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Cameron Beaubier picked up where he left off three years ago today at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with the five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion winning the first race of his comeback season in a straight fight with two-time and defending champion Jake Gagne.
Beaubier’s .340-of-a-second victory over Gagne marked the 55th AMA Superbike win of his career and his first on the Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000 RR. It was Beaubier’s first MotoAmerica race since his championship-winning 2020 season and his two years of competing in the Moto2 World Championship. Beaubier’s win was also the first in the Superbike class for the Tytlers team and the first AMA Superbike win for BMW in 45 years, dating back to Harry Klinzmann’s victory in 1978 at Bryar Motorsports Park in New Hampshire.
When Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha’s Gagne threw down his usual blindingly fast opening two laps and pulled a gap on the pack, which was led by Beaubier, it looked to be a case of déjà vu from the past two years: Gagne gets great start, Gagne pulls away, Gagne wins. But Beaubier had other ideas and he put his head down and went after his former teammate, closing the gap until catching and passing Gagne on the seventh of 19 laps.
From there the two ran in formation with Beaubier leading and Gagne tucked in behind and the battle went to the finish with five-time champ Beaubier beating two-time champ Gagne to the finish line by a scant .340 of a second.
Behind them came a race-long battle between Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin, in his Superbike debut for the team, and Gagne’s teammate Cameron Petersen - the South African returning to action after his horrific qualifying crash from Friday afternoon. Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz was also in the fight early on before eventually finishing fifth, 1.7 seconds behind Petersen, who was beaten to the line by Herrin by .206 of a second. The pair fighting for third actually closed in on the Beaubier/Gagne duel in the final laps with Herrin just 1.9 seconds behind Beaubier at the end of 19 laps.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante was sixth, some nine seconds ahead of his teammate Toni Elias in what was the Spaniard’s first race in over a year.
Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Corey Alexander was eighth with Wrench Motorcycles’ David Anthony and Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim rounding out the top 10 finishers.
Three riders failed to finish the race, including Tytlers Cycle Racing’s PJ Jacobsen who crashed early in the race. Aftercare Scheibe Racing’s Ashton Yates, meanwhile, failed to start the race after encountering mechanical problems with the team’s BMW.
Superbike Race One
Cameron Beaubier (BMW)
Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
Josh Herrin (Ducati)
Cameron Petersen (Yamaha)
Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)
Richie Escalante (Suzuki)
Toni Elias (Suzuki)
Corey Alexander (BMW)
David Anthony (Yamaha)
Hayden Gillim (Suzuki)
Courtesy MotoAmerica Photo by Brian J. Nelson
