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SBK, MotoAmerica: Toni Elias sets out to conquer America

The Spaniard received the prize for best Rookie in the Superbike series. The five champions also received their awards 

SBK: MotoAmerica: Toni Elias sets out to conquer America

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The 2016 edition of MotoAmerica, the successor to the AMA championship, has now officially concluded. On Friday evening the final celebration, the “Night of Champions”, took place in Orlando, during which prizes were awarded to the five champions (and their teams) of the various classes and to the best Rookie in the Superbike class.

This final prize was awarded to a former world championship rider, Toni Elias. The Spaniard, Moto2 champion in 2010 (his debut season in that category), has clocked up six race wins on the Suzuki of team Yoshimura over the course of the nine double rounds, closing the championship in overall third place, just seven points behind champion Cameron Beaubier. “It's been a fantastic year for me – explained #24 – and I'm really enjoying myself in America. I want to thank the team for all their great work; we did our best to win the title and only missed out on it by a few points. I've learned so much this season and will try to win the title again next year”.        

                                                                                                                                                       

As already mentioned, the SBK title was taken by Cameron Beaubier, another former world championship rider, who got the better of his Yamaha team-mate Josh Hayes, beating him by just six points to lift the trophy that he also won last season: "The start of the season wasn't easy, seeing as we scored two zeros in the first three races, I honestly thought it would be hard to take the title. But then over the course of the season the team and I continued to grow, and have been able to achieve this incredible result”.   

In STK1000, a class that runs with the SBK but with a separate classification, the winner was Josh Herrin, securing the title one race early on his Yamaha. “It's been a fantastic year. I have to thank my team as they believed in me after a rather negative year and together we've achieved this great result”. Another stand-out rider in the category was rookie Claudio Corti. The Italian riding an Aprilia RSV4, concludes the championship in third place, having scored five race wins.

The Supersport title goes to Garrett Gerloff after a great battle with JD Beach, who lost out by just four points. In STK600 it was Bryce Prince who dominated, concluding the season with a 132-point advantage over the second placed rider, while the KTM RC cup was lifted by Brandon Paasch. 

Translated by Heather Watson
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