MOTOAMERICA AMA/FIM NORTH AMERICAN ROAD RACING SERIES/ (^) GRANTSVILLE, UTAH
MotoAmerica Championship of Utah
Elias Wins A Pair
By David Swarts
T
oni Elias extended his
points lead in the Moto-
America EBC Brakes Su-
perbike Championship by winning
both races at Utah Motorsports
Campus (UMC).
EBC Brakes Superbike
Practice & Qualifying
MotoAmerica ran on the 2.2-
mile, 10-turn East Course instead
of the 3.0-mile, 14-turn Outer/Pe-
rimeter Course used during previ-
ous visits. And the event was cut
to two days, to reduce operating
costs for the series and teams.
Following its fi rst two-day
event at VIRginia International
Raceway, Moto America tweaked
the schedule to make it less hec-
tic, eliminating the 15-minute
Superbike Superpole and setting
the grid based on the results from
Qualifying Practices One and Two.
In spite of never riding on
the East Course before, Superbike
Champion Cameron Beaubier led
QP1 and then took pole position
with a lap of 1:29.862 on his Mon-
ster Yamalube YZF-R1 in QP2.
Elias, who tested with his
team on UMC’s East Course in
May, was second-best with a time
of 1:29.913 on his Yoshimura Su-
zuki GSX-R1000. Garrett Gerloff
came back from a crash in QP1 to
qualify third at 1:30.096.
Leading row two was Mathew
Scholtz, who did a 1:30.863 on his
Westby Yamaha YZF-R1. Josh Her-
rin was fi fth-fastest at 1:30.878.
JD Beach earned the fi nal spot on
row two with a time of 1:31.165 on
his Attack Performance/Estenson
Yamaha YZF-R1.
Jake Lewis qualifi ed sev-
enth at 1:31.633 on his M4 EC-
STAR Suzuki GSX-R1000. Ome-
ga Moto’s Cameron Petersen was
eighth with a 1:31.737. Despite
six broken ribs, David Anthony
was ninth on the starting grid at
1:31.963 on his FLY Racing/ADR
Kawasaki ZX-10RR.
Row four included Jayson
Uribe at 1:32.007 on his Super-
stock-spec Uribe Racing Hon-
da CBR1000RR; Jake Gagne at
1:32.770 on his Sheibe Racing
BMW S1000RR; and Kyle Wyman,
who did a 1:33.077 on his SC Proj-
ect/KWR Ducati Panigale V4 R.
EBC Brakes Superbike Race One
Superbike Race One at UMC
saw seven riders fi ercely battling
well into the 23-lap race. Beaubier
did most of the leading while Her-
rin, Elias, Gerloff, Beach, Scholtz,
and Lewis fought behind him.
On lap 15, Herrin took the
lead from Beaubier going into the
Attitudes, but seconds into lap 16,
Elias dived up the inside of Her-
rin in the tricky, patched Turn
One to take the lead. Then Scholtz
passed Beaubier for third with a
dive to the inside of the Turn Four
right-hander called “Maybe You’ll
Make It.” On the next lap, lap 17,
Scholtz took second place away
from Herrin in the same spot. Her-
rin countered immediately in Turn
Five, a.k.a. “Satisfaction.”
Scholtz repassed Herrin on
the brakes at Tooele Turn (Turn
11). Herrin got a good drive off
Tooele Turn and out-braked
Scholtz into Clubhouse Corner
(Turn 12). Herrin then ran wide at
the exit and Scholtz brushed past
him on the way into the next turn,
Wind Up. Beach also got past Her-
rin before Wind Up, fi nishing a
fi fth-to-third run during the lap. It
was Superbike racing at its best.
Meanwhile, Elias was ex-
tending his lead from 0.7-second
on lap 16 to 2.3 seconds on lap 17.
Elias then kept an eye on his pit
board, hit his marks, and won his
fourth race of the season.
“This track is so diffi cult to
pass,” said Elias. “It was every-
body in one group. Really diffi cult
race. At the end, I didn’t expect to
open that little gap, but [it] helped
me a lot to stay out of the trouble.”
After passing Herrin, Scholtz
was alone in second to the fi nish.
Gerloff ran near the front
of the pack early on, but said he
lost time when a problem with his
motorcycle caused him to run off
track twice. Gerloff wouldn’t say
what the problem was, but he
came back to pass Beaubier for
third on the penultimate lap.
Beaubier fi nished fourth and
said he was struggling badly for
edge grip late in the race. Lewis
couldn’t keep pace during the sec-
ond half of the race, fi nishing fi fth.
Shortly after losing the lead and
second place, Herrin suddenly
sat up, slowed, and lost positions.
Afterwards, Herrin said his back
muscles “locked up,” but he was
able to fi nish sixth.
Gagne was seventh, holding
off Uribe (eighth) and Anthony
(ninth). Mathew Orange, riding
in his fi rst MotoAmerica event of
2019, fi nished 10th on his Yama-
ha YZF-R1.
Beach was third on lap 18
Cameron Beaubier (1) leads Toni Elias (24), Garrett Gerloff (31), Mathew Scholtz (11), Jake Lewis (85), JD Beach
(95) and the rest at the start of Superbike Race Two at Utah Motorsports Campus. Photos by Brian J. Nelson.
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UTAH MOTORSPORTS CAMPUS
East OneFasterGotchaSatisfactionClubhouse CornerAgonyEcstacyMaybe <RX·OO0DNH,WEAST COURSE 2.2 MILES26—Roadracing World, August 2019