Monster Energy Graves Yamaha’s Cameron Beaubier captured his second win of the season in Saturday’s AMA Pro Superbike Race One at Road America.
The Superbike rookie has now notched two wins in his first three races of the season and expanded his championship lead to 13 points ahead of second place Roger Hayden.
Last year’s GoPro Daytona SportBike champion Beaubier and his Monster Energy Graves Yamaha teammate Josh Hayes started the race in first and second, the same order they finished, and dominated the field for all 13 laps and 53 miles aboard their identical YZF-R1 bikes.
Beaubier led early, but Hayes took the lead around mid-race and gradually notched increments on the gap to his teammate until he had built a comfortable lead.
Beaubier came on strong in the final laps, though, and found himself closing in on the lead with just over a lap to go. He reached Hayes’ back wheel in the final turn of Lap 12, and regained his draft as they entered the front straightaway.
Beaubier utilized the long front stretch of the four-mile track to reel Hayes in and initiate a pass as the white flag waved. In the first turn of the final lap, Beaubier completed his maneuver around Hayes.
The rookie effectively outmaneuvered his three-time champion teammate, denying any attempt at a pass on the final lap. Beaubier took the win by .306 seconds.
Third place finisher Martin Cardenas challenged the two frontrunners in the opening laps of the race as the three pulled away from the pack. By lap 8, Cardenas fell to four seconds behind the lead. Beaubier and Hayes continued to increase the gap to third place through the second half of the race, and Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s Cardenas finished 15 seconds off the lead.
Cardenas’ Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Roger Hayden finished 26 seconds behind the lead in fourth, followed by ADR Motorsports/Sic/Motul Fly Racing’s David Anthony in fifth and the final Yoshimura finisher Chris Clark in sixth.
AMA Pro SuperBike Road America Race 1 Results
1. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
2. Josh Hayes (Yamaha)
3. Martin Cardenas (Suzuki)
4. Roger Hayden (Suzuki)
5. David Anthony (Suzuki)
6. Chris Clark (Suzuki)
7. Chris Fillmore (KTM)
8. Chris Ulrich (Honda)
9. Cory West (EBR)
10. Jason Farrell (Kawasaki)
11. Frankie Babuska (Suzuki)
12. Trent Gibson (Kawasaki)
13. Francois Dumas (BMW)
14. Bernat Martinez (Yamaha)
15. Larry Pegram (EBR)
