MotoAmerica Round 3 VIR Press Releases

Misc Press Releases from Monster Energy / Yamaha Factory Race team and Monster Energy / Yamalube / Yamaha Extended Services / Graves / Yamaha at the MotoAmerica 2017 Round 3 VIR!

----------------------------------------

Hayes Wins & Beaubier Finishes Third In MotoAmerica Superbike Race 2, While Beach Wins & Gerloff Finishes Second In Supersport Race 2

Alton, VA - May 14, 2017 –In Sunday’s MotoAmerica Superbike and Supersport races at VIRginia International Raceway, Yamaha’s “Fast Four” captured the wins and dominated the podiums, as Josh Hayes notched the 61st Superbike victory of his storied career and teammate Cameron Beaubier also finished on the podium in third, while JD Beach won his second Supersport race of the season and his teammate Garrett Gerloff was runner-up.

Improving on the so-so starts that they got in Saturday’s Superbike Race 1, Josh and Cameron rocketed off the starting line aboard their Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory YZF-R1 machines in Sunday’s Superbike Race 2, with Josh getting the holeshot and Cameron slotting in right behind him in second. Cameron got around Josh, and started to stretch out a lead as Josh got busy fending off the tandem of Toni Elias and Roger Hayden.

A mistake by Cameron caused him to run off the track for the second day in a row, but he was able to quickly regain his composure and return to the pavement in eighth position. As he did yesterday, Cameron methodically passed rider after rider until he was in fourth place. Meanwhile, Josh ran fast, smooth laps and stretched out his lead at the front. Roger Hayden ran off the track, handing third place to Cameron, which is where he finished the race. Josh took the checkered flag with a lead of nearly 4.5 seconds over Elias.

Talking about his return to form, Josh said, “On the grid, I kept telling myself, ‘You’ve done this before. You can do this!’ I finally got a good start, and I made up my mind that I was going to be relentless and make everybody run my pace. It was nice to be able to stretch out a comfortable lead, and then manage it. I’m happy to get this win for my team.”

A dejected Cameron commented, “I’m disappointed in myself because I thought I had the pace to win one of these races this weekend. To run off the track once is bad enough, but to do it twice is just not me. I want to apologize to my team because they gave me a great bike all weekend, and I didn’t get them the race wins that they deserve.”

In Sunday’s Supersport race, the script was flipped for Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha teammates Garrett and JD. While Garrett got the win and JD finished second on Saturday, it was JD who took the checkers on Sunday, with Garrett finishing second. The two riders, aboard their brand-new 2017 Yamaha YZF-R6 machines, swapped the lead multiple times throughout Sunday’s 20-lap race, and it was ultimately 2015 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion JD who prevailed by less than a tenth of a second over 2016 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion Garrett.

“Garrett and I had a great race,” JD said. “I’m a dirt tracker, and he kept leaving the door open in the left-handers! I think he was actually a little bit stronger than me, but I was able to get him in those left-handers, which made the difference. He ran a good pace, and we ran close together but safe. We trust each other, which is great, and we can just concentrate on applying our strengths. Today, I was able to get the win, so I’m really happy.”

“It was super-fun racing with JD,” said Garrett. “It’s great to go out there and mix it up with my teammate. We’re strong in different areas on the track, so that made it a really fun race. We were passing each other back and forth, and it came right down to the last corner on the last lap. He got the best of me in that final turn leading up to the finish line.”

Yamaha’s Factory Superbike and Factory-Supported Supersport Teams will be back in action on June 2-4 for the Dunlop Championship At Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI.

----------------------------------------

Beaubier & Hayes Come From Behind To Finish 2nd & 4thIn MotoAmerica Superbike Race 1 At VIR; Gerloff & Beach Go 1-2 In Supersport Race 1

Alton, VA - May 13, 2017 –Three rounds into the 2017 MotoAmerica season, and it’s become quite apparent that excitement and drama are the two watchwords of the premier Superbike class. Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing teammates Cameron Beaubier and Josh Hayes have starring roles in this passion play.

After earning the pole position in Saturday’s Superpole at VIRginia International Raceway, Josh got off to a bit of a slow start in Superbike Race 1, as did Cameron, who also started from the front row of the grid. While both teammates concentrated on moving towards the front, first Cameron, and then Josh ran off the track, but both riders were able to rejoin the race in short fashion despite having to negotiate through the wet grass that was the end-product of heavy rain in the area over the previous couple of days.

As the laps wound down, Josh and Cameron both were able to work their way back into contention, with Josh ahead of Cameron in the blitz to the front. Josh ran the fastest lap of the race as he passed riders right and left, and then Cameron eclipsed Josh’s fastest lap with one of his own, recorded within the final couple of laps in the race when he moved into the runner-up position and a place on the second step of the podium.

Josh was also in a podium position until the final corner on the final lap, when he was narrowly passed on the run to the checkers and finished fourth. For both Josh and Cameron, it was a remarkable finish, given how things unfolded earlier in the race.

“I got in a little hot right behind Kyle Wyman, went wide, and ran off the track,” said Cameron. “I did everything I could to keep it on two wheels, with all the wet grass from the rain over the past couple of days. I got back out on the track, put my head down, and I just rode my heart out. I was close enough to the front to see Toni (Elias) and Josh Herrin crash, and I thought I had a chance to get back up there. The bike felt great. I ran a bunch of fast laps towards the end, and I was able to get back on the podium, pick up some good points, and get ourselves back in this Championship.”

Josh said, “It was a tough race for me right from the start. But, the pace wasn’t really that fast. I had a couple of issues, and I got in a spot on the outside of Toni (Elias). I didn’t have any confidence in the front end of my bike, and I ran out of racetrack. I got back on the pavement pretty quickly and started trying to fight my way back. I felt like I was losing a lot of time trying to keep the bike pointed in the right direction, but still, I managed to get all the way up to third. Unfortunately, in the last turn, (Bobby) Fong got a good run on me and beat me to the line.”

In Saturday’s Supersport race, Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha teammates Garrett Gerloff and JD Beach were in the lead group that also included French rider Valentin Debise. Some close racing caused Debise to crash unhurt, which left Garrett and JD to fight for the win.

As the laps wound down, backmarkers came into play, which brought Garrett and JD close enough together and enabled JD to take the lead. After they got through the traffic, Garrett was once again able get past JD, and then, stretch out a modest lead, which he held all the way to the finish line for his second Supersport win of the season. JD finished in second for his fourth podium result in a row.

“I’m happy that I was able to get on the box, especially after not having a lot of dry track time this weekend,” commented Garrett. “I took my time getting past the lappers, and JD managed to get back past me later in the race, but once I got some clear track, I was able to put my head down and run some decent laps, which helped me stretch out the lead.”

JD said, “I felt good all race long and, when Debise went out, I knew it was going to be a battle between Garrett and I. Some slower riders helped me reel in Garrett and pass him, but he got me right back. He was riding really well today. It’s great for our team to finish 1-2, but still, I’d have liked to have been ‘1.’ Hopefully, that will happen tomorrow.”

Sunday’s Supersport Race 2 from VIR will start at 2:25 PM EST, and Superbike Race 2 is at 3:30 PM EST. Both races will be broadcast live on beIN Sports.

For more Yamaha racing news, results, photos, and videos, visit http://www.YamahaMotorsports.com/Racing