PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J. NELSON
The MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship gets back to action tomorrow, Friday, June 12 at Barber Motorsports Park. Not surprisingly, the forecast for June in Alabama is hot and humid. So the riders will put their physical conditioning to the test, especially in the Superbike/Superstock 1000 class where both races are held on Sunday afternoon, the first of which at 12:30 p.m. and race two scheduled for 4 p.m.
“I’ve known for quite a while that this would be one of the toughest tracks because it doesn’t have any real straightaways,” Monster Energy Graves Yamaha’s Josh Hayes said. “It tends to be a difficult and physical track anyway. And when you add in the heat and humidity of the south, and coming here in June, it makes it really tough. I had a plan pretty early in the season and after Road America I came home to Mississippi to be in the heat and the humidity to try and acclimate myself and be prepared for a tough Sunday.”
Although the reigning Superbike Champion Hayes goes into the weekend 26 points behind his young teammate Cameron Beaubier, “The Mississippi Madman” has an impressive record at the circuit Barber built. Of Hayes’ 52 Superbike victories, six were won at Barber, including his Superbike sweep last season—a double win that turned the tide in the title chase after his rookie teammate crashed out of both races. The four-time Superbike champ has also clinched many a championships—Superbike and support class—at a circuit closest to his hometown of Gulfport, Mississippi that remains on the calendar.
The two Yamaha men will also face the onslaught of the two Yoshimura Suzuki riders—Jake Lewis and Roger Hayden. Lewis, in his rookie Superbike season, sits third in the title chase with 116 points, 15 more than his teammate Hayden. Both had podium finishes two weeks ago at Road America and come to Barber with momentum.
Roadrace Factory’s Jake Gagne continues to be the class of the field in the Superstock 1000 class. His sweep of both races at Road America on his Yamaha R1 gives him six wins on the season and he now leads TBOC Racing’s Taylor Knapp by 30 points in the championship. Tyler O’Hara is just a further nine points adrift on his Chisum Racing/Motul-backed Yamaha R1.
As is generally the case, the Supersport class is still the most hotly contested of the five classes in the MotoAmerica series, and no where was that more evident than at Road America two weeks ago. In race two in Wisconsin, a photo finish went to Yamalube/Y.E.S./Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s JD Beach over his title rivals Josh Herrin and Garrett Gerloff with Herrin taking victory the day before in a wet race.
How’s this for close? Beach and Herrin, with three wins apiece, are tied in the championship points chase with 140—16 more than Gerloff. Roadrace Factory’s Tomas Puerta, meanwhile, moved into a tie with M4 Suzuki/Sportbikegear.com’s David Anthony for fourth in the championship at Road America with his second- and fifth-place finishes.
In the Superstock 600 class, Herrin’s Wheels in Motion/Motosport.com/Meen Motorsports teammate Joe Roberts gained a bit of ground on his rival Richie Escalante at Road America. Roberts was second and first in the two races with Escalante third and second. Travis Wyman, meanwhile, continues to be a thorn in their sides with the Kyle Wyman Racing rider earning his first win of the season in the wet first race at Road America. Roberts leads Escalante by six points, 120-114, with Wyman third—just a point behind the youngster from Tizayuca, Mexico.
The KTM RC 390 Cup made its long-awaited debut at Road America and it didn’t disappoint. Even though Gage McAllister won both races he had his hands full both times in the new class. On Saturday, McAllister topped Joe Barry and Brandon Altmeyer. On Sunday, he came back to beat Braeden Ortt and Barry. McAllister leads the championship by 14 points over Barry with Ortt and Altmeyer tied for third.
To add to the nascent series list of promising American talent is AMA Pro Flat Track up-and-comer Jarod Vanderkooi. The 17-year-old from Mt. Gilead, Ohio, will make his road racing debut on Saturday in the KTM RC 390 Cup race. Vanderkooi is currently in his rookie season of racing in the GNC1 class where he rides a Don’s Kawasaki flat tracker and is fresh off of two days with Keith Code’s California Superbike School at the Streets of Willow Springs.
