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 P84 Alex Dumas heads Sean Ungvarsky and Ashton Yates to take the Junior Cup race-one win. nearly bested teammate Ungvar- sky, ultimately finishing 0.2 of a second off in third but 0.2 ahead of Jay Newton (AGVSPORT America MonkeyMoto Yamaha). "All winter long, I just put my head down. We had some ups and downs, and there was a part in the winter where I didn't think I was going to be racing," Astudillo said. "And once that hit, I said, 'I have to try harder. I have to be up front.' We got a call from Quarterley Racing, and they said, 'Do you want to join us?' And, I said, 'Of course.' So, just the few days that we've been working with them, and from the test to here at Road Atlanta, the change in me as a rider has been huge. So, thanks to all of them. That's how I got up here on the podium." Yates leads the title chase after the first two rounds, 45-36, over Ungvarsky. Astudillo is third with 29 points. place, only 0.04 ahead of 2017 KTM RC Cup Championship runner-up Cory Ventura, the first Yamaha home. "Every time I do the practice start on the bike, I wasn't that good, but surprisingly, I did a really good start today, and I'm happy that I got the holeshot," Dumas said. "I kept my head down throughout the whole race, and I'm really happy with the result." Race two in the rain was history-making for two reasons as Yates smashed home a 13.2-sec- ond victory over Ungvarsky to become the first rider to stand on two MotoAmerica podiums in the same day thanks to his third in race two in the Supersport class. The second slice of history went to Jamie Astudillo, who became the first female to stand on an AMA National Road Racing podium since MotoAmerica took over the series in 2015. Astudillo JUNIOR CUP The Liqui Moly MotoAmerica Junior Cup made its class debut at Road Atlanta, replacing the one-make KTM RC Cup category. In it, we see the national level debut of the Yamaha YZF-R3 and Kawasaki Ninja 400 alongside the KTM, with Honda's CBR500R also eligible but with no takers yet. KTM-mounted Canadian Alex Dumas put his Orange Brigade/ JP43 Training machine on pole, 0.246 of a second clear of Ashton Yates (Yates Racing Kawasaki) on the new Ninja 400, with fellow Kawasaki rider Dallas Daniels from Quarterly Racing in third. Dumas made good on his qualifying form in a dry race one, streaking away to a 5.3-second victory over Yates with Sean Un- gvarsky (Quarterley Racing/On Track Development KTM) third. Ungvarsky's teammate Jamie Astudillo hinted at better things to come as she finished in fourth