With Beau Beaton now contesting superbikes, the North Coast V-Twins, Technical Partners and QBE sponsored Ducati 1098R was in top form at the first round of the ASBK titles of 2011 This round was run at Phillip Island in conjunction with the first round of World Superbikes.
Beaton was focused on a successful weekend and could not have been happier after qualifying the Ducati in 5th position on the grid and the first privateer.
With this result and a quickest time of 1m.34.7s, he took part in his first Superpole Shootout on Saturday.
A small mistake on his flying lap while entering the notorious turn one cost Beaton two positions, pushing him back to 7th on the grid but still maintaining his second row start.
Race 1 – Sunday Morning was a real gamble with rain all morning and a wet track. With clearing skies and still a very wet track, the Team was undecided on what Tyre combination would be best. Beaton went out on the spare bike with wet weather set up, while the Team took the number 1 bike into pit lane in case Beaton felt that the track was drying fast enough to run with slicks. He decided to play it safe and stay on the wet weather tyres which gave him a great launch off the line and had him dicing for the lead with Honda’s Craig Coxell for the first two laps of the race. But, as the track dried, Beaton’s wet tyres started overheating, making the Ducati slide and squirm in and out of corners. Beaton put on a great show for the WSBK crowd but was unable to hold off some of the riders that had opted for slicks at the beginning. He had a great battle with Team Honda’s Jamie Stauffer, finishing in front and bringing the Ducati home in 6th position.
Race 2 – The conditions were fine and the Team knew that Beaton and the Ducati were ready. Beaton didn’t get a great start and was swamped by other riders as they all entered turn one but was able to make his way back into 7th within a couple of corners. Beaton settled into a rhythm behind Ben Attard’s Aprilia and Robert Bugden’s Suzuki, menacing to overtake them at different stages throughout the race. With three laps to go, a small electrical problem showing up on the Ducati caused the engine to lose power coming out of corners. Beaton finished the race a safe 7th .
AMCN INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE: Beaton also rode the Magnificent 1300cc Irving Vincent over the weekend in the international historic challenge events qualifying it on pole position in front of Robbie Phillis’s Katana 1280cc and Scott Webster’s Moto Martin 1230cc.
There were three races in total for the Historics, with the first on Friday afternoon and second on Saturday. Beaton took out the challenge, winning all three races after some great battles with Phillis and Webster on their more powerful bikes in the early stages. Beaton felt honoured to be asked once again to show the capabilities of this amazing bike to the world.
BEAU BEATON TO TAKE ON WORLD SUPERSTOCK 1000 SERIES: After a successful opening round of ASBK, Beaton has headed to Spain’s Valencia Cirucit to test ride for Team Garnier Alpha Racing based in France.
Beaton will be switching from his familiar Ducati 1198R to ride a BMW 1000R.
Team Garnier’s owner and manager Michael Garnier, made the trip to Phillip Island for the WSBK round where he spent a lot of time with Beaton and was able to witness the upcoming champion’s abilities first-hand. He is thrilled with Beaton joining his very successful race team.
Beaton will test at both Spanish tracks – Valencia and Argon – this month before heading to the Netherlands for the first round on April 17 at the Assen circuit.
To keep track of Beaton’s progress go to www.beaubeaton.com.
Beau and North Coast V-Twins Racing would like to thank all their supporters and sponsors for their commitment and loyalty over the past two racing seasons in Beau’s pursuit of a world championship.
