AUSTIN, TX (April 22, 2018) — Toni Elias scored a commanding win Sunday in MotoAmerica Superbike race two at Circuit of the Americas riding his Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing GSX-R1000.
Elias, starting from the pole, rocketed away at the drop of the green flag, led every lap and pulled clear of the field to take a dominating 10.068-second margin of victory.
The second round win pushes Elias’ lead in the championship to 17 points after four races.
Sunday’s race was held in front of a massive crowd on hand for the combined MotoGP/MotoAmerica race weekend.
The race two victory was a strong rally after Elias took fourth in Saturday’s wet race one.
“Today I had a great feeling with the bike,” said Elias, who recorded his 19th-career MotoAmerica Superbike victory. “I was able to build a strong lead and control the race. In Saturday’s race, with the wet and slippery conditions, I decided to play it smart and ride for the points. Today with the sunshine I felt we would be much stronger and this was the case. Now I look forward to VIR in a couple of weeks. I’m sure it will be a great battle.”
Fellow Yoshimura Suzuki rider Roger Hayden endured a subpar weekend. It started off well with a solid second to Elias in Superpole, but then he suffered a fall in Saturday’s wet race one and was forced to retire. In Sunday’s race Hayden finished seventh.
“I was happy with qualifying, but things went downhill after that,” Hayden admitted. “We’re going to do some testing on Monday and hopefully we’ll get it sorted out and be ready to roll at VIR.”
Hayden is 11th in the standings.
Apropos to this year’s Yoshimura Suzuki 40th anniversary celebrations, Suzuki is rapidly closing in on a major milestone of 200 Superbike victories. Elias gave Suzuki its 197th win Sunday, leaving the brand just three shy of the historic mark. Yoshimura Suzuki is responsible for 192 of those wins. Honda is second on the all-time Superbike win list with 116 victories, while Yamaha’s 107 wins puts them third.
MotoAmerica Superbike and Yoshimura Suzuki return to action May 4-6 for the Championship of Virginia at VIR in Alton, Virginia.
