In the championship MotoAmerica Superbike, the first round at Road Atlanta made our mouths water by showing us two splendid races where the double title holder Jake Gagne (Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha) and the five-time title winner Cameron Beaubier on his BMW M 1000 RR from Tytlers Cycle Racing competed in long and spectacular melee…
We were waiting for the rest at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, for the second round of the season but, fortunately for him and unfortunately for us, Jake Gagne There haven't really been any opponents able to undermine his domination, and we therefore find ourselves with the official Yamaha at the top of the general classification, after three consecutive victories and with a lead of 21 points in the championship.
But, for the third round, the US Superbikes arrive at Road America, a long circuit of 6,5 km located on the outskirts of the lakeside resort of Elkhart Lake, in Wisconsin, and which has two long straights clearly favoring engine power. Note that a complete re-asphalting was carried out last winter.
Cameron Beaubier, on his BMW, therefore intended to take advantage of it, just like Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati) on the powerful Panigale V4 R…
Friday morning, during the 40-minute practice session, it was indeed Cameron Beaubier, also the most victorious rider at Road America with his 10 victories in Superbike, who imposed his BMW M 1000 RR ahead of that of his teammate, PJ Jacobsen. The ex-Moto2 rider, 2'10.575, was already very close to the record which, at that moment, still belonged to Jake Gagne since 2021, in 2'10.529.
Josh Herrin ranking 3rd, Richie Escalante (Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki) 4th, the message was clear for the Yamaha: this time, the championship leader Jake Gagne wasn't going to have the easy part!
Confirmation in the afternoon during the first 40-minute qualification, with the same quartet at the top of the ranking, and a Cameron Beaubier now holder of the new circuit record, in 2'09.629, while PJ Jacobsen already undermined him earlier in the session.
️ @TytlersRacing's @PJ99Jacobsen was the first rider to break the @roadamerica lap record on Friday, but his teammate @cameronbeaubier did one better to break the record not once but twice en route to provisional pole position.#motorcycle #racing #record pic.twitter.com/KzaSqRdOtD
— MotoAmerica (@MotoAmerica) June 2, 2023
But for Yamaha, the already difficult situation became critical, with none of the three R1s from the Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha team having participated in qualifying, those from Jake Gagne et Cameron Petersen due to mysterious technical problems which could not be resolved before the session, that of Josh Hayes, potential replacement for Cameron Petersen injured his wrist during a day of testing on the Monday after Barber, supposedly no longer needed...
Strange, very strange!
