Rennie Scaysbrook | April 9, 2016
Spaniard Toni Elias has broken the Yamaha stranglehold of the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship by taking Yoshimura Suzuki’s first race victory in over 12 months when he bested teammate Roger Hayden and Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha’s Josh Hayes at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX, today.
The race was one of two halves when Kyle Wyman’s Yamaha YZF-R1 grenaded itself down the back straight, coating the racing line in oil and forcing a halt to proceedings with Roger Hayden over two seconds clear from Broaster Chicken/ Roadrace Factory Yamaha’s Jake Gagne, who had forced his way up into second place.
Reigning Superbike champion Cameron Beaubier’s race was promising early on as he shot to the front on lap one and began to pull away before laying down the Monster Energy/Graves Yamaha early in the race, leaving Hayden in front all on his own before the red flag came out.
Elias was suffering from a broken electrical sensor and dropped back like a stone in the first part of race one, but with the red flag came a fix and new found grip as he charged to the front and stayed there until the flag.
“For me, this win is very important because it’s the first time in three years I have really enjoyed racing a motorcycle,” said Elias afterwards. “I knew something was wrong in the first part of the race, but then we got it fixed and I could ride like I wanted, so I am so happy for the team to get this victory.”
Hayden was philosophical about losing his hard earned two second lead in the first half of the race, saying, “sometimes those red flags help you, some times they don’t. But for me this second place is great because I want to be up the front fighting from the first race and we showed we could do it.”
Hayes took third after a dogfight with Hayden, admitting later, “I hate losing, but I learned a bit here. I could see where the Suzuki’s worked better and where our bike did, so I feel I’m in good shape for tomorrow.”
Bobby Fong (Latus Motors Kawasaki ZX-10R) took an ultra-close win in the Superstock 1000 class, besting Wheels in Motion/Motosport.com/Meen Yamaha’s Josh Herrin on the line for the win.
“The red flag was a bit of a help, and I just worked my way to the front and tried to do anything stupid, but I’ve gotta give this up for my team who have worked so hard to get here, I’m really happy for them,” he said.
MotoAmerica has a second race tomorrow at 3:30pm local time following the MotoGP race.
