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/970089
ROAD RACE MOTOAMERICA AMA FIM NORTH AMERICA ROAD RACING CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 1 / APRIL 13-15, 2018 ROAD ATLANTA / BRASELTON, GA P80 top six separated by a gigantic one-minute, 41-second gap. Herrin was the last rider on the lead lap in what was a race of attrition with four of the top men crashing (Danny Eslick, David Anthony, Jake Lewis and Garrett Gerloff, though Gerloff was able to remount to finish ninth). Bobby Fong didn't make the start on his Quicksilver/LEXIN/Hudson Motorcycles Yamaha. Elias leaves the Peach State with a perfect 50 points—14 more than Scholtz' 36 points. Beaubier is third with 27 points, four better than his teammate Gerloff and Wyman, the pair tied for fourth with 23 points apiece. SUPERSPORT With no more Superstock 600 class, the 600s saw a full grid of Supersport machines for the first time in MotoAmerica history, with at the beginning, but I needed more confidence." Beaubier was philosophical in defeat but knows second was better than throwing the bike down for the second time in two races. He had three crashes over the weekend. "I was just happy to get through the race without falling down like I did pretty much every session this weekend," Beaubier said. "First of all, a big thanks to my guys for patching up my bike, time after time. "The gap started closing up, and I was like, 'Oh, here comes Toni.' And, I just didn't have anything for him. On the last lap, I was already riding pretty tight, and I was struggling with trust in the front tire. I'm just happy to be up here and get out of here and salvage some points." Third went to Scholtz, from Wyman, Hayden and Herrin, the Superbike-spec R1 was stuck in a broken-down truck in Louisiana. Race two was held in damp and slippery conditions and could have had two riders other than Elias take the win. Roger Hayden looked on course for a race-one redemption until he lost the rear of the Yoshimura Suzuki in the chicane, remounting for fifth place. Beaubier then took over at the front, but had his hands full with a charging Elias in second place. His advances ultimately proved too much as the current number one scythed his way past on the penultimate lap to take a 1.639-second win. "It's been a perfect weekend for us," Elias said. "I didn't expect to win a wet race; it's been since 2001. So it was really important for us. The wet condition is al- ways difficult. The bike was good A wet race two looked like it would go to Hayden (95) until he threw it down at half race distance. He remounted for fifth.