Rennie Scaysbrook | December 26, 2015
You can read the original magazine story by clicking HERE.
Photography by Brian J Nelson
Racers and bench racers alike dream of this moment, the time they clinch a championship, and it was no different for 2015 MotoAmerica Superbike Champion, Cameron Beaubier.
“I think that second race at New Jersey was the longest of my life,” said the 22-year-old Californian of his title-winning ride in the final race of the season. “In the second race it started drizzling and I was just riding around making sure I was still in contention. But crossing the line was a great feeling. My whole family was there, my brothers, too, so they helped me celebrate.”
The championship victory put an exclamation point on a season of supreme Yamaha dominance in America. The Tuning Fork brand took every single race victory in the Superbike, Superstock 1000, Supersport and Superstock 600 championships—every race on the program save for the KTM RC Cup—and it was clear Beaubier was much more comfortable on the all-conquering 2015 YZF-R1 compared to the 2009-2014 version that teammate Josh Hayes won his AMA titles on.
Been there, done that, got the shirt. Beaubier atop the New Jersey podium as the new MotoAmerica Superbike Champion. He’ll be back in 2016.
“I think the new bike has definitely suited my style better than the old one, but also just having another year under my belt on a superbike was a big help,” Beaubier said. “It was fun over the course of the year to develop the bike how I like, because Josh and I ride quite differently. He’s more shoot it in hard on the brakes, set it up and drive out, whereas I’m a little more of a GP-style where I don’t brake quite as hard and try to carry more corner speed. So, for example, I’ll run softer fork springs to Josh, just so I can get the feel I want under brakes and in the middle of the corner. It was cool to see the different development directions we went in.”
Having a title contending bike is one thing, being able to ride it completely another, and Beaubier’s season was a model of consistency—on the podium every single race, save for a fall in race one at Barber Motorsports Park, before bouncing back to take one of his highlight victories over Hayes in race two. And season 2015 saw Cameron take a huge leap forward in how he approached and rode wet-weather races, thanks to some choice words by former AMA Superbike front-runner, Jake Zemke.
“I had a talk with Zemke about rain riding and he was telling me to just enjoy it,” says Cameron. “There’s no need to be nervous, it’s the same for everyone. Jake probably didn’t think he was saying anything impactful but something little kind of switched for me. So before Road Atlanta I just relaxed, had some fun and won both races. That was a big deal for me.”
A double win at Road Atlanta in the pouring rain was a huge confidence booster for the 22-year-old.
Beaubier admits the Road Atlanta victories were not as stressful on his body due to the wet-weather conditions and soon after he had surgery to alleviate the arm pump issues that dogged him during round one at Circuit of the Americas in Texas. That operation signaled the comeback of teammate Hayes, who took two dominant victories at Virginia International Raceway to close right up in the points standings.
“Josh pretty much handed it to us all at VIR,” Beaubier says. “The arm-pump operation helped a lot, but at the same time there was only two weeks to VIR and I wasn’t able to get out on my bicycle or train and my arm was pretty weak. I struggled pretty badly there, fitness-wise. It was tough but we took second and third places, then backed them up at Road America with a win and a second place.”
Some more advice from another former champion came Cameron’s way following VIR, with Ben Spies pitching in to do his bit to help the likeable lad from Roseville, California.
“Ben was just telling me the basic stuff—how to train during the week, what to eat during the weekend, how to cool my body down,” says Beaubier. “It’s little stuff, but it really helped me throughout the season. Going into the Barber round, I felt good in the practice and qualifying sessions and was really bummed I crashed in the first race but was happy I got off safe, because it could have been a lot worse than it was. Then in the second race, Josh and I had a race-long battle. It was cool to get the win there. I feel like that got my momentum back rolling for the last few rounds.”
The final four rounds read 2-2 at Miller Motorsports Park, 2-1 at Laguna Seca, crucially, 1-1 at Indy, and then 2-3 for the championship at New Jersey.
Indy was indeed a turning point for Beaubier.
Indy was the real turning point in the Championship, as Beaubier ran away with both race victories.
“It was a big weekend for me because I at least knew which way the track went and I knew we weren’t going to have a ton of practice, as we were second to MotoGP on the program,” Cameron said. “Josh had never been there before, so I felt like it was a weekend I needed to take advantage of. And everything went really good. I got both race wins and Josh finished up with two third places. That was a big points break for me going into New Jersey.”
Race two at Barber was one of the highlights of the year, Beaubier (6) taking the win by just 0.128 seconds from Hayes (1).
Old and new. Hayes (left) might not be the past just yet, but Beaubier (right) is certainly the future.
New Jersey saw Hayes dominate as he needed, taking both race victories. But it would not be enough to take a fifth title, with Beaubier’s championship victory marking him as the 20th rider to win the county’s premier road racing category and the fourth youngest behind Nicky Hayden, Fred Merkel and Ben Spies.
“I was riding so timid,” Beaubier said in New Jersey. “I was staying off curbs, doing everything I could not to risk crashing, but it was cool to watch Taylor Knapp and Josh Day battle it out in front of me—that kept me distracted from what I had to do.”
In a display of sportsmanship the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team riders could learn from, Hayes was classy in defeat at New Jersey, saying, “I’m proud of what Cam accomplished. If someone other than me is going to win the championship, I’m glad it’s my teammate.”
With Hayes out in front, all Cameron had to do was keep his powder dry in New Jersey to take the title in speedblock color scheme—he did just that.
With the title sewn up, attention turned to what Cam would do next. And after careful deliberation of all possible options, he will defend his title in MotoAmerica next year. But his star is only just starting to ascend, there’s plenty left in his racing career, even though he’s already been chewed up and spat out from Europe once when he was barely old enough to go on a date.
“When I was over there,” said Beaubier, “I was on 125s and it was a weird deal for me because I wasn’t with my family. I was kind of lost, just bouncing around from house to house. It was tough because I was 15, 16 years old. I don’t feel like I made the most of it, looking back on it. But at the same time I think that was good for me if I get the opportunity to go back, because I’ll know what to change.
And back is firmly where he wants to go, with a ride in World Superbike a distinct possibility for a rider that many are touting as the man to take over Nicky Hayden’s role as leading American on the world stage.
“I really want to get back to Europe with Yamaha,” Beaubier says. “I think the World Superbike route would be the best-case scenario for me, just because it’s the same bikes I’ve been riding here. I feel like I could be pretty competitive. Obviously my main goal is to get to MotoGP, but I feel like going to World Superbike is the most realistic option for me. The R1’s going to be a weapon in 2016 in World Superbike and I’d like to get my feet wet and hopefully try to do a couple wildcards next year. That’s what I really want to do.”
The next two years will thus be crucial for Cameron if he’s to make his dream of a world title a reality and, if he retains his MotoAmerica Superbike title, there’s every chance European doors will fly open to the young Californian.
America needs its next star on the world stage, and the hottest prospect in U.S. racing is determined he will be just that.
You can read the original magazine story by clicking HERE.
