Cycle News Staff | June 5, 2017
Chino, CA (June 5, 2017) – Toni Elias took a hard-fought victory in Sunday’s MotoAmerica Motul Superbike Race 2 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Teammate Roger Hayden, who earned Superpole on Saturday, finished second in Sunday’s race putting the 2017 Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 in first and second at the checkered flag.
It marked the third time this season that Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing has finished 1-2.
Elias’ win was a series leading fourth of the season and expanded his lead in the series standings to 14 points (160-146) over Cameron Beaubier after eight races. Hayden is a close third with 140 points.
For Elias, the win was especially memorable since his mom and dad came over from Spain to watch their first MotoAmerica event in person.
On Saturday Hayden won Superpole for the second time this season, turning in a time of 2:12.864. The four-mile, 14-turn road course puts a premium on power and top speed and the new 2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000 came through with flying colors in its first run at one of the premier road racing circuits in the country.
“Road America is usually not my strongest track,” Hayden admitted. “but the team gave me a great bike in qualifying and I was able to put it on the pole.”
Hayden was strong and sprinted to an early lead and led the most laps in Saturday’s race, but ultimately finished the day in a close third, just 0.153 seconds out of the lead.
Elias again made a great charge from 10th on the grid to finish second. He pulled up in the draft on the final straight, but came up short by just 5-1000ths of a second, marking one the closest finishes in series history.
Sunday’s race ran under sunny and warm conditions drawing a big crowd to the classic Wisconsin circuit. Hayden and Elias once again put their Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbikes up front and swapped the lead numerous times. The race was red flagged with two laps to go due to a competitor’s bike spilling oil going into the first turn.
Elias was leading at the time, giving him the victory.
“It’s not the way we like to win,” Elias said afterwards, “but I am grateful for the victory and to build our points lead. Roger was very strong today and we had a good race and were trying to break away. It was wonderful to have my family here from Spain this weekend. I want to dedicate my win to Nicky Hayden and the entire Hayden family.”
The series next moves to the Utah Motorsports Complex in Tooele, Utah, for the Championship of Utah on June 23-25.
For additional details on the upcoming event visit www.MotoAmerica.com
You can keep up with the team’s progress by visiting www.yoshimura-racing.com and www.suzukicycles.com/Racing and via YouTube at www.youtube.com/SuzukiCycles
Team Yoshimura Suzuki is grateful for the support of their sponsors: Yoshimura R&D, Suzuki Motor of America, Motul, Tucker Rocky, Dunlop, Shorai, Sunstar, K&N Performance Filters, NGK Spark Plugs, RK Racing Chain, Chicken Hawk Racing and Zeta.
About Yoshimura R&D of America: Yoshimura is “The Leader in Performance” and has been for over 60 years. With unmatched skills, knowledge and passion for racing, Yoshimura is on the forefront of the aftermarket. Yoshimura exhaust systems are race bred and feature the same legendary performance, fit, and quality that has been our trademark for six decades. To learn more about Yoshimura and view their wide variety of performance products, visit www.yoshimura-rd.com
About Suzuki: Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. (SMAI) distributes Motorcycles, ATVs, Scooters, Outboard Motors and Automotive Parts and Accessories via an extensive dealer network throughout 49 states. SMAI’s supplier, Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), based in Hamamatsu, Japan, is a diversified worldwide manufacturer of Motorcycles, ATVs, Scooters, Automobiles and Outboard Motors. Founded in 1909 and incorporated in 1920, SMC has 147 distributors in 201 countries. For more information, visit www.suzuki.com