2015 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion
Although he finished third at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, JD Beach garnered enough points to clinch the first-ever MotoAmerica Supersport title.
The Yamahalube/Y.E.S./Graves rider finished third at Indy MotoAmerica Supersport behind Latus Motors Racing Triumph Bobby Fong and the winner by a mere 0.036 of a second, the other Graves YZF-R6 pilot Garrett Gerloff.
During Indy MotoAmerica, Beach battled early on with Wheels In Motion/MotoSport.com/Meen Yamaha rider Josh Herrin, but the former Moto2 rider suffered a highside, ending his challenge. Herrin would rejoin the grid and finish 13th.
Beach now has a 57-point lead over Gerloff ahead of the final MotoAmerica Supersport round at New Jersey Motorsports Park next month. With only 50 points available at the NJMP double header, nobody can bump the 23-year-old Washington native from the points lead.
The 2015 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion title is Beach’s first-ever professional title.
“The one thing I can tell you is that everybody at the house is going to be a lot more happy because I’ve been grumpy and mean and have just been so stressed over this,” Beach says. “It’s something that I’ve wanted for a long time and I’ve worked since I was a kid to have this. It was just me and my dad going dirt track racing and then moving away from my dad and moving back east and living with a great family.
“We all had the same goal and having Hayden (Gillim) win the Supersport Championship last year and being able to bring it home this year… it’s just an amazing thing. I’m just thankful to have a team behind me like I do and a family there that has the same goals as me. Me and Hayden are always pushing each other each day and it’s just amazing.”
With just the two races at New Jersey Motorsports Park remaining, Beach has an insurmountable 57-point lead over Gerloff, who moved ahead of the non-scoring Herrin by five points with his victory today at Indy.
Beach and the Yamalube/Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha team will take a late-summer break and return to racing September 11-13 at New Jersey Motorsports Park for the ninth, and concluding, round of the inaugural MotoAmerica season.
Photos by Brian J. Nelson
