Solid Top-Five Finish for JD Beach in Race One at COTA
JD Beach put forth another good effort, crossing the line fifth in race one of the second round of the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship, Saturday, April 13, at the Circuit of The Americas.
Once again, Beach got off to a great start on his Attack Performance Estenson Racing Yamaha YZF-R1, going from the sixth spot on the grid to right on the heels of the leader into turn one. Unfortunately for Beach, he was struggling to find edge grip in the challenging gusty conditions and was ultimately shuffled back to fifth. The two-time MotoAmerica Supersport champ went on to knock down the laps and keep it on two wheels for another top-five finish in just his third race back on a Superbike.
JD Beach:
“It feels great to get my first Superbike podium. I think we got a little bit lucky, but I still had to put myself there. Getting the holeshot was awesome. That’s one thing that I’ve always been good at is starts. I knew if I could put myself up there at the start of the race, I could learn as much as I could. So that was my plan, to get up front and try and learn. I think we learned a lot today. I think that’s going to be good for the rest of the year. I can’t thank Attack and Tim Estenson enough for the support and the help this year. It’s really a dream come true. I think for us to start the year out like this is great. It’s definitely something we can build off of. I can’t wait for race two and to get to tracks that I like a lot better.”