The racing was chaotic and crazy at Pittsburgh International Speedway this weekend, with crashes, red flags, and photo-finishes characterizing the championship series in all classes.
Saturday saw questionable conditions on the track due to adverse weather, and when the racing got underway, all bets were off as to who could master the track. In Superbike, Georgia’s own Josh Herrin battled to the front, and held the lead to the checkered against the Texan Garrett Gerloff and South African Mathew Scholtz. This was Herrin’s first win in five years, and the 2013 AMA Superbike champ commented, “I was on the podium when I suddenly realized this was my first Superbike win in five years! That’s a huge deal for me. I just put my head down and went for it.” Points leader Cameron Beaubier and 2017 champ Toni Elias struggled in the wet-to-dry track conditions, coming up 5th and 4th, respectively.
In Supersport, Frenchman Valentin Debise snatched the Saturday win from Hayden Gillim and Bryce Prince, while class leader JD Beach struggled in the changing conditions, and finished an uncharacteristic 4th, one of the few times he is ever off the podium.
French Canadian and current points leader Alex Dumas took his seventh win of the season in Junior Cup, in a chaotic race that was red-flagged twice due to crashes.
The Twins Cup race was mastered by Jason Madama, taking his third podium of the season, in a near photo-finish run to the flag. Twins had also seen a series of crashes, with a red flag restart as well.
What a day.
Sunday saw the return of an epic last-lap battle between protagonists Toni Elias and Cameron Beaubier, as the two swapped the lead and some paint until the checkered flag. Elias squeaked out the win by a mere .046 of a second over Beaubier, another definite photo-finish. Elias dedicated his win to the late Brian Drebber, beloved MotoAmerica race announcer, who died tragically on Thursday in a motorcycle accident, on his way to catch a flight to PittRace for the weekend.
JD Beach jumped back to the top of the podium Sunday in Supersport, in yet another red-flag shortened race for the weekend. With a 98-point lead over Hayden Gillim, Valentin Debise, and the rest of the field, and two race rounds to go, Beach looks to sew up the championship at New Jersey September 7-9. After the win, Beach quipped, “I’m not too sure that would have happened if we would have gone the full race distance, but sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.”
Alex Dumas did the double in Junior Cup, after battling Renzo Ferreira until Ferreira crashed out of the race, as did Ashton Yates. Young Dumas holds a 64-point lead in the 300-400cc championship standings.
Stock 1000 ran on Sunday, and Andrew Lee took his second win of the season, after claiming victory at Sonoma. Again, the class saw red-flags flying, and Lee took the win in yet another shortened sprint to the finish.
Whew, what a wild weekend. Stay tuned for more info on the two remaining rounds, New Jersey and Barber, and make plans now to join Born to Ride at Barber Motorsports Park for the climactic final round of the 2018 season, September 21-23.
Tickets- MotoAmerica.com
Race highlights- BeIN Sports USA on Youtube
Race reports- BorntoRide.com
Rob Brooks
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