Homestead, FL March 22, 2012 – Following up his podium finish in last Saturday’s 71st running of the Daytona 200, Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha’s Cameron Beaubier stayed on the gas and was the quickest AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike rider overall at the official AMA Pro test held Tuesday and Wednesday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
19-year-old Cameron wasted no time in getting up to speed on his Yamaha YZF-R6® at the south Florida track, which is new to the AMA Pro Racing schedule for this season. In an amazing display of speed and consistency, Cameron was the quickest DSB rider in 6 of the 8 track sessions, and he was second-quickest in the other two sessions.
Cameron’s teammate Tommy Hayden, who will race for Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha in the next two DSB races at Road Atlanta and Infineon Raceway as a replacement for injured team rider Garrett Gerloff, was also very fast and very consistent in Florida as he continues to get acclimated to his Yamaha R6. Tommy was third-quickest overall, and he had two sessions where he was second-quickest.
Commenting on the test and the Homestead track, Cameron said, “We were getting the suspension dialed in for when we come back (in September) for the race. My Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha works really well. The track is pretty cool. It flows really well, and it’s a lot of fun. I’m excited to come back and race here.”
Tommy said, “Homestead is a pretty cool track. I hadn’t really ridden here before. I felt more comfortable with the bike and the team, as well. I’m adapting myself back to the 600 riding style and trying to break some SuperBike habits. I feel pretty confident about Road Atlanta. We’re going to be able to compete there with some good results.”
In AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike, Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha riders Josh Hayes and Josh Herrin made good use of the Homestead-Miami Speedway test as they and their crews worked to get the Yamaha YZF-R1® SuperBikes dialed in to the 2.21-mile, 12-turn race course.
This was the first visit to the track for the Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha team, although Josh Hayes did race at Homestead a number of years ago when the track was configured a little bit differently. Hayes was third-quickest overall and, at the end of one practice session, he was at the top of the timing charts.
Josh Hayes said, “The race here is going to happen towards the end of season, and it will be getting around to championship time, so I’m sure there will be a lot of pressure when we come here. The track has definitely got quite a few challenges. It offers some pretty cool things like burning it up real big off of turn 7 and some really hard braking into turns 6 and 8. It should offer some really good racing. What we learned here over the past two days will give us a nice, strong bike for when we return in September.”
Hayes’ teammate Josh Herrin, who is brand-new to the AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike class this season, finished 10th overall as he adjusts to riding the bigger, more powerful Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha R1 on a tight and twisty road course like Homestead-Miami Speedway. This was Herrin’s first-ever visit to Homestead.
The next race for the Yamaha U.S. Road Racing Teams will be in less than a month when AMA Pro Racing makes its return to Road Atlanta for the Big Kahuna Atlanta on the weekend of April 20-22.
