Page 27 - GRID-4

Elias had one of the worst Superpole sessions of his MotoAmerica career thus far due to the limited amount of dry track time combined with his lack of experience on the brand new GSX-R1000R. The Catalan native was only able to put his Factory Yoshimura Suzuki on the back of the third row with a 1:25.379, but it was no bother for the thirty-four year old veteran. As the lights went out on Saturday’s race, Elias timed the start perfectly rocketed into the first corner as if he was already on a flying lap.
He forced his way up the inside of the pack into third position and immediately established himself
as a contender for the race victory, patiently waiting behind his teammate, Roger Hayden, and Josh Herrin. Elias remained calm and composed while the two leaders battled back and forth, waiting for his opportunity to pounce. Hayden finally cemented himself in first position and began to pull away, leaving Elias and Herrin to battle it out for the final two spots on the podium. The championship leader paced the Yamaha rider throughout the midway point of the twenty-three lapper, eventually making a move for second position with six laps to go. Herrin decided to fight back immediately before the roller coaster section, but he ran it in too hot and sent them both tumbling through the grass, forcing Elias out of the race. On Sunday, he regrouped and produced more magic off the start as he shot past his competitors as if they were standing still, immediately placing himself in the battle for the podium yet again. He rode a fairly processional race ahead of his teammate for the majority of the twenty-three laps, finding his home in second position after a mistake by Cameron Beaubier demoted the Yamaha rider to sixth place. Elias wasn’t able to match the pace of Josh Hayes in the lead and he wasn’t able to break away from
his teammate in third, bringing the race for the podium down to the wire yet again. Beaubier regained contact with the Suzuki duo on the final couple of laps, but Elias was able to pick up the pace in the closing stages to maintain second position ahead of the defending champion, subsequently holding onto his points lead in the process.
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TONI ELIAS | MOTUL SUPERBIKE
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