Following the announcement that Tarran Mackenzie will miss this weekend’s World Superbike Round at Most. Reigning MotoAmerica King of the Baggers and Stock 1000 champion Hayden Gillim will fill in as a replacement for the Englishman this weekend at Most. The Englishman suffered a nasty crash at turn 7 at Donington Park in superbike race 1 which rendered him unconscious briefly. Per medical protocol he was not able to continue racing that weekend.
Gillim has reportedly made the trip after some hurdles associated with his passport. Action for the next World Superbike Round at Most Kicks off this Friday at 4:20 a.m. (Eastern time).
MotoAmerica made its sixth regular season stop at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The series featured the Superbike, Supersport, Stock 1000, King of the Baggers and Super Hooligan classes.
Superbike
The clash of the titans in the Steel Commander Superbike Class continued at Laguna Seca as the fight for the time spot saw yet another change in championship leader. Josh Herrin took the lead in the championship after a P2 finish in Race 1 and a win in Race 2. Herrin said, “That was a super awesome weekend at Laguna Seca. It’s extra special because we have the Ducati Rider Experience (DRE) event here tomorrow, and it’s huge to go into that with a win. We did the same last year at COTA in Texas before the DRE there, and you feel a lot more welcome when you win!
I’m super happy to get this win and the championship lead. I had my family and the DeNaples family here, and I had two-time World Champion John Kocinski here helping me all weekend, so I’m pumped. We’re going to keep this ball rolling at Mid-Ohio.”
Supersport
Matt Scholtz and PJ Jacobsen continue to emerge as the dominant competitors in the MotoAmerica Supersport class. While Matt Scholtz still holds the lead ahead of PJ Jacobsen by 18 points after Laguna. Jacobsen cut 10 points off of Scholtz early season dominance as the riders head into the mid season break. With 6 races to go there are 150 points still up for grabs in the Supersport class so the championship is far from being decided.
Jacobsen had the following comments after the race weekend, “This racing thing, when two riders have the pace and they’re so similar with each other, you got to find a lot of spots that that person, you can overtake them.”
“So yesterday when I overtook him in turn six, I felt like that was a good pass and that was a weak point for him. I feel like when you sit behind somebody for so long, you end up studying them. You sit there and study, and study, and study. No offense to (Mathew) Scholtz, but last year he had a massive highside in that corner and he almost lost it again this year. So, I kind of knew that he was a bit weak there. Going over that rise, I just knew I had more pace sitting behind him and it was going to allow me to go into (turn) 10 with a more aggressive move. So, that’s what I ended up doing after studying like that. So, I’m not dumb. I feel like I made the pass in the right section that I had to, after watching him the whole race.
Stock 1000
Hayden Gillim secured the win on day one taking away the advantage Jayson Uribe gained starting from pole but on day 2 the story was different. Ashton Yates emerged as the beneficiary of mistakes made by both Gillim and Uribe in race two which allowed him to make a move earl and secure the lead for the rest of the race. Yates isn’t completely statistically eliminated from a run at the championship but with 50 points left up for grabbed the path to a title will be a difficult one. Gillim holds a 29 point lead over Yates and second place sitting Uribe holds a 22 point lead over Yates in third. There are two races left on the stock1000 calendar for 2024 and they wont take place until the closing weekend of the season at New Jersey Motorsports Park in September.
Gillim finishes the weekend gaining a 1 point advantage over Uribe on the weekend to bring his lead to 7 points as the Stock 100 class heads into it’s final round for the season finale round in September.
King of the Baggers
Hayden Gillim put himself back in the championship race after a few unfortunate outings in the KOTB class that made his repeat championship hopes seem out of grasps. After returning to the top of the podium today he said, “Whenever we get on any bike, it’s all or nothing,” said Gillim. “That’s why we’re on these things. That’s why we’re on the teams that we’re on. Nobody is coming out here to just show up. Everybody is coming out here to win. That’s how we are, too. That’s why not winning or not even being able to really fight for the win yesterday was so frustrating for me. Now we’re getting back to where we should have been at the beginning of the season. I’m able to actually fight and be there with these guys. It’s been challenging.
We’ve had some ups and downs. It’s good. This is the first time I’ve had to fight for the win. I’m really happy about it. This is the first time I’ve had to battle and actually take a win from somebody. At Brainerd, I was feeling really good and was able to kind of get away. It’s nice to have those wins, but these are a lot of fun. I’m really happy. The whole team is just working their butts off trying everything they can possibly do on the off weekends. I’m really grateful to be here and to be able to ride multiple classes and to be at the front in most of the classes I’m in. It’s going really good. I got some sleep last night, so I’m a little happier today.”
Super Hooligans
Cory West brings home a win for Harley Davidson cutting the deficit to Tyler O’Hara the current championship leader who rides for Indian. Cory commented on the victory on Sunday, “Yesterday getting second, that one stung, West said. “It was a little bit of a mistake on my part coming out of the front straightaway. We made a little change to the bike this morning that made it feel a lot better. This is my first time ever starting on pole position, and I just wanted to make the most of it. Put my head down, got a good start, and just had clear track and tried to get into a rhythm. I have a tendency to look back a lot, and I just told myself, just don’t look back. Hammered out a few laps. Looked at my lap timer once and saw 28.9 and was just like, ‘Hell yeah, let’s just keep this going.’ Was clicking off low 29’s consistent. Couldn’t help myself. About four or five laps in, I took a little peek back out of turn four and there was nobody there.”
MotoAmerica heads into the mid season break with the next round at Mid-Ohio one month away.
The MotoAmerica championship finished its second race weekend of the month at Brainerd International Raceway after a competitive outing at Road America just 2 weeks ago. Here’s how the field panned out.
Superbikes
Bobby Fong came out swinging at Brainerd securing both race wins for Wrench Motorcycles. Fong left the weekend on top of the standing in the Steel Commander Superbike Class. After a heated exchange on track with Josh Herrin who finished in second in both races Fong was able to pull away and build a gape that Herrin wouldn’t be able to recover from in Race 2. Fong said “It sounds good, but we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves,” Fong said when told he was leading the championship. “We’re only four rounds into this thing. We’ve got a lot of races left. Honestly, first thing is I want to wish my dad Happy Father’s Day. He doesn’t go to many rounds, but I want to wish him Happy Father’s Day. We’re on a good streak right now. We’re going to just play it safe and just maximize points each weekend.
I would have never thought I would even be in this position last year or even leading up to the season. The goal is just to get on some podiums and see what we can do. But now we’re in this thing, and we’ve just got to be smart. We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves. Going into this race, we made some changes this morning and I told my data guy, ‘Nick, we need to smooth this bike out.’ On the warmup lap out there, I’m like, ‘I think we smoothed it out too much.’ We took a lot of torque away. At first when I had some grip, I’m like, ‘this thing is slow,’ but once the tire started going away it played in my favor for sure. You just kind of roll it around like a 600. It was slippery out there. So, what we did with the electronics definitely helped out there. Kudos to the team. Congrats to these guys. They’re keeping me honest. I always go good here, and the Ridge is a different story. We’re just going to keep going and try to keep this lead.”
Scholtz Continues Dominance in Supersport
Scholtz continued his stroke of dominance in the Supersport class with Strack Racing. Scholtz won both Supersport races at Brainerd, solidifying his place atop the class standings. He said, “Yesterday we felt great…Made a couple changes for the practice this morning. We went backwards, and then we went to yesterday’s settings for this race. It was just strange that I was only kind of stuck in the high 33s whereas yesterday I could do 33.3, 33.4 and didn’t feel like I was riding at the absolute limit. Today, if I tried to push more, I was running wide, missing the corners, tucking the front. So, I just have to go back and look at the data and figure out what I was doing differently.
Definitely the first couple laps I thought that I would be gapping them, and PJ (Jacobsen) kept me honest. He definitely picked it up. I know that he’s coming. It’s good to see Corey (Alexander) up here, one of the two taller guys. So, that’s cool. Overall, happy to be taking the double. The team have been working really, really well, and just thank you to all the guys that have been supporting me. HJC, 4SR leathers, Alpinestars, the Strack Racing Company, everyone that makes this possible for me. Thank you.”
Uribe Gets First MotoAmerica Wins After Gillim Crash
Orange Cat’s Jason Uribe capitalized on an early race error by Hayden Gillim which resulted in Gillim crashing out of the race on lap 3. Uribe seized the opportunity to secure his first win in his MotoAmerica career. Uribe had to fight past a charging Ashton Yates who took the lead after Gillim’s crash. Howevere, Uribe was determined and stayed poised on the task ahead. Uribe made the move on the final lap where he was able to overtake Yates and take off for the win.
Landers Leads Repeat Podiums in Twins Cup
Rocco Landers Secured a double win in the Twins cup this weekend. The podium was the same for race 1 and race 2 with Landers taking P1 followed by Alessandro Di Mario and Rossi Moor in P2 and P3 respectively. Landers said, “I kind of got it a little bit deep and if I had snatched the brakes I would have gone down. I assumed he might see me and kind of get out of the way at that point, but the kid is a fighter. Made me work for that one way harder than any race this season so far. But it’s cool to race these guys. They’re always super-fast. Rossi and I kind of got to get our elbows out there a little bit, especially Rossi, though he’s a little bit down on power. Hopefully, we’ll be able to find some things for COTA. Got to give a huge shout out to my uncle Ken. He’s in the hospital right now. He was watching the race. My thoughts go out to him currently. But it was a good race for me. I had a lot of fun.”
Gillim Finds Redemption After Stock 1000 Crash
After winning race 1 in stock 100 and king of the baggers Hyden Gillim thought his Sunday was geting off to a great start. However, that soon was thwarted by an early crash in stock 1000 race 2 that saw him DNF. However, Gillim had one more opportunity to race and in King of the Baggers race 2 he came back and won both races in addition to the King of the Baggers Challenge this weekend. He said, “I was a little nervous after crashing in the Stock race earlier,” Gillim said. “I didn’t want to repeat that. But, no, I was pushing as much as I felt comfortable. I knew if I could get into the corners pretty good and get out of them pretty good, it would be hard to pass. Everybody stepped it up from yesterday. If you could look at this morning, I was third and I wasn’t happy about it. I didn’t go any faster, but everybody else did. It’s an awesome weekend after Road America. Road America was a rough one.”
The following article was not written by Speed Trap Magazine Staff
From Vesrah Racing…
Hayden Gillim triumphant at the 101st running of the Loudon Classic on his Vesrah / Real Steel GSX-R750.
At the 101st running of the Loudon Classic presented by NEMRR held Saturday June 8th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire Hayden Gillim was able to capture the win and the $55,000 share of the purse that came with the victory. Running the same Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R750 that he used earlier this year to get a podium in the Daytona 200, Gillim qualified on the front row in third place with a 1:10.899 lap time.
At the start of the race, which was delayed allowing the track to dry from rain showers, Hayden initially slipped back to 4th place but quickly recovered back to 3rd place. As the 25-lap race went on Gillim was able to move into 2nd place on lap 15 and set out after the leader. On lap 21 Hayden was able to pass for the lead and never relinquished it finishing 1.513 seconds ahead of 2nd place. Gillim also turned the fastest lap of the race at a 1:10.711 which was faster than his qualifying time.
This effort was proudly supported by Vesrah, Steel Commander Corp. Comstock Energy LLC, Maxima Racing Oils, Fast Line Track Days, KTech suspension, Skip at Orient Express, Dunlop, GB Racing and REB Graphics.
Hayden Gillim – Rider #95: “A last minute decision to go do the 101st Loudon Classic turned into a great weekend. I talked Mark into loading up the Vesrah race bike from the Daytona 200 and driving up to New Hampshire. Having never been to the track before I didn’t really have any expectations. A top 5 for me would’ve been amazing. After qualifying I felt I had pace for the podium and was happy with that. After a bit of a comeback and help from some lapped traffic I managed to snag the top spot away from some fast competition.
Thanks to Mark, Vesrah, Steel Commander, Comstock Energy, Dunlop, and everyone else that made this weekend a huge success!””
Mark Junge – Team Principal: “I had mixed emotions coming back to Loudon as the last time I was here back in 1998 as a rider I had a big crash and broke my leg – For Hayden to come away with the win was a great outcome. We did this race without our normal crew as it was just Hayden and I and I have to thank several friends who pitched in when needed.”
Geoff May Racing has announced that Jarritos will serve as title sponsor for Gabriel Da Silva’s Superbike cup weekend at Road America. The round marks the third stop on the calendar at one of the most heavily attended races of the year. Da Silva is coming off of a mixed finish weekend with one podium in stock 100 and one DNF after the round at Barber Motorsports Park. The 19 year old has made it clear that he is here to fight for a championship and barring any mechanical/electrical issues like he experienced in Alabama at Barber. He could make a run for the top Superbike Cup slot this year.
Jodi May, team principal offered her comments on the collaboration. “The collaboration with Jarritos marks a significant milestone for both Geoff May Racing and Jarritos,” commented Jodi May. “We are confident that, with the combined expertise of Geoff May Racing and the skills of Gabriel Da Silva, we will deliver an outstanding performance.”
About Jarritos
Known as the “Official Soda of Tacos,” Jarritos was founded in 1950 by Don Francisco “El Güero” Hill. Made in Mexico, Jarritos is produced in a variety of fruit flavors, with cane sugar, and is less carbonated than other popular soft drinks. Many Jarritos varieties are naturally flavored. The word jarrito means “little jug” in Spanish and refers to the Mexican tradition of storing drinks in clay pottery jugs. Jarritos soda is sold in 370 mL (13 US fl oz), 600 mL (20 US fl oz), and 1.5-liter bottles.
The MotoAmerica Superbike Championship made its second regular season stop at the legendary barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. The weekend hosted a whirlwind of weather conditions and as thousands of fans fought through the early weekend weather to show their support. Here is the Speed Trap Recap.
Superbike: Beaubier Wins 2 of 3
The Supebike class had a full schedule with three races taking place this weekend at Barber. In race one Cameron Beaubier built an early lead but would crash out of the race from the lead. Beaubier led the race for the first 4 laps but Cameron Petersen was poised to pounce. After Beaubier crashed Petersen found himself in a battle with his teammate for the top spot. Jake Gagne applied pressure for the remainder of the race up until the final moment before Petersen claimed the win by just under a half a second.
Petersen said. “It feels good. I think this is three wins at this track. Got one in the dry, but honestly it feels so good. I know a lot of people know what I’ve gone through in the off-season and after the surgery. It’s been a tough off-season. The wrist is starting to feel really good on the bike. It just feels so good to get this monkey off my back.”
In race 2 and 3 however Cameron Beaubier came back with a vengeance. There was never a question that Beaubier had the pace to win at Barber. After running into a little bad luck in race one Beaubier bounced back to win both race 2 and 3 on the final day of racing. “With I’m just really happy with my bike, really happy with my team,” Beaubier said. “It’s a great group of guys. I’m just super honored to be partnered up with them. Like I said earlier, it just feels so good to start the weekend on the front foot at all these tracks we went to last year, not throwing new swing arms on in qualifying and practice and stuff, just searching for grip and chasing the Yamaha boys.
This race was really tough. Cam P. got a really, really good start. I was able to get by him going into turn one. Put my head down and I would pull away a little bit, but once I got to maybe 1.5, 1.2, it stuck there, and I was looking at my dash. I kept doing 23s and I was like, this is a really fast pace and I’m not pulling. He even pulled me back a couple tenths. Once we got to halfway, I was riding as hard as I could. Then I looked at the monitor and I saw him sitting up on the back straightaway.
I came by and I had whatever plus three or plus five on the board. I’m bummed for him because he was riding so good. He was making me push hard. He rode incredible this weekend, along with these guys. We keep saying it, but this Superbike field is just really stacked this year. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Supersport: Mathew Scholtz Reigns Supreme
Mat Scholtz second the double this weekend winning both Supersport races after intense battles with championship front runner PJ Jacobsen. Scholtz secured 50 points this weekend but Jacobsen stayed in the battle for the top claiming his fourth straight podium and a 16 point lead in the championship. After the pre season closure of Scholtz former posting at Westby Racing it was unclear if he’d even have a seat this year given the lack of time to the season start. However Scholtz seems to have settled in to his place with Strack Racing. He said, “I’m just really, really thankful to be back up here on the top of the box. Looking forward to the next couple races of the season. I’d just like to give a personal shout-out to the Redvanly family crew. They’ve been awesome helping us out.”
Stock 1000: Hayden Gillim is Perfect at Barber
To keep the theme consistent, Hayden Gillim kicked off his Stock 1000 title defense in proper fashion after winning both races this weekend by a decisive margin. Gillim was in a world of his own at the front; never really being threatened after building early leads in both races. With the win, Gillim became the most winning Stock 1000 racer in MotoAmerica history with his 13th victory moving him out of a tie with Andrew Lee and Corey Alexander.
Gillim said, The bike is working really good. Having the two bikes to run in Stock and Superbike, they’re identical bikes so I get to go out and try stuff on each bike to make the other bike better. So, it helps a lot. I’m getting a ton of track time, and that’s one key thing. I know what the track is going to be like most of the time throughout the weekend. The Steel Commander Southern Powersports Honda guys are killing it.” Gillim finished 14.5 seconds ahead in race one and 10.5 seconds in race two.
Hayden Gillim crosses the finish line in Stock 1000 Race 2 to secure maximum points on the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. Photo by Ramon Jones; Chroma Visual.
Twins Cup
15-year-old Alessandro Di Mario secured his first class win in Sunday’s race after crashing out in extremely wet conditions in Saturday’s race. Di mario said, “I love this track. I was able to get a 28.2, which is a track record, in qualifying. My pace is really good. In yesterday’s race, I didn’t really think I was going to be that fast in the wet, but after Avery passed me, I tried to stay behind him. I was able to pass him again, and the sun came out.
I couldn’t see anything in the back section of the track. So, when we got to turn three, I thought there was a little dry line but there wasn’t. So, I just lost the rear, and I was able to pick the bike up and get seventh, which I’m happy about. Today, I was kind of managing the gap a little bit. I probably could have gone a little faster, but there was really no need to. The front was sliding a lot. So, I didn’t want to take the risk. I’d say it was a pretty good weekend.”
Junior Cup
The streak of double wins continued with Logan Gunnison in Junior cups after he bested Yandel Medina and Levi Badie in both races. The podium had the same participants for both races but Medina and Badie each took a second place finish. Yandel Medina took second place on Saturday and Badie on Sunday.
BTR
Mikayla Moore continued her win streak and started her 2023 title defense with two wins at Barber. Moore discuss how she is able to maintain her level of perfromance. She said, “Training during the off-season, I got to spend some time, as well, on the Royal Enfield. Then, before I came here, I actually spent some time with Evolve GT at Summit Motorsports Park in West Virginia on the ZX-6R. So, I feel like the training that led up to this point is what got me the win today.”
The following article was not written by Speed Trap Magazine Staff
The following is from Suzuki…
Team Hammer announced today that Xavi Forés will substitute for injured Richie Escalante aboard the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000R Superbike when the 2024 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship season resumes at Barber Motorsports Park, in Birmingham, Alabama, on May 17-19. Forés will race for the team until Escalante is cleared by MotoAmerica medical.
Escalante is on the mend after crashing with another rider moments after taking the checkered flag in eighth in the 2024 Superbike season-opening round at Road Atlanta. Despite walking away from the fall under his own power, Escalante was later diagnosed with a left wrist fracture and a left ankle fracture, plus compression fractures of his L1, L2, and L4 vertebrae.
Spaniard Forés is well suited to step into the role and compete on short notice. He is a very experienced road racer, having competed in many top-level series during his two-decade-plus professional career.
Prior to joining the MotoAmerica tour in 2023, Forés won the IDM Superbike Championship (2014), and the CEV Stock Extreme Championship (2010 and 2013). He also has competed in MotoGP, Moto2, MotoE, 125cc Grand Prix, World Superbike, World Supersport, World Endurance, and British Superbike racing series.
Team Hammer witnessed the 38-year-old flex all that skill and experience up close a year ago, when Forés won the 2023 MotoAmerica Supersport title in dominant fashion, claiming nine race wins among his 12 podium finishes.
“I am excited for this opportunity. It’s a shame Richie was injured but I am glad to help,” said Forés. “The situation I am in, I have wanted the right opportunity in MotoAmerica Superbike but before this, it hadn’t come yet. Richie and I are friends, and he is always telling me the bike is capable of the podium. I know it is a good team supported by Suzuki, we have the opportunity to earn good results. Having a great year racing in America last season and learning the paddock and tracks will help, too.”
The MotoAmerica Superbike Championship’s first regular season stop was in Atlanta at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Superbike, Supersport, Twins, Junior Cup and King of the Baggers competed in mixed conditions. Here is how the action happened.
Superbike
The MotoAmerica Superbike Championship had its first two races of the year in Atlanta which threw the riders multiple challenges to start the year off. Race 1 was in dry conditions and race 2 occurred in rainy conditions. In Race 1 Cameron Beaubier got the best of the 2023 Superbike champion Jake Gagne. The two traded lap after lap with Gagne leading with just three laps to go. On the penultimate lap Beaubier made a late lunge up the inside of Gagne to take the lead and would fight in a race to the line that saw the riders separated by one tenth of a second.
The race finish was reminiscent of race 1 in 2023 at Road Atlanta where Beaubier also beat Gagne. That time by 3 tenths. Cameron Beaubier “I am pretty happy coming out of Atlanta with a 1-2. My bike felt great all weekend with a good base from first practice. Sunday was the first day I rode the BMW in the wet and I didn’t get the best feeling in warm up. After a slow start to the race, I started feeling comfortable and was able to mount a challenge. A big thanks to the team for working as hard as they do. I am looking forward to Barber so see you all there.”
Jake Gagne Bounces Back
Similarly to Cameron Beaubier’s run in 2023 Gagne after finishing second in race 1 bounced back to win in race 2. Condition in race two were mixed with heavily rain fall at the track for most of the day. The track dried slowly as the race began leading to faster laps times as the race developed. This time around it was Gagne was held back until the final staged of the race. Given the on track conditions, passes needed to be decisive and clean to avoid a major collision. Gagne did just that matching Beaubier’s points total on the weekend. The pair are locked at 45 points each as the championship heads to Barber Motorsports Park next month.
Supersport
The super sport class received 44 entries at the start of the race weekend. Of those 44, 33 qualified for an opportunity to compete. However, it was PJ Jacobsen’s performance that topped the headlines for the class. Jacobsen got his Supersport debut with Rahal Ducati Moto off to a great start with two wins on the weekend.
Jacobsen expressed his gratitude regarding his new team, “First, I really want to just say thanks to the Rahal Ducati Moto Team, XPEL, and Roller Die,” Jacobsen commented. “Basically, Richie Alexander, everybody in the whole team for just turning things around since Daytona. It’s a brand-new team. Graham has done a great job, and so has Ben (Spies). I just really want to thank them for putting this whole program together and getting things even more on track from Daytona. So, it’s been really good to progress. We had some testing and stuff. The team is super organized. It’s a really good environment over there, so I’m really happy to be a part of what whole program.
PJ Jacobsen Leads the field in Supersport Race 2. Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Tyler Scott who crashed from the lead in race 1 found some redemption in race 2 finishing P6 but was not able to catch Jacobsen who seemed to be a master of the wet track conditions. Elsewhere Matt Scholtz secured his first podium for Strack Racing while Jake Lewis (Altus Motorsports) again found himself on the podium after finishing third in race 2 as he did in the season finale in New Jersey last season.
Twins Cup
Fan favorite Rocco Landers secured a decisive win in race 1 of the weekend. Landers beat last years’ champion Gus Rodio by almost 7 tenths. however in race 2 Landers was no where to be found at the front. He dropped back in the pecking order finishing P8. Race 2 was the Domonic Doyle show. Supersport race 2 in the race threw the riders a curve ball. However, Doyle showed that he was no stranger to the elements and put on a masterclass that saw him lead second place finisher Jack Roach by 3.2 seconds. Behind in third was Gus Rodio who was comfortable earning points to pad his championship lead. After two podiums in Atlanta Rodio is currently 22 points ahead of Rocco.
Junior Cup
Unfortunately, for last years champion a mistake cost Avery Dreher a win in race 1 after he crashed from the lead of the race. As a result the No. 95 ridden by Matthew Chapin won the race. The victory was his first ever in his debut season. “I was stuck in the back of the pack the whole time,” Chapin said. “People were just dive-bombing me. I couldn’t really get anything done. But I knew if I was patient, I could get the draft because I’m a lot smaller than everybody else. I don’t weigh lot, so I knew I could draft into the line. I passed Ryan up the inside at the end. He came back on the outside, and I think it was in turn 11, I passed him back up the inside for the win. I’m so pumped right now. Words can’t even express it. I’m so pumped.”
Ryan Wolfe and Yandel Medina finished behind in 2nd and 3rd respectively. The pair however weren’t quite satisfied when it came to race 2. Chapin fell in track position in the wet but Medina and Wolfe held strong through the whole race finishing 1-2 respectively. Eli Block from BARTCON Racing joined Medina and Wolfe on the podium for race 2.
King of the Baggers
Troy Herfoss won the Mission King Of The Baggers race in his first visit to Road Atlanta. Herfoss overcame early weekend struggles and found the race pace to secure both race wins on the weekend. He said “I was very confident it would be slicks, but I was unsure of the ruling whether I could start from pit lane.” It was a weird race for me. I got a really big gap in the first two laps. The first lap especially, three seconds. Then it said five after lap two. I had already slowed down in my mind, and I assumed that everyone was on wets…I’ve never been in that situation where I’ve literally gone off the start and in my mind it was like, ‘okay, I’ve won the race. Just don’t mess up.’
You’ve got no idea how nerve-racking that is when you’re in that position. How good is this? Indian one, two, and three. It’s a perfect weekend for me. I never would have dreamed that. A perfect weekend in this championship at all, let alone third weekend in the championship. So, it’s a real credit to the team that they can give me a bike that I can just concentrate on racing on and learning tracks. That’s the reason I’m able to be so competitive. So, I want to say thank you to them.”
Bobby Fong laid down a blistering fastest lap in Qualifying 2 today that skyrocketed him to pole position for the races set for later today and tomorrow (Weather permitting). Heavy rain and potential thunderstorms are on the forecast for Sunday’s race so there is a possibility that it could be postponed or cancelled depending on the severity. Sean Dylan Kelly and Josh Herrin rounded out the top 3 in Superbike. The class leaders all found at least a second on the second day of qualifying as the lap times began to drop. The improvement in pace is likely due to a dry track surface and adjustments made after yesterday’s qualifying 1 session.
In a surprising situation jake Gagne finds himself down in P4 with Cameron Beaubier close behind in P5. The two had a heated battle with Herrin in 2023 which Herrin lost out on. This year Herrin is looking for redemption to get his superbike season kicked off on the right foot.
Supersport
Tyler Scott continued his charge at the front aboard his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki. The Supersport class had a packed field with 33 riders making the cut from 44 entries. Scott finds himself ahead with a 5 tenths of a second lead over Blake Davis who also looked faster on track today behind. Pj Jacobsen finish P3 despite an early move for the top spot in qualifying.
Junior Cup
Ryan Wolfe cut almost 2 seconds off of his qualifying time from yesterday. Junior cup riders had to contend with a wet track in the morning during qualifying session 1 so naturally their pace should have improved on day 2 where conditions were completely dry and much more favorable. Yandel Medina finished second ahead of last years champion Avery Dreher.
Twins Cup
Rocco Landers and former Junior cup rider Rossi Moor finished at the top of the Twins cup table ahead of Dominic Doyle. After a disappointing race 1 in 2023 with his former Twins cup team Landers is looking to improve as the DNF last year cost him valuable points that ended up coming into play at the end of the season for the championship deciding race. The top 1o in Twins is full of riders who all have the potential to win. Racing get started shortly to determine how the dust settles in the standings.
King of the Baggers
Despite a late charge by Bobby Fong Troy Herfoss was able to beat Fong narrowly to secure pole position for the Indian Motorcycle side. Herfoss doubled down and won the Bagger challenge this afternoon. He has the opportunity to bring home the perfect weekend for Indian with a win in tomorrows race.
The MotoAmerica Superbike championship is in Atlanta this weekend for there first regular season round at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. The season kickoff marks the 10th anniversary of the MotoAmerica Superbike championship. This year the Supersport and superbike classes as a dramatic rise in new faces and the return of some old. Five time Superbike champion Cameron Beaubier will return for his second year at Tytlers Cycle Racing after his 2023 season was cut short due to multiple unfortunate on track incidents that took him out of the title running. Other familiar faces are Loris Baz who replaced last year’s Supersport champion Xavi Fores at Warhorse HSBK Ducati and last years Superbike Champion Jake Gagne returns with Yamaha.
Road Atlanta is one of the most technical tracks on the MotoAmerica schedule. Last years races displayed their fair share of on track incidents related to engine failures, crashes and the unfortunate fires. The Supersport class has 44 entries logged for the weekend. There are also 23 entries for Superbike. As the competition heats up this weekend only a few riders will stand atop the podium. Atlanta will be the opening round for the Steel Commander Superbike, Supersport and Junior Cup Championships while the Mission King Of The Baggers and BellissiMoto Twins Cup have already had their series openers. The Baggers are coming off of a race weekend at Circuit of the Americas last week and have already compelted 4 races thus far in 2024.
Hayden Gillim and Ezra Beaubier Return With a New Teams for Stock 1000
Last years Stock 1000 champion Hayden Gillim will get his first taste at defending the 2023 championship in Atlanta. His outing in Atlanta last year was full of challenges but his is looking to channel his seaosn finishing energy in to wins this weekend. Stock 1000 championship contender Ezra Beaubier also returns with a new team in 2024. He will race on a BMW S 1000 RR for Aftercare Scheibe Racing.
Full Race Weekend Provisional Schedule
About Road Atlanta
Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta is recognized as one of the world’s best road courses measuring at 12 corners spanning 2.54 miles. The multi-purpose motorsports facility is situated on 750 park-like acres in the rolling hills of Northeast Georgia. Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta is located just 35 miles north of Atlanta and only minutes away from Chateau Elan, a 4-star resort offering guests comfort and amenities such as three championship golf courses and a European-style spa.