Cycle News Staff | February 1, 2019
Beaubier Fires in First 2019 MotoAmerica Test—Three-time and defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier fired the first shot of the 2019 season when he emerged fastest in the two-day test held at Thunderhill Raceway in Northern California on January 30-31.
Beaubier Fires in First 2019 MotoAmerica Test
Beaubier emerged with the quickest lap of 1:45.2, besting Yoshimura Suzuki’s Toni Elias and teammate Garrett Gerloff.
“It was just good to ride, really,” Beaubier said. “The Buttonwillow test (a few weeks earlier) was a good shakedown on trying to get comfortable riding again and then Thunderhill was kinda the same thing, especially the first day. I didn’t really feel very good on Wednesday, honestly. I was a bit frustrated with how I was riding, but I woke up on Thursday and got comfortable pretty quickly and felt good the rest of the day. It was good to ride.”
Beaubier and Monster Yamaha teammate Garrett Gerloff didn’t have much to test, which Beaubier found refreshing.
“In reality, it was nice to not really have to test too many things. We messed with (swingarm) pivot adjustment and stuff like that a little bit, but it was nice to just go ride. When there’s a lot to test, you’re always coming in and out, in and out. At this test, I was actually able to do a couple of long race stints—one on Wednesday and another on Thursday. We got some riding fitness going and it felt good.”
Beaubier Fires in First 2019 MotoAmerica Test
Without any official MotoAmerica timing and scoring at the test, lap times were recorded by the teams. With Beaubier leading the way at a 1:45.2, second quickest went to Elias with the Spaniard lapping at 1:45.5. Then came Gerloff with his 1:45.7 followed by Elias’ new teammate Herrin, the Georgian lapping at 1:45.9 and Superbike newcomer JD Beach, whose best lap was a 1:46.5.
Elias was somewhat downbeat in explaining his test and you get the feeling he just wants to go racing already.
“The motivation we have at the winter tests is not the same as what we have when we go racing. It’s a personal thing. It’s not about the team, it’s not about the bike. Three days before the start of the first practice of the first race, a big motivation come to me and I want to race so bad. Right now, I don’t feel that energy and that energy helps. But I’m very happy working and we don’t know exactly what the others use, what tires they use, what exactly are the reasons. We know the lap time, but it’s just winter and we work towards making things more clear.”
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