John Hopkins: ‘Devastating, Beaubier should have been on the podium’

After a best finish of fifth during his rookie Moto2 season, the American took a debut pole position in front of his home fans at COTA, then a second-place start next time in Portimao.

But both races ended in disappointment with the five-time American Superbike champion falling from fourth on the final lap in Texas, then joining most of the race leaders in crashing out (of second place) due to a sudden rain shower in Portugal.

After another DNF in Jerez, Beaubier bounced back with a career-best fourth at Le Mans, from just 17th on the grid.

Fast forward to Assen and Beaubier mounted a similar back-to-front recovery, climbing ten places in the opening laps before reaching a high of fourth, in the thick of the lead group, with just six laps to go.

"Stu [Shenton, crew chief] found something that really helped us and I felt awesome in warm-up,” said the 29-year-old. “Honestly, it was a fun race being able to come through the pack and pick guys off and chase down the front group.

“Once I caught them, I was able to take a little breath but as soon as I took a breath, I got passed back by a couple of guys!”

Podium glory looked well within Beaubier’s reach, but an attempt to fend off title leader Celestino Vietti ended in disaster.

“I was feeling pretty good but I got in a little hot to the final chicane and clipped Ogura a teeny bit and that created just enough room for Vietti to try and get me going into Turn 1,” Beaubier explained.

“I saw his front wheel and tried to hold my position but I just lost the front which was a bummer with only four laps to go, because once I caught the front group, I was really trying to bide my time for the last five laps to see what I could do to challenge for a podium because I was feeling really good.

“It is what it is. I’m taking the positives from that one because I rode really well and felt awesome on the bike.”

Beaubier: ‘We’ve shown we can be just as fast as the top guys’

Beaubier’s fifth non-score of the season has left him just 15th in the world championship standings, despite having shown that on his day he has the speed to battle with the very best in Moto2.

“This year, when everything is working; the bike’s working, I’m working, I feel like we can be competitive with the fastest guys in the class,” Beaubier said.

“I definitely feel like I’ve made a handful of mistakes when we could have had some good results and hadn’t really had the luck on our side like with Portugal and even COTA.

“It’s been kind of a frustrating start to the season, I was expecting a little bit more results-wise out of myself but we’ve definitely shown the speed, we’ve shown we can be just as fast as the top guys when everything’s clicking.

“I’m definitely ready for the summer break now. I’ve only been home a week out of the last five months and I’m ready to recharge the batteries."

John Hopkins: ‘Utterly disappointing and devastating’

While Beaubier put a brave face on the Assen exit, American Racing Team director and four-time MotoGP podium finisher John Hopkins described the Dutch weekend as “utterly disappointing and devastating, just because I truly feel that Cam should have 100% been on the podium.

"It wasn’t the best of weekends practice-wise, but he always turns it around for the race. He had an amazing race, kept his head down and rode as we’ve always known him to be able to ride.

“We saw the Cameron of the end of last season/beginning of this season again and he had every intention of finishing on the podium, to finish off this half of the season on a high.

“Unfortunately, the mistake, it was no one’s fault, it was just a racing mistake, but it was just utterly disappointing because he had the pace to be on the podium or even better.”

Beaubier’s rookie team-mate Sean Dylan Kelly was unable to add to his three world championship points in Portimao, heading for the summer break with a 19th place at Assen.

“With Sean, we’re still making considerable steady progress,” Hopkins said.

“It took him a little bit longer than we expected to get to this point but he’s right on track [now] and I think he’s in a good position mentally and physically. He’s doing the job and getting on with it and, more importantly, he’s confident that he can do it now, which is good.

“It'll be nice for the boys to get a little rest now and come back recharged and get some more improvements going into the second half of the season."

American Racing will run a third Kalex machine for Rory Skinner at the upcoming Silverstone and Red Bull Ring rounds.