ROAD RACE
ROUND 3 / MAY 4-6, 2018
VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY / ALTON, VIRGINIA
P106
MOTOAMERICA AMA/FIM NORTH AMERICAN ROAD RACING CHAMPIONSHIP
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J. NELSON
T
he third round of the 2018
MotoAmerica AMA/FIM
North American Road
Racing Championship saw the
number one of Toni Elias (Yo-
shimura Suzuki) to the fore in
both Superbike events, fend-
ing off a determined Cameron
Beaubier (Monster Energy/Ya-
malube Yamaha Factory Racing)
and Yamalube/Westby Racing's
Mathew Scholtz to open up a
commanding 35-point lead at the
head of the championship table.
In the Supersport class, JD
Beach (Monster Energy/Yamaha
Extended Service) and Hayden
Gillim (Rickdiculous Racing
Yamaha) showed just what a gi-
gantic advantage they have over
the rest of the field, with Beach
taking both wins—the first by 2.2
seconds over Gillim but the sec-
ond by a staggering 28 seconds
after Gillim crashed out.
Alex Dumas (KTM Orange
Brigade/JP43 Training) took
the double win in the Liqui Moly
Junior Cup; Travis Wyman (Weir
Everywhere Racing BMW) took
his second Stock 1000 win and
Xavier Zayat (RBoM Racing Su-
zuki) took gold in the Twins event.
Superbike
Elias means business in 2018
but his double victory wasn't as
clear as when he did the double
at Road Atlanta's round one.
Elias had to really work for
these wins, engaging in a proper
street fight with pole sitter Beau-
bier in race one and only taking
the win after passing the two-
time Superbike champ with three
laps to go.
It was race of two halves after
a huge shunt between Beau-
bier's teammate Garrett Gerloff,
Elias' teammate Roger Hayden
and Quicksilver/LEXIN/Hud-
son Motorcycles Yamaha rider
Bobby Fong caused the red flag.
Gerloff high-sided the factory
Yamaha on lap one, with Fong
6
5
FROM
TONI ELIAS
PROVED HE'S GOT
THE NUMBER-
ONE PLATE FOR A
REASON
