Ever since Michael Van Der Mark announced that he was leaving the Pata Yamaha World Superbike team at the end of the current season to take a ride on the factory BMW team in 2021, the talk has centered around who will be the rider who replaces the Dutchman. One of the names thrown about is that of Cameron Beaubier, the Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha rider who is completely dominating the 2020 MotoAmerica Superbike season with nine wins out of the first 10 races.
So what does the four-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion have to say about it?
“If I got that Pata opportunity, I would jump all over it,” Beaubier said yesterday at New Jersey Motorsports Park on the eve of this weekend’s round six of the MotoAmerica Series. “That would be incredible. It’s tough because there are a lot of good riders over there. The ratio between good riders and good teams is heavy on the riders. If I got that opportunity, it would be awesome. It’s tough though like all the people on social media, you try not to read the stuff, but it’s too easy to open up the comments and read the stuff. It’s just frustrating because people have no idea, but I appreciate the support. I want to go over there too… I just want it to be the right opportunity. I’m lucky for what I have here, but I feel like if I have the opportunity and I didn’t jump on it, I would kick myself when I was done racing.”
Beaubier raced the Pata Yamaha at Donington Park in 2016 in a one-off World Superbike ride. He crashed out of the battle in race one and then finished 10th in race two.
“The bike and the team are 10 notches above of when I rode the bike,” Beaubier said. “But everyone else has improved too. It’s pretty incredible the depth of the field they have with (Scott) Redding and, obviously, Johnny (Rea) and Toprak (Razgatlioglu) a couple of steps in the last season… there are so many good guys out there. It would be for sure tough. I know how good Garrett (Gerloff) is, but I also know why he is struggling a little bit… those guys are really good. It’d be tough to go over there, but I know I can compete with those guys. I just need a little time and I want a good opportunity to go over there. I don’t want to go over there with something I’m unsure of when I have something this good here. It’s tough.”
For more from Beaubier, check out this week’s Off Track With Carruthers And Bice podcast.
