JD Beach completed the first day of practice for the Valentino Rossi-hosted 100km de Campioni at Rossi’s ranch in Tavullia, Italy, on Thursday and the MotoAmerica star came away happy and impressed at the pace of the competition.
“It went good,” Beach said. “I’m just learning the track and the bike.”
With this being the 10th annual 100km de Campioni, the pace has picked up with Rossi and his VR46 Academy MotoGP stars no longer newbies to the art of flat tracking.
“The guys here have really picked it up since the last time I was here (2019),” Beach said. “I’d say between the two groups I was around 15th overall (ha ha).”
Beach isn’t the lone American in the field as Sammy Halbert is also among the favorites. Beach and Halbert were paired together the last time Beach took part in the race and they finished on the podium in the two-rider team race – the main event 100km.
“Sammy (Halbert) and I were really close today, and I think basically the fastest non-VR46 group people,” Beach said. “Sammy comes almost every year, too. The riding style is just so different to anything at home so it’s weird adjusting to that.”
The qualifying “Americana” heat races will take place on Friday with the 100km finale set for Saturday.
