It is time for the second and final race of the weekend for MotoAmerica Superbike, in the second round of the championship, at Road America. We have had three events here, at Road America, and this is the fourth and final race, before we move on to more great race tracks throughout the remainder of the 2020 season. Cameron Beaubier, has had a perfect season. Can his rivals step up to the plate and challenge him for a win? Can Beaubier fend off this challenge? We're about to find out, as the fans join us, here at Road America. Beaubier is 3-0 right now with a perfect batting average, if he were a baseball player. Bobby Fong was pushing, pushing, pushing in yesterday's race, but Beaubier is the chap who has the edge. The man is fast. His fellow riders will have to step up and go toe to toe with the factory Yamaha rider.
Jake Gagne, Beaubier's team mate has also been taking the fight to Beaubier. Toni Elias and Kyle Wyman are two of the riders who can possibly catch the Yamaha pilot. There is a championship for the young kids who are learning how to ride motorcycles, and they too, have had their time in the spotlight here at Road America. Now, as we spoke of yesterday, Road America is such a fabulous, legendary course. Turn one is the first hot spot. You fly in there and the same is true for turn five. Turn eight is slightly slower and then, the Carousel, you make or lose time in there. If the bike is a handful there, you are in trouble. Another long straight into a tight right hander at Canada corner. Then, it's uphill to the start/finish line. Bobby Fong has been very consistent. He was second in yesterday's race, and second in the morning warmup.
He wants to fly today, to try and beat Cameron Beaubier. Kyle Wyman was on the podium, watching a tape of yesterday's race, twice, to improve his race craft for today's event. He says he and his team are finally in the zone with their Ducati Panigale. It's nearly go time. We will fire the engines and get set to get underway for a second time, here at Road America. On the grid, the riders prepare for the task at hand. We have picture perfect, Chamber of Commerce weather at Road America this afternoon with sunny, blue skies on a late June summer day.
Yesterday, Toni Elias finished third, but was docked a place, relegated to fourth by not seeing a yellow flag. There was a rider who went off the road at Canada Corner. If you watched this race, yesterday, either on Fox Sports 1 on television, or on MotoAmerica Live Plus on a mobile device, you saw that kerfuffle. Toni Elias wanted to outbrake Kyle Wyman into Canada Corner. He didn't see the yellow flag and saw a picture that showed evidence of the yellow flag. He's sure to not make the same mistake in today's race.
The motorcycles and riders are on the grid, preparinhg for thr warm up lap, and the start. P.J. Jacobsen will not start. He had something happen this morning and burned himself, not sure how. Get well soon, P.J. The riders set off on their warmup lap, the formation lap, heating the tires. The long backstretch out of turn three is a major drafting spot. Watch for action there. The Westby team has a new engine, but they were getting less performance out of it. Matthew Scholz is happier with the old motor that was reinstalled back into the motorcycle. Bobby Fong and Cameron Beaubier might be the two blokes who move ahead but there are other riders in mid pack, that will push just as hard.
We've had six different riders on the podium in three races so far. Much will develop in this race. The track temperature is a tad cooler than in race one yesterday. The Yamaha Monster Energy Attack team has changed to super soft Dunlop tires for Cameron Beaubier and Jake Gagne, both. Don't burn up the tires before we see the checkers in this one, unless you really want to take chances. It's time to race, now. Red lights on. Red lights, out. Away we go! Tjeu scream down towards turn one as this race of a dozen laps begins. Beaubier leads Toni Elias and Bobby Fong. Kyle Wyman did a wheelie and he's bogged down by Matt Scholz and Kyle Wyman. Into turn five for the first time and Fong is applying the blowtorch.
Someone went off the road brieflybut they are back on track. Toni Elias runs third. Jake Gagne wants by Toni Elias and Gagne makes the pass on the second Monster Energy Attack Yamaha on the Ecstar Suzuki in the hands of Toni Elias, the M4 Ecstar Suzuki. That is the GSXR1000 of course. Jake Gagne is third, moving ahead from sixth spot. Onto the front straight to complete lap one, and Fong is putting his body into a tucked down position for aerodynamic efficiency. Jake Gagne is now chasing Bobby Fong in the draft to try and pass. Cameron Beaubier is whistling off into the distance once more.
Matthew Scholz has fallen behind Kyle Wyman for some reason. Elias and Wyman scrapped in a big way yesterday. This is chapter two of their story. Cameron Beaubier is in control into the chicane. Kyle Wyman takes his foot off the foot peg on the left side. He is a dirt track oval motorcycle racer from years ago and so his technique comes from that discipline of riding. Up the hill they come, with ten laps remaining. The gap has ballooned in a large way between Beaubier and Elias. Meantime, David Anthony on a Superbike, and Cameron Petersen on a Stock 1000 bike. Now, if you want to hear about the Stock 1000 race, stay tuned as that's coming soon.
Josh Herrin is pressing towards moving by Matt Scholz. Herrin on the BMW S1000RR. Toni Elias, using the wheelie control. Meantime, Kyle Wyman blocks Toni Elias and they almost touch! Yikes! Wyman is on the limit. Reviewing yesterday's race has helped Wyman with his confidence. He's got to be grinning like a stuck possum. Oh no! Cameron Beaubier has crashed! From the lead, he hits the bump in turn one and loses the bike in a low side crash! Deary me! Poor old Beaubier. It's game over for him. We have a new race leader. Bobby Fong leads Jake Gagne now. Both of them, will be in contention.
OK. It isn't game over for Beaubier. He's getting back on the motorcycle, but he's going to have to pick up the pieces after the smash. One lap to halfway as Bobby Fong is your new leader. He's in P1 right now. Jake Gagne is in Fong's draft. Fong, like Toni Elias, is on an Ecstar Suzuki, the team mate, to Elias. Cameron Beaubier had a 29 point lead before he crashed. He has to score at least one point by finishing 15th. Beaubier will perhaps have just a four point edge in the championship points as Matthew Scholz is moving back into the picture.
I don't know if Cameron Beaubier has gone through. He's pulling into pit lane, retiring the motorcycle. It is game over for Beaubier. Goodnight. M4 Ecstar took over the Suzuki program late in the off season from Yoshimura. The right handlebar on Beaubier's Yamaha YZF R1 is busted up. Bobby Fong backs the motorcycle into turn six. Be careful, sunshine. Don't lose the front tire. Fong is working well in his riding today. Jake Gagne was in World Superbike on a lesser team and now, he's back in MotoAmerica. Cameron Beaubier says "I'm pretty bummed. I got a good start and went with a different front tire that worked out. The track is greasy. I hit a bump and tucked the front end of the bike."
That's very disappointing. Meantime, Kyle Wyman is pushing hard. Bobby "The Bulldog" Fong is doing everything he must in order to stay in P1. Jake Gagne wants a shot at him. These two blokes are giving it everything. Five laps now remain. We are past halfway. These races go by fast. Jake Gagne had an air bubble in the brake line on his motorcycle. He now has the confidence in today's race that he can press Bobby Fong before this motorcycle race is over. If a brake feels mushy, that's a rider's biggest fear. No brakes on a bike. He adjusted the lever all the way out. But it was still mushy and not working. As fast as the motorcycles go at Road America, you have to check for brake fade so you don't wipe out. Matthew Scholz is desperately making up time and using a different engine in the motorcycle.
Scholz wants by Elias and no dice, but then, Scholz slams the door and Elias is down! Inton the chicane, Elias is tipping in, and then, boom. Elias is in the dust! Toni Elias is back in the saddle. He's upset, but he has to salvage some points to make up the deficit to Cameron Beaubier who is out of this motorcycle race. Elias is eighth in the running order right now. He has to move past Cameron Petersen. Petersen will be the next bike on his shopping list. Four laps, 16 miles remain. Toni Elias spent 18 seconds on the floor before saying "OK, I have to get back in the race."
Jake Gagne has work to do to reel in Bobby Fong. Fong has the handling through Canada Corner. Jake Gagne loses daylight to Fong from turn eight to the Carousel. 2:12.9 for Fong. They are in the 2:12 bracket. Kyle Wyman is third and Matthew Scholz is back there. Wyman could have a legitimate podium today. He's thrown his hat in the ring on the Ducati. He wants good results and to get into the race and he's doing that right now. He's not putting a wheel wrong. Wyman just has to push. He is maturing as a rider and doesn't have to give all the credit to a good motorbike.
Wyman has picked up three seconds. He's lost a tad of time, about a half a second to the leaders. He is not just a rider, but a team owner. The team stripped the bike down to nothing and checked the refinement, going through the motorcycle with a fine tooth comb. The Ducati Panigale he is riding, is really a heavily modified road bike. The Ducati's top speed is 195 miles per hour plus. Matthew Scholz's new motor helped a bit, but the backup motor from the first race at Road America is a better lump. The lump, is the engine, in British English by the way.
Meanwhile, it's the white flag lap. One lap to go. Bobby Fong vs. Jake Gagne. Gagne wants a win. So does Bobby Fong. He won the 600cc Supersport championship trophy, last year, in 2019. Who wants it more? Gagne is closing. His drive off the corner is the crucial part between turns six, seven, and eight. Into the Carousel for the final time. Gagne opens the entry to the corner, and Fong takes a tighter line. he has the power on the exit. Gagne has more lean angle earlier into the corner. Focus forward, through the forest, into Canada Corner. Two turns remain before the uphill blast. Fong has to keep it clean. Too much daylight between the two rdiers. Bobby Fong wins this motorcycle race for M4 Ecstar Suzuki!
Jake Gagne second, and a second consecutive podium for Kyle Wyman. Matt Scholz fourth, Josh Herrin in fifth on the BMW. David Anthony is next up followed by Toni Elias and Cory Alexander who will finish in the top ten after a star crossed event in the Superstock 1000 race. Bradley Ward next up, followed by Travis Wyman with a bad arm that will be operated on this coming week. Danilo Lewis and Jeremy Coffey are next up down in the teens as far as positions.
#50 Bobby Fong Suzuki GSXR1000
The 2019 600cc Supersport champion, now has a Superbike victory. He was working as a motorcycle manufacturer sales representative, but is now a top rider on the MotoAmerica circuit. Fong didn't put a wheel wrong. He's proven his critics wrong. Kyle Wyman is on the podium as well. Bobby Fong was in the 2:11 lap time range for most of this motorcycle race. Suzuki wins their first 2020 Superbike race in MotoAmerica and Bobby Fong wins his first race. He credits team owners John and Chris Ullrich and his team, for making everything work out so well. Keep it on two wheels and keep the ball rolling.
In second spot, Jake Gagne. He has a step on the podium and says he's very confident in his team. He and his team pushed the reset button after the first event at Road America. He credits winner Bobby Fong and third place finisher Kyle Wyman, for a good race. Riders are glad to see the fans back at the track as well. Kyle Wyman is third once again. No surprise for him today like it was yesterday. He was being pressured by Matt Scholz. He again, is thankful to his pit crew who repaired the motorcycle after he crashed his Ducati.
He wants to make the Ducati faithful, the Ducatisti, happy. We'll see you, the first weekend in August, for round three of MotoAmerica at Road Atlanta, in the red clay hills of north Georgia, just outside Atlanta, in a month or so, with those races, slated to be run between July 31st and August 2nd. In the meantime, stay tuned for reports on some of the other races that have happened from Road America, here, on 2 Wheelin'. So long for now, everybody. Take care.
No comments:
Post a Comment