The 2018 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship was won by Monster

Energy/Yamaube Yamaha’s Cameron Beaubier, who wrestled the title away from 2017

MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Toni Elias even though Elias won the most races in 2018.

Considering Beaubier and Elias are both returning in 2019

with the same motorcycles, teams, crews, and very few new elements in their

programs, Roadracingworld.com asked Elias what he needed to do differently in

order to beat Beaubier and win the 2019 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship.

“I am super happy to continue with Yoshimura Suzuki because

we have experience behind us,” said Elias. “The continuing is very important to

me. I don’t have this in the past. Now I have it and it’s the most valuable

thing for me.

“We have been focused since last year on improving our weak

points, my weak points, weak points in the battle. We’ve focused on improving

that, but after all of the work we have done this winter we arrive here and we

don’t know anything.

“We don’t know how is Cam [Beaubier]. We don’t know how is

[Garrett] Gerloff. We don’t know exactly how is [Elias’ new Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Josh]

Herrin, because still I don’t know [even though] I’ve been there close to him

and watching him. But he will be good.”

Asked for the specific weak points he wants to improve on,

Elias said, “We’ve been fast, but after some laps we were sliding too much.

Then Cam [Beaubier] was able to do fast laps in the last part of the race. Even

though we were able to beat him sometimes it was difficult. But even if I was

focused on leading or playing my strategy or close the doors on the last lap,

he was able to be there or arrive from three seconds from behind or to do the

fastest lap of the race on the last lap.

“Man, I don’t like these things. We have to work here.”