Rennie Scaysbrook | November 25, 2022
After two years in the MotoGP paddock, one of the most successful riders in AMA/MotoAmerica history, Cameron Beaubier, is coming home. We caught up with him on the eve of his final race as a grand prix rider at Valencia
The highlight of his two years in Moto2 came at Circuit of The Americas this year with a pole position that sent the home crowd into raptures.
Photography by Gold & Goose
Sitting in the confines of the rented rider’s change room at the back of the expansive Valencia pit complex, Cameron Beaubier is a picture of relaxation. Having just qualified his American Racing Team Kalex in 13th, 0.606s from pole-sitter Alonzo Lopez, Beaubier knows there’s only one race left between him and the end of his grand prix career.
“Man, I can’t wait to get home,” he says with a smile.
The Californian has been living the GP dream, in all its good and bad forms, for the last two seasons. Having been next to unbeatable in MotoAmerica Superbike with the then factory Yamaha team, Beaubier’s competitive side got the better of him, and he was lured to replace compatriot Joe Roberts in the American Racing Team under the guidance of team owner Eitan Butbul and rider coach/Race Director, John Hopkins.
Beaubier had former MotoGP factory star John Hopkins in his corner for his two years at American Racing.
“Sitting at home, you’re watching Moto2 and stuff like that and you’re like, ‘Man, why couldn’t I be like these guys?’ But then you actually get over here and you really see what the level is,” he said with matter-of-fact honesty.
Flashes of brilliance, including a dream home pole position at Circuit Of The Americas to qualifying second and running in the lead pack in Portugal, and finishing seventh in Australia and Malaysia, were tempered by too many crashes and performances on the edge of the paying points. He pushed his body and bike to the outer limits, the hero-to-zero margin so small as to be almost indistinguishable.
Fresh faced and ready for it—Beaubier on the grid for his first Moto2 race in Qatar, 2021.
“It’s just funny the way it works over here,” Beaubier starts. “The difference between this guy’s career is over and this guy is a hero is one second. It’s insane. The racing is brutal. Basically, if you’re not moving forward, if you’re not trying to move forward, you’re going backwards. Especially those first couple laps, if you’re not pushing 100 percent, and if you’re not confident, you’re going to see a wheel going up the inside of you, left and right. It’s definitely take-no-prisoners out there, but it’s pretty cool, though. All those guys, too, no matter if you’re in third or if you’re in 23rd, they’re still going to race you like their life depends on it.”
At the behest of Hopkins, legendary crew chief Stuart Shenton was drafted in to help Beaubier a quarter of the way through 2021.
Moving to Europe at the end of 2020 as MotoAmerica Superbike Champion for a fifth time and renting a beachside house south of Barcelona in Sant Pere de Ribes with wife Shelby and close friend Cam Gish from Bell Helmets, Beaubier admits to a false sense of security following his first test on the Kalex chassis at the end of 2020 in Jerez, where he ended up seventh fastest, 0.6 seconds off his then new teammate, Marco Ramirez.
“We didn’t have perfect track time at Jerez,” Beaubier said. “But it gave me a little understanding of the bike. It was almost like a false sense of reality because I actually did pretty good. I came back at the beginning of last year ready to start rolling. We did the official test and a couple other tests at the beginning of the year, and I was just dumbfounded at how fast everyone was and how different the bike was once you started riding it on the limit. And I’ve had to change my style so much to fit this bike. I had to hang off a lot more to get it turned.”
Beaubier in full send mode in his final Moto2 race ahead of 2022 Moto2 Champion-elect, Augusto Fernandez. His charge was remorseless, pushing into fourth before crashing out early in the race at the last corner. That race alone showed his speed against the world’s best.
What were the main differences between the Kalex Moto2 machine and the Yamaha YZF-R1 superbike on which he was so accustomed?
“On a superbike, you can do so much with the bike to make it turn,” Beaubier said. “There’s so much weight and G-force to carve through the corners. You don’t really need to hang off the thing too much, but these things [Moto2]… that’s been a super big adaptation for me, just trying to change my style after riding a certain way for the six or seven years I’ve been on a superbike.
“That’s been tough, especially when you’ve got to go out and go as fast as you can. Then that stuff kind of goes out the window. On a superbike, I was used to having traction control and super-advanced engine brake settings where you can pretty much dial the thing in corner-by-corner, like Yamaha and Attack would on superbikes.”
Trying to tame the Kalex bronco at the Sachsenring in Germany this year.
“On the Moto2 bike, you’ve got to use the rear brake a lot more,” Beaubier continues. “So, I started getting used to a thumb brake, and I rarely used the rear brake on a superbike. Using the rear brake on the Moto2 bike really helps you to get the thing to turn and stabilize it. Superbikes, you can ride them hard, throw them around, even make a little mistake and still save yourself with how much power they have out of the corner. With Moto2 you have to be so precise. Obviously, you’re pushing, but you have to be very gentle with the bike. You don’t make the time up going into the corner. You make it coming out. I built a lot of bad habits on the superbike going into the Moto2 bike.”
Beaubier and paddock buddy Jake Dixon share a laugh after placing second and third in qualifying in Portugal.
Beaubier’s primary objective for taking the American Racing Team ride was as a springboard to MotoGP, which, if successful would have made Wayne Rainey’s dream of raising a rider through MotoAmerica to the big time complete. But modern international racing is as much about right time, right place, right age, right passport, as it is about being fast. The days in which a rider, like Rainey, could go from the national championship and move straight into the big time are long, long gone—indeed Beaubier (28) and Rainey (27) were within one year of each other (in age) when they made the move to Europe, both for a second time (Rainey in 250GP in 1984 and Beaubier in 125GP in 2009) more than 30 years apart.
How it started: A baby-faced Beaubier during his 2009 125cc GP season as teammate to Marc Marquez.
“The whole reason that I wanted to take this gamble was to get into MotoGP,” Beaubier says. “I came over here and I was 28 last year. I was hoping the results were going to be a little bit better, and I wanted to see if the MotoGP dream was still a reality. I wanted to do good enough in Moto2 to get an opportunity in MotoGP.
“But, once I came over here and I’m in it, first of all, you see how gnarly those guys [MotoGP] are, how insanely talented they are. I’m not saying I’m not [that talented] or anyone in Moto2 isn’t or even at home in America. It’s what they go through on a daily basis, each session, it’s so hard to describe.
“They’re on the absolute limit on 300-horsepower bikes. They toss them down the road, sprint through the gravel trap to hop on the spare bike, and sometimes do it again. It’s gnarly. All the MotoGP teams are picking that young 20s guy coming up, and can you blame them? Look at what these guys have done. When you’re in it, you understand. I know I’d ride a bigger bike better just from my experience at home and stuff like that, but…”
Beaubier’s voice tapers off and the smile reappears, followed by a little, knowing chuckle.
At tracks where the European contingent had not ridden thousands of laps, Beaubier was almost always at the pointy end. Like here at Phillip Island in Australia, a track Beaubier says is “the best in the world.”
I counter by stating at least he’ll never die wondering.
“Exactly. It’s been a super cool experience,” he says. “Obviously I’d be happy if my results were a little bit better, but on my day, I showed I can run up front. And I got to live in Europe for a couple years. It’s pretty cool to say that.”
Looking forward, Beaubier will be back in MotoAmerica next year on a BMW M 1000 RR in the expansive Tytlers Racing outfit, marking the second new challenge in as many years, and the first time he’s raced at a national level since 2010 and not had a Yamaha underneath him.
“A couple of weeks before Misano this year and after talking it over with Shelby and my family, I decided I wanted to come home,” Beaubier said. “Shelby was down to support me with whatever I wanted to do, which was cool. But I talked to my close ones about it and talked to Jake Zemke (Beaubier’s manager) to see if there was any opportunity back in the U.S. Obviously Yamaha has Cam Petersen and Jake Gagne on a two-year deal, but at the same time, something made me want to go home on a new bike and a new challenge. I’d just feel kind of dumb if I just went back and hopped on a Yamaha. That’s nothing against the Yamaha boys because they’re like family to me. But for me, going home, I’m going back to MotoAmerica. I’ve had some great success and been here for many years, but I’m going to do a new chapter.” CN
