MotoAmerica Press Office

With his five victories on the season, Toni Elias now has 21 Superbike victories, which puts him sixth on the all-time list in what is just his third season of racing in the MotoAmerica Series. The Spaniard is also the fastest in history to get to the 20-win mark. With his 21 wins, Elias is five behind Cameron Beaubier. Beaubier, who is fifth all-time, is just two wins behind fourth-placed Ben Spies on the list.

Three riders have won Motul Superbike races this season: Elias (5), Cameron Beaubier (2) and Mathew Scholtz (1).

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden earned pole position for last year’s two Motul Superbike races at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Hayden lapped at 1:23.875 during Superpole to lead Josh Hayes (1:23.949) and Toni Elias (1:23.952).

When it came to race time, no one was faster than Elias. The former Moto2 World Champion beat Hayden by .543 of a second to win race one on the 2.2-mile track with Beaubier finishing third, some eight seconds behind. In the second race, Elias again beat Hayden to the line – this time by 1.3 seconds after Hayden’s last-ditch effort to pass in the final corner. Josh Herrin finished third after Beaubier crashed out of the battle for the lead in Rainey Curve.

Mathew Scholtz pulled off the double last year in the now-defunct Bazzaz Superstock 1000 class. Scholtz and his Yamalube/Westby Racing Yamaha YZF R1 have now joined the Motul Superbike class after taking the Superstock 1000 Championship in 2017.

Garrett Gerloff won the Supersport race last year en route to earning his second straight Supersport Championship. Gerloff beat JD Beach by 1.5 seconds. Jason Aguilar, meanwhile, won the Superstock 600 race over Shane Richardson.

Last year’s KTM RC Cup (now Liqui Moly Junior Cup) was all about Cory Ventura as he beat Alex Dumas, who is leading this year’s Junior Cup Series, by 4.7 seconds. Draik Beauchamp was third.

MotoAmerica president and three-time 500cc World Champion Wayne Rainey won two Superbike races at Laguna Seca (1983 and 1986) and three 500cc Grands Prix (1989, 1990 and 1991). MotoAmerica’s Race Director Doug Chandler has also tasted success at Laguna, winning two Superbike races (1996 and 1997) as well as two Supersport races in April and July of 1998.

Cameron Beaubier and Toni Elias are the only current riders in the Superbike class to have tasted Superbike success at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. In addition to winning two Superbike races here (one race in both 2015 and 2016), Beaubier has also won three Daytona SportBike (now Supersport) races on the Monterey Peninsula. Elias hadn’t won at Laguna prior to last year, but he won both races en route to the Superbike Championship.