Cameron Beaubier's #6 Yamaha Extended Service/Graves Motorsports Yamaha YZF-R6 sits on display under the tent at the Yamaha vendors display during the 5th Annual Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP Weekend on August 17, 2012. On a like-machine, Beaubier captured the 72nd running of the Daytona 200 last Saturday, winning by over 22 seconds to team mate and runner-up Garrett Gerloff, and leading 50 of 57 laps (including the last 36 go-arounds) in the annual race at Daytona International Speedway.
The event had the largest drop-off in entries recently witnessed in the annual season-opening event, with close to 28% less entries then what were seen in the 2012 race, further showing the recovery in the two-wheeled high speed racing series as being one of the hardest hit and slowest to recover after the global recession. This year's event paled in comparison to last year's run to the checkers, which was won by Joey Pascarella, where Jason DiSalvo, Beaubier and Martin Cardenas all finished within .112 seconds of one another.
Geico Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing reviews the event in the press release below.
Beaubier, Gerloff Lead
Yamaha Charge with First and Second Place Finishes in Historic DAYTONA
200
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla (March
21, 2013) - The history of the DAYTONA 200 boasts signature weekends
from some of the all-time legends of the sport. Most of the all-time greats from
American road racing have at least one of the substantial and unique trophies
from winning the 200. Kenny Roberts, Kevin Schwantz, Eddie Lawson, Miguel
DuHamel, and Mat Mladin can all be introduced with the phrase "DAYTONA 200
winner" for the rest of their lives. Not all of the men who have won the DAYTONA
200 fall under the heading of all-time greats, however, since the DAYTONA 200
checkered flag is such an intriguing prize, it's been something for the legends
to shoot for and conquer. Daytona is so important to the manufacturers and teams
because winning the race shows that a rider can perform under pressure at such a
difficult circuit.
Cameron Beaubier #6 leads team mate Garrett Gerloff #8 in route to winning the 72nd running of the Daytona 200 on March 16. AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
A DAYTONA 200 win can springboard
a rider into greatness on an international level, too. Kevin Schwantz and Nicky
Hayden won Daytona and then moved on to international acclaim and eventually
each of them won a World Championship. Part of the allure of Daytona
happens before the race even starts. The Rolex watch that Daytona traditionally
awards to the pole winner is a fantastic prize. When one talks to a legend like
Scott Russell, and he's wearing a Daytona Rolex, it's a subtle reminder of his
accomplishment.
Cameron Beaubier had one of those
weekends. How far the 20-year-old Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha pilot
goes in the future remains to be seen, but the Californian proved his ability
once again at the 72nd DAYTONA 200. Beaubier dominated the weekend, putting his
stamp on the event in a way some of the legends have. Simply put, he owned
it.
Beaubier looked to be on a higher
level than his competition all weekend, as he started out by outdistancing
himself from the field in practice, then taking care of business in qualifying.
In the race, he managed to earn a gap and avoid the multi-rider passing battles
that are a trademark for the 3.51-mile circuit and eventually claimed victory in
the 200-mile race by 22.254 seconds in dominating fashion. "I rode as hard as I could the
first stint and then tried to be super-consistent," said Beaubier. "I had one
little mess-up where I ran wide in Turn 1, and then, after that, I just calmed
down and kept clicking off laps. My Yamaha Extended Service/Monster
Energy/Graves/Yamaha ran awesome. They gave me two awesome pit stops, and I just
rode as hard as I could. I can't thank them enough."
Beaubier's teammate Garrett
Gerloff took second place at the track where his 2012 season was ruined by a
practice crash that broke his leg. Gerloff shined brightly this time around and,
apart from Beaubier, had everyone covered. The young Texan was able to hang with
Beaubier until his teammate motored away before the first stop. "The race was longer than I
thought it would be, but it was awesome," said Gerloff. "It was awesome to be in
the front group at the beginning and then Cameron started pulling away and we
started pulling him back. Every once in a while, we'd pass him and then he made
a run for it and kind of got away. I tried to catch up but I just couldn't do
it. Big thanks to my team for awesome pit stops and all the testing we do.
That's why we're 1-2 on the podium. I think this is going to be an awesome year
and I just want to keep it rolling."
Bobby Fong earned a hard third
place for RMR/Triple Crown Industries Racing. Fong, in his first ride for the
team, showed the heart to win but didn't quite have the ultimate pace to make it
happen. "It
was a long race but the training I did this off-season paid off," said Fong. "My
bike worked great the whole time as I was just out there circulating, trying to
maintain my position. It's the best finish I've ever had at Daytona so thanks to
everyone for helping me out."
The RoadRace Factory teammates
Jake Gagne and J.D. Beach were fourth and fifth. Gagne turned the fastest lap of
the race (1.50.087) but both finished over a minute behind Beaubier. The two
young upstarts continue to hone their skills and show they are men to watch in
the AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike class.
Steve Rapp had a wild weekend and
took sixth as he filled in for pre-race contender Dane Westby, who crashed on
Thursday and had to miss the race. Rapp, known for riding a multitude of bikes
over the years, hopped on the GEICO Honda in Friday morning's cold session and
was able to translate his experience to perform admirably. Rapp stayed out of
trouble and was lapped just before the end to bring home a solid finish one
second ahead of reigning SuperSport champ James Rispoli. Rispoli, on the National
Guard/Celtic Racing Suzuki, looked very racy early on before settling into the
200-mile groove. Canada's Ben Young earned eighth place. Young kept the #86 bike out of
trouble and completed the 200 miles as he continues to learn and improve
his skill set.
The battle for ninth would also
mark the best DAYTONA 200 finish ever by a woman. Melissa Paris (MPH Racing) and
Elena Myers (Sturgess Cycle Triumph) battled for the spot and, at one time, it
looked like Paris would take the position but she was assessed a penalty for her
last pit stop and lost ground because of it. That meant Myers, a SuperSport
winner at Daytona, took the spot by a little more than 16 seconds in her first
DSB race. Paris also posted her best-ever finish in the class, however.
Some big names fell by the
wayside in the event with mechanical issues, including the last two winners of
the race in Joey Pascarella and Jason DiSalvo. Jake Zemke, who qualified on the
front row and ran near the front, also retired after 31 laps. Huntley Nash
looked to have a top-ten finish in the bag, but his bike expired after the last
pit stop.
For Beaubier, the bigger picture now is the championship. After impressing despite injury last year on the way to third place, Beaubier is off to an excellent start. With last year's number two in Dane Westby scoring no points, Beaubier is in better position to secure the elusive Daytona SportBike championship for Yamaha. |
   
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About GEICO Motorcycle
AMA Pro Road Racing:
GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro
Road Racing is the premier motorcycle road racing series in North America and is
universally regarded as one of the most competitive road racing organizations in
the world. The 2012 schedule consists of 12 rounds of competition on the
country's finest road courses. The Series is comprised of four production-based
classes: AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike, AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike, AMA
Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport and the AMA Pro Vance & Hines
XR1200 Series. Learn more about GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing at www.amaproracing.com/rr/.
About AMA Pro
Racing:
AMA Pro Racing is the premier
professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full
schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines.
Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.
For additional information
contact:
AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com
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