MotoAmerica Heads to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

The 2016 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship won't be decided this coming weekend on the Monterey Peninsula, but the Honda Superbike Showdown most certainly will as the three-race series within a series concludes, July 8-10, with one rider set to leave Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Sunday behind the wheel of a brand-new 2016 Honda Civic Sedan.

The finale of the Honda Superbike Showdown will be held in conjunction with the ninth round of the World Superbike Championship at the iconic Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, and defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier heads the points table in both the Honda Showdown and the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship.

Beaubier's lead in the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship going into round eight of nine is 25 points, but that lead heading into the finale of the Honda Superbike Showdown is a mere four points over Yoshimura Suzuki teammates Roger Hayden and Toni Elias, 82-78.

Beaubier, who won the second of the two Superbike races at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca last year en route to taking the Superbike crown, has won seven of the 14 races held thus far in 2016 and he's looking forward to what is his home round.

"Laguna Seca is my home race and it's the one I look forward to all year," said Beaubier, who resides in Roseville, California. "It's cool racing with the World Superbike guys and in front of a big crowd. I also have plenty of family and friends coming so it all makes for a great weekend. I'm also in a good spot in the championship so that and going to a track I really like has me feeling good."

Two rounds remain in the 2016 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Race Series: This weekend's Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca round and the series finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park in September. Monster Energy/Graves Yamaha's Beaubier is in the catbird seat with four races to go, leading the other three of the Fab Four by 25 points. The battle behind him is tight with his teammate Josh Hayes second with 228 points followed in rapid succession by Elias with 227 and Hayden with 226. That means just 27 points separate the top four as they arrive on the Monterey Peninsula.

Behind the top four comes Meen Motorsports' Josh Herrin, the Georgian fifth overall in the Superbike Championship and firmly in control of the Bazzaz Superstock 1000 Championship after ripping off six straight wins. Herrin leads Quicksilver/Latus Motors Racing's Bobby Fong by 42 points with two rounds and four races remaining, with HSBK Aprilia's Claudio Corti another eight points behind in third place.

The MotoAmerica Supersport Championship is being fought out between Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha teammates Garrett Gerloff and JD Beach with Gerloff holding a 23-point advantage over the defending series champion. Beach, however, is on a hot one, the Kentuckian riding a four-race win streak coming into Laguna. Gerloff, who got off to a fast start with wins in six of the first eight races, can finish second to Beach in the remaining three races (Supersport only races once at Mazda Raceway) and still take the title by eight points.

The men most likely to assist Beach are M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki teammates Valentin Debise and Cameron Petersen, the pair having each won a race this year. Those two are also third and fourth in the title chase with 194 and 165 points, respectively. Meen Motorsports' Joe Roberts could also be a factor, though the non-defending Superstock 600 Champion will be racing with an arm injury at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca after a crash two weeks ago in Utah.

The Superstock 600 Championship has already been tucked away tightly in the pocket of Riders Discount/Tuned Racing's Bryce Prince, the Californian having wrapped up the series title a round ago at Utah Motorsports Park. Prince has won seven races this season and holds an insurmountable 114-point lead over Millennium/Kyle Wyman Racing's Travis Wyman and HB Racing/Meen Motorsports Yamaha's Dakota Mamola, the pair tied for second and 13 points ahead of fourth-placed Richie Escalante on the second HB Racing Yamaha.

The tightest championship battle with two rounds remaining is in the KTM RC Cup where Brandon Paasch leads Anthony Mazziotto III by just 15 points. Paasch has five wins to four for Mazziotto and the two New Jersey riders are set to take this title fight to the bitter end. Aston Yates, meanwhile, continues his late season charge after winning his second race of the season in race two in Utah a few weeks ago.