Cycle News Staff | September 23, 2019
2019 Barber MotoAmerica Results and News
Sunday
BIRMINGHAM, AL (September 22, 2019)– What seemed like the improbable just three days ago turned into reality for Cameron Beaubier on a sunny Sunday in Alabama, the Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing rider winning a fourth MotoAmerica Superbike crown by five points over his rival Toni Elias with a sweep of the two EBC Superbike races at Barber Motorsports Park.
2019 Barber MotoAmerica Results and News
Cameron Beaubier’s title was his fourth Superbike title in five years.|Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Beaubier did everything he needed to do in the Championship of Alabama. He needed to win both races and he needed Elias to finish third or worse in both. So, he needed help. And he got it with Elias struggling to a fourth-place finish on Sunday to give Beaubier the title.
Today’s victory was the sixth of the year for Beaubier and the 38thof his AMA Superbike career. More importantly, it earned him a fourth AMA Superbike title, which puts him in a tie with his former teammate Josh Hayes for second in AMA Superbike history. Mat Mladin is at the top of that list with seven AMA Superbike Championships.
For the second straight day, Beaubier’s teammate Garrett Gerloff finished second, the Texan again leading the early laps before playing good soldier and not putting up a fight when his teammate caught up. Beaubier, meanwhile, had made things difficult for himself by running off the track in turn one on the opening lap, but he got the job done.
Garrett Gerloff (31) leads Josh Herrin (2), Jake Gagne (32), Toni Elias (24) and he rest of the pack on the opening lap of Sunday’s EBC Brakes Superbike race at Barber Motorsports Park.|Photo by Brian J. Nelson
“I couldn’t believe what happened off the start,” Beaubier said. “I’ve been feeling so good. My R1 has been working so good all weekend – Friday, Saturday, this morning, warmup, Sunday. I knew what I had to do. I knew I had to get in front and win the race and Toni (Elias) had to get third to win. I thought it was all out the door. I was in the grass. I tried to go around the outside of (Josh) Herrin and everyone knows you don’t go around the outside of Herrin. You end up in the grass. So that’s what happened. I got back on the track. I think I was like around eighth or something like that. These guys were riding so good. They were so hard to pass, and they were trying to pass each other as well. So, I made it really, really tough on myself, but I had nothing to lose. I just put my head down and pushed as hard as I could. I can’t even believe we were in this position going into this race – seven points out of the lead after yo-yo-ing to 30 points back on Toni (Elias), and we’re sitting here with the number-one plate. I just can’t believe it, really. It’s amazing. I just owe it all to my team Yamaha. It really is like a big family. I love all those guys. It’s Rick’s (Hobbs, his crew chief) last year. He’s retiring after this year. He’s been a huge key, if not thekey, to these four championships. I owe a huge portion of it to him. I’m really going to miss that guy.”
Gerloff was happy with his performance and his season, a year in which he finished third in the title chase and won four races.
“This has been a good season for me,” Gerloff said. “I definitely accomplished a lot of goals that I had going into the season. I feel like I had a pretty good year. Definitely some low points, but some really high points also. You can’t have one without the other. I’m really happy with my 2019 season. I really feel like I gelled with the R1 a lot better this year. I never give up and neither does my team. We’ve been working our butts off every weekend since last year to try to get the bike really where I like it and also just working on myself and working on my riding. A big part of that was having Josh Hayes help me out this year. He helped with a lot of different things, bike setup and also some mental stuff and everything. He’s been a huge part. Just can’t thank the whole team enough. I’m always looking for more, so I got bigger and better goals for next year. But just a big congrats to Cam. He’s been riding super consistent all year, super-fast. He’s definitely made me a faster rider. Like he said, it sucks to have a fast teammate sometimes because I was thinking the same thing. If I come in and he’s going a half a second faster than me and I’m like, ‘Dude, where the hell are you pulling this out of?’ But the challenge is always a closed door, but it’s a door that’s waiting to be opened for improvement. That’s the way I look at every challenge that I’ve had. I try to bust through those doors as fast as I can. It’s been a good year. I’m really excited with where we are and just really excited for what the future holds.”
Cameron Beaubier (1) won the race on Sunday and with it the 2019 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship. Gerloff (31) finished second to Beaubier, to help his teammate take the crown.|Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Third place on Sunday went to Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz, the South African some 10 seconds behind the Yamaha duo but almost three seconds ahead of Elias.
“It’s definitely good to finish up with a podium,” Scholtz said. “Spirits were really low yesterday. The boys were really pumped. I’ve had an up-and-down season. Started off, I wouldn’t say terribly, but nowhere near where we thought. I feel like the last couple races we’ve come on well. Just thank you to the Westby guys. They’ve been working hard. I’m just really happy to be back up here racing. We haven’t signed a contract yet, but 2020 is basically down for us. Just happy to be back here. After last year things went pretty well but just the normal checkbox on the Yamaha getting everything ready. The Yamaha factory guys stepped up the pace every single track. They were in a class of their own the last couple races. So, I feel like today if I maybe could have tagged on with them, I could have followed them, so that gives me huge confidence for next year that we can at least challenge for race wins occasionally. I think that’s the goal for us. To everyone watching back home, my friends, family, my fiancée, everyone, it’s been a dream come true racing here.”
Elias was extremely gracious in defeat, especially considering he’d led this championship from the second race until the start of the 20thrace.
“First of all, I want to congratulate Cameron (Beaubier) and Yamaha,” Elias said. “They did an amazing end of the season and they deserve this win. For me it is not nice – it’s hard and sad. It will take some days to digest this loss and accept it. We tried hard. We did everything we could. The whole team gave 200 percent. We tried to find grip where there was no grip. I also want to say thank you to my teammate Josh Herrin. He tried to help and did a great job, but it was not enough. I’m very proud of my team, every single person. It’s very difficult for them as well, but we must accept that we tried our best and be content with that fact. We will come back and work harder next year and try to win another championship for Suzuki.”
Kyle Wyman was fifth on Sunday, his best result of the season on his KATO Fastening/Ducati Richmond/KWR Ducati. Wyman was on Elias’s rear wheel as they crossed the line and was just ahead of Omega Moto’s Cameron Petersen, who also enjoyed his best result of the season in sixth.
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Josh Herrin faded to finish seventh, less than a second head of M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis. FLY Racing ADR Motorsports’ David Anthony and Thrashed Bike Racing’s Max Flinders rounded out the top 10.
Supersport: Fong Crashes, Wins
Bobby Fong (50) won the Supersport race over Richie Escalante (54), PJ Jacobsen (99) and Sean Dylan Kelly (40).|Photo by Brian J. Nelson
The final Supersport race of the season was red-flagged with five laps to go in the race when M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider Bobby Fong, who clinched the 2019 championship with his win in Saturday’s race one, crashed out of the lead. Fong was able to successfully remount his bike and ride it back to the pits, which, by rule, meant that he was declared the winner of the race.
There was understandably confusion on the podium, but the final results from race control declared Fong the victor with 2 Wheel Legal – Hudson Motorcycles Yamaha rider Richie Escalante finishing second and Celtic HSBK Racing Yamaha’s PJ Jacobsen finishing third.
Liqui Moly Junior Cup: Landers Gets His 14th
Rocco Landers (97) won his 14th Liqui Moly Junior Cup race of the season at Barber Motorsports Park.|Photo by Brian J. Nelson
In Liqui Moly Junior Cup, 14-year-old phenom Rocco Landers matched his age with the number of class victories he won on the season as capped off his 2019 championship with his 14th race win out of 17 total races. Landers won the pole aboard his Ninja400R.com/Norton Motorsports/Dr. Farr Kawasaki, won Saturday’s race one, and then dominated Sunday’s race two where he took the checkered flag by more than three seconds over second-place finisher and BARTCON Racing Kawasaki rider Dominic Doyle, who also finished second on Saturday. Third place on Sunday went to Quarterley Racing/On Track Development Kawasaki’s Benjamin Gloddy, the New Hampshire rider scoring his first MotoAmerica podium result after finishing fourth on Saturday.
“I think I kind of had faster pace today,” Landers said. “I was just getting a little more consistent with my times. I saw a plus-one, and I was like, ‘Stay consistent and see what we can do.’ Then I had, like, a two-second gap. I was like, ‘Just maintain this.’ I had a really good first lap. It was a really, really, really fun race. Everyone was going super-fast. It’s super rad for Ben (Gloddy) to get his first podium. I just couldn’t have done it without my mom and dad, Ninja400R.com, Norton Motorsports, Hot Bodies, Dr. Farr, Bell Helmets, Mithos Leathers, Lee Cycle, Barnett clutches and cables, Wonder CBD, Fuzzy and Natalie.”
Stock 1000: Lee Victorious Again
Michael Gilbert (55) got the jump on the field off the start of the Stock 1000 race, but the win went to Andrew Lee (1).|Photo by Brian J. Nelson
There was virtually no denying Franklin Armory/Graves Kawasaki rider Andrew Lee from defending his Stock 1000 Championship and, even after clinching the title two weeks ago at New Jersey, Lee came into Barber Motorsports Park, earned the pole position, won Saturday’s race one, and finished out the season with one more win in Sunday’s race two, which was his 8th victory out of 11 races on the season. The Sunday podium was a carbon copy of Saturday with Team Norris Racing’s Michael Gilbert and Mesa 37 Racing’s Stefano Mesa finishing second and third, respectively, for the second consecutive day.
“I couldn’t have imagined a better way to do it, to end off the season that way,” Lee said. “It’s just been a long one. Both these boys next to me have been kicking butt all year. I know Mike had a little slump halfway through the year, and I think he would have been there at the end. I’m really grateful for the team behind me. My crew chief, Derek Keyes, he’s been there basically three years now. I wouldn’t be here without him. I just want to put it out to him, my family for always believing in me. I feel bad for them. Sixteen years of dealing with me with racing. It’s a dream come true to be here and win the championship this year, especially with the competition we had. Hopefully, we have some good things planned out for next year. Hopefully start figuring that stuff out here pretty soon. I’m just really happy to cap it off this way.”
Twins Cup: Parrish Wins, Dumas Crowned
Alex Dumas won the 2019 Twins Cup Championship with his third-place finish in Alabama.|Photo by Brian J. Nelson
In the final MotoAmerica race of the season, Roadracing World Young Guns Suzuki rider Alex Dumas clinched the 2019 Championship with his third-place Twins Cup result. Meanwhile, Chris Parrish, who started the season on a Suzuki and concluded it on a Ghetto Customs/AP MotoArts Yamaha, notched his second win and fourth podium of the year. Second place went to Michael Barnes, which was his eighth podium this season.
About his Twins Cup title, Dumas said, “I’m happy about the championship and I’ve really got to thank (team principals) Chris and John Ulrich. I had the best bike out there. Overall, the season, I’m really happy to come back home with the championship. I’ve also got to thank (my riding coach) Jason Pridmore, too.”
2018 Twins Cup Champion Parrish summed up his season and day, saying, “It’s okay. To give it up (the championship) to Dumas is all right. At the beginning of the season, (the Suzuki) was powerful enough, but when all these guys started stepping their game up I just didn’t have the funds or the time to step my game up so I just ended up on the short end of the power. I over-rode the bike a couple times and ended up crashing, so it just threw me out of the points and basically out of the series. My buddy Jeff Fisher threw a fundraiser together. Everybody donated and it kept me in the racing, and that’s what all the names on the side of the motorcycle are, all the people who sponsored the last three rounds. So that’s pretty neat. I just gave Andy Palmer a call like, ‘You got a bike I can ride?’ He kind of hesitated, then he said, ‘Sure.’ He showed up to Jersey with a bike that he built in three days. This is how we ended up. So I just want to thank the crew that’s stuck with me all season. Beth (Braun), especially. She’s traveled every mile with me. All the sponsors. All my helmet sponsors that have helped me pay for tires through the year. Shoei, Baseline Motorsports, Red Fox Racing. I really appreciate it. I’ve had fun. Thanks, MotoAmerica, for having this class. It gives us old guys something to do.”
EBC Brakes Superbike
- Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
- Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha)
- Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)
- Toni Elias (Suzuki)
- Kyle Wyman (Ducati)
- Cameron Petersen (Yamaha)
- Josh Herrin (Suzuki)
- Jake Lewis (Suzuki)
- David Anthony (Kawasaki)
- Max Flinders (Yamaha)
Supersport
- Bobby Fong (Suzuki)
- Richie Escalante (Yamaha)
- PJ Jacobsen (Yamaha)
- Sean Dylan Kelly (Suzuki)
- Nick McFadden (Yamaha)
- Hayden Gillim (Yamaha)
- Jason Aguilar (Yamaha)
- Lucas Silva (Suzuki)
- Nolan Lamkin (Yamaha)
- Jaret Nassaney (Suzuki)
Liqui Moly Junior Cup
- Rocco Landers (Kawasaki)
- Dominic Doyle (Kawasaki)
- Benjamin Gloddy (Kawasaki)
- Kevin Olmedo (Kawasaki)
- Daniel Cano Flores (Kawasaki)
- Gauge Rees (Kawasaki)
- Jackson Blackmon (Kawasaki)
- Damian Jigalov (Kawasaki)
- Teagg Hobbs (Kawasaki)
- Cody Wyman (Yamaha)
Stock 1000
- Andrew Lee (Kawasaki)
- Michael Gilbert (Kawasaki)
- Stefano Mesa (Kawasaki)
- Geoff May (Kawasaki)
- Miles Thornton (Kawasaki)
- Ashton Yates (Yamaha)
- Bradley Ward (Kawasaki)
- Alan Phillips (Kawasaki)
- Rhett Norman (Yamaha)
- Manuel Segura (Kawasaki)
Twins Cup
- Chris Parrish (Yamaha)
- Michael Barnes (Ducati)
- Alex Dumas (Suzuki)
- Kris Turner (Suzuki)
- Draik Beauchamp (Yamaha)
- Curtis Murray (Suzuki)
- Jackson Blackmon (Suzuki)
- Cooper McDonald (Yamaha)
- Joseph Blasius (Suzuki)
- Jason Madama (Yamaha)
For How To Watch the complete season of the 2019 MotoAmerica Series, click HERE
Sunday photos and video are available HERE
Sunday results by class:
EBC Brakes Superbike
Supersport
Liqui Moly Junior Cup
Stock 1000
Twins Cup
Complete practice, qualifying and race results are available HERE.
For complete 2019 MotoAmerica Media Resources please visit – 2019 MotoAmerica Media
Saturday
BIRMINGHAM, AL, (September 21, 2019)– Seven points are all that separates Cameron Beaubier from year-long championship leader Toni Elias as the 2019 EBC Brakes Superbike Championship reaches a crescendo tomorrow at Barber Motorsports Park.
Cameron Beaubier leads his Yamaha teammate Garrett Gerloff to the finish line of the first EBC Brakes Superbike ace at Barber Motorsports Park on Saturday|Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Beaubier did what he needed to do to keep his championship hopes alive on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Alabama, the three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion taking his fifth win of the season while everything fell into place behind him.
Beaubier knew he needed to win, and he did. He also knew he needed help. And he got it with his teammate Garrett Gerloff finishing second. And, finally, he needed Elias to struggle, which he did, finishing third with his teammate Josh Herrin riding shotgun to the Spaniard in the final laps.
Beaubier’s win combined with Elias’ third place narrows the margin to seven points, 349-342, with just tomorrow’s finale remaining in the championship. If Beaubier wins on Sunday and Elias finishes third or worse, Beaubier will earn his fourth series title.
“The start of the race, from the first lap, I thought it was going to go pretty well,” Beaubier said. “I got a good start. I was really happy with my start. I looked up at the board and I saw 31 at first, then I saw 2. Then I think I was distracted or something and I got in really, really late to turn 10 out on the back part of the track. I almost ran out of track. I didn’t want to ask too much of the front just because the harder tire, it’s only four lefts (left-handers) on the track or something like that. I didn’t want to ask too much of it too early in the race. That sent me back to third. Me and (Josh) Herrin were just playing games with each other. Stuffing each other here and there. Every time I think that I would go up the inside of him, I would open the next corner and he’d be right back there. He’s very tough to race. Pretty crafty with his passes and stuff. Once I broke him, Garrett (Gerloff) was almost three seconds out in front. I did everything I could to reel him in. I was really happy to see the lap times I was able to put down on the R1. I think I did a couple laps faster than what we qualified at. Like Garrett said, it’s a testament to our team for working so hard. I definitely want to keep this number-one plate on the bike so bad for myself and for Yamaha and everyone that supports us. I’m just going to keep going and fighting until it’s over. Whatever happens happens. I snuck up inside of Garrett and I put my head down on the last few laps. I rode tight lines the last couple laps, especially the last couple corners. I’m going to go and put everything out there tomorrow and see what happens.”
Beaubier (1) leads Josh Herrin (2), Gerloff (31) and Kyle Wyman (33) early in the race.|Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Gerloff led the majority of the race until he was caught and passed by his teammate.
“I was giving it everything I had and, obviously, Cameron (Beaubier) was ripping off really good laps today, catching back up to me,” Gerloff said. “When he got around me, I felt good. I felt like the Yamaha R1 had some pace, but he rode good the last couple laps. It just wasn’t my day.”
The Texan said he was well aware of what was going on behind him as he was watching on the Jumbotron.
“For sure it’s kind of nice because over there we’ve got the TV coming off the back straightaway, so I can kind of see what’s going on,” Gerloff said. “I see the tower, so I know who’s where. I knew what was going on with him and Herrin at the beginning of the race. I saw all of that. Then I saw him coming back up to me. I’m just trying to ride my race in the end but be smart also. I think our bikes are on point, really strong laps late in the race. Props to the team for how well they’ve set up our bikes and how hard we’ve been working this year.”
Elias was disappointed with third place but hopeful of better things to come tomorrow. He knows that to earn the title, third place isn’t going to be enough. On Saturday, the former Moto2 World Champion was a distant third – 18.8 seconds behind Beaubier and just .033 of a second ahead of Herrin.
“Yeah, I had a lot of struggles,” Elias said. “I almost crashed 10 times, but there was someone there holding me on the bike. The day is not the best day in terms of talking about the race and talking about the points for the championship. Increases the points, still seven points ahead. It’s getting close. If tomorrow happens what happened today, we will lose the championship. But I don’t need another race like today. I give all my heart. Definitely will be better than today. Let’s do it. Let’s work hard. Let’s use all our experience and fight to the end.”
Behind Herrin came Attack Performance Estenson Racing’s JD Beach, the Yamaha rider closing in on the Yoshimura duo in the final laps and coming up just short at the finish after starting the race from the fourth row.
Sixth place went to Jake Gagne, the Scheibe Racing BMW rider just ahead of KATO Fastening/Ducati Richmond/KWR’s Kyle Wyman, who was some two seconds clear of Omega Moto’s Cameron Petersen. FLY Racing ADR Motorsports’ David Anthony and Weir Everywhere Racing’s Travis Wyman rounded out the top 10 finishers.
Supersport: Fong Crowned!
Bobby Fong won Saturday’s Supersport race and with the victory earned the class championship – his first as a professional.|Photo by Brian J. Nelson
In the penultimate Supersport race of the season, M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider Bobby Fong led the 19-lap event from start to finish and clinched the 2019 championship in a dominant performance for the Northern California rider. At the finish line, Fong’s lead was nearly one-and-a-half seconds over Tuned Racing Yamaha rider Bryce Prince. Third place went to 2 Wheel Legal – Hudson Motorcycles Yamaha rider Richie Escalante.
Fong, who has been road racing professionally since 2006, was understandably both joyful and relieved to win his first championship.
“Honestly it’s unreal,” Fong said. “Sleepless nights. I’ve never been in this position before, so I didn’t know how to control it. My coach, Josh Hayes, had a shoulder I could cry on most of the time, so that was a big relief. I’ve never been under so much pressure. I felt like I was a kid again. Almost nauseous before the race and everything. I knew I had the bike underneath me to do it. This morning in qualifying, I knew that we had the pace, and I just had to ride smart and focus on hitting my marks. We rode a good, smooth race. These guys kept me on my toes the whole time. I’m just excited to go into tomorrow and not even think about the championship.”
Junior Cup: Who Else But Landers?
Rocco Landers (97) won his 13th Liqui Moly Junior Cup race with a hard-fought win over Dominic Doyle (25).|Photo by Brian J. Nelson
In Liqui Moly Junior Cup, 2019 class champion Rocco Landers raced his Ninja400R.com/Norton Motorsports/Dr. Farr Kawasaki to his 13th victory of the season. The result was very much in doubt, however, as BARTCON Racing Kawasaki rider Dominic Doyle gave Landers a run for his money in the middle-to-late portions of the race as the two riders swapped the lead a few times. Ultimately, Landers managed to get back around Doyle and make it stick as he took the checkered flag by .277 of a second. Third place went to Jackson Blackmon aboard his MonkeyMoto/AGVSport/Blud Lubricants Kawasaki.
“The race was really fun,” said Landers. “I was able to get a good start and a good first lap. Dominic was right there. The first few laps, I was trying to lead, see what we could do. Was running a great race. Then Dom got by me. I was just like, ‘What’s going to happen now?’ Then I went back by him. So, we were having a good race shaping up. Then as the laps wound down, I was just coming up with a game plan. He was riding super good. I went by, and he went back by me immediately. Then on the last lap, I just got a good draft and was able to get by him. I knew I wanted to lead him to the front straight to the checkered flag, and it worked out.”
Stock 1000: Lee’s Sixth Straight
Andrew Lee (1) won his sixth straight Stock 1000 race and his seventh of the season with his win over Michael Gilbert (55) on Saturday).|Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Even though Franklin Armory/Graves Kawasaki rider Andrew Lee wrapped up his second consecutive Stock 1000 Championship two weeks ago at New Jersey Motorsports Park, the California rider just keeps on winning.
In the first of two Stock 1000 races at Barber Motorsports Park, Lee notched his seventh victory out of 10 races and his sixth in a row. The two-time class champ bested second-place finisher and Norris Racing Kawasaki rider Michael Gilbert by nearly three-and-a-half seconds at the stripe, with Mesa 37 Racing Kawasaki’s Stefano Mesa rounding out the podium in third.
“Ultimately, these guys have been giving me a good run for my money this weekend,” Lee said. “This is the east coast. I’m not really too familiar with this track. Both these guys in the past have been fast here. Coming into the weekend, the goal was to continue with the momentum that we’ve carried since Utah. So, after qualifying on pole we had a pretty good, happy setup on the bike. Got off to a decent start. Michael (Gilbert) got a good start on me. Halfway through the race I kind of picked a spot where I was going to try to pass him. I put my nose in there a few times, and a few of those times it was almost lights out for both of us. I think the goal after this is to bring both these boys to get some ice cream since it’s a little hairy and hot out there. Any suggestions on ice cream are greatly appreciated.”
EBC Brakes Superbike
- Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
- Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha)
- Toni Elias (Suzuki)
- Josh Herrin (Suzuki)
- JD Beach (Yamaha)
- Jake Gagne (BMW)
- Kyle Wyman (Ducati)
- Cameron Petersen (Yamaha)
- David Anthony (Kawasaki)
- Travis Wyman (BMW)
Supersport
- Bobby Fong (Suzuki)
- Bryce Prince (Yamaha)
- Richie Escalante (Yamaha)
- Hayden Gillim (Yamaha)
- Sean Dylan Kelly (Suzuki)
- Cory Ventura (Yamaha)
- PJ Jacobsen (Yamaha)
- Jason Aguilar (Yamaha)
- Nick McFadden (Yamaha)
- Braeden Ortt (Yamaha)
Liqui Moly Junior Cup
- Rocco Landers (Kawasaki)
- Dominic Doyle (Kawasaki)
- Jackson Blackmon (Kawasaki)
- Benjamin Gloddy (Kawasaki)
- Damian Jigalov (Kawasaki)
- Gauge Rees (Kawasaki)
- Liam Grant (Kawasaki)
- Karen Ogura (Yamaha)
- Jacob Stroud (Kawasaki)
- Cody Wyman (Yamaha)
Stock 1000
- Andrew Lee (Kawasaki)
- Michael Gilbert (Kawasaki)
- Stefano Mesa (Kawasaki)
- Ashton Yates (Yamaha)
- Miles Thornton (Suzuki)
- Bradley Ward (Kawasaki)
- John Dunham (Yamaha)
- Rhett Norman (Yamaha)
- Alan Phillips (Kawasaki)
- Jeffrey Purk (Yamaha)
For ticket information on the MotoAmerica Series, click HERE
For How To Watch information on the MotoAmerica Series, click HERE
Friday
BIRMINGHAM, AL (September 20, 2019) – The newly resurfaced Barber Motorsports Park was the main talking point on the opening day of the Championship of Alabama as riders took to the billiard-table smooth surface for the first time on a sunny and warm Friday. The fastest of the fast on the day was Garrett Gerloff, the Monster Yamaha/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing-mounted Superbike rider lapping at 1:23.915 in Friday’s second session.
2019 Barber MotoAmerica Results and News
Garrett Gerloff ended Friday as the fastest of the Superbike men at Barber Motorsports Park on day one of the season finale in Alabama. File photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Gerloff’s best lap knocked his teammate Cameron Beaubier from the top spot, the Californian having led the opening session in the morning. At the end of the day, Gerloff was .296 of a second faster than Beaubier and under the best non-Superpole lap from a season ago of 1:23.6, which was set by Beaubier.
“This whole day the bike has felt pretty good,” Gerloff said. “We started off with a good base like the last few rounds and we’ve just been making small changes and working with the new compounds that we have here and the new track surface. That was the biggest thing, getting used to the track and how it felt. We made what I feel was a really good improvement for this session and the track feels great. It feels great to be in Alabama and I’m ready for tomorrow.”
Yoshimura Suzuki’s Josh Herrin ended the day third with Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz fourth and KATO Fastening/Ducati Richmond/KWR’s Kyle Wyman rounding out the top five.
Not everyone was enamored with the new surface, some complaining of a lack of reference points on the brand-new tarmac. Beaubier wasn’t one of those. He liked the surface and his results showed it: first in the morning session, second in the afternoon.
“At first, I was like kinda caught off guard because I didn’t know how much grip I had,” Beaubier said after leading the first session. “It’s so smooth… it’s like butter and I really didn’t know how much grip I had. The more laps I did, the more confidence I got and it’s actually pretty nice and I think it will just get better and better with more rubber laid down. It’s pretty amazing going around the track without crossing any seams or anything like that. I think they did a really good job.
As for using bumps and seams on the track as reference points that are no longer there, Beaubier said that wasn’t an issue either.
“It’s not a problem for me,” he said. “It seemed like a new track at first because it’s so much darker than it was before. It’s even a bit taller and the curbs… you have more clearance from the bike, and you can lean the bike further on the curb than before. We will see how it is when it gets a little hotter and it gets greasy.”
There were several crashers on the day, including Yoshimura Suzuki’s championship points leader Toni Elias, the Spaniard losing the front at high speed and tumbling to a stop uninjured in the second session.
Superpole will decide the grid for tomorrow’s first of two EBC Brakes Superbike races at 11:45 a.m. with the race set to go green at 3 p.m.
For full results from all of Friday’s sessions, click HERE
To purchase tickets to MotoAmerica events, click HERE
For How To Watch MotoAmerica races, click HERE
