ultra-impressive
Mathew Scholtz in the series.
A processional race one was held in dry conditions, with pole
sitter Scholtz hassling Elias for the opening six laps and even hitting
the front on lap five, but the Spaniard had everything under control
to retake the lead and gap the South African Yamalube/Westby
Racing Yamaha rider by 5.123 seconds at the flag.
"My board showed me that Mathew was only 0.1 to 0.2 [of a sec-
ond behind], but I did not know what was behind us," Elias said. "I
turned back and saw the group that was two seconds behind, and I
Mathew Scholtz
(11) pushed Toni
Elias (1) hard but it
was the defending
champ who
ultimately came
out on top.
