Beaubier looking to build on ‘really tough’ rookie Moto2 season in 2022
American Racing have officially unveiled their 2022 Moto2 line-up of five-time MotoAmerica champion Cameron Beaubier and world championship rookie Sean Dylan Kelly.
While 2021 was a ‘really tough’ rookie season in the world championship for Beaubier, the American showed promise on more than one occasion to suggest he can become a podium challenger.
Beaubier took a season-best of fifth twice during the final four races (COTA and Portimao) as race pace was often a strength of the American’s.
Outside of that Beaubier was able to score points in five of the ten races he finished, however, qualifying and several race crashes were the most problematic areas - failed to finish in six races.
Going into year-two, Beaubier told the official MotoAmerica website: "I’m not saying that this year isn’t going to be tough by any means, but last year was really, really tough.
"We had some really good moments, a lot of crashes, a couple of top-fives and a handful of top 10s. It’s definitely something to build on and I’m definitely looking forward to it.
"I’m really pumped to have Sean (Dylan Kelly) on the team and have two Americans. It’s weird because coming up in racing, I was always the young gun that always had older teammates and now it’s reversed on me.
"I’ve been teammates with Josh Hayes and looking up to him and seeing how he did stuff. I learned a lot and now the roles are reversed. I’m really looking forward to this year and I hope to make you guys proud."
As stated above Beaubier’s new team-mate for 2022 is Dylan Kelly who comes across from the MotoAmerica Supersport championship which he won by a convincing 95 points.
It’s also the first time that two American riders are lining up in the same world championship team since Wayne Rainey and John Kocinski did so in 1992.
"I don’t have a Moto2 season to talk about yet but maybe in a year from now I will have one to talk about and hopefully it’s a really good one," said Kelly ahead of his debut season.
"Right now, it still feels unreal for me to look at this beautiful bike with my number on it, which is going to be the 4 and I’ve always raced as 40. It’s a dream come true for me.
"This is something that felt really far away only a year ago. It felt like something that was hard to reach.
"We know how life is and how careers can be with lots of ups and downs. This year has been incredible, and I was able to achieve one of my biggest goals and dreams of being National Champion and not too long after to sign a contract for the World Championship.
"Honestly, it’s a dream come true for me and my family and something I dreamed of since I was a little kid and started racing at five years old. Huge thank you to Eitan (Butul, team principal), Avner (Kass, Butbul’s partner) and John (Hopkins, team director). I’m really excited to get going."
