Beaubier and Gerloff Ready to Take on 2019 MotoAmerica Challenge

April 3, 2019 Michael Le Pard News Comments Off

Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing riders Cameron Beaubier and Garrett Gerloff are fully primed and eager to get down to business as the opening round of the 2019 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship finally draws near. The two Factory Yamaha stars are ready to put their YZF-R1s’ at the front of the pack as the action begins with the first round in Braselton, Georgia at the stunning Road Atlanta Circuit from April 5th to 7th.

Now in its fifth year, the MotoAmerica Series includes ten rounds of racing action at iconic tracks such as Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Texas and Laguna Seca Raceway in California, with the Grand Finale season climax at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.

Defending champion Beaubier is fully motivated to retain the Championship honors he fought so hard to earn in 2018. Now in his sixth year with the Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing Superbike team, the Californian has captured three Superbike Championship titles since stepping up to the premier class in 2014.

Teammate Gerloff arrives at the 2019 Superbike season determined to take the knowledge from his 2018 rookie year and apply it with maximum effort in the hunt for podium honors. A tough learning curve against the best Superbike riders in America last year saw the Texan quickly pick up his race pace, using his previous experience as a two-time Supersport champion to gain momentum in the premier class.

Both Beaubier and Gerloff will benefit in 2019 with four-time Superbike champion Josh Hayes assisting the team. The seasoned experience of Hayes will ensure the two Superbike riders are formidable opponents on their race-ready Factory Yamaha YZF-R1s.

Tom Halverson

Monster Energy Yamalube Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager

“Thanks to the entire team for their hard work in the preseason. No one could have predicted all the rainy weather we had, but we dodged most of the storms and were able to achieve our testing goals.

“Last year, Road Atlanta was Garrett’s first Superbike race, and he was on the podium in Race 1, which was a great accomplishment. From there, he had some great results but struggled a bit with finding a setup he was confident with. We focused on that in testing and believe he will have a much better base to start off the season in 2019.

“Cameron has been there from the start on the development of this YZF-R1, and he has a very solid base setup on which we were able to make some improvements. After winning three Superbike Championships on this platform, he continues to improve his riding, while the team keeps improving the bike.

“Both of our riders are fit, motivated and confident going into the 2019 MotoAmerica Superbike season, and we’re ready to get the season started.”

Cameron Beaubier

Monster Energy Yamalube Yamaha Factory Racing

“I’m feeling really good going into the season. We’ve had quite a bit of rain up here in Northern California, so I haven’t been able to ride dirt bikes and moto quite as much as I’ve wanted, but I feel pretty good, physically and feel recharged after a pretty long off-season.

“We’ve had some good testing. Even though we’ve had some weather to deal with, the last test we did at Buttonwillow, and the test before that at Thunderhill, we got a couple of decent days in, so we feel pretty good. Our bike is pretty close to the same as it was last year. A couple changes here and there, but nothing big. I felt like this off-season went by a little slower than the past few. So I’m just ready to get back to racing my Yamaha YZF-R1. I’m really looking forward to this season.”

Garrett Gerloff

Monster Energy Yamalube Yamaha Factory Racing

“I’m really excited for 2019. We’ve had a super-good off-season with testing. We finally tried some setup stuff that I’ve been thinking about for a while. I feel like a lot of it seemed to work and made me feel more comfortable on the bike. That’s all we can ask for: to try and make the bike more comfortable for me and give me more seat time, and I think we did it. I’m feeling really confident. Atlanta is one of the tracks that I really like and that I grew up racing at, so it’s always good to start the season with something familiar.

“The team and I are gelling really well. Everything was a big change last year between the team and the bike, so it’s nice that this year, everything is consistent. I’ve got the same crew behind me and the same bike and everything. It’s nice to have some consistency, which is good for me. That’s what I need, just everything to be consistent so I can keep working on myself and keep getting faster.”

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