MotoAmerica: Beach Leads Every Lap In Commanding Race 1 Victory at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
MotoAmerica: Petersen Recovers To Second Place After Blistering Pole Lap; Déjà Vu For Scholtz As SDK’s Block Pass Bests Points Leader In Final Corner
Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s JD Beach turned in a flawless performance on Saturday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, leading all 20 laps to secure a dominant victory in the opening Quad Lock Superbike race of the weekend.
Beach, who qualified second with a 1:24.002, wasted no time at the start, jumping ahead of Wrench Motorcycles’ pole-sitter Cameron Petersen. Beach found himself behind Rahal Ducati Moto with XPEL’s PJ Jacobsen who secured the holeshot and led the pack all the way into, but not out of, Turn 11, where Beach made the pass before pulling away from the field for the remainder of the race.
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Petersen had earlier set the pace in qualifying, securing pole position with a blistering 1:23.916—the only sub-1:24 lap of the session. Despite his qualifying speed, Petersen spent much of the race harassing the rear wheel of Jacobsen before moving into second late in the race. Petersen ultimately finished 3.564 seconds behind Beach at the line.
The battle for the final podium spot was a high-stakes affair that unfolded in two phases. Rahal Ducati Moto’s PJ Jacobsen held second place for the first 16 laps, keeping Beach within reach. Jacobsen’s race ended on lap 17, when he crashed exiting Turn 5, opening the door for Petersen and the chasing pack.
What then developed was another last-lap battle, with points leader Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz defending against OrangeCat Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly. Scholtz was precise, leading the closing laps until the final turn. SDK made a move in the final corner, which would hold until the line, claiming third place 8.858 seconds behind the winner. Scholtz finished a close fourth, just two-tenths of a second behind SDK, after climbing from eighth on the grid. Scholtz retains the championship lead, by just two points going into Sunday’s race.
Warhorse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law’s Loris Baz rounded out the top five, finishing 15.283 seconds behind Beach.
Other notable finishers included OrangeCat Racing’s Jayson Uribe in sixth and Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha’s Bobby Fong in seventh. Warhorse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law’s Benjamin Smith, M4 Ecstar Suzuki’s Richie Escalante, and Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim completed the top 10.
In Superbike Cup, Real Steel Honda’s Andrew Lee continued his season-long qualifying form by topping the class in Final Qualifying with a 1:25.463. BPR Racing Yamaha’s Deion Campbell (1:26.195), and Team Brasil’s Danilo Lewis (1:26.587), completed the top three times of the Superbike Cup class.
When the race got underway, Lee quickly worked his way toward the front of the overall field, challenging the Superbike riders as well, before his race unraveled, suffering an uncharacteristic pair of crashes. Lee went down on Lap 7 and again after remounting on Lap 10, the second crash ending his race.
Campbell capitalized on Lee’s misfortune after an early battle with Lewis and steadily emerged as the fastest rider in Superbike Cup in Race 1.
The following quote is from Quad Lock Superbike Race 1 Winner JD Beach: “I feel like that’s a career first. I finally got one in the dry. First off, heartfelt to all the dirt track guys. They had two horrible weeks and this win is for them. I grew up a dirt tracker. I love road racing, though. Those guys are in my heart. The race was amazing. I led the first lap and I led the whole thing. After a few laps, my pit board started saying plus three, plus four. It was crazy. I was pulling away. I’m just speechless. I guess PJ or whoever was second must have went down. I got like plus three on the board and I felt like Ricky Bobby. I didn’t know what to do with my hands. I was getting nervous those last couple laps. I’ve got to thank the whole Attack Progressive team. They work so hard. They believed in me. We’ve just been chipping away, chipping away. I got a win in the rain, and a win is a win, but to come and do one in the dry, it just feels so good.”
The following quote is from Superbike Cup Race 1 Winner Deion Campbell: “It feels great. We’re working hard, and the team’s doing amazing. We’re just gonna get back out there and keep pushing forward. We take the wins when we can. So, yeah, these guys work hard, so I’m pretty stoked for that result.”
Superbike Race 1
- JD Beach (Yamaha)
- Cameron Petersen (Ducati)
- Sean Dylan Kelly (BMW)
- Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)
- Loris Baz (Ducati)
- Jayson Uribe (BMW)
- Bobby Fong (Yamaha)
- Benjamin Smith (Ducati)
- Richie Escalante (Suzuki)
- Hayden Gillim (Honda)
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