Cycle News Staff | June 16, 2019
Utah MotoAmerica Results 2019
Sunday
GRANTSVILLE, UT (June 16, 2019) – Yoshimura Suzuki’s Toni Elias knew he was beaten by Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Cameron Beaubier in the first half of the EBC Brakes Superbike race in the Championship of Utah at Utah Motorsports Campus and he was just about to do the unheard of – settle for second place. But things changed when the red flag came out on the 13thlap, giving new life to the Spaniard who took full advantage to hold off Beaubier in a thrilling 10-lap sprint race to the finish.
The win gave Elias a clean sweep of the two EBC Brakes Superbike races at UMC, the 2017 MotoAmerica Superbike Champion extending his championship points lead to 26 points on Beaubier, 201-175.
Elias ended up just .303 of a second ahead of Beaubier at the finish with Beaubier’s teammate Garrett Gerloff just as close in third – .502 of a second behind Elias after those three scrapped for the entire 10-lap restart.
“Of course, it’s been a big help,” Elias said of the restart. “I don’t want to see that, but unfortunately it happened. When we saw the red flag, I start to be more comfortable like yesterday. Same thing I had to wait 12, 13 laps, 14 laps to start to be there. When I enter in my feeling, in my place, we could start to produce something every lap. I didn’t know if I was able to catch him or not because he was so strong. He did an amazing job from yesterday. The flag helped us. Then we played our cards. Then we start the battle with Gerloff and Cam. Was really difficult because in this situation like today anything can happen. Could be good, could be bad, could be the worst case like I had in Road America. But today it works. He (Beaubier) did an amazing job. He gives me a lot of difficulties I never seen. Today is one of the days when I saw him (Beaubier) really strong. There are other times, but today was maybe one of the strongest days. It’s really difficult. It’s good for the show, but he (Gerloff) was there too. He’s there and all three can make a good show today. Luck fell on my side with increasing the gap in the championship. But it is long. Anything can happen. I’m not going to think about the championship because I was leading with 29 and in one race, I lose everything. So, let’s be focused, let’s work good. This is for myself, for my dad, for my family who is supporting me every day and for my best days and my bad moods also. Thanks to my team.”
Beaubier knew he had the race in the bag before the red flag came out, the Californian holding a three-second lead at the time.
“I felt great as soon as the lights went out,” Beaubier said. “I just put my head down and pushed there at the beginning. I had a two and a half second gap and I was pretty comfortable at that pace. I was really comfortable. My R1 was just hooking up everywhere. So that was pretty frustrating to see the red flag come out. I knew it was just going to be a dog fight until the end with these two guys, and I knew (Josh) Herrin was back there too. Like I said, it’s frustrating coming in second, but that was an amazing battle. Obviously, I wanted to win, but that was one I’ll definitely look back on. I’m just happy that we were in contention today and we had good pace. I think we had a little pace on everyone. So, I’m really happy going into the rest of the season, especially after yesterday. I led the majority of the race, but for whatever reason the rear tire that I had yesterday… I felt like I had no grip from the beginning. I was just trying to ride kind of point-and-shoot because I felt like that’s what I had. That’s what I had on my bike. I was just trying to stop the bike and get it up on the meat of the tire and drive it out, because I had no edge grip. That was pretty frustrating yesterday, to not even finish on the podium. Today we were going in the right direction, and onto Laguna.”
Gerloff keeps chipping away in his second season of Superbike racing and he’s now running at the front consistently.
“It was good,” Gerloff said. “I felt like I had a decent jump and was right there. I took the lead in the first couple laps for just a split second, but it was nice to be right there. Then we all kind of settled into a pace, but then Josh (Herrin) kind of got in there and started trying to dice it up a little bit. I just didn’t want to lose that front group, so I had to get by him fast and was able to. Kind of made a mistake in the process and they got away a little bit. I was able to come back within a few laps. I was there. I felt like I had a good shot, but these guys went just a touch faster on the last lap. Where I felt like I was strong compared to them, they stepped it up on that last lap in those areas and I just wasn’t able to just put a wheel in there. I gave it everything I had. The Dunlops were working awesome. I just had a little bit less edge grip, I felt like that yesterday, which kind of held back my corner speed compared to Cameron. We’re close. We’re there, but I just want to be able to put in a wheel on the last lap on these guys. It was nice to just be able to see them, to be right there and smell it.”
Herrin held on to finish fourth on the second Yoshimura Suzuki, dropping over nine seconds off the pace after an off-track excursion. He finished a second clear of Attack Performance Estenson Racing’s JD Beach, who in turn was just a tick in front of his Kentucky neighbor Jake Lewis on the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki.
Scheibe Racing BMW’s Jake Gagne, Uribe Racing Honda’s Jason Uribe, Maximum Effort Racing’s Mathew Orange and Thrashed Bike Racing’s Max Flinders rounded out the top 10.
Supersport – Fong By .003 Of A Second
In the hotly contested Supersport class, Sunday’s race was a story of the hunter and the hunted. M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Bobby Fong got the jump on polesitter and Rickdiculous Racing Yamaha rider Hayden Gillim in the beginning of the 19-lap race, but Gillim managed to get past Fong in fairly short fashion. Fong stalked Gillim until the final turn on the final lap and drafted past him to snatch the victory by .003 of second.
It was Fong’s third Supersport race win of the season. Celtic HSBK Racing’s PJ Jacobsen finished third when Fong’s teammate Sean Dylan Kelly, who looked to have the final spot on the podium clinched, experienced a mechanical issue on the final lap.
When asked about his race strategy, Fong responded, “I knew for sure I did not want to lead. I knew he hasn’t seen my cards yet. I did not want to lead. I knew where he was a lot faster than me and I knew where I was strong. I knew for sure that I was going to show him a wheel and stuff, but I definitely didn’t want to lead. I could tell that his pace was dropping at the end of the race. We definitely had a little bit more pace, but I just wanted to stick to the game plan. I knew as soon as I passed him, he’s such a demon on the brakes. We have been figuring stuff out on the Suzuki to brake a little bit deeper out there. I knew for sure if I would have passed him, he would have countered and taken me on the inside on the hard brakes. The plan, it did definitely change but I was sizing it up at least going out of the corner onto the start/finish line. That’s kind of all she wrote. But I’m definitely thankful to put the Suzuki on top of the box. I didn’t know how the last lap was going to go. I kind of just winged it on the last lap. If there was nobody, I was going to take it. I knew for sure that if I could get a good drive, I could get him closer to the start/finish line. Thank God it paid off, but it’s going to be a long season.”
Liqui Moly Junior Cup – Daniels, Finally
Sunday’s Liqui Moly Junior Cup race featured the same riders at the front who have been consistent protagonists throughout the season, but Quarterley Racing/On Track Development Kawasaki rider Dallas Daniels, who started from the pole, successfully held off Ninja400R.com/Norton Motorsports/Dr Farr Kawasaki’s Rocco Landers and notched his first win of the season. Landers, who was Saturday’s winner and the victor in six of the seven races prior to Sunday, finished second after nearly beating Daniels to the finish line. Meanwhile, Altus Motorsports Kawasaki rider Kevin Olmedo matched his Saturday third-place finish with another third-place finish on Sunday.
“The last section was definitely, I think, where I was the best,” Daniels said. “I was just kind of watching all race because I knew right from really the first sector, I was really losing time. He would get away from me just enough to where once we’d get to where I was good, I was just too far back to make something happen. So, I kind of dialed in where I was slow. Once I got in the lead, I didn’t really care what was going on. I just wanted to stay up there. I led the last four laps and when we got to the last lap, I knew he was right there because on the Jumbotron you could see him going into the left before the last two corners. So, I just tried to cut the best last two corners of the whole race. I was actually having some tire issues, kind of slipping a little bit. I was able to get the win and ‘finally’ is pretty much the way to put it. It feels really good.”
Stock 1000 – Lee Takes Over
Defending Stock 1000 Champion Andrew Lee showed why he has the big number one on his Franklin Armory/Graves Kawasaki as he bided his time after the start of Sunday’s race, passed polesitter Geoff May aboard his Ameris Bank Kawasaki and pulled a healthy gap at the front, which he was able to maintain all the way to the finish line. May finished second and Stefano Mesa was third aboard his MESA37 Racing Kawasaki. The win vaulted Lee into the points lead, and Mesa is now two points adrift in second place.
“I kind of knew where (May) was a little bit stronger,” Lee said. “He had my number on the last part of the track, so I knew if I was going to make a move that would stick, I had to do it in the first four corners. That first section, it’s a pretty hairy section. It’s pretty quick. After some qualifying issues I’m just happy that my team got us back together. The Franklin Armory/Graves Kawasaki was really handling really well in the race. So, I’m just happy to be back in that first spot. Hopefully, we can continue the momentum.”
Twins Cup – Dumas’ First
The MotoAmerica Championship of Utah proved to be a pivotal round for Alex Dumas, who moved up to the Twins Cup class after winning the 2018 Liqui Moly Junior Cup Championship. The Roadracing World Young Guns Suzuki rider not only earned both the provisional and final pole position, but he made the most of his number-one starting position, got a great start of the line, and pulled a gap, which he stretched out to more than 14 seconds by the time he crossed the finish line.
Quarterley Racing Ducati rider Michael Barnes finished second, which enabled him to take over the lead in the championship, and Cooper McDonald notched a breakthrough third-place finish aboard his Team AP MotoArts Yamaha in only his fourth professional motorcycle road race.
“The M4 guys put me on a nice bike,” Dumas said. “We’ve been improving the bike a lot since the last couple of weekends. I had a lot of fun at this race to just be in front. I’m excited for the next race and the rest of the season. I really want to thank everybody from M4 and Roadracing World. I’m really excited.”
EBC Brakes Superbike
- Toni Elias (Suzuki)
- Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
- Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha)
- Josh Herrin (Suzuki)
- JD Beach (Yamaha)
Supersport
- Bobby Fong (Suzuki)
- Hayden Gillim (Yamaha)
- PJ Jacobsen (Yamaha)
- Bryce Prince (Yamaha)
- Sean Dylan Kelly (Suzuki)
Liqui Moly Junior Cup
- Dallas Daniels (Kawasaki)
- Rocco Landers (Kawasaki)
- Kevin Olmedo (Kawasaki)
- Marc Edwards (Kawasaki)
- Benjamin Goody (Kawasaki)
Stock 1000
- Andrew Lee (Kawasaki)
- Geoff May (Kawasaki)
- Stefano Mesa (Kawasaki)
- Travis Wyman (BMW)
- Michael Gilbert (Kawasaki)
Twins Cup
- Alex Dumas (Suzuki)
- Michael Barnes (Ducati)
- Cooper McDonald (Yamaha)
- Joseph Blasius (Suzuki)
- Draik Beauchamp (Yamaha)
For ticket information on the MotoAmerica Series, click HERE
For How To Watch information on the MotoAmerica Series, click HERE
Saturday
GRANTSVILLE, UT (June 15, 2019) – Yoshimura Suzuki’s Toni Elias lost a boatload of points when he crashed out of race two at Road America two weeks ago, but he almost made all of those back up today with a thrilling victory in race one of the Championship of Utah at the Utah Motorsports Campus.
Utah MotoAmerica Results 2019
In a race that featured as many as eight riders in the lead pack for nearly the duration, Elias emerged from the pack to win by 1.9 seconds after dropping as far back as seventh early in the race. But his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 got better as the race wore on and he was where he needed to be when it counted, earning the 29thvictory of his MotoAmerica Superbike career – a mark that moves him to fifth on the all-time win list.
“This morning for the second qualifying I never felt this problem,” Elias said of his slow start. “I start the race and the second lap I start to lose the front too much. I didn’t expect that. So I was thinking to do a very calm pace for the first 10 laps, being in second position but I couldn’t. Josh (Herrin) passed me. Garrett (Gerloff) passed me. JD (Beach) passed me like lightning. Mat (Scholtz) was attacking me like an animal in the jungle. So, I tried to stay on the bike calm, waiting. I was thinking, ‘if this continues, I’m done today. I have to accept they will go.’ But after 12, 13 laps everybody slowed down the pace, everybody start to slide. Me too. But I felt comfortable. When my rear tire start to slide, start to spin, we released the stress on the front tire, so I start to feel much more comfortable. Play more with the bike, with the gas. Garrett helped me a lot passing JD because I could pass both in one corner. Amazing because I honestly couldn’t pass anyone. I was there like fifth. But then everything was quick. I arrive so quick. I pass Cameron and was very close that one, but also was good to get the rhythm. Then I arrived quickly to Herrin and I passed him in the first corner. Never expect to pass anyone in this corner and I was able to. I didn’t expect Garrett at the end, but he did a good job. He passed me, I overtake him. Everything was pleasing. This track is so difficult to pass. It was everybody in one group. Really difficult race, but at the end I didn’t expect to open that little gap, but helped me a lot to stay out of the trouble. Really this race was really important, especially after the disaster in the last corner at Road America.”
Once he worked his way to the front, he was able to pull a slight gap over the rest fighting behind him. In the end, the battle for the final podium positions went to Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz and Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Garrett Gerloff.
Scholtz’s race was a lot like Elias’ in that he also was back in the pack early in the race but was able to move his way forward. Both Scholtz and Elias were also helped a bit by Gerloff’s pass on Attack Performance Estenson Racing’s JD Beach, with Gerloff forcing Beach and himself wide which allowed Elias and Scholtz to pass. Scholtz also had a come-together with Josh Herrin on his way through the pack.
“I hope not,” Scholtz said when asked if he was expecting a visit from Herrin. “This track is really, really tight and to make passes here you’re against some pretty big guys. Herrin’s a hard rider. I’m a hard rider. All the guys are exceptional riders. I think it’s just part of the game. It’s one of those things. You all rush to come back tomorrow. I’m looking forward to the second race. I’m so, so happy to be back up here on the podium. I kind of felt like it was never going to happen. This year there are so many fast guys. You look at the practice sheets, there’s six or seven guys that are all capable of finishing on the podium. I’m just really happy. We love the new Magneti-Morelli system. Last year I kind of thought once we got this new system we would just be there, it would just be easy to go and race with these guys, but it turns out that’s not the case. The last couple of rounds we’ve been struggling and going back and forth, and we finally feel like we found a decent setup. This one’s for the Westby guys. We’ve had some very long, long debriefs, late nights. So happy to be back up here. The first couple of laps I didn’t feel good. I was running wide, tucking the front, but after the halfway point it seemed like it dropped off and I really started picking up my pace then. I kind of feel I need to ride better to actually get the most out of the new system. Hopefully tomorrow it will be me and Toni up front.”
Gerloff was having issues with his bike midrace and it cost him. Still, he ended up on the podium after passing his teammate Cameron Beaubier late in the race.
“It was definitely a tight race,” Gerloff said. “It was awesome to see that many guys up there battling for the top three spots. It made it super interesting. A little stressful, but pretty fun. I just had a little bit of a technical issue in the middle of the race and had to figure out how to ride around it, but once I was able to, the bike still felt good and everything. So, I was able to come back. I wish I could have stayed closer to these guys when I was dealing with that because I felt like I had good pace at the end of the race. But stuff happens. We’ll get it all sorted out for tomorrow and come back stronger. Looking forward to it.”
Defending three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion and pole-sitter Beaubier ended up fourth after leading the early laps. In the end he was helped by Beach’s crash and Yoshimura Suzuki’s Josh Herrin’s issue with back pain that dropped him to sixth.
Elias now leads the title chase by 21 points over Beaubier, 176-155. He came into the weekend just nine points ahead of Beaubier after his Road America race-two debacle.
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis ended up fifth after dropping off the back of the lead pack and making up places with Beach’s demise and Herrin’s physical issues.
Scheibe Racing BMW’s Jake Gagne barely bested Uribe Racing Honda’s Jason Uribe with FLY Racing/ADR Motorsports’ David Anthony and Maximum Effort Racing’s Matthew Orange rounding out the top 10.
Supersport – Gillim On Top
Rickdiculous Racing’s Hayden Gillim came away with his fourth Supersport win of the year in race one at the Utah Motorsports Campus on Saturday, the Kentuckian coming out on top of a race-long battle with his championship rival Bobby Fong.
Fong, on the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki, gave Gillim all he could for the 14 laps of the 2.2-mile East Course but came up .101 of a second short. Gillim now leads Fong by 12 points in the championship point standings, 122-110.
“It was really good,” Gillim said of his day. “This morning started off well and I was able to qualify on pole. Was having some fun this morning getting used to a new track. With it being short on the schedule, we didn’t quite get to figure out some of the things that we needed to figure out. We’re going to go back, work on some grip issues that we were having towards the end of the race. The first few laps were amazing, but I started dropping off pretty good. Bobby (Fong) was really pressuring me. I just tried to make sure I didn’t mess up. I was able to keep both wheels in line pretty well. I could hear him get pretty close in a couple spots on the track, so I figured that was where he was going to be trying to go for something. The last lap I tried to push as hard as I could and try to do a little defensive riding, and it paid off. It’s going to be another fun race tomorrow. It’s always fun racing with these guys.”
Third place went to the man who sits in third in the championship – Richie Escalante on the Hudson Motorcycle Yamaha YZF-R6. Like Gillim, Escalante also had his hands full with an M4 ECSTAR Suzuki – with this one ridden by rookie Sean Dylan Kelly. Escalante beat the 17-year-old Kelly to the line by just .628 of a second.
Liqui Moly Junior Cup: Landers Again
Ninja400R.com/Norton Motorsports/Dr. Farr’s Rocco Landers won his sixth race in seven starts in the Liqui Moly Junior Cup race on Saturday at UMC, the Oregonian fighting through from a poor start to beat Quarterley Racing/On Track Development’s Dallas Daniels by just .142 of a second.
For Daniels it was sixth podium of the year and his fifth runner-up finish to his rival Landers. The pair are now separated by 26 points, 155-129.
Altus Motorsports’ Kevin Olmedo earned his fourth podium of the season and his third in a row with a close third-place finish over Burleson Racing’s Isaiah Burleson, his best-ever MotoAmerica finish.
“It was a very fun race,” Landers said. “I didn’t get the best start. I kind of fell back to seventh or so. I was able to claw back to second, and Dallas (Daniels) probably had about a second and a half or so on me. I had to catch back up to him. Then on lap one my slider caught one of the curbing and came off. So, I was basically riding the whole race with one slider, and I’m a big knee dragger so I had to adjust my style a little bit. Since I caught up to Dallas, I was getting by him and tried to put as much distance as possible and tried to run the best rest of the race. I saw on the last lap he started reeling me in. I looked back and he was right there. I was like, ‘whoa, he’s close.’ ”
EBC Brakes Superbike
- Toni Elias (Suzuki)
- Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)
- Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha)
- Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
- Jake Lewis (Suzuki)
Supersport
- Hayden Gillim (Yamaha)
- Bobby Fong (Suzuki)
- Richie Escalante (Yamaha)
- Sean Dylan Kelly (Suzuki)
- PJ Jacobsen (Yamaha)
Liqui Moly Junior Cup
- Rocco Landers (Kawasaki)
- Dallas Daniels (Kawasaki)
- Kevin Olmedo (Kawasaki)
- Isaiah Burleson (Kawasaki)
- Gauge Rees (Kawasaki)
For ticket information on the MotoAmerica Series, click HERE
For How To Watch information on the MotoAmerica Series, click HERE