The MotoAmerica Championship series kicked off this year at Daytona International Speedway for the Daytona 200 back in March. The Mission King of the Baggers and the REV’ IT Twins Cup served as support series’ for the Daytona 200. Both classes were awarded season championship points for finishes in their respective races. The Daytona 200 featured Supersport bikes but no points were awarded for those finishes. However, for Superbike, Stock 1000, Supersport and Junior cup, Road Atlanta will be the first opportunity to score championship points to kick off the 2023 season.
Medallia Superbike Championship
The Medallia Superbike Championship was a heated battle until the final race of the 2022 season. Jake Gagne, defending champion, returns to defend his title while his main competition Danilo Petrucci who raced for HSBK Warhorse Ducati in 2022 has moved on to WSBK. This has left many question marks as to who in the Superbike class will rise to the occasion to challenge Gagne. Given the amount of riders shuffling through the class. It’s anyone’s guess who will emerge dominant. It is yet to be determined if Yamaha will be able to maintain the momentum they had last season. Gagne’s Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha teammate Cameron Petersen will be coming off of a thrilling podium finish in Daytona; a race Gagne did not attend. Petersen finished third in the championship last year and thinks this is the year he can win the championship.
2022 Supersport champion Josh Herrin has made the move back to Superbike. He replaces Petrucci at WSBK Warhorse Ducati for the 2023 MotoAmerica season. After winning in the Daytona 200 earlier this year. Herrin will be looking to translate that success to round 1 in Atlanta. His replacement, Spaniard Xavi Forés will assume the mantle for the Panigale V2 program in Supersport. Forés has big shoes to fill if WSBK Warhorse Ducati wishes to retain the title in 2023.
MotoAmerica Supersport Championship
The Supersport Championship is seeming wide open. Due to a variety of issues/conflicts 4 of the top 5 riders from 2022 have not registered to compete in Atlanta. Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott, is the sole top 5 finisher from 2022 that is racing in Atlanta. Scott will be back on the same Suzuki GSX-R750 with Team Hammer and will start the championship as a favorite due to his early career success in the class.
In other record setting news. Seasoned Supersport veteran Josh Hayes will be racing for a place in the record books. Hayes is one win away from the AMA road racing record for most race wins at 87. His legacy in the sport will never be forgotten but you can be assured that assuming the mantle of the most winning racer in AMA history would be a monumental achievement.
Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Stock 1000
MotoAmerica received 41 entries for the Stock 1000 class. Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gilliam who finished level on points with champion Corey Alexander in 2022 but lost out on the championship due to a tie breaker is the heavy favorite. Corey Alexander will be focusing mainly on Superbike this year. A number of riders have shuffled around to new teams but the field looks healthy for the series kickoff in 2023.
One rider whom we are hoping has a speedy recovery is Brandon Paasch. In pre season training, Paasch suffered a back injury that will keep him away from training for at least 6- 8 weeks. The 2 time Daytona 200 winner had his sights on making a Championship run in 2023. With no timeline for return Paasch’s place with Altus Motorsports Suzuki has been substituted by Anthony Norton.
Junior Cup
There are a number of new faces in Junior Cup this year. One of the most exciting is that of FairiumGRT- Gray Area Racing’s Rossi Moor. Moor won the 2022 Northern Talent Cup Championship and now has focused his efforts on the Junior Cup competition. He will be racing a KTM RC390R which makes him one of two riders not conforming to the popular Kawasaki 400 programs that account for 92% of the Junior Cup field. The other rider is MP13 Racing’s Aidan Sneed who will race a Yamaha-R3.
With many new faces in the class, class veteran Max VanDenBrouck returns as the favorite. Top 5 finishers Joseph LiMandri, Gus Rodio, Cody Wyman and Kayla Yaakov have all moved to the Twins Cups class. We are excited to see the youngsters get thing kicked off this weekend.
REV’IT Twins Cup
The Twins cup finished off in large numbers last year at the season closer at Barber Motorsports Park. For Road Atlanta this weekend there are 38 entries for the class. It will be a packed field to start the season. Our eyes will be on the above mentioned riders who have made the jump to Twins Cup. Unfortunately, exciting young talent Kayla Yaakov is recovering from an injury and will have to miss Road Atlanta. She is pushing to make it to the next round at Barber Motorsports Park in May 2023.
Mission King of the Baggers
The Mission King of the Baggers season started in Daytona early this year during the MotoAmerica Dayton 200 weekend. 19 riders have entered the competition in Atlanta. Given the limited number of point scoring opportunities for the class every race has implications for the championship. On top of the class is Vance Hines James Rispoli who had a near catastrophic incident on track in Daytona but was able save the bike and steer it to a win. teammate Hayden Gilliam who will also be racing Superbike and Stock 1000 sits in second place at the moment.
The series is the ultimate clash between the two juggernauts in the bagger world. Indian Motorcycle and Harley Davidson have rich legacies in the history of motorsports. The fan turnout in Atlanta for this class is a special one. in 2022 fans attended in record numbers and we expect nothing less for support of this class.
Where to Watch
You can check out the MotoAmerica action at MotoAmerica Live + coverage information is below.
You can find the complete rider entry list here: