Press Release | September 20, 2020
2020 Barber Motorsports Park MotoAmerica Results – Sunday
Between races Cameron Beaubier has to keep pinching himself to see if all of this is real. That’s what happens when you win 13 races, have six more left in the season and you know that, barring an issue, you will probably end the year with 19 wins.
Cameron Beaubier had yet another perfect weekend of MotoAmerica racing, this one at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham Alabama. Photo: Bryan J Nelson.
Such is life for the four-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion in 2020.
Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha’s Beaubier won his 13th race of the year on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park, a day after winning his 12th of the season and the 50th of his stellar AMA Superbike career. Today’s was similar to the other 12 wins with Beaubier jumping out front off the line, storming away at an unmatchable pace, and then maintaining that lead to the finish. At the line he was 5.125 seconds clear of second-placed Mathew Scholtz.
“Obviously, my game right now is just to try to get out front early and try to take advantage of the good rubber and try to manage my gap if I have one,” Beaubier said. “There towards midway I had a pretty good, I don’t know if they showed it or not, but I had a pretty good (front end) tuck. I almost crashed out of Charlotte’s Webb. The wind was kind of gusting. Some laps you’d go in there and you’d have a pretty big push, other laps you’d brake early. The wind was pretty tricky for me. I don’t know about these guys, but I was definitely getting blown around out there more than I was yesterday. After that happened, I just tried to kind of settle down. My gap started going down and Matty (Scholtz) started catching me a little bit. I just kept trucking along and brought it home. It’s been amazing. It’s just crazy. It’s crazy the year I’ve been having and just how fun and how hard the team is working. It’s so good to come in at the end of the session and you debrief with your guys and you take it seriously and all that, but then when they’re loading up the truck and leaving everyone’s just joking around. As a rider it’s so good to see those guys having a good time and enjoying their job like I am. It’s been an incredible year so far.”
Westby Racing’s Scholtz earned his 10th podium of the season and moved to just one point behind Beaubier’s teammate Jake Gagne in the battle for second in the HONOS Superbike title chase. Gagne was in the battle early but ran into clutch trouble that slowed him to an eventual fifth-place finish.
“It was pretty good,” Scholtz said of his race. “I don’t really know what happened with the start. I got shuffled back to fourth or fifth place and I had to make a sketchy move to get up to second. I knew that Cam (Beaubier) had a really good pace. Jake (Gagne) passed me and with his warm-up time I knew he would be quick too. So, I didn’t really try to fight him too much. I was hoping I would go with him and try to maybe get up to Cam. But then I saw something happen to Jake’s bike, which was unfortunate. Then I kind of put in a few decent laps. I saw that the gap back to third was actually getting bigger so I kind of started chilling out. Then I noticed that Bobby (Fong) was sort of catching me at a pretty drastic pace, so I had to stir things back up. I will definitely take the second place. I think we have our work cut out for us, but we made pretty decent steps forward today.”
Bobby Fong rode his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki to third place, the Californian getting back on the podium after a three-race hiatus from the top three. Fong closed on Scholtz at the end of the race, eventually finishing less than a second behind the South African.
“It was good,” Fong said. “We were struggling a little bit this weekend. Yesterday we had a little mishap with the motorcycle, but we bounced back today. I wish I was there at the beginning of the race. I don’t know what I was doing. I felt like I lost a few seconds in the first beginning laps, but once we got the momentum, we started clicking off some pretty good times at the end. I could see Matty (Scholtz). I was gaining on him a little bit at the end. Toni (Elias) kept me honest, for sure. It was plus zero for most of the race. I gained two seconds and then he got it back down to one. So, he was definitely keeping me honest out there and making sure I hit my marks. We’re happy to get back on the podium and looking forward to increasing our pace in the beginning of the race.”
Fong’s teammate Toni Elias ended up fourth, some 10 seconds ahead of the struggling Gagne, who in turn was some 22 seconds ahead of Scheibe Racing BMW’s Josh Herrin. Ride HVMC Racing’s Corey Alexander was seventh with FLY Racing ADR Motorsports’ David Anthony ending up eighth.
Travis Wyman Racing’s Travis Wyman was ninth, one spot better than his brother Kyle, on the KATO Fastening/KWR Ducati. Kyle Wyman was running fifth when he had an off-track excursion.
2020 Barber Motorsports Park MotoAmerica Results—Superbike Race Two
| 1 |
Cameron Beaubier |
(Yamaha) |
| 2 |
Mathew Scholtz |
(Yamaha) |
| 3 |
Bobby Fong |
(Suzuki) |
| 4 |
Toni Elias |
(Suzuki) |
| 5 |
Jake Gagne |
(Yamaha) |
Stock 1000
Sunday’s Stock 1000 race two was another command performance by Altus Motorsports Suzuki’s Cameron Petersen, who started from the pole and built a big lead until the race was red-flagged by a crash and restarted with a six-lap sprint to the checkers. In an effort to build another gap, Petersen was at the front again, but a mistake almost put him out of the race. The South African used his knee and elbow to lever the bike off the ground, and he continued on to take the checkers and record his seventh victory of the season with a comfortable gap of nearly five-and-a-half seconds at the finish line.
Cameron Petersen has been dominating the Stock 1000 class on his Suzuki and did so again on Sunday at Barber.
Second place went to Ride HVMC Racing Kawasaki’s Corey Alexander, who hoped to take the lead when Petersen looked to be down, but the New Yorker settled for the runner-up spot on the podium. Michael Gilbert Racing’s Michael Gilbert rounded out the podium in third place aboard his Kawasaki.
“My dad is here this weekend, and he came up to me yesterday and said that was probably the best he’s ever seen me ride,” Petersen said. “So, that means something to me. Just another great weekend. The race I had here last year was kind of the same. I came here and for whatever reason I just ride well on this track. When the team puts a machine like that underneath you each weekend, it’s fun. When you’re having fun, you go fast. I can’t thank them enough. I got to give this one to the team. They’re busting their butts. I honestly believe we have one of the best bikes out there in the paddock at the moment. I was saying a little bit different a few rounds ago. They put their heads down. They’ve gone to work. They’ve done their homework. The bike’s unreal. These guys, it’s super fun racing with them. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season. Obviously, I have a little bit of a points gap now with two more races to go. Time to start thinking about the championship a little bit. Stoked to open up some eyes and see if I can catch a nice seat next year on a Superbike. Once again, thanks to everybody and looking forward to Indy.”
2020 Barber Motorsports Park MotoAmerica Results—Stock 1000 Race Two
| 1 |
Cameron Petersen |
(Suzuki) |
| 2 |
Corey Alexander |
(Kawasaki) |
| 3 |
Michael Gilbert |
(Kawasaki) |
| 4 |
Stefano Mesa |
(Kawasaki) |
| 5 |
Maximiliano Gerado |
(Kawasaki) |
Supersport
HONOS Kawasaki’s Richie Escalante’s steamroller-like effort continued on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park. In Supersport race two, Escalante mimicked the pattern that he has followed in almost every race this year. Starting from the pole, M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sean Dylan Kelly got a great jump off the line and took the holeshot by wheelying all the way down the front straight. Also, in the mix was Celtic HSBK Racing’s Brandon Paasch.
Richie Escalante dominated Supersport action on Sunday, winning by over nine seconds.
Escalante put his head down, raced clear of his rivals, built a lead, and took the checkered flag by nearly nine seconds over Kelly, who finished second. Paasch, who was nearly 10 seconds behind Kelly, finished third.
For Escalante, it was his 11th victory of the season.
“Very fun race again,” Escalante said. “My start, again, was so bad and then I needed to take recovery very fast. I looked this morning and Sean (Dylan Kelly) improved in the morning warmup and I said, ‘Maybe the race is more difficult to stay with him in the first laps.’ I know Sean is very strong in the first laps. I tried to pass very quickly and then tried to go. Sean is braking really good today. Then I passed and I pushed hard, and I see in my bike 26 (a 1:26 lap time). It’s really good. Thanks to my team. My crew chief and my mechanic gave me a very good bike this weekend. They’re all working hard to give this very good package, so we’ll continue. Two rounds more, four races more. The championship is not finished. Keep working and be ready for Indy.”
2020 Barber Motorsports Park MotoAmerica Results—Supersport Race Two
| 1 |
Richie Escalante |
(Kawasaki) |
| 2 |
Sean Dylan Kelly |
(Suzuki) |
| 3 |
Brandon Paasch |
(Yamaha) |
| 4 |
Jason Aguilar |
(Yamaha) |
| 5 |
Kevin Olmedo |
(Suzuki) |
Junior Cup
With his 11th win in Liqui Moly Junior Cup so far this season, Rocco Landers clinched the 2020 class championship, successfully defending the title that he won in 2019. And, he did it in dominating fashion aboard his Norton Motorsports/Ninja400R/Dr.Farr/WonderCBD Kawasaki. He started from the pole and, after scrapping for the lead, he got out front and eventually built a gap of more than three seconds by the time he took the checkers.
Rocco Landers won his 11th Junior Cup race of the season and clinched his second consecutive championship at Barber Motorsports Park.
BARTCON Racing Kawasaki’s Dominic Doyle came back from a crash in Saturday’s race to fight for the lead early and finish second, while Quarterley Racing On Track Development Kawasaki rider Ben Gloddy finished third for his second podium finish of the weekend.
When asked about winning the 2020 Liqui Moly Junior Cup Championship, Landers said, “Honestly, after Road America 1, I didn’t expect this to happen. We didn’t think we would do the full season. We thought we would miss Atlanta and Pittsburgh. Then, all of a sudden, we couldn’t get a COVID test, so we were like, ‘All right, why not go to Atlanta and see what happens?’ After that race, we’ve had a really good year. Lots of wins, lots of lap records. It’s been so fun racing with Dominic and Ben, Sam (Lochoff), and everyone else all year. This is my last year racing small bikes. I’m happy to be able to come out with the championship.”
2020 Barber Motorsports Park MotoAmerica Results—Junior Cup Race Two
| 1 |
Rocco Landers |
(Kawasaki) |
| 2 |
Dominic Doyle |
(Kawasaki) |
| 3 |
Benjamin Gloddy |
(Kawasaki) |
| 4 |
Liam Grant |
(Kawasaki) |
| 5 |
Samuel Lochoff |
(Kawasaki) |
Twins Cup
The race weekend at Barber Motorsports Park concluded with Sunday’s Twins Cup race two, and Rocco Landers went a perfect four-for-four on the weekend as he followed up his two victories in Liqui Moly Junior Cup with two victories in the two-cylinder class. And, as he did with the season championship in Liqui Moly Cup, Landers very nearly wrapped up the Twins Cup title, as well. He is now only one point away from getting his second #1 plate.
Rocco Landers won again on Sunday at Barber and is closing in on wrapping up the 2020 Twins Cup championship to go along with his Junior Cup title.
With Landers winning Sunday’s race two by nearly six-and-and-a-half seconds aboard his SportbikeTrackGear.com Roadracingworld.com Suzuki, the rest of the podium was filled by 1-833-CJKNOWS Accident & Injury Law Yamaha’s Kaleb De Keyrel in second and Hayden Schultz Racing Yamaha’s Hayden Schultz in third. De Keyrel rebounded from a crash on Saturday to finish as runner-up on Sunday, and Schultz recorded his second podium result of the weekend.
“It’s funny because I’ve never really liked this place at all,” Landers said. “I’ve done well here, but I’ve never enjoyed the track. But, this year, I’m finally feeling good here. Perfect weekend. Lap record. Championship in Junior Cup, almost a championship in Twins Cup. Talking about the race, I knew Kaleb would bounce back stronger after his crash so I knew I had to just work as hard as I could for a few laps and try to settle in the low 31, high 30 pace. Just tried to do as well as I could. We’re happy with this weekend.”
2020 Barber Motorsports Park MotoAmerica Results—Twins Cup Race Two
| 1 |
Rocco Landers |
(Suzuki) |
| 2 |
Kaleb De Keyrel |
(Yamaha) |
| 3 |
Hayden Schultz |
(Yamaha) |
| 4 |
Toby Khamsouk |
(Suzuki) |
| 5 |
Joseph Blasius |
(Suzuki) |
2020 Barber Motorsports Park MotoAmerica Results – Saturday
Earlier this year, Cameron Beaubier celebrated the 100th AMA Superbike race of his career with a victory in Pittsburgh. Today, he went out and won for the 50th time in the premier class of the MotoAmerica series in what was his 105th start. That translates to a winning percentage of .476. In other words, Beaubier has won nearly half of the Superbike races in which he has started. Impressive stuff.
Today’s win came in HONOS Superbike race one of the MotoAmerica Superbikes at Alabama round of the 2020 MotoAmerica Series at Barber Motorsports Park and, like the majority of his wins in 2020, it was a dominant one. Beaubier ran wide on the opening lap in turn five, allowing Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz to squeeze past. The four-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion, however, wasted little time in re-passing the South African and from there he was never headed, winning his 12th race of the season by 4.5 seconds with a celebratory stand-up wheelie across the finish line.
50 wins in America’s premier road racing series calls for a proper stand-up from Cameron Beaubier.
The win puts Beaubier at 300 points after 13 races and gives him an 89-point lead over his Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha teammate Jake Gagne heading into Sunday’s race two at Barber.
“To be honest, it’s just weird,” Beaubier said of winning this 50th Superbike race. “It makes me feel old when you say I got 50 races. That’s crazy right now how fast everything goes by when you’re a motorcycle racer, I guess. It’s been incredible. It’s crazy. I don’t even know what to say about that. It’s pretty cool to be next to some of the greats on the books. In regard to today, I knew going into the race it was going to be pretty tough because both these guys had pretty strong pace, especially Mat (Scholtz) yesterday afternoon. He was just clicking off low 24s and high 23s. I knew today was going to be tough. I feel like we found a little bit of something this morning after practice going into Superpole. I just got really comfy out there on my bike. Put my head down there in the beginning. I almost ran off the track going down into Charlotte’s Web (turn five) and slotted into second. I knew I had pretty good new-tire pace, so I just wanted to try to get by Mat (Scholtz) as soon as I could and put my head down. He squared me up and passed me in the last corner, and then I was able to square by him on the straightaway. And then from there on I just put my head down and it seemed like they got in a little fight and I was able to sneak away early. Actually, my front tire, it felt like it started shredding there towards halfway to the end of the race. I was pretty nervous when I felt that feeling. I feel like every rider knows that feeling when you start to push that front and you feel it in almost every right-hander. It’s like you’re surfing. Just pushing over the pavement. It was pretty early on and I was like, ‘oh no, I’m done.’ But the thing hung in there and I was still able to do a couple high 23s and low 24s on it. I was surprised. I came in and it was cheese grated, but it still hung in there. So, hats off to Dunlop for bringing good tires this weekend. I feel like no one really knew what to expect going into this round and how the asphalt was going to be. Like I’ve said all weekend, the owners have done such a good job resurfacing this place.”
Scholtz (11) briefly got into the lead before Beaubier muscled past at Charlotte’s Web.
Gagne ended up second in the 20-lap race, coming out on top of a battle with Scholtz and earning himself a 10-point lead over Scholtz in the battle for second in the championship. For Gagne it was his 11th podium of the year and his seventh second-place finish.
“We’ve just been a little behind all weekend,” Gagne said. “We didn’t have the best day yesterday. Made a couple mistakes on a couple different sides of things. Reset today. We had a different bike today than we did yesterday. Kind of the bike that we brought from New Jersey. It just wasn’t working here yesterday. We kind of made a couple little mistakes, like I said. But hats off to the crew. They never give up. We’re always looking for those little improvements. Cam’s flying. Mat’s flying. We knew we were off yesterday, so we made it happen and had a better bike today. Got off to a pretty decent start. Mat and Cam were duking it out there on that first lap, so I had a good front-row seat for that. I saw Cam kind of really pull the pin and he took off. Now it was kind of me and Mat. I got a really good drive and slipped underneath him down the back straight there. Just tried to put my head down. I think all of us weren’t exactly sure how these tires were going to hold with the situation we’ve had all weekend. So, I think I was just trying to click off consistent paces. We were kind of there in the low 24s and mid 24s. I just kind of wanted to click off something I could keep doing until the end. The tires held up. These Dunlops held up good. Hats off to the team again. We’ll see if we can make a couple of changes tomorrow and try to pick up the pace a little bit, especially at the beginning when Cam’s out there.”
For Scholtz it was podium number nine on the season.
“Once Jake (Gagne) came past me I kind of thought that he would be quicker for the first half, but we kind of got to the halfway point and I wasn’t catching him as quick as I thought that I would,” So just have to go back to the trailer tomorrow and try to (find some) drive out of the corners. I feel like that’s where we were losing our time to Cam (Beaubier) and Jake. Cam was just flying, and Jake definitely pulled something out of the hat today.”
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Toni Elias finished fourth, 19.1 seconds behind Beaubier and 5.7 seconds ahead of Altus Motorsports’ Cameron Petersen, the South African impressive in putting his Stock 1000-spec Suzuki GSX-R1000 in the top five of a HONOS Superbike race.
Sixth went to Elias’ teammate Bobby Fong, some two seconds behind Petersen. KATO Fastenings/KWR Ducati’s Kyle Wyman was seventh behind Fong and well in front of Scheibe Racing BMW’s Josh Herrin.
FLY Racing ADR Motorsports’ Andrew Lee ended up ninth in his HONOS Superbike debut in his first ride on the team’s GSX-R1000 and his first ride of any kind on a Suzuki. Lee came out on top of a race-long battle with Travis Wyman Racing’s Travis Wyman by just .013 of a second.
Race two of round seven of the series will take place tomorrow afternoon at Barber Motorsports Park.
2020 Barber Motorsports Park MotoAmerica Results—Superbike Race One
| 1 |
Cameron Beaubier |
(Yamaha) |
| 2 |
Jake Gagne |
(Yamaha) |
| 3 |
Mathew Scholtz |
(Yamaha) |
| 4 |
Toni Elias |
(Suzuki) |
| 5 |
Cameron Petersen |
(Suzuki) |
Stock 1000
In Saturday’s Stock 1000 race, championship leader Cam Petersen won his sixth race of the season and fifth in a row in dominating fashion. Starting from the pole aboard his Altus Motorsports Suzuki, Petersen got a good jump and led the 13-lap event from start to finish, taking the checkers by just over seven seconds.
The battle for second place was in contention throughout the race, and it wasn’t decided until Stefano Mesa and Corey Alexander crossed the finish line. The pair of Kawasaki riders swapped positions several times as the laps wound down, and MESA37 Racing’s Mesa put himself in position to accelerate just past Ride HVMC Racing’s Alexander at the stripe. The margin between Mesa and Alexander was just .012 of a second.
No one can touch Petersen (45) in Stock 1000 night row.
“I don’t know what it is, but I’ve got a good relationship with this track,” Petersen said. “I just love it. It’s just one of those tracks that I absolutely love. Every time I come around, I’ve just got a big smile on my face. I think that has a lot to do with it. Again, the team gave me a great bike. I’ve got a pretty solid base under me now. It’s just fine little tweaks here and there. It seems like the bike was working pretty good. Looking at the lap times today, I was able to go pretty quick. So, tomorrow is probably going to be a little bit hotter, but we got to go back to the drawing board. Like I said, we’re going to make some changes in-between this race and the Superbike race and see. I want to get into the 24‘s so bad. If I can do a 24.9 either today or tomorrow, I’ll walk away from this place extremely happy. Big shout out to my team. I can’t thank them enough. And shout out to these guys for pushing me to go all the way.”
2020 Barber Motorsports Park MotoAmerica Results—Stock 1000 Race One
| 1 |
Cameron Petersen |
(Suzuki) |
| 2 |
Stefano Mesa |
(Kawasaki) |
| 3 |
Corey Alexander |
(Kawasaki) |
| 4 |
Michael Gilbert |
(Kawasaki) |
| 5 |
Travis Wyman |
(BMW) |
Supersport
Saturday’s Supersport race featured another close battle among the three frontrunners—at least in the beginning. HONOS Kawasaki’s Richie Escalante, M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sean Dylan Kelly, and Celtic HSBK Racing Yamaha’s Brandon Paasch raced each other hard, and Escalante and Kelly even made contact at least once in the early going of the 20-lap event as they swapped the lead.
Escalante, however, took the lead for good on lap four and began to build his lead. Kelly and Paasch were in second and third until lap seven, when RiderzLaw Aguilar Racing Yamaha’s Jason Aguilar passed Paasch for third.
Escalante (54) and Kelly made a race of it early until Escalante pulled clear for an easy win.
At the checkered flag, Escalante notched his 10th win of the season by more than 13 seconds over Kelly, with Aguilar crossing the finish line in third.
“For sure, it’s very fun,” Escalante said. “It’s better to compare the last races so I’m happy about that. Then the last laps, for sure, is very fun. I think Sean (Dylan Kelly) is a great rider. Sometimes, we touch, but it’s part of the racing. I’m really happy with the first laps. I tried to look in first position. I started to run very quick laps and then really consistent. So, I’m really happy. I’m working a lot with my team to improve a little bit this weekend. This week, I try to change my mentality, more enjoying the weekend, race by race. I’m really happy. Today, my bike is working amazing. I think my riding, too, for the tires is a little bit more consistent. It’s why we have a very good pace this weekend. Maybe we try another thing in the morning. For sure, always Sunday’s race is more difficult the race. I’m very happy. Thanks to my team. We keep working tomorrow.”
2020 Barber Motorsports Park MotoAmerica Results—Supersport Race One
| 1 |
Richie Escalante |
(Kawasaki) |
| 2 |
Sean Dylan Kelly |
(Suzuki) |
| 3 |
Jason Aguilar |
(Yamaha) |
| 4 |
Brandon Paasch |
(Yamaha) |
| 5 |
Kevin Olmedo |
(Suzuki) |
Liqui Moly Junior Cup
Last year’s Liqui Moly Junior Cup Champion Rocco Landers is on the verge of repeating his 2019 feat, and it’s been a steamroller-like campaign for him during this 2020 season. In Saturday’s race one, the 15-year-old Oregonian started from the pole, and led every lap to take his 10th victory in a row. It was another dominant performance for Landers aboard his Norton Motorsports/Ninja400R/Dr.Farr/WonderCBD Kawasaki as he crossed the finish line with a gap of nearly 12 seconds over second-place finisher Sam Lochoff.
Landers leading the Junior Cup field.
Meanwhile Lochoff, who was aboard his Celtic HSBK Racing Kawasaki, raced neck and neck with Benjamin Gloddy, with each rider taking turns in second place. At the checkered flag, it was Lochoff, who clinched the second step on the podium with Gloddy bringing his Quarterley Racing/On Track Development Kawasaki across the finish line in a very close third.
“I showed up, and I had that feeling again, ready to go,” Landers said. “I felt like I was just in the zone, going good. I was feeling great the entire race. The whole race, (my lap times were) within a half a second, even when I started to lose the tire at the end. Just kept pushing, kept hammering away to build up a lead at the finish.”
2020 Barber Motorsports Park MotoAmerica Results—Junior Cup Race One
| 1 |
Rocco Landers |
(Kawasaki) |
| 2 |
Samuel Lochoff |
(Kawasaki) |
| 3 |
Benjamin Gloddy |
(Kawasaki) |
| 4 |
Jack Roach |
(Kawasaki) |
| 5 |
David Kohlstaedt |
(Kawasaki) |
Twins Cup
Junior Cup race one winner Rocco Landers competed in back-to-back races on Saturday, the youngster also lining up for the afternoon’s Twins Cup race one. Landers, who is the points leader in both race classes, rode his SportbikeTrackGear.com RoadracingWorld.com Suzuki to victory, and at one point, Landers was being caught by Kaleb De Keyrel until De Keyrel crashed out of the race, unhurt.
Happy days as another win goes Landers’ way in the Twins Cup.
That handed the battle for second place to Hayden Schultz Racing’s Hayden Shultz, who barely nipped Robem Engineering Suzuki’s Jackson Blackmon at the line in a near-photo-finish for the pair, with Blackmon settling for third.
When Landers was asked about the fact that De Keyrel was catching him, he said, “I knew I was going slower, for sure. I started to lose the tire in the race. My pace started to fall off. I went from 1.9 to 1.4. I looked back, and he was right there. I looked back on the last corner and he wasn’t there. So, I’m sorry that (crash) happened to him. It would have been way close. I don’t know if I would have been able to beat him after that. I’m happy with the results. Super happy with the points.”
2020 Barber Motorsports Park MotoAmerica Results—Twins Cup Race One
| 1 |
Rocco Landers |
(Suzuki) |
| 2 |
Hayden Schultz |
(Yamaha) |
| 3 |
Jackson Blackmon |
(Suzuki) |
| 4 |
Joseph Blasius |
(Suzuki) |
| 5 |
Toby Khamsouk |
(Suzuki) |
Friday
If Friday’s two qualifying practice sessions are any indication, Cameron Beaubier might just have a fight on his hands over the course of the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park.
And that fight looks like it’s going to come from Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz, the South African leading the first session on Friday morning and coming extremely close to doing the same in the second. However, it was Beaubier and his Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha YZF-R1 on top at the end of the day. Albeit barely. Oh, and did we mention his lap broke his own record from 2018?
A new lap record for Beaubier on Friday at Barber.
When all was said and done on opening day at Barber, it was Beaubier clicking off the fastest lap of the day – his record-setting 1:23.202 (the previous best was a 1:23.514 set in Superpole in 2018) in the second session. But that was just .416 of a second quicker than Scholtz, who had shown his speed by leading the first session on Friday.
“Barber has done an incredible job with resurfacing this place,” Beaubier said. “We were a bit nervous last year with the pavement having a shine to it, but it’s baby butt smooth and it’s an incredible track. I think the newness got worn off and it’s even better now. All in all, everything is good. Matty (Scholtz) is riding really well and going really fast. We are down in the 23s and we’d only get there with a Superpole tire in the past.”
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Bobby Fong ended up third with his 1:24.690 a second off Scholtz’ best as the two Yamaha men have separated themselves from the pack. Fong was just .159 of a second clear of his teammate Toni Elias, the Spaniard in turn only .029 of a second faster than KATO Fastening/KWR Ducati’s Kyle Wyman.
Landers is on course to wrap up the Junior Cup this weekend.
Scheibe Racing BMW’s Josh Herrin was seventh fastest, over half a second faster than two-time Stock 1000 Champion Andrew Lee, the Superbike Unlimited/Franklin Armory Racing-backed Californian in his MotoAmerica Superbike debut. FLY Racing ADR Motorsports’ David Anthony and Superbike Underground’s Jeremy Coffey rounded out the top 10 on Friday afternoon.
Rocco Landers had a good day at Barber, the 15-year-old leading both the Liqui Moly Junior Cup and Twins Cup sessions. Ditto for Cameron Petersen, the Altus Motorsports Suzuki rider besting the Stock 1000 class on opening day.
HONOS Kawasaki’s Richie Escalante led the Superport class over his series rival Sean Dylan Kelly on the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki, setting up their normal battle in tomorrow’s Supersport race one.
2020 Barber Motorsports Park MotoAmerica Results—Friday
Superbike
| 1 |
Cameron Beaubier |
(Yamaha) |
1:23.202 |
| 2 |
Mathew Scholtz |
(Yamaha) |
1:23.618 |
| 3 |
Bobby Fong |
(Suzuki) |
1:24.690 |
| 4 |
Toni Elias |
(Suzuki) |
1:24.849 |
| 5 |
Jake Gagne |
(Yamaha) |
1:24.878 |
Junior Cup
| 1 |
Rocco Landers |
(Kawasaki) |
1:35.171 |
| 2 |
Samuel Lochoff |
(Kawasaki) |
1:35.554 |
| 3 |
Dominic Doyle |
(Kawasaki) |
1:36.404 |
| 4 |
Benjamin Gloddy |
(Kawasaki) |
1:37.265 |
| 5 |
Isaiah Burleson |
(Kawasaki) |
1:37.486 |
Supersport
| 1 |
Richie Escalante |
(Kawasaki) |
1:27.522 |
| 2 |
Sean Dylan Kelly |
(Suzuki) |
1:28.944 |
| 3 |
Jason Aguilar |
(Yamaha) |
1:28.303 |
| 4 |
Xavier Zayat |
(Yamaha) |
1:28.601 |
| 5 |
Benjamin Smith |
(Yamaha) |
1:28.780 |
Stock 1000
| 1 |
Cameron Petersen |
(Suzuki) |
1:25.541 |
| 2 |
Travis Wyman |
(BMW) |
1:26.363 |
| 3 |
Stefano Mesa |
(Kawasaki) |
1:26.420 |
| 4 |
Corey Alexander |
(Kawasaki) |
1:26.464 |
| 5 |
Michael Gilbert |
(Kawasaki) |
1:26.690 |
Twins Cup
| 1 |
Rocco Landers |
(Suzuki) |
1:31.345 |
| 2 |
Kaleb De Keyrel |
(Yamaha) |
1:32.263 |
| 3 |
Hayden Schultz |
(Yamaha) |
1:32.568 |
| 4 |
Toby Khamsouk |
(Suzuki) |
1:33.348 |
| 5 |
Jackson Blackmon |
(Suzuki) |
1:33.443 |
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