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AMA Pro Superbike
MOTO: 2012 Breakthrough Rider - Cameron Beaubier
Big things were expected from Cameron Beaubier in 2012, but few expected him to shine so brightly, so quickly.
Y.E.S. Graves Yamaha's Cameron Beaubier and GEICO Suzuki's Martin Cardenas (Photo: AMA Pro Racing/Brian J Nelson)
Even prior to the start of the 2012 season, Cameron Beaubier's talent was not in doubt. Having only turned 20 less than a week ago, the rising star had already notched up a Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup victory (2007), displayed front-running form in the hyper-competitive Spanish CEV series (2008), earned a factory 125 Grand Prix ride (2009), racked up multiple AMA Pro SuperSport wins (2010), and guided an underpowered Daytona SportBike to the box as a class rookie (2011).
In fact, three years ago World and AMA Pro champ Ben Spies identified Beaubier as one of the few riders -- perhaps the only rider -- currently in AMA Pro competition with a legitimate shot of climbing the ranks to MotoGP.
And yet none of that prepared us for what the up-and-comer managed in 2012; few expected him to tap into that vast potential and unleash it as convincingly as he did once armed with topflight equipment.
His season was not without some hardships -- an early-season Zuma® crash knocked him out of the title hunt almost before it began, he crashed a couple times chasing the top of the podium, and is on the mend again after his post-season surgery revealed more extensive damage than expected.
Despite that, the Yamaha pilot's 2012 campaign should be considered nothing short of a breakthrough performance. Cameron landed on Daytona SportBike podium in all 14 races he completed, and stunned the paddock by winning seven of the season's final eleven races.
More than that, he shattered eventual champion Martin Cardenas' aura of invincibility and erased the sense of inevitability that hung over the class whenever the Colombian was in the mix in late-race situations. He even started building a bit of that same sort of aura around himself as the victories piled up.
In fact, three years ago World and AMA Pro champ Ben Spies identified Beaubier as one of the few riders -- perhaps the only rider -- currently in AMA Pro competition with a legitimate shot of climbing the ranks to MotoGP.
And yet none of that prepared us for what the up-and-comer managed in 2012; few expected him to tap into that vast potential and unleash it as convincingly as he did once armed with topflight equipment.
His season was not without some hardships -- an early-season Zuma® crash knocked him out of the title hunt almost before it began, he crashed a couple times chasing the top of the podium, and is on the mend again after his post-season surgery revealed more extensive damage than expected.
Despite that, the Yamaha pilot's 2012 campaign should be considered nothing short of a breakthrough performance. Cameron landed on Daytona SportBike podium in all 14 races he completed, and stunned the paddock by winning seven of the season's final eleven races.
More than that, he shattered eventual champion Martin Cardenas' aura of invincibility and erased the sense of inevitability that hung over the class whenever the Colombian was in the mix in late-race situations. He even started building a bit of that same sort of aura around himself as the victories piled up.
AMA SBK Homestead-Miami
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