JD Beach stays with Yamaha for the Remainder of the 2023 Season

The following article was not written by Speed Trap Magazine Staff

Yamaha Press Release…

Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing is pleased to announce that JD Beach will return with the team as a fill-in rider for Cameron Petersen at the remaining rounds of the MotoAmerica Superbike season.

Despite not racing a Superbike full-time since 2019, Beach showed strength when he filled in for Petersen at the previous round at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex (PIRC). The dirt track/road racer also got some seat time last month at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) test before the tripleheader at PIRC and showed speed at the track where he earned his first MotoAmerica Supersport win in 2015. After the American Flat Track season finale this weekend at the Springfield Mile with the Estenson Racing team, Beach will head down to Austin, Texas, to line up on the grid aboard the Attack Performance Yamaha R1 at the penultimate MotoAmerica round at COTA on September 8-10. Then it’s on to the New Jersey Motorsports Park for the season finale on September 22-24, where Beach has also enjoyed success in the past.

Richard Stanboli – Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing Team Manager

“We are pleased to have JD Beach as our fill-in rider for the final two rounds. He adapted quickly at PIRC, regardless of the fact that he has been away from road racing for the past four seasons. He proved himself by improving every session and riding within reach of the podium. He also showed good speed at our recent COTA test and raced for the win on our R1 at NJMP in 2019. It should be good fun watching him build speed over the next two events.”

JD Beach – Estenson Racing

“I’m really excited to get to finish out the season with the Attack team. I feel like I’m building up some good speed with the bike and feeling better every time I get more laps. After having a full race weekend under our belt and now going back to COTA, where we tested, I think it will help a lot, as well as racing at New Jersey, which is a track where I’ve done well in the past. So I’m really looking forward to it and want to build on what I’ve done already. I’m thankful the Estenson team is okay with me doing this and that Yamaha wanted to keep me on the bike.”

The Following Article was not Written by Speed Trap Magazine Staff

From Tytlers Cycle Racing…

Tytlers Cycle Racing regrets to announce that Cameron Beaubier will take no further part in the 2023 MotoAmerica Superbike Season. Beaubier, who immediately returned to winning ways on his return to MotoAmerica, was a title contender prior to a series of on track incidents that ruled him out of contention. With the championship already decided, Cameron has decided to call time on 2023 and look at the bigger picture.

The team will change the #6 to a #37 after deciding Stefano Mesa will make his Superbike debut aboard the BMW M1000 RR at COTA alongside his Super Hooligan commitments. He will also ride in Superbike in the season finale in New Jersey. The move to the Superbike class sees Stefano cut short his Supersport campaign.

Words from Team Principal Michael Kiley

Michael Kiley – Team Principal: 

“I respect Cam’s decision to sit out the rest of this season. The effect he has had on our program with BMW has been great. We look forward to many more podiums next year. Summarizing the rest of the season with our other riders, PJ has demonstrated that he can run at the front and take the top step. He has a shot at moving into second place in the championship, and the racing to decide the series runner-up is going to be exciting to watch! I have developed great respect for Josh Herrin’s abilities this season. He is a great rider, and PJ will have his work cut out for him to take that spot away from him, but we will be heading to COTA and NJMP with that aim.”

“Corey has had some rough luck but when you set that aside you see that he is making steady remarkable progress. I am grateful to Stefano for stepping out of a successful and exciting Supersport run to help us with the Superbike program. Finally, I cannot say enough about Jake Gagne, Richard, and the entire Attack Yamaha team. They are great competitors and great champions, and it is an honor to be on the track with them. 2024 is going to be epic in the MotoAmerica Superbike class but right now we are focused on finishing 2023 in style.”
 
Cameron Beaubier: 
“After two hits to the head and some knee trouble, I’ve decided it’s the end of the season for me. I’m bummed to not finish the season strong with Tytlers but I’m looking at the bigger picture. We’ve had some bad luck, but on the positive it’s been great racing back in the U.S. with this team. They have put a great program together, and it’s been really fulfilling to rack up some wins with them this season.”
 
Stefano Mesa: 
“First, I want to wish Cam a speedy recovery after that crazy accident at Pitt Race last weekend. Secondly, I’m very excited and it’s a true privilege to get the phone call to fill in for him for the rest of the season. It was a difficult decision to make knowing I’ll have to step off the Supersport bike to be able to concentrate, do a good job, and start learning a whole new piece of equipment that is a Superbike while also learning the COTA track – as I’ve never been there. I am also looking forward to riding the Energica in the Super Hooligan class so it will be a busy weekend in Texas full of learning with the new crew, with the expectation of having fun on the bikes.”

Mesa Continued

“I think it will be a great experience for me to get my feet wet in the Superbike class and see what a true Superbike is all about. I know leaving the Supersport class behind might seem crazy but not taking this amazing opportunity wasn’t on my books. I pause a moment to truly thank my Supersport team and crew for always being by my side, believing in me, and helping me achieve so much this year. I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish everything that I have achieved in Supersport this year without them, and I truly appreciate all the hard work and efforts.”

“I’m ready to get to COTA, get to work with the team, and see what we can do in the Superbike class. I cannot thank Michael Kiley, his family, and the whole Superbike team enough for offering me the opportunity to fill in for a great champion. What a great honor.”

MotoAmerica at PittRace has come to an end. New champions were crowned in three classes but not without a bit of controversy. Here are the events as they unfolded. You can check out Day 1 results here: MotoAmerica PittRace Race Day 1 Recap

Medallia Superbike

The Superbike class participated in three races this weekend. 75 points were up for grabs and there was one man who had the opportunity to clinch the championship. That man was Jake Gagne and he did exactly that. Gagne had a dominant performance at Pittsburgh International Race Complex. After missing out on pole position Gagne found his form when it mattered most. Two races occurred on Day 2 of racing.

In the first race (Race 2) Gagne built up a 2.383 second lead before the race was red flagged due to an incident involving Ashton Yates and Cameron Beaubier in the chicane. Yates suffered from loss of power on the exit of the chicane severely falling oof of race pace and Beaubier ran into the back of Yates with no where to go and ended up crashing. Beaubier also made incidental contact with Hayden Gillim but Gillim was able to keep the bike up and avoided a potential crash. The race was restarted with 8 laps on the schedule. The restart allowed PJ Jacobsen to gain a position and finish P2 ahead of Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Ducati).

Beaubier’s Championship Hopes Were Eliminated

Unfortunately for Beaubier, he suffered a head laceration and was not able to continue the race. Beaubier also sat out of Race 3 rendering his fight for the championship over after not scoring points in 4 of the last 5 super bike races. Beaubier has had an unfortunate end to what seemingly felt like a promising season for the Tytlers Cycle Racing rider. The majority of the DNFs this year were out of his control. Based on these short comings Jake Gagne was able to clinch the national title for a third time in Pittsburgh.

Gagne had the following words for the MotoAmerica media referring to the Champions winning finish, “To do it with a couple wins here at a place this Yamaha loves is awesome. I just didn’t expect it. We didn’t really do any math. The team didn’t talk about it. Nobody talked about it. I just had a feeling if I won and I didn’t exactly know what Josh (Herrin) had to do, but I knew sure as hell Josh was going to put up a fight to bring it down to one more round, and I knew he was right there.”

Gagne continued

Congrats to Matty (Scholtz). Doing Yamaha a favor, doing me a favor today. It’s cool to get it done early. Again, kind of unexpected. I haven’t been the fastest guy all year, but I guess kind of luck has been on my side. We finished almost every race, besides one. It’s going to be a hell of a fight for that championship run with a lot of guys in it next year. I’m looking forward to going to the last couple rounds and just duking it out with these guys with nothing else to worry about.”

Supersport

Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider Tyler Scott secured a very hard fought victory aboard his GSXR750. The win delayed Xavi Fores the ability to clinch the Supersport champions in Pittsburgh. Scott wont the race by 2.8 seconds. He had the following words for the media after the race. “Yesterday I got a decent start the first time, starting from the second row on the grid. Couldn’t get a clear lap in qualifying, so right off the bat it was hard to lead the race and try and set the pace.”

“Overnight we thought about it. This morning we made some changes to be able to push the pace. In the race today, I got a pretty similar start to yesterday, but I saw an opening to pass Xavi (Forés) and I took it. I wanted to see if I could lead the race and start pulling a gap. It was .0 for what felt like an eternity, and then .2, .4, .6, one second, one second, one second, two seconds. I just kept pushing the pace every lap and was able to create that gap.”

Rev It Twins Cup

Th race for the title tightens with Gus Rodio and Rocco Landers (Rodio Racing – Powered By Robem Engineering) and Black Davis separated by a total of 14 points. at the top of the table. In race 2 the three exchanged a back and fourth battle from start to finish. All three riders led the race at different times. The margin between the 3 was just over one tenth between P1 and P2 and the same margin for P2 to P3. The competition is heating up and will make for an incredible winner takes all scenario with just 2 races left in the season to decide the championship winner. A winner will be crowd in New Jersey at the final MotoAmerica Round of the season. Gus Rodio currently leads Blake Davis by 8 points and Rocco Landers by 14 points.

Junior Cup – Avery Dreher Crowned Champion

Avery Dreher was crowned champion due to the findings of a post race technical inspection of Rossi Moor’s KTM RC390R. The stewards found Moor’s bike to have an illegal wheel bearing and he was disqualified from maintaining his P3 finish in race two. The disqualification ended all chances of Moor being able to fight for the title at the final round. There were mixed feelings on the matter as to whether the material of a wheel bearing has any performance advantage and why this finding has come up now at such a pivotal point in the season. As much as we’d like to have seen the championship won on track rules are rules and the Junior Cup has been decided. Dreher had th following words after the race.

“It worked yesterday [referring to his bike setup], so I just figured I’d go with the same strategy today. The team and I worked on a few things this morning with the bike. Got that sorted out. I knew it would be a little hotter today than yesterday. Our race was three hours later, so I knew that would play a factor. Lost the grip on the rear on the last lap. Thought I would lose the draft on the front straightaway but ended up pulling it together. I’m just super happy with the results this weekend. I don’t know how many points I have left to clinch the title, but I’m just going to keep working hard between rounds and hopefully get that jersey.”

Royal Enfield BTR – The Queen Reigns Supreme

Mikayla Moore completed a perfect finish to the season. Moore won every race in the class and finished perfect with maximum points in the competition. The BTR season ended in Pittsburgh with Moore winning the championship, Sonya Lloyd secured second place and Crystal Martinez secured third in the competition.

With the first round of races at Pittsburgh International Race Complex complete. The championship standings have shifted a bit across all of the classes. There were ups and downs and one champion was crowned. Here are the events as they unfolded.

Medallia Superbike

Bobby Fong who pulled off a surprise pole position was not able to convert that pole into a win. Fong lost out at the beginning of the race with a poor launch seeing him drop back as the riders entered turn one on the first lap. Fong seemingly was going to make a charge for third but the pace of Cameron Beaubier (Tytlers Cycle Racing) and Mathew Scholtz (Westby Racing) saw them pull away by mid race. The left Fong in fourth with a charging PJ Jacobsen (Tytlers Cycle Racing) behind him. As the tires started to fall out Jacobsen was gaining ground but ultimately fell just short finishing 4 tenths behind Fong.

Jake Gagne (Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha) won the race with a very large gap behind. He finished 3.698 seconds ahead of Beaubier. Beaubier’s championship hopes dwindled further after the win. He sits third in the championship one point behind Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Ducati) and 84 points behind Gagne. Herrin had a race to forget. After two laps he’s was already well behind the lead pack and never recovered. Herrin finished P6 which did not help his championship hopes either. If Herrin or Beaubier can’t find the pace to win in Race 2 and or 3. Gagne may be able to run away with the championship with possibly a more than 100 point lead this weekend. There are two races and 50 points up for grabs today.

Supersport

Stefano Mesa breaks his dry spell and wins in Pittsburgh! Mesa secured his first Supersport win of the season. Mesa has been on the podium multiple times this year but due to Xavi Fores’ (Warhorse HSBK Ducati) early season dominance Mesa has had to settle for P2/P3 on the box. Not this time though. A late red flag opened the door for Mesa as the originally planned 16 lap race was red flagged and restarted as a 5 lap sprint race. Mesa seized the opportunity and it came down to the line as Mesa won by 0.180 seconds ahead of a closing Fores.

Mesa Spoke to the MotoAmerica Media after the Race

The whole weekend, we’ve been very fast off the get-go. I think, after race two in Brainerd, we found a little something on the bike. We’ve been dealing with a lot of chassis issues with the new B bike, what we call the B bike, since I broke the (A bike at) Ridge. I broke it in half. Been battling a lot of chassis setup. But I think we finally hit the nail where it was. I think we’re in the window for the bike. My hats off to the team. They gave me a great bike since we rolled it out of the truck. We’ve been fast all weekend. The race was great. My hats off to these guys. This is great battling with them. It’s great trying to pass Xavi (Forés) on the brakes. I think first clean race I got to actually battle with Xavi and try and go for the win. I think I had the pace. Tomorrow we’re going to try and find a little bit more and see if we can get the win again.”

Rev It Twins Cup

The title race in Twins cup tightened with Rocco Landers (Rodio Racing – Powered By Robem Engineering) making up ground to leader Blake Davis (N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto) and teammate Gus Rodio (Rodio Racing – Powered By Robem Engineering. Landers is 10 points behind Blake Davis. Rodio is 1 point behind Davis. Depending on how race 2 finishes we could see a shuffle at the top of the table. Today’s race is a must win for Landers if he wants to create cushion in the points heading into the next round.

Landers had the following words for the MotoAmerica media. “It’s a good track for the bike. It’s a good track for the team. The Aprilia is handling absolutely amazing. The start I kind of got shuffled back there a little bit. I just tried to basically pick up the pieces after the first lap and do what I could to get back past these guys. They were riding amazing, obviously killing it. I knew if I could lead a few laps at least through the esses, I could maybe start to stretch out a gap and then hold it there. So, that’s what I did. It went to plan today. Doesn’t always go to plan, but today it did. We’re hoping to do at least that or even better tomorrow.”

Junior Cup

Avery Dreher (Bad Boys Racing) bounces back and wins Junior Cup race 2 in a heart breaking finish for Rossi Moor (Fairium NGRT- Gray Area Racing). The win came at a margin of 0.036 seconds at the line. Moor moved up to second place behind Dreher who now holds a 39 point lead in the championship. There are 3 more races left for Junior cup this year. 75 points are up for grabs and the story is far from over. A race 2 win will be crucial ahead of the next race round for the soon to be crowned champion. Who that is, only time will tell.

Royal Enfield BTR

Mikayla Moore solidified her dominance this weekend by clinching the BTR champion with a still perfect season. Moore has won every race this year in the class. Win one more race to go its just a formality for Moore but we all know she is a competitor at heart and will definitely be going for the win to complete her perfect season. There is a heated battle for 2nd and 3rd between Sonya Lloyd, Crystal Martinez and Kayleigh Buyck. With one more opportunity to race the ladies will need to leave it all on the track one last time to improve/hold their current championship standing.

The MotoAmerica Superbike championship at PittRace qualifying sessions are now complete. Here are the in class results.

Superbike

Bobby Fong (Wrench Motorcycles) secures a surprise pole position in Medallia Superbike. Fong will start up front in all three races this weekend. The first occurring later this afternoon. Fong was dominant in the session finishing nearly 6 tenths ahead of championship leader Jake Gagne (Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha). Gagne will have some ground to make up if Fong is able to maintain this pace in the races. Mathew Scholtz (Westby Racing) secured P3 in qualifying ahead of Richie Escalante (Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR).

Joseph Giannotto did not set a time in Q2 moving him to the back of the grid. JD Beach finished P10 in his debut for the 2023 Yamaha team. We will see if his pace improves over the weekend as he gets more and more acquainted with the bike. The session was otherwise uneventful.

Supersport

In a packed field of 37 riders. Stefano Mesa (Tytlers Cycle Racing) finished on pole setting a best 1m45.746. Q2 times were vastly an improvement over Q1 with the majority of riders running fastest on the day. Q2 occurred in the morning however track temperatures were rapidly increasing towards the end of the session. Pace really start to pick up towards the second half of the session. Teagg Hobbs (Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR) ran second fastest behind Mesa by a margin of 0.097 seconds.

Championship leader Xavi Fores (HSBK Warhorse Ducati) again did not finish on pole and settle for 3rd. While we expected him to be a front runner. Fores may just being trying to bring the championship home by finishing in the points to maintain his lead with only a few more rounds to go this season. Time will tell come race time if he picks up the pace to extending his race win count this season. In an impressive finish Jake Lewis (Disrupt Racing) finished P4. Lewis was 4 tenths off of pole position. There is opportunity to strike for Lewis’ first Supersport podium of the season later this afternoon.

Twins Cup

Rocco Landers (Rodio Racing – Powered By Robem Engineering) finished on top of the table. The races this weekend are a must win for Rocco if he wants to stay in the championship race for Twins. He will be gunning for another championship in the class for the remainder of the season. Blake Davis split the Rodio Racing – Powered By Robem Engineering bikes finishing ahead of Gus Rodio. Kayla Yaakov (The WagBar MP13 Racing Team) finished P4 on her return to the series after a tour in Europe. 3 riders did not complete the session. The class will field 31 bikes on the grid for today’s race.

Junior Cup

Avery Dreher (Bad Boys Racing) returns to the top of the table securing pole ahead of Rossi Moor (Fairium NGRT- Gray Area) by 3 tenths. The top 4 in class were separated by 4 tenths making the race at the front a tight one. Hayden Bicknese rounded out the top 3. Moor will continue to push after missing out on 75 points earlier this season due to technical issues. Dreher leads the championship by 26 points ahead of Max Van who is 5 points ahead of Hayden Bicknese. The championship lead isn’t at stake for race 1 but the overall points scored for the weekend could have implications on the championship standings. Junior cup is the first race this afternoon.

Royal Enfield

Mikayla Moor once again finished on pole. At this point the races are a formality as Moore only needs to score 3 points between two races to clinch the championship. She may be crowned champion this afternoon if she continues to finish in the points. P2 went to Crystal Martinez secured P2 ahead of second place championship sitting Sonya Lloyd.

The next round of the MotoAmerica Championship takes place at Pittsburgh International Race Complex (PittRace) this weekend in Wampum, PA. The Medallia Superbike Championship will feature 3 races this weekend for a triple header totaling to 75 championship points up for grabs this weekend. Championship leader Jake Gagne (Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha) currently holds a 68 point lead over second place runner Josh Herrin (HSBK Warhorse Ducati). Mathematically that could all change this weekend as Herrin is within striking distance to reduce Gagne’s grasp on the championship.

Herrin doesn’t need to get all of the work done this weekend. The Superbike class has 7 more races before the end of the season totaling to 175 points. At this point in the season the championship race is still very much wide open. Gagne has no room for error if he wants to keep a tight hold on the championship race. With three opportunities to score points this weekend he will look to finish this round with maximum points to extend his lead.

Elsewhere in the Paddock

JD Beach will make his 2023 debut with Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha as a fill in rider for the recovering Cameron Petersen. Petersen ended his season early to properly deal with a lingering wrist injury. Beach is the second rider to fill in for the injured Petersen after veteran Josh Hayes (Squid Hunter Racing) took the mantle during the last round at Brainerd International Raceway as a substitute. He has mainly focused on his flat track racing career recently. Beach was able to participate in an open practice at Circuit of the America to get acquainted with the Yamaha Superbike. This weekend will be the litmus test for how that testing weekend went.

Come all! Come many!

This weekend will feature the Medallia Superbike, Supersport, Rev It’ Twins Cup, Junior Cup and Royal Enfield BTR. Both the Twins and Supersport classes received 41 entries accounting. These two classes account for 82 riders out of the 183 registered for the race weekend. Action starts tomorrow morning at 9:00am EST. For the MotoAmerica broadcast schedule see below.

Streaming is available at MotoAmerica Live+.

This article was not authored by Speed Trap Magazine Staff

From Yamaha Motor Corp., U.S.A.

Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing brings aboard JD Beach to race the MotoAmerica Superbike triple-header at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex on August 18-20. The flat track racer returns to the paddock to fill in for Cameron Petersen, who is focusing on returning to full fitness from a wrist injury that has sidelined him from the remaining rounds of the season. 

Over the past five seasons, Beach has been battling for top honors in the American Flat Track Mission SuperTwins Championship with the Estenson Racing team aboard their Yamaha MT-07s. The multi-time road race champion with dirt track roots has enjoyed success with Yamaha in both disciplines and also has a history with Attack Performance. Beach raced for the team during his debut Superbike season in 2011 and also during the 2019 MotoAmerica Superbike season when he raced both MotoAmerica and AFT premier classes, scoring his first SuperTwins and Superbike victory on back-to-back weekends. 

In addition to the PIRC round, Beach will head straight from the American Flat Track Sturgis Half-Mile to ride the Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing R1 at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) test on August 7-8. Josh Hayes, who rode Petersen’s bike this past weekend at Round 6 of the championship in Brainerd, Minnesota, will also ride the team’s R1 during the morning sessions on the first day of the COTA test. The fill-in rider for the final two rounds will be announced at a later date. 

Richard Stanboli – Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing Team Manager
“It will be a pleasure to work with JD again. He is always motivated and positive. We have some history together and good communication, so it will be very easy for him to jump right in and get to work. He last rode our R1 in 2021 at BIR as a last-minute fill-in rider. It will be interesting to get his reaction to our 2023 R1 and how it may compare to Josh Hayes’ comments, who will also be at our test next week. It should be good fun and a learning experience for everyone.”

JD Beach – Estenson Racing 
“First off, I want to thank the Estenson Racing team for allowing me to do this. I’d also like to thank Yamaha and Attack for thinking of me to fill this role. I know I’ve got some big shoes to fill because Cam has been fast the last year and a half, as well as Hayes last weekend at Brainerd. I know this is going to be tough coming in as a fill-in rider, but I’m up for the challenge. I’m excited to get some seat time on a factory Superbike. I’m not sure that I will get the opportunity again, so I want to give it all I got. I want to do the best I can for the team and help them with the points, but I am also still focused on the final AFT rounds too.”

MotoAmerica Weekend at Brainerd International Raceway was an event filled with on track action. Some championship hopes dwindled while others were reignited. Here were the events as they unfolded.

Superbike

Tytlers Cycle Racing rider and championship contender Cameron Beaubier was diagnosed with a concussion after high siding in Medallia Superbike Race 1. The Tytlers Cycle Racing Team, Beaubier and track medical staff determined it was not in Beaubier’s best interest to race on Sunday due to his injury. Superbike Race 2 went on without him which opened up the door for Tytlers Cycle Racing Teammate PJ Jacobsen to earn his first win of the season. Jacobsen has finished 2nd three times this season and in Race 1 he couldn’t quite find the pace to challenge for the top spot. In race 2 that was seemingly the same story until there were 9 laps left in the race. At this point Jacobsen made a move on then race leader Jake Gagne. The move proved to be the pivotal point of the race as Jacobsen would hold on to the lead for the remainder of the race.

Jacobsen spoke with the MotoAmerica media after the race stating, “It’s just been hard work. Last year being able to even be on the podium was awesome and getting there. Then building steps this year and stuff, and with Cam (Beaubier) coming on as my teammate it was obviously a huge push because he’s a five-time AMA Superbike Champion. When he’s out there winning every weekend, first or second, it’s hard to have that as a teammate. I think just building and building and then learning some stuff from him as well in the data and everything.”

Jacobsen Continued His Thoughts on the Events in Race 2

“It’s good to finally get a dry win and actually get the job done. It feels pretty good. It was a big moment for me out there. I’ve wanted to do this. When you’re a kid coming up racing, and you’re in the paddock running around there, watching all these guys and then you want to be up here eventually with a win, like Hayes, Zemke, Duhamel, all those guys. So, it’s cool to be up here and to finally get a win in MotoAmerica.”

Of note, Mathew Scholtz missed out on completing Race 1 due to the radiator on his Westby Racing Yamaha R1 be punctured after Beaubier hit Gagne and veered into Scholtz ending his race. On day two of racing Scholtz came back to claim a P3 finish. Scholtz commented on how displeased he is with how the season has gone so far.

“This season has been pretty sh*t so far, to be honest. So, this is awesome to be back up on the podium here. Yesterday obviously passed PJ in the third corner early on. Ruined the bike. Didn’t get out from that. So, during practice, we didn’t put more than six or seven laps on the tire. So, we went out there today changing gearing settings without really knowing what was going to happen. The first three or four laps I think Jake (Gagne) and PJ (Jacobsen) had a little bit of pace, but maybe it was from lap five onwards I kind of pulled them back slightly. Then I think from the halfway point, the bike just started backing in like crazy. I started losing grip as I would crack the gas. So, the last couple laps was just surviving for me, really.”

After it was all said and done, Jake Gagne leaves the weekend in first place 68 points ahead of Herrin. Cameron Beaubier dropped down to third place leaving the weekend with 0 points.

Stock 1000

Hayden Gillim (Disrupt Racing) rode with a purpose in Race 2. After dominating in Race 1 Gillim repeated the feat in Race 1 which skyrocketed him to P2 in the standings and back into championship contention. The double win brought Gillim within 8 points of championship leader Ezra Beaubier (Orange Cat racing). Stock 1000 has one more weekend of racing so the championship will be decided at Circuit of the Americas in early September. Gillim had the following words for the MotoAmerica media.

Hayden Gillim Addresses the MotoAmerica Media After Winning Race 2

“Honestly, before this weekend I was ready to kind of call it quits on the Stock 1000 class for myself. So, this has definitely rejuvenated me a little bit and given me some more confidence going into COTA (the final round of the Steel Commander Stock 1000 series). That’s the only bad thing. That first weekend at Road Atlanta really had me down and out, and I was down a lot. With only five rounds this year for Stock 1000, I was a little nervous because I knew Road America was going to be tough. I expected Road Atlanta to be a little bit better than it was. I don’t know about COTA. We’ll see. I ran pretty quick there last year, so we’ll see. It will be interesting.”

Gillim Continued

“I know these guys will be running for it. It’s a tight race at the top right now, so it’s coming down to the wire. Unfortunately, I’ve been in a lot of these situations where it’s come down to the wire and almost every time, I’ve come out the loser. I’m hoping to do a little bit better than last year (when I) tied for the championship at the end of it but getting second place because he (Corey Alexander) had more race wins. So, trying to get those race wins right now just in case. But this was a really good weekend to do it. I knew coming in that this one and Barber I knew for sure were going to be the ones where I had to do the job and get it done.”

Supersport

It appears that the competition has found a chink in Xavi Fores’ (Warhorse HSBK Ducati) absolute dominance up until this round at Brainerd. After Fores won 8 races straight the Spaniard left the weekend at Brainerd with 0 wins and his lowest points finish of the season. After Josh Hayes won Race 1 Tyler Scott moved up the ranks after a late red flag and race restart provided him with the opportunity to run away with the win. Scott stated, “I felt great on the restart. Got the holeshot and never looked back. I made one mistake in turn four that kind of scared me. I ran decently wide, but I was able to pull it back on the racing line and get the win in the end.”

Until the win in Race 2 at Brainerd International Raceway. Scott had not won a race since last season. He will look to continue this for the remain rounds this season.

Junior Cup

Junior Cup Race 2 was full of on track action. After winning Race 1 from pole position Rossi Moor looked to double this result in Race 2. However, he would be robbed of the opportunity due to a transmission failure and a missed braking zone with 4 laps to go that saw him drop to P5. He was able to climb back to P2 despite not being able to shift beyond 3rd gear. Jayden Fernandez finished P3. Race 2 winner Levi Badie won the race by a margin of 0.087 seconds after a hard fought race starting from P8. He stated the following to the media after the race, “I came from eighth, so it was a little struggle to get back (to the front). I was there the whole time, just struggling to pass a lot of guys because it’s a difficult track to pass. The competitors are very strong.”

“Once I came in first, I kind of missed my braking mark a little bit. Then going into the corner, I was like in dirt, like flat tracking. I kept it open. I came out and I saw that they weren’t too far away, so just head down and tried to catch them because they were fighting. So, I knew when they’re fighting, they’re not going their top speed, so I just did everything I could, and I caught them. That was like two laps more. I was like, just go for it and try to pass every corner, try to pass someone. It worked. Last lap I just took the chance, tried to pass Rossi and it worked and just go. I’m very happy for first place.”

King of the Baggers

Bobby Fong (Sac Mile/SDI Racing/Roland Sands/Indian) bounces back on day two to secure the win in King of the Baggers Race 2. Fong took off in this race and never really looking back. Hayden Gillim (Vance & Hines/Mission/Harley-Davidson) who won Race 1 received a grid penalty for Race 2 related to a fluid leak discovered after the race. Gillim finished second and attributed his inability to catch Fong to the penalty. Fong spoke highly of his competition in the post race interview.

Fong said, “We’ve all been working hard. These guys are smart. Racing with these guys [referring to Gillim and Tyler O’Hara], they think a lot and I can tell riding with these guys. They’re always thinking. They’re always trying different things. Like I said, the competition is stacked. We’ve just got to keep working and see what we can do at COTA in a month or two. I’m happy to be up here. Good pay day for us, as well. Looking forward to spending at the wedding in a year or so.”

Royal Enfield BTR

Mikayla Moore wins again bringing her one step closer to a perfect season in the program. There was only on race for the BTR program at Brainerd. Moore once again dominated and never really looked back. Sonya Lloyd finished in second and Crystal Martinez secured a hard fought third. Lloyd secured pole position but was not able to capitalize on the track position. Mikayla Moore only needs to score 4 points in Race 1 at Pitt Race to mathematically secure the championship. As we all know this is racing and anything can happen. The top 6 riders in class all have the opportunity to shake up the season finish for second and third place.

The first day of racing is in the books for MotoAmerica at Brainerd International Raceway. Five classes took to the track today. Superbike, Supersport, Stock 1000, Junior Cup and King of the Baggers. Royal Enfield BTR did not participate in any sessions on the day. Here are the events as they happened.

Superbike

With qualifying finishing earlier in the day. Medallia Superbike was poised to be led by pole sitter Cameron Beaubier and his teammate PJ Jacobsen from Tytlers Cycle Racing. However, drama would ensue. Beaubier fell behind at the start and on the first lap of the race he was late on the brakes and ran into the back of Gagne at turn 2. Beaubier left the track but his BMW M1000RR did not appear to have any serious damage. However, Mathew Scholtz (Westby Racing) who was a bystander in the matter suffered from a punctured radiator after making contact which ended his race before it even started. Scholtz was visibly upset with the whole situation. The races was red flagged and restarted.

On the restart Beaubier lost control of his bike and had a nasty high side crash that sent him airborne. The track marshals were able to clear the wreck without the race being red flagged and Beaubier crawled off the track. He was later seen walking and did not appear to be seriously injured. He was evaluated after the race.

With Beaubier out of the race it left the door open for Jake Gagne. PJ Jacobsen made an early charge and held on to Gagne for the whole race but ultimately the pace of the Yamaha couldn’t be matched and Jacobsen fell short by 0.195 seconds behind. Behind Jacobsen was Warhouse HSBK Ducati rider Josh Herrin to round out the top 3. Full Superbike results can be found here: Medallia Superbike Race 1 Results

Supersport

Josh Hayes (Squid Hunter Racing) is the first rider this season to dethrone Xavi Fores by winning race 1 at Brainerd. The win also marked his 87th career win Fores was complete off his normal pace and finished P7 in the race. Rocco Landers in a guest appearance in Supersport, finished P2 after securing pole in Qualifying. Hayes beat him off of the line and got into clean air. After building a lead in the first 5 laps it proved to be too big of a gap for Landers to catch him. Landers finished the race 3.224 seconds behind. In third was Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider Tyler Scott. Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider Teagg Hobbs finished behind his teammate to secure fourth. Stefano Mesa could only muster a P5 finish. Full results are available here: Supersport Race 1 Results

Stock 1000

Hayden Gillim (Disrupt Racing) completely obliterated the competition in race 1. Gillim won the race by 7.4 seconds ahead of Kaleb De Keyrel (Orange Cat Racing). The margin was as high as 10 seconds towards the middle of the race but Gillim started to role off and minimize risk to bring the win home for the team. He had the following words for the media,

“After Atlanta, I was kind of in a pretty deep hole, mentally and points-wise. Barber was a good weekend, and I knew it was going to be good. I thought Atlanta would be better than what it was, and it ended up just being a terrible, terrible weekend. Road America, I knew was going to be difficult with all these guys on their bikes and my size and everything. I knew it was going to be tough.

In the Stock 1000 race last year, this was kind of how the race was going and then we had a red flag and some stuff happened during the red flag and I ended up not having the greatest last lap in the race. So, we had a lot left on the plate from last year. I needed this. I needed this points haul. To be able to kind of just go out and do what I needed to do today.” Stock 1000 Results can be found here: Stock 1000 Race 1 Results

Gillim Continued on His Triple Duty Racing this Weekend

“Riding three classes this weekend is actually helping a little bit because I had just come off of the Bagger and hopped on to that thing and was ready to go that first lap. That was ultimately why I pushed as hard as I could right off the bat. I knew with how different the track was this morning to this afternoon it was going to be a little bit difficult, especially for Kaleb (De Keyrel) since he hasn’t been out there since this morning. I figured it would be a little tough because I could already tell it was a little greasier than this morning…off the bat I needed to just go. Luckily the guys gave me a great bike and I’m feeling good right now.”

Junior Cup

Rossi Moor (Fairium NGRT – Gray Area Racing KTM) does it again in dominant fashion. Moor the sole KTM RC390 rider on the grid used his skills and experience to win at a track where his bike is a bit underpowered compared to the standard in class choice the Kawasaki 400. He won the race by just over 7 seconds and led 10 of the 11 laps in the race. Levi Badie (Badie Racing) finished the race in second but was given a 2 place grid penalty for passing under a waving yellow. The race for 2nd and 3rd was much close between Hayden Bicknese and Max VanDenBrouck.

Rossi Moor Spoke to the MotoAmerica Media

“From practice and from qualifying, I think I had the pace to do it. It didn’t show on paper since I wasn’t able to put a bunch of good laps together, but deep-down, I knew that, if I’m able to get to the front, I was able to pull away. But, with Jayden being there and Max and Hayden and all these guys I knew it was going to be pretty hard because I’m slightly down on power. I just wasn’t able to draft a lot of people. But as soon as I was able to get past, I just put my head down and tried to get enough gap by the turns where they couldn’t draft me by turn three.” Junior Cup Race 1 Results

Mission King of the Baggers

Hayden Gillim wasn’t finished with his winning ways from his earlier race in Stock 1000. After a late off by Tyler O’Hara Gillim took advantage from second place and was able to hold off Bobby Fong for the second half of the race. It appeared that Gillim’s Vance and Hines Harley Davidson Road Glide was leaking fluid, but no flags were thrown and he was able to bring the bike home. Fong maintained his charge to catch Gillim but his efforts proved to be futile. Gillim’s teammate at Vance and Hones finished 3rd in the race.

Gilliam spoke with the MotoAmerica media stating, “It is a real good day. I was chasing him (Bobby Fong) in the Superbike race, but he had a little bit of speed on me there and got it back. Pulled a little James Bond move. Gave him the smoke. Tried to keep him off of me. It’s been a really good day. I knew this track was going to be good for me. I just feel good here.”

Gillim Continued

“Last year was really good on the 1000. I didn’t really know what to expect with the Harley coming here. It’s pretty crazy seeing how half the track Bobby (Fong) and Tyler (O’Hara) have a little bit of speed, and then the other half I can kind of pull a little bit back. At least I know for sure on Tyler I got to see him for a second Bagger Challenge. It’s been a really good day. To have another podium with James (Rispoli), another double podium for Vance & Hines, that’s what we’re here for. So, good job for the team and good job for me and my family. Never had two wins in one day, so this is pretty cool.” King of the Baggers Race 1 Results

Race two action starts at 1:00pm EST with Royal Enfield BTR. Check out live coverages at MotoAmerica Live+

The MotoAmerica Championship Qualifying sessions at Brainerd are now finished. The results are as follows.

Medallia Superbike

Tytlers Cycle Racing came to Brainerd for blood. Cameron Beaubier (Tytlers Cycle Racing) claimed pole position in a back and forth battle during Q2 with Jake Gagne (Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamha). With about 6 minutes left in the session PJ Jacobsen who had seemingly fallen back on pace jumped up to P2. Jacobsen continue to maintain pace for the remainder of the session and provided the Tytlers Cycle Racing side with a 1-2 finish in Qualifying 2.

Jake Gagne finished third fastest setting a 1:31.154s lap just behind Jacobsen’s 1:31.094s. Mathew Scholtz and Brandon Paasch rounded out the top 5 overall. Josh Herrin seemed to be non existent in Q2 finishing P7. Its is not clear if his pace is the result of his lingering injuries. Superbike race 1 starts at 4:10pm EST.

Supersport

Rocco Landers secured pole having run fastest in yesterday’s qualifying 1. His lap times did not improve in qualifying 2 but he retained the fastest lap. Josh Hayes (Squid Hunter Racing) finished fastest in qualifying 2 but his best time was only good enough for a P2 finish. Teagg Hobbs (Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki) rounds out the top 3. The session was mostly uneventful. Landers stated after the session that the team made some changes to the bike but lost on the gamble. The negative changes didn’t matter though and the team will work to revert the changes for this afternoon’s race.

Steel Commander Stock 1000

Kaleb De Keyrel (Orange Cat Racing) finished on top in Stock 1000. De Keyrel set the tone through both qualifying sessions. Hayden Gillim (Disrupt Racing) came out swinging. Gillim seemingly was going to take the top spot but in his later laps ran into track traffic which ultimately robbed him of a potential pole position. Gillim was 0.200s behind De Keyrel. Benjamin Smith (Benjamin Smith Racing) finished third after leading qualifying in the early stages of qualifying. Smith made the jump to Stock 1000 this round after a short stent with privateer team CW Moto. Justin Meist (Nielsen Racing) and Travis Wyman (Travis Wyman Racing) rounded out the top 5 in 4th and 5th respectively. Of note, Cody Wyman (Altus Motorsports) crashed in qualifying 2 preventing him from improving on his P9 finish.

Junior Cup

Rossi Moor (Fairium NGRT- Gray Area) doubles down repeating his pole position finish from the last Junior cup round at Road America. Moor was able to convert his previous pole position into a 2nd place finish in race 1 and a win in race 2. He will look to repeat this result this weekend. Jayden Fernandez (Fernandez Racing) took P2 0.031 seconds behind Moor. Max Van (SportbikeTrackGear.com) finished P3. Moor will look to cut into the lead of Avery Dreher. He currently sits 66 points behind Dreher in the championship standings.

Royal Enfield BTR

Royale Enfield only received one qualifying session this round that occurred on Friday afternoon. Mikayla Moore finished P1. Moore has secured pole position in every qualifying for BTR this season. The session only featured half of the field due to late race on the day. 5 riders did not set times in qualifying. Jessice Martin finished P2 behind Moore by 0.011 seconds. Aubrey Credaroli rounded out the tope 3. BTR will not race today.

Mission King of the Baggers

Qualifying 2 was halted after a red flag came out due to fluid on the track. At the time of publishing this article the session was not restarted. Race control stated that qualifying will run for 9 minutes after the track clean up has been completed. During the short qualifying session Bobby Fong (Sac Mile/SDI Racing/Roland Sands/Indian) ran fastest ahead of Hayden Gillim (Vance & Hines/Mission/Harley-Davidson). Tyler O’ Hara finished third setting the grid for the King of the Baggers Challenge that will take place shortly.

This afternoon’s races can be streamed on MotoAmerica Live +.