Superbike, MotoAmerica: Toni Elias becomes champion

After coming close to winning the title last year on his debut in the category, the Spaniard Toni Elias won the 1000 MotoAmerica championship on the new GSX-R 2017 Suzuki, with three races to spare.

The driver was the absolute dominator of the season and thanks to the victory in Race 1 at the New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, over his teammate and main opponent Roger Hayden, brother of the late Nicky, he was finally able to put behind him a difficult period following of his experience in WorldSbk, which concluded at the end of 2015.

“At the end of a difficult 2015 season in the Superbike World Championship I was thinking of retiring from racing” – he admitted Toni Elias – “A few months later the call came from Yoshimura to test in Austin and, if necessary, take part in the race weekend as a replacement for one of their injured drivers (Jake Lewis, ed.). Fortunately the tests had gone very well and then, on my debut, I managed to win the 2 races! Thus began my American adventure and now this fantastic title has arrived."
Finally a special dedication: “I dedicate this title to Bernat Martinez and Dani Rivas (the Spanish drivers who disappeared in 2015 at Laguna Seca in this category). They were the precursors of this adventure of mine in America."

The Spaniard thus brings the Yoshimura Suzuki team back to the throne of MotoAmerica/AMA Superbike eight years after the title achieved in 2009 by Mat Mladin.