MotoAmerica Monterey Speedfest: Laguna Seca Race Day 2 Recap

Now that the dust has settled. MotoAmerica Weekend: Monterey Speedfest has come to an end. This weekend was full of racing action as 5 classes took to the track and put it all on the line. Speedfest at WeatherTech raceway Laguna Seca featured 3 Superbike races and a sole 38 lap long extended Supersport race for fans from all over he country. Here we discuss the Speed Trap Magazine Race day 2 Recap. You can check out the Day 1 Recap here: Speed Trap Magazine Day 1 MotoAmerica Recap at Laguna Seca

Superbike

The Medallia Superbike Championship hosted a triple header weekend this weekend at Launa Seca. Three superbike races meant there were 75 Championship points up for grabs. In Race 1 Jake Gagne (Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha) took the win after Cameron Beaubier (Tytlers Cycle Racing) crashed out without logging a single lap. However, Cameron Beaubier came back with a vengeance and won both race 2 and race 3. The double win puts Cameron Beaubier 34 points behind Gagne.

Honorable mention goes to Josh Herrin who fought tooth and nail through injury to secure two second place and one third place finish with a broken ankle and shoulder injury. These results could only be bested by race wins but given the circumstances Herrin will walk away happy to score podium points while injured. The feat really speaks to his determination to remain competitive in the championship race.

Josh Herrin Spoke to the Media

Herrin stated to the MotoAmerica media, “I wanted to try to catch those guys. I keep thinking about earlier in the year. I don’t know if it’s tires on the Ducati or fitness, or something comes into play middle of the race today where I’m able to kind of get a little bit on them. So, I didn’t want to give up. Obviously, normally you never want to give up, but especially this year I have felt good in the second half of the race. So, I just wanted to make sure I kept plugging away in case I was able to get them to come back. It seemed like for a little while I was a tenth here, two tenths here maybe catching up. So, just wanted to get as close as I could just in case I got an opportunity at the end.”

“Then I saw Richie (Escalante) behind me, so that definitely scared me into going a little bit faster. I’m just starting to get really comfortable on this thing. It seems like every weekend I get a little bit stronger in the second race, so I’m glad we got three this time. I feel like I can capitalize on that. I’m just having fun on the bike and really enjoying spinning laps out there. The beginning of the weekend it wasn’t going so well for me. I wasn’t feeling comfortable. Today in the race I felt really good. Just having a lot of fun and trying to plug as many laps away as I can and get as much confidence as I can for race three.”

Words from Cameron Beaubier; Tytlers Cycle Racing

Beaubier stated the following to the MotoAmerica media after his crash on Saturday, “I woke up pretty sore this morning, for sure, but it wasn’t too bad once I got riding. After the first few laps it was okay. But we destroyed a bike pretty good yesterday. The boys were here until 10:30, 11:00 making sure the second bike was ready to go.”

“To be honest, coming into today I didn’t really know what to expect just because we made some good strides on that new frame and the new bike that we’ve been riding the last round. Went back to the other one, but it honestly felt really good. I felt like it absorbs some of the bumps that I was struggling with earlier in the weekend. So, hats off.

Beaubier Continued

“Thank you so much to the Tytlers guys. They’ve been working their butts off all year and especially this weekend. There at the beginning I felt like I had some places I was stronger than Jake (Gagne), and then vice versa. He had some good spots too. I felt like they really made a good step on the brakes. It was pretty tough to get around him.”

“I was trying to just be patient. There with five or six, I was struggling a little bit off the last corner compared to him and I felt like I finally got out of there pretty good one lap and I was able to sneak up the inside with the BMW power up over one and just tried to put my head down from there and see what happens. Felt really good. It’s hard to be too excited because I know we’ve got another one of these coming up in a couple hours, but I’m super happy and move on to the third race.”

REV IT Twins Cup

Twins cup was all Rodio Racing – Powered By Robem Engineering. In race 1 Gus Rodio and Rocco Landers secured the 1-2. The pair looked to repeat the result in Race 2 and had it sealed but Landers made a mistake and suffered from an early crash which forced him to retire from the race. The win handed Rodio a 3 point lead over last years champion Blake Davis (N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto). The finish means that Davis, Landers and Rodio are all in title contention. The three are currently separated by 18 points at the top of the table. 4 riders did not finish race 2.

Mission King of the Baggers

On day two of King of the Baggers Kyle Wyman redeemed himself with a iwn in race 2 for H-D Screamin’ Eagle. Vance and Hines Teammates James Rispoli, and Hayden Gillim rounded out the podium in second and third respectively. Gillim previous won Race 1 earlier in the weekend.

Kyle Wyman had the following words for the MotoAmerica media, “Today, I tried to pull the trigger the last few laps. I thought I had a bit of a gap, but we caught a lapper in turn 11 on the last lap. It feels good to get a win today. We all want to win. We all have, maybe, a little bit different approach in trying to do it. Today, fortunately, I was able to do it my way, which is control the pace and try to manage and see if I can dig a little deeper in the end.”

Super Hooligans

Jeremy McWilliams (Indian Motorcycle/Progressive/Mission Foods) pulled the double at Laguna Seca this weekend. McWilliams came back with a vengeance after being disqualified due to a technical breach in the previous MotoAmerica round. McWIlliams had the following words for the MotoAmerica media, “We’ve been fastest in every session (this weekend). I think maybe that was a lap record on the last lap…I could see the back markers were approaching. The problem is here that you get a trip-up with the back markers, as I believe happened to him maybe going onto the last lap. It’s so tight at the Corkscrew that you get tripped up and unfortunately your lap just goes away. So, I did need to be at the front so I could try to control the back markers. That was the plan.”

McWilliams Continued his Thoughts on the Race

“Even if I got passed, whether it was Andy or my teammate, I had to be able to get back past again as soon as possible. I wasn’t fast everywhere. I wasn’t as strong in some parts of the track as Tyler, and I kind of knew that. Which would make it very difficult to make a pass again because I think Tyler could have gapped me quite easily. Then I would have had to fight really hard to get back at him.”

“But I needed the points and I needed to do this for our guys that are working so hard. They didn’t get back last night until 12:00 or something yesterday evening, and they’re up at 5:00 every morning. They’re not getting any time to relax and it’s hard on them, so we’ve got to repay that with the best results we can give them. We’ve got the hardest-working team and we’ve got a factory behind us.”

Day 1 of racing at MotoAmerica WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Speedfest has finished. The Medallia Superbike Race 1 was filled with plenty of on track events. The most impactful being a crash involving Cameron Beaubier (Tytlers Cycle Racing) and Cameron Petersen (Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha). The two had an incident in turn 2 on the starting lap of race 1 that forced both to retire. Unfortunately Beaubier was not able to capitalize on his pole position in race 1. Due to this weekend being a triple header Beaubier will have two more opportunities this afternoon to secure championship points. During the race Gagne wasn’t really challenged and took off on the pack and was never really challenged for the reduced 19 lap race.

Gagne Speaks to the Media

Race winner Jake Gagne stated the following to the MotoAmerica media. “I had a feeling that it would be some carnage in today’s race, just because especially when Cam (Petersen) went down in the beginning I was shocked. Then both Cams (Petersen and Beaubier) are tumbling on the road. I kind of swerved, and I was just hoping nobody got… The worst thing to see is somebody sliding down the road in front of you. Obviously, I wasn’t surprised to get a red flag. I want to win races. I want to get points in the championship, but it sucks doing it like that. With Beaubier going out like that and Cam P., my teammate. So, I hope those guys are all right. Then after the restart.”

“I just knew the wind is really chilly today. I knew from sitting on the grid before that crash even happened that the first couple laps, we had to be patient on those tires to get the heat in them. So, I was surprised, but I wasn’t surprised to see some of that carnage right in the beginning. We’re going to have to be patient on those tires with the cool breeze and sitting on the grid. So, I just tried to do that and build heat in these Dunlops. It seems like they get a little bit better after a couple laps. Just being patient. I was keeping an eye on my pit board. I knew Josh (Herrin) was behind me in the beginning. I could hear that Ducati roaring. I was just trying to be smooth.”

Gagne Continued

“I think the big thing was trying to be easy on that front tire, because we’ve all been struggling with tearing a little bit on the front tire. It’s getting better throughout the weekend, but I tried to focus on just using different parts of the tire and I was happy with how that came in and happy with the team for helping me out and showing me what I need to do better, especially yesterday to today. So, good day and I’m looking forward to a good battle with those guys. Hopefully we can all keep it upright tomorrow and put in some good two races and put on a show for everyone.”

Mathew Scholtz (Westby Racing) and Danilo Lewis (Team Brazil) also DNF’d in the race. Due to the DNFs/DNS Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati) moved up the order and was able to hold onto P2. Herrin has been riding injured all weekend and was visibly please with the result despite not being 100% in good health for the race. Herrin is nursing a broken ankle he suffered at The Ridge Motorsports Park.

Superbike has 2 more races today totaling to 50 points and 40 laps of action. The triple header will make or break the championship race for the top three so scoring maximum points is imperative.

Supersport

The second extended endurance Supersport race of the 2023 MotoAmerica Season took place yesterday. Xavi Fores (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati) made history after winning 8 straight races in the Supersport category. However, this weekends win did not come without doubt. Fores was involved in two crashes this weekend. One occurring in pretesting and the other in qualifying dropping Fores down to P8 in Qualifying 2. Come race time it didn’t take long for Fores to get to work. By the pit stop window he had regained control of the race and from then on he wasn’t challenged. Fores ahd the following comments for the MotoAmerica media.

“I was not 100% convinced about this race, especially after the crash we had this morning because I had some pain in my neck and I was a little bit not 100% concentrated. I was a little bit confused because the bike was not working 100% well. The front tire consumption all the weekend was horrendous, especially on the left side. Honestly, the first part of the race I had a good fight with Josh, but then on the last four laps before to come in, I lost the front two or three times in turn nine and turn five. I nearly crashed and then I had to run off.”

Fores Continued Regarding Josh Hayes Pace

“Honestly, Josh was much faster than me this weekend, more solid and especially in the right corners. He was always pulling meters away from me. When I catch him on the first part of the race, I was like, I have no more. I was taking some risks. So fair play to him, his team. It was a shame to don’t arrive to the end of the race fighting me and him because it would be great to have a good battle with him until the last lap.”

Fores mainly benefitted from then leader Josh Hayes having a terrible pit stop that cost him the lead and ultimately race win. The crew had an issue with the front wheel. Fores ended up winning the race by nearly 13 seconds.

REV IT Twins Cup

Rodio Racing – Powered By Robem Engineering riders Rocco landers and Gus Rodio dominated the race. the two pulled away from the pack in the first 3 laps and it was like that for the entire race. Landers secured the win by 4.1 seconds ahead of his teammate. Third place finished Blake Davis (N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto) made a late mistake on the second to last lap that cost him P3. Dominic Doyle (Team Iso) was positioned to take advantage and was able to pass him finishing ahead by 0.9 seconds. Race two is set for mid afternoon. Landers’ win gave him the championship lead by one point over Davis, 141-140.

Mission King of the Baggers

Hayden Gillim (Vance & Hines/Mission/Harley-Davidson) secured the win after a late incident saw race leaders Tyler O’Hara (Indian Motorcycle/Progressive/Mission Foods) and Kyle Wyman (H-D Screamin’ Eagle) both lost the front end of their bikes exiting the corkscrew toward turn 9. The two made the same mistake almost simultaneously which allowed for Gillim to capitalize and take the lead with no time left for Wyman and O’Hara to recover. Wyman finished P9 with O’Hara salvaging fourth.

Gillim had the following words for the media, “It sucked to see. I kind of figured one would go down. The way those two guys go at it; I knew it was going to get a little dicey. I had kind of given up when I had come across the stripe going onto the last lap because I was kind of starting to move around a little bit more and they were going fast. They had picked up the pace once Kyle (Wyman) got in front. So, I had kind of called the dog off and then they started going at it and I was like, ‘all right. I need to kind of keep going because in case something does happen, if they run wide or something, I need to be there to capitalize.’”

Gillim was in the Right Place at the Right Time

“I got lucky and brought it home. First bagger win. I’ve done three championships of it, so this is my first win. It’s awesome. I’m happy to be up on top. I need to fix my starts, though. I think I was eighth going into turn one, starting from fourth. So, I was a little nervous the first couple laps, for sure. The Vance & Hines guys have put a great bike underneath me. We’re going to keep making steady progress, like James said, and hopefully actually be able to get up there and be a part of that fight tomorrow.”

Super Hooligans

After being disqualified in the last Super Hooligan Race at the Ridge Motorsports Park Jeremy McWilliams came back in pure form with a win in race 1 this weekend. McWilliams edged out Andy DiBrino by 0.071 seconds at the finish line. Cory West rounded out the top 3. The riders will race again this afternoon for race 2.

For video coverage check out MotoAmerica Plus Live.

Qualifying for MotoAmerica Speedfest weekend has concluded. In pursuit of the lap record the Medallia Superbike headed out this morning in optimal morning conditions. The track was cold but there was no moisture while allowed the riders to run full race pace earlier in the session. The sun came out about 1/3 of the way through the session. Cameron Beaubier (Tytlers Cycle Racing) beat out Jake Gagne (Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha) and a flying Richie Escalante (Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki) to secure pole in Medallia Superbike. Cameron Petersen (Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha) finished p4 and Mathew Scholtz (Westby Racing) finished P5.

Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati) secured a hard fought P6. Herrin is riding in pain through a broken foot he suffered at the Ridge Motorsports Park two weeks ago. Herrin is 7 tenths off of the leader Beaubier.

Supersport

Josh Hayes (Squid Hunter) secured pole for the upcoming 38 lap endurance race that will occur this evening. Championship leader Xavi Fores (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati); who has won every Supersport race this year finished P8 after crashing during the qualifying session. He appeared to avoid major injury and was up walking after the crash. Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki teammates Teagg Hobbs and Tyler Scott complete the top 3. Stefano Mesa finished 4th fastest ahead of Disrupt Racing’s Jake Lewis. Lewis is pulling triple duty this weekend with King of the Baggers, Super Hooligans and Supersport. We will determine if this has an effect on his performance in the 38 lap race.

One challenge the riders in the endurance race face is rapidly changing track temperatures. We will see if this is a factor in tonight’s race.

REV IT Twins Cup

Rodio Racing – Powered By Robem Engineering teammates Gus Rodio and Rocco Landers locked out the top spots in Twins Cup. Dominic Doyle secured P3 ahead of Blake Davis and Jackson Blackmon. Two riders in the class didn’t post lap times in Qualifying 2.

King of the Baggers

Kyle Wyman (H-D Screamin’ Eagle) secured pole in KOTBs ahead of rival Tyler O’Hara (Indian Motorcycle/Progressive/Mission Foods) and Bobby Fong (Sac Mile/SDI Racing/Roland Sands/Indian). Vance & Hines/Mission/Harley-Davidson riders Hayden Gillima and James Rispoli rounded out the top 5 in class.

Super Hooligans

After a controversial disqualification during the last MotoAmerica round at the Ridge Motorsports Park Jeremy McWilliams (Indian Motorcycle/Progressive/Mission Foods) secured pole ahead of Andy DiBrino (DiBrino Racing KTM) and teammate Tyler O’Hara (Indian Motorcycle/Progressive/Mission Foods). The Super Hooligans class had over 45 bike entries for the weekend. Due to the volume MotoAmerica ran two separate groups for qualifying and practice to circumvent safety issues related to an overcrowded track.

Racing kicks off this afternoon starting with Mission Super Hooligan National Championship Race 1. For live coverage check out MotoAmerica Live+.

The MotoAmerica Superbike Championship makes their second and final West coast stop of the year at a newly improved WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Laguna Seca recently finished a complete repaving. A select few MotoAmerica Superbike riders were invited to participate in a testing day. Overall despite earlier reports from other orgnaizations the feedback appeared to be positive. MotoAmerica Speedfest weekend will indeed move forward and we will have a full schedule of events for the weekend.

This weekend is a special occasion because it marks the first triple header for the Medallia Superbike championship. The rider will part take in 3 races totaling to 60 laps of racing action. In addition, the second Supersport endurance race of the season is set to take place on Saturday evening. The race is set for 38 laps and will require at minimum, one pit spot. The previous endurance race at Barber Motorsports Park was event filled with multiple track incidents, adverse weather and record pit stop times. You can find the full event schedule below.

Laguna Seca Facts

Laguna Seca was established in 1957 and has since hosted a number of prestigious races and events. The name “Laguna Seca” translates to “dry lake” in Spanish, referencing the track’s location in a natural dry lakebed. The circuit is 2.238 miles (3.602 kilometers) long and features 11 turns. It is known for its challenging and iconic corners, such as the Corkscrew, a blind left-right combination that drops sharply downhill. The most famous section of the track, the Corkscrew, is an extremely challenging sequence of turns that requires precise vehicle control. It involves a steep downhill drop with an abrupt left-right chicane. The Corkscrew has become an iconic feature of Laguna Seca and is recognized all around the world.

The MotoAmerica broadcast schedule is below.

Check out MotoAmerica Live+ for streaming options.

The MotoAmerica paddock rumors are confirmed. Team Hammer has revealed that Brandon Paasch will indeed join the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki team in a bid for Medallia Superbike. Speculative rumors for this move have been the chatter of the paddock after Paasch had a successful outing at the Loudon Classic. Paasch has sat out most of the 2023 season due to a back injury he suffered at the beginning of the year during Motorcross training. He will join the team for the remainder of the 2023 season.

In a press release form Suzuki Paash stated, “Obviously, I’m very excited and grateful for this opportunity. This was a great surprise to me. My goal has always been to get into Superbike, but coming off an injury some may have been skeptical of my return. Doing the Loudon Classic allowed me to prove I’m still the same guy before I was injured.”

“I’ve been working hard every day to return to fitness, probably more so than before Daytona, but I also know I’m playing catch up. I also realize I have a transition ahead of me as far as learning to ride the Superbike, but I’m ready for it. My only goal is to get a little faster and a little more competitive each time I go on track.”

Medallia Superbike action returns this weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca July 7-9 in Monterey, CA.

If you missed it check out our Day 1 Recap of the MotoAmerica Super bike Championship race. Round 4 at The Ridge Motorsports Park. In the Medallia Superbike Championship Cameron Beaubier (Tytlers Cycle Racing) finally put an end to Jake Gagne’s (Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha) win streak at the Ridge. Beuabier won Superbike Race 2 after crashing out of race1 on lap 14. The two traded stents leading the race, but towards the end of the race Gagne seemed to fall off of his early pace. Beaubier made the pass on lap 10. Beaubier would not give up the lead again and won the race by just over 2 seconds. The two spoke with the MotoAmerica media after the race,

Cameron Beaubier – Tytlers Cycle Racing – Race Winner

“Yesterday the race was a really good confidence boost for us because, let’s be honest, Jake (Gagne) was setting the pace all weekend and also (Josh) Herrin was really fast on Saturday morning. So, I felt like going into the race we could do a couple of those laps, but I didn’t think we could sustain them. The guys have not stopped working on the thing and we came up with a good race bike yesterday and they made it even better overnight for today. I was feeling really good. Herrin and I were going back and forth there at the beginning. I feel like we were honestly both kind of making a couple mistakes. I was running wide here and there and so was he. Once the race kind of settled down, I put my head down and I was really surprised how good my bike felt.”

Beaubier continued

“It was a pretty amazing feeling. I was able to run Jake down, but he was really strong getting off the last corner onto the front straight. I was struggling…I was spinning out of there pretty good. But I knew I had some spots that I was better than him in. Same for him, he had some spots that he was better than me in. I was able to get the lead and just kind of kept my head down but kept a little in reserve just so I didn’t throw it away like I did yesterday. I was honestly really surprised to see a little gap on my board. Feels great for the team.”

“It’s a bummer yesterday, falling down like that, but it feels really good to cap a weekend off like we did. Plain and simple, the Superbike class is just pretty gnarly this year. To have three different manufacturers on the box and all the incredible riders up in the top 10, it’s tough but it’s pretty fun.”

Jake Gagne – Fresh n lean Progressive Yamaha – Second Place

“I got off to a clean start and kind of made that gap from him, but once Cam (Beaubier) made his way through yesterday, he just reeled me in. Same thing today. At one point, I had a second gap on my pit board, and then by the top of the chicane I could hear him right behind me. That’s probably the lap he did a 39.6. At that point, I was struggling a little bit. I thought we kind of made the bike a little bit better today, but I was struggling a little more to even run the 40s that we ran yesterday.”

“I knew Cam was going to make his way by at some point, and then once he made his way by, I tried to latch on a little bit but there was nothing I could do. At that point, I knew Josh (Herrin) was back there and I knew he was going to be strong until the end, so I just tried to do what I could to bring it home in second. Either way, I think we learned a lot. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to race with these guys really for this full race distance and kind of see what the bikes are doing differently. All three of these bikes really have different strengths and different weaknesses. So, we got some good data. Know what we need to improve. I think we’re still in the points lead, so that’s always a good day.”

Supersport

Xavi Fores (Warhorse HSBK Ducati) continued his dominance aboard his Ducati V2 to win his 7th race of the season. Fores has won every race in Supersport this season. Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki Teammates Tyler Scott and Teagg Hobbs finished second and third respectively.

Stefano Mesa (Tytlers Cycle Racing) was able to recover after a brutal crash out of race 1. Mesa finished 5th in Race 2 and also competed in the Super Hooligans class after his crash. He did not appear to sustain any inhibiting injuries.

REV IT Twins Cup

Rocco Landers wins race 2 after having his win in race 1 stripped. Landers was given a 2 place penalty for passing a back-marker rider under a waving yellow on the final lap. Landers was not availabel for comments regarding the incident. Instead he let his work on the track do the talking about won race 2 in dominant fashion. Landers stated, “The bike was working amazing, Robem Engineering/Rodio Racing worked really hard to make the thing work as good as possible. I don’t even think we made a change since qualifying one. The thing has just been on rails all weekend. I felt good. The thing felt like it was just doing whatever I wanted. The wind was a bit gnarly. Felt like it was kind of screwing with the front end, especially long corners. But on the track, we’ve been undefeated this season on paper though some would say different. But I see no reason why we can’t continue this momentum into Laguna.”

In second was last years champion Blake Davis and in third Landers’ teammate Gus Rodio.

Royale Enfield BTR

Mikayla Moore continues to display dominance over the field winning both races this weekend by a large margin. The podium in both races included Moore, last year’s champion Kayleigh Buyck and Sonia Lloyd. The wins this weekend push Moore’s win count to 4 on the season as she remains perfect in the points.

Super Hooligans

From MotoAmerica: “After Sunday’s race two of the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship, the Indian FTR1200 motorcycles of race winner Jeremy McWilliams and second-place finisher Tyler O’Hara were protested by another team. Upon inspection, the ends of the handlebars were found to be below the top plane of the triple clamp, which is a violation of the class’s technical rules.” The breach effectively saw Andy DiBrino to P1 in the race. He was followed by Team Saddlemen Harley-Davidson rider Cory West, and Roland Sands Design/Indian Motorcycle’s Bobby Fong.

Day 1 of the MotoAmerica Championship at The Ridge Motorsports Park is complete. There were a number of on track incidents throughout the day across the all 5 classes competing this weekend.

Medallia Superbike

Jake Gagne (Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha) continues his dominance at the Ridge with a win in Race 1. Gagne took the race by a margin of 8.6 seconds. Ahead of Mathew Scholtz (Westby Racing) in second and Josh Herrin in third. Cameron Peterson had another dreadful day after crashing in Qualifying. Peterson was able to recover in the race but had two incidents one where he ran off the track and a second crash wish ushered him to the back of the grid falling 2 laps behind the race leader.

Gagne stated to the MotoAmerica media, “I was keeping an eye on my pit board. I got off to a great start. The Yamaha gets off to a good start. I went inside because I know Josh (Herrin) is always going to be deep on the brakes. Then, somehow, he runs around the outside of me. I’m like, ‘I don’t even know how he got there.’ Fortunately, it’s tough to make that line so I squared him up and put my head down. I was really happy with the bike. Everything was working good.”

Gagne Commented on Herrin’s Drop Off in Pace

“I was a little bit surprised to see, I know Josh was hurting and I was a little bit surprised to see the gap just kind of going a couple tenths a lap, and then it was up to a second and a half about halfway, and then it started dropping. Honestly, I thought it was Josh. I didn’t know with how fast he was going earlier. I thought it was him, I couldn’t see who was behind me…I could hear the lap before the red flag up over the top chicane, I’m like, ‘Whoever is behind me is on me now.’ It was not a half second, or whatever it was. So, I was ready for a banger for the last three laps. I was going to try to put my head down. I was kind of riding everything I had to keep it on.”

Gagne Continued his Comments

“Trying to get a couple more tenths a lap would have been pretty risky, I think. Unfortunately, it was a bummer to see Cam (Beaubier) go down and the red flag come out. I didn’t know until I got back who had crashed and who was second. A little luck on our side points-wise, but it would have been nice to bring that thing down to the last couple laps. I think that would have been fun racing. Tomorrow it will be ‘the same.”

“Everybody is going to step it up, so we got to step it up a little bit too. But I think we learned a lot from today’s race. I’m just stoked. Of course, after the last couple years, it’s nice to win all these races but I’m a racer and it’s awesome to see the class so stacked and so close. Practice here this weekend, all these guys within a couple tenths. So, it really comes down to figuring out how to do it consistently in the race. Just keep doing our job and look forward to more good racing.”

Superbike Race One

1. Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
2. Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)
3. Josh Herrin (Ducati)
4. Corey Alexander (BMW)
5. Richie Escalante (Suzuki)
6. PJ Jacobsen (BMW)
7. Cameron Beaubier (BMW)
8. Hayden Gillim (Suzuki)
9. Ashton Yates (BMW)
10. Max Flinders (Yamaha)

Supersport

Xavi Fores (HSBK Warhouse Ducati) continues his win streak. Fores has won every Supersport race this season and he has not showed any signs of slowing down. Its clear how valuable his lengthy career of experience has helped him adapt to new tracks in the MotoAmerica series. Veteran Josh Hayes secured a hard fought second place ahead of Teagg Hobbs. Stefano Mesa (Tytlers Cycle Racing) and Jarett Nassaney (Altus Motorsports) did not finish the race. The riders will have an opportunity for redemption today in race two.

REV’ IT Twins Cup

Dominic Doyle (Team Iso) received the win after Rocco Landers (Rodio Racing – Powered By Robem Engineering) finished in first but was handed a 2 place penalty for passing a back marker rider under a waving yellow. Landers was visible displeased with the ruling. We do not yet know if he will protest it but its clear the rider was well off of race pace so there may more to the investigation if he chooses to appeal. Blake Davis (N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto) finished second place and Landers was demoted to third.

Super Hooligans

Tyler O’Hara denies pole sitter Andy DiBrino the win in race 1. It was a 1-2 for Indian riders O’Hara and Jeremy McWilliams. DiBrino will start on pole again for race 2 and will look to capitalize to improve his points standing in the class. Stefano Mesa was disqualified from the race.

Royale Enfield BTR

Mikayla Moore continued her dominance in the class winning race one by a margin of over 16 seconds. Last years champion Kayleigh Buyck finished second with Sonia Lloyd finishing in third. Moore appears to be on cruise control this year in the class. She had the follow comments for the media regarding a moment where she seemingly lost control of the bike, “I caught a false neutral and instead of going to the higher gear, I thought it maybe didn’t get into gear, so I went into a lower gear, and it got a little out of hand. So, I just shifted quick and then just get back on track without making the bike any more upset than what it was. This morning [Yesterday], I made some suspension changes, and I made some tire pressure changes, and I went out on freshies and gearing changes. So, all those combinations definitely helped for this race.”

The MotoAmerica Superbike championship pays a visit to The Ridge Motorsports park in Shelton, WA for round 4 of the season. 5 classes will race this weekend, Superbikes, Supersport, Twins, Super Hooligans and Royale Enfield BTR. The Ridge is a 2.47 mile track featuring multiple technical turns and elevation changes through out the course. Each class will have 2 races this weekend for plenty of opportunity to see the bikes in action.

Currently the top spot in Medallia Superbike is within reach for Cameron Beaubier (Tytlers Cycle Racing). He currently sits 12 points behind championship leader Jake Gagne.

The Ridge has brought in plenty of entertainment for fans with a carnival and games, Go-Karting, mini golf and local vendors. The weather appears to be sunny for the whole weekend. The event can be streams on MotoAmerica Live+. The weekend race schedule is below.

Some elements of this article were not written by Speed Trap Magazine Staff.

Bobby Fong began his racing career at a young age and quickly displayed his talent and passion for motorcycle racing. Over the years, Bobby Fong continued to make a name for himself in various road racing championships. He competed in the MotoAmerica series, which is the premier motorcycle racing championship in the United States. Fong has raced in different categories within MotoAmerica, including Superstock 1000 and Supersport.

Bobby Fong’s breakthrough moment came in 2020 when he achieved his first-ever MotoAmerica Superbike race win at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex. He went on to win three more races during the season, finishing fourth in the championship standings. His performance established Fong as a top contender in the Superbike class.

Fong to Re-join Medallia Superbike Class

Bobby Fong’s racing style is characterized by his aggressive and determined approach on the track. He possesses exceptional skill in cornering and has demonstrated his ability to push the limits and make daring overtakes. As reported by MotoAmerica an opportunity presented itself and Fong has decided to take it for the Medallia Superbike Round in Shelton, WA.

Bobby Fong will race a Yamaha YZF-R1 in round four of the MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Championship at Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, Washington, June 23-25. Fong provided the following comments to MotoAmerica, “Dave (Anthony) called me to see if I wanted to ride it and I agreed to it for the Ridge and we’ll see how that goes moving forward. I’m excited. Attack has been helping him out and I will have Robbie Petersen for a crew chief. Dave bought Jake Gagne’s bike from last year and Richard Stanboli helps him out and gives him the setups for the weekend and gives him the maps that they started last season with. He has the electronics and the swingarm so it will be good.”

Fong Continued with his Comments to MotoAmerica

“I’ve always wanted to ride a proper Yamaha. Dave has told me that it’s the bike, so I figured I’d give it a shot and see how I do. I have to be realistic. Everybody’s up to speed and I haven’t ridden a Superbike in over a year. Obviously, I’m going to do my best. Realistically, I would like to be in the podium battle or just on the cusp of that podium battle in my first ride back, but who knows? I might be better, I might be worse, but either way I’m excited to be back and we’ll do the best we can. I’m really happy that I can ride a Yamaha with the proper stuff on it and want to give big thanks to Dave and his crew for making this happen.”

Round 3 at Road America has concluded. The weekend was full of blistering lap times, broken records and surprises. After a disappointing Race 1, Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Ducati) came out flying in race 2 with the look of determination. Herrin had a scuffle with second place championship point sitter Cameron Beaubier (Tytlers Cycle Racing). Beaubier ultimately retired from the race after a mechanical failure. Herrin won Race 2 with Tytlers Cycle Racing rider PJ Jacobsen securing second behind by 2 seconds.

After a troublesome start to the weekend for the Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha team. Championship leader Jake Gagne and Cameron Petersen mustered the pace to squeeze out a P3 and P4 finish respectively. The Yamahas had multiple engine failure issues this weekend. Fifth place finisher Tony Elias (Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki) announced his retirement in surprising fashion directly after the race.

After the Race

Talking to the MotoAmerica media Herrin had the following comments after winning Race 2, “It was just for the haters, man. It just felt good. It felt right. But it was all in good fun. That felt really good. Like I said on the podium, I think this just motivates me to do more. I know that this is for sure one of our strongest tracks, but we’ve got to figure out how to make tracks like Barber not be such a weakness for us. I think just getting more time on the bike and a little bit more confidence will for sure help with that. I’m so happy that I’m a part of this team. It’s been really like a family these last two years. It’s a bummer that the DeNaples couldn’t be here for this one, because I know that they wish they could.”

Herrin Continued His Thoughts

“It just feels good. It feels good to be 33 years old winning Superbike races on a bike like I’m riding right now and just having fun. This track has always been one of my favorite tracks, but today it really felt like… I’ve been racing here since 2006. This is my 18th season racing at this track. It felt like ’06 with the crowds that we had today. It was just really special going around the track afterwards and seeing everybody cheering on the fence. It’s really motivating as a racer to be out there and see a crowd like that. So, thank you to everybody for showing up. Thank you to the whole team for everything that they do for me. I’m ready to keep going.”

Comments from Second Place Finisher PJ Jacobsen

PJ Jacobsen provided insight on the race from his perspective, “Josh (Herrin) rode really, really well today. My starts just suck, and they’ve been sucking all year. So, that’s one thing that I need to figure out how to get off the line better. In the race, I feel like we were doing pretty consistent lap times, into the nines and stuff like that. I caught up to him and Cam (Beaubier), and then Cam had the problem. Then I felt like I was catching Josh a little, and then it stayed like that. Then the last few laps it felt like we were going pretty fast. I think I did 2:09.2 with two laps to go. Then there was pretty decent gap. I don’t know if it was a gap enough to go and try to challenge for the win.”

Road America features multiple long straights which allow riders who get goo starts to take off early on the race.

Steel Commander Stock 1000

Travis Wyman secured his first win of the 2023 season over Kaleb Dekaryel (Orange Cat Racing) in P2 and Hayden Gillim (Disrupt Racing) in P3. Wyman stated that he had issues harmonizing with the bike this weekend. He provided the following comments to the MotoAmerica Media, ““It’s definitely where I wanted to be yesterday, but I think we were still missing a little bit of something. So, the guys put a great package underneath me today. I think just the little bit cooler temperatures gave me more confidence to just get out and push, because in Q2 yesterday morning it was about similar temperatures, a little overcast, and the bike felt its best.

Yesterday in the race when the sun was beating down, I didn’t have the confidence in the grip level. I knew if I got a wholeshot, I could put my head down and go to work. I saw the gap getting bigger and bigger, and then all of a sudden it was back down to the plus zero again.”

He continued, “Honestly, I thought it was Ezra behind me the entire time, and I just kept my head down for a couple more laps and I looked up and I saw on the monitor going into three and it was Kaleb. Kaleb has been strong at the end of the races, so I had to keep going. Just really never looked back. The bike was phenomenal. It was a huge step up from yesterday. It felt like it did in Q2. I got to give it all to my team. It’s been a long time coming. It’s been since Laguna 2021 when I won a Stock 1000 race.”

Supersport

Xavi Fores (Warhorse HSBK Ducati) secured his 5th win of the season aboard his Ducati Panigale V2 at Road America. Despite this feat it was second place finished in both races, Stefano Mesa had the fastest lap of the race. Stefano seemed to be on pace to make a challenge for the win towards the middle stages of the race. However, the deficit provided to be too much and despite hiding the fastest lap of the race he fell short to Fores by 4 tenths of a second.

Fores provided the following comments, “I realized already this morning in warmup I was not able to pass him on the draft. He is lighter than me and the bike is fast, but I wanted to see how was his pace. I ran wide in the chicane…lost the front a little bit, so I said, okay. I looked back and no one was coming close to us. I said, ‘okay, I’m going to let him pass and try to understand his pace.’ So after that, on the first split, I was a little bit faster than him and I was solid braking into turn five, so I passed again. I was quite okay doing 16 on my pace. I was pushing so hard.”

Junior Cup

Rossi Moor (Fairium NGRT- Gray Area Racing KTM) won the race on the sole KTM RC390 on grid. The win also comes during Moor’s first races at the iconic Road America. The feat was achieved by a margin of 3 tenths of a second. In a hard fought second place was Max Van (SportbikeTrackGear.com) followed by Race 1 winner Avery Dreher (Bad Boys Racing) in third. Moor had the following comments to the media after finishing P2 in race 1.

“Yesterday, I wanted to try and stay in second place and try to not lead the race because I remember when Avery was saying that on this track you really don’t want to lead, especially on the last laps since the draft is so important here. But I was analyzing the race yesterday and I thought that I had the pace to be able to break away. I just have to put my head down and sometimes you need a little bit of luck, like somebody making a mistake, to have that little breakaway. So, it was a really good race for me, after the bad luck I’ve had this season with two DNF’s. But finally, I got the win and I’m super excited.”

Build Train Race

Series newcomer Mikayla Moore dominated the competition in Race 2 by a margin of 11 seconds. This was her first race at Road America. Last year’s champion Kayleigh Buyck finished second place and Aubrey Credaroli finished third. Moore has proven she is no rookie to racing after securing maximum points this weekend at Road America. She will look to repeat this result at the Ridge in 4 weeks time.

Mission King of the Baggers

Sac Mile/SDI Racing/Roland Sands/Indian’s Bobby Fong led the Mission King Of The Baggers field by 5.7 seconds to secure the win. This was redemption for Fong at Road America after a disappointing P7 finish in race 1. Tyler O’Hara (Indian Motorcycle/Progressive/Mission Foods) and James Rispoli (Vance & Hines/Mission/Harley-Davidson) rounded out the top 3.