2020 MotoAmerica
Round 4 – Pittsburgh
Images by Brian J. Nelson
Cameron Beaubier continued his Superbike domination at Round 4 of the MotoAmerica championship in Pittsburgh, claiming both wins of the weekend from Mathew Scholtz and Jake Gagne who took second and third respectively across both races.
The result saw Beaubier extend his lead to 175 points, now 37-points ahead of Jake Gage, with Scholtz a distant third with 116-points.
Cameron Beaubier
“Going into the race I was preparing for a battle with how fast Matty (Scholtz) and Jake have been going this weekend, but I was able to get away early and kept my head down. My R1 is working great. I’m just going to try to keep this going!”
Supersport saw a dominant Richie Escalante also do the double, leaving Sean Dylan Kelly and Brandon Paasch to claim second and third respectively, although Paasch gave Kelly a run for his money in the second race of the weekend, with just 0.24s separating the two.
Escalante holds the Supersport standings lead on 195-points, with Dylan Kelly second on 145, and Paasch third on 116.
In Stock 1000 Cameron Petersen also swept the weekend’s races, taking two wins, the first narrowly ahead of Alex Dumas with Corey Alexander third, and the second narrowly from Corey Alexander with Travis Wyman filling the final podium position. Peterson now holds the lead from Alexander by just 3 points, with Alex Dumas third on 91, trailing the leader by 24-points.
Rocco Landers won both Junior Cup races to extend his championship lead from Dominic Doyle, and went on to claim the Twins Cup race win as well. In the Twins Cup, Landers is chasing down standings leader Kaleb De Keyrel, who finished second.
Superbike Race 1
Cameron Beaubier won his sixth HONOS Superbike race out of seven starts at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex, the four-time defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion leading from start to finish as he continues his domination of the the season.
Beaubier began his day with his fourth pole position of the year and he finished it with his sixth win, this one by 2.976 seconds after 17 laps of the 2.78-mile undulating PittRace road course.
The podium was the same as the races at Road Atlanta last weekend, though the order was different with Mathew Scholtz turning the tables on Beaubier’s teammate Jake Gagne to finish second behind Beaubier on a sunny day in Pittsburgh.
Scholtz battled with Bobby Fong and Gagne early before Fong exited the race in dramatic fashion with a big crash on lap nine. That left Scholtz and Gagne to battle for second with Scholtz getting the nod despite losing his left knee puck early in the race.
Gagne chased Scholtz to the finish, ending up just 0.130 of a second behind while earning his sixth podium finish of the season.
Kyle Wyman rode to fourth, some 16 seconds behind Gagne and almost six seconds ahead of Toni Elias. Elias, in turn, was well clear of David Anthony.
Josh Herrin was in a battle with Elias for fifth when his handlebar came loose on the last lap, putting him off track at one point and costing him a shot at fifth place, but he persevered for seventh place.
Jake Lewis finished eighth in his debut on the Celtic HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale VR 4 R. Lewis barely bested Anthony’s teammate Bradley Ward with Travis Wyman rounding out the top 10 finishers.
Superbike Race 2
Cameron Beaubier celebrated his Race 2 100th AMA Superbike start in the best way possible, wth a victory. The win, Beaubier’s seventh of his near-perfect season, was the 45th triumph of his career.
Beaubier’s win was decisive, though he downplayed it as “a bit lucky.” Challenged by his teammate Jake Gagne early on, Beaubier ended up 9.59 seconds ahead at the finish after clutch problems dropped Gagne back to third. Mathew Scholtz was the beneficiary of Gagne’s problems, the South African ending up second for the second straight day at Pittsburgh International Race Complex.
Josh Herrin survived an off-track excursion and fought his way back up to fourth place by the finish of the race, the rider besting Toni Elias by a tick over a second. Kyle Wyman was also a part of what was an entertaining battle for fourth, the New Yorker ending up sixth.
David Anthony finished seventh, some six seconds clear of Cameron Petersen. Ninth place went to Alex Dumas, the 18-year-old solid in what was his HONOS Superbike debut. Travis Wyman ended the 17-lap race in 10th place.
Source: MCNews.com.au