Beaubier Leads Opening Day At Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta

Richie Escalante Leads Supersport Class

BRASELTON, GA – August 1, 2020 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) –  The second of two HONOS Superbike sessions on Friday afternoon at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta was a stop-and-start affair with rain, lightning and finally more rain bringing a premature end to the day. That meant the quickest lap of the day was set in the dry morning session with defending four-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier leading the way on the opening day in Georgia.

Beaubier, who had mechanical issues early in the morning session, didn’t waste much time in getting to the top of the timesheets when he returned to the track. It was on his 10^th lap that he did his best time, a 1:25.380. That put him .346 of a second ahead of Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz, the South African a similar difference ahead of Beaubier’s Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha teammate Jake Gagne. M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Toni Elias and Bobby Fong ended the morning session fourth and fifth.

Scholtz was fastest in the wet session, though Beaubier and Gagne didn’t bother going out in the wet conditions.

HONOS Kawasaki’s Richie Escalante, the only rider who remains undefeated in the MotoAmerica Series thus far in 2020, picked up where he left off from Road America – at the top. Escalante led the qualifying session on Friday, besting M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sean Dylan Kelly by .122 of a second. Altus Motorsports’ Kevin Olmedo ended the day third, .883 of a second behind Escalante.

Rocco Landers dropped under his own lap record in the Liqui Moly Junior Cup class, the talented youngster riding his Norton Motorsports/Ninja400R/Dr. Farr/Wonder C-backed Kawasaki Ninja 400 to a best lap of 1:41.901. That earned Landers a new lap record but very little breathing room as BARTCON Racing’s Dominic Doyle was nipping at his heels and just .035 of a second behind his rival. Celtic HSBK Racing’s Samuel Lochoff was third fastest, besting Quarterley Racing/On Track Development’s Benjamin Gloddy and Blake Davis Racing’s Blake Davis, the just-turned-14-year-old Davis making his MotoAmerica debut.

Altus Motorsports’ Cameron Petersen rode his Suzuki GSX-R1000 to the fastest lap of the day in the Stock 1000 class, the South African ripping off a 1:27.777 to lead Disrupt Racing/CCFOfficesolutions.com’s Geoff May, who was making his 2020 debut in the MotoAmerica Series. Ride HVMC Racing’s Corey Alexander ended the day third.

With the second session wet, 1-833-CJKNOWS Accident & Injury Law’s Kaleb De Keyrel led the dry Twins Cup Practice 1 session, the Minnesotan leading Roadracing World Young Guns/Sportbiketrackgear.com’s Rocco Landers by .430 of a second. Brittenum Construction/Hayden Schultz Racing’s Hayden Schultz ended the session with the third fastest time.

Superbike Practice 1

1. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha) 1:25.380
2. Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) 1:25.726
3. Jake Gagne (Yamaha) 1:25.771
4. Toni Elias (Suzuki) 1:26.351
5. Bobby Fong (Suzuki) 1:26.544
6. David Anthony (Suzuki) 1:27.612
7. Kyle Wyman (Ducati) 1:27.873
8. Josh Herrin (BMW) 1:28.827
9. Bradley Ward (Kawasaki) 1:28.916
10. Max Flinders (Yamaha) 1:31.580

Supersport Qualifying 1

1. Richie Escalante (Kawasaki) 1:29.475
2. Sean Dylan Kelly (Suzuki) 1:29.597
3. Kevin Olmedo (Suzuki) 1:30.358
4. Jason Aguilar (Yamaha) 1:30.523
5. Brandon Paasch (Yamaha) 1:30.718
6. Benjamin Smith (Yamaha) 1:31.114
7. Lucas Silva (Suzuki) 1:31.130
8. Max Angeles Fernandez (Yamaha) 1:31.427
9. Xavier Zayat (Yamaha) 1:31.846
10. Nolan Lamkin (Yamaha) 1:31.847

Stock 1000 Qualifying Practice 2

1. Cameron Petersen (Suzuki) 1:27.777
2. Geoff May (Kawasaki) 1:28.019
3. Corey Alexander (Kawasaki) 1:28.168
4. Alex Dumas (Suzuki) 1:28.429
5. Stefano Mesa (Kawasaki) 1:28.747
6. Michael Gilbert (Kawasaki) 1:28.766
7. Travis Wyman (BMW) 1:29.390
8. Christian Crosslin (Kawasaki) 1:30.030
9. Ashton Yates (Honda) 1:30.082
10. Danilo Lewis (BMW) 1:30.301

Twins Cup Practice 1

1. Kaleb De Keyrel (Yamaha) 1:35.570
2. Rocco Landers (Suzuki) 1:36.000
3. Hayden Schultz (Yamaha) 1:36.588
4. Jackson Blackmon (Suzuki) 1:37.008
5. Toby Khamsouk (Suzuki) 1:37.361
6. Teagg Hobbs (Suzuki) 1:37.406
7. Chris Parrish (Yamaha) 1:37.829
8. Cooper McDonald (Yamaha) 1:38.565
9. Jason Madama (Yamaha) 1:39.041
10. Joseph Blasius (Suzuki) 1:39.238

Liqui Moly Junior Cup Qualifying 1

1. Rocco Landers (Kawasaki) 1:41.901
2. Dominic Doyle (Kawasaki) 1:41.936
3. Samuel Lochoff (Kawasaki) 1:42.685
4. Benjamin Gloddy (Kawasaki) 1:43.170
5. Blake Davis (Kawasaki) 1:43.576
6. Isaiah Burleson (Kawasaki) 1:44.006
7. Gus Rodio (Kawasaki) 1:44.241
8. Cody Wyman (Yamaha) 1:44.268
9. Liam Grant (Kawasaki) 1:44.414
10. Joseph LiMandri Jr. (Kawasaki) 1:45.049

For the complete 2020 MotoAmerica Series schedule, click HERE

To purchase tickets for any of the 2020 series round, click HERE

For information on how to watch the 2020 MotoAmerica Series, click HERE

Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha’s Cameron Beaubier was the fastest of the HONOS Superbike field on Friday at Road Atlanta. Photo by Brian J. Nelson

Richie Escalante showed that he’s still the man to beat on the opening day of practice for the Supersport class at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Photo by Brian J. Nelson

Friday photos and video are available HERE

Friday results by class:

Honos Superbike

Supersport

Liqui Moly Junior Cup

Stock 1000

Twins Cup

Complete practice, qualifying and race results are available HERE.

For complete 2020 MotoAmerica Media Resources please visit – 2020 MotoAmerica Media

Rocco Landers set a new lap record in the Liqui Moly Junior Cup session today at Road Atlanta.
Photo by Brian J. Nelson

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