Warhorse HSBK Ducati’s Josh Herrin and Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW’s Cameron Beaubier bolted to the front of Saturday’s Superbike race and fought to the wire, with Herrin taking the win. After impressing in practice and qualifying, Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim saw his chances for a good result in Saturday’s Superbike race destroyed in Turn One, as he and Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates collided on the run into the tight chicane right after the race start. Gillim, who qualified fifth, continued and recovered to seventh before retiring. Yates remounted, continued and finished 13th.
Attack Performance Progressive Insurance Yamaha’s Jake Gagne wasn’t able to convert pole position into leading any of the Superbike race, but he was happy enough with a competitive ride and a podium finish in the dry after a long struggle with injury. Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante qualified fourth and finished fifth.
Attack Yamaha’s Bobby Fong climbed from eighth on the grid to fourth.
Rahal Ducati Moto/Xpel’s PJ Jacobsen qualified second but never looked as though he was capable of challenging Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz for the Supersport win. Second place was good enough for Jacobsen to hang on to the Championship lead.
Alessandro Di Mario was nearly two seconds a lap faster than the rest of the Twins Cup field before he lobbed his Robem Engineering Aprilia into the gravel trap. Di Mario stayed on pole, and before the session was over, he had hustled back to the Celtic/Economy Lube + Tire/Warhorse HSBK Ducati pits and switched leathers, as he was making his debut in Supersport. Di Mario did not plan to ride Supersport but the team’s regular rider, Cameron Petersen, had shoulder difficulties and was not certain he could race. So since Di Mario rides in Talent Cup for Warhorse Ducati, he switched leathers, Warhorse pulled a set of Di Mario’s race numbers from the trailer, slapped them onto Petersen’s backup bike and Di Mario got his very first taste of a Supersport racebike. The whole arrangement was so last-minute that Di Mario missed the first practice session, so he rode only the two qualifying sessions. Di Mario’s first impression was that the Panigale V2 was actually smaller than his Aprilia RS660. The team didn’t intend to have Di Mario race in Supersport, so he finished his Supersport debut after the two qualifying sessions, taking 11th on combined times, right behind 89-time AMA Pro Race winner Josh Hayes. Di Mario then jumped back on his Twins Cup racebike and dominated Saturday’s race en route to the win.
Mallory Dobbs took advantage of a nine-week break in the Women’s World Circuit Racing Championship to return to the U.S. and compete at her home round. Dobbs lives just 30 minutes from The Ridge, so she pulled her Yamaha YZF-R7 and her Ducati Hypermotard out of the garage and raced them in the Twins Cup and Super Hooligan races. Even though she races an R7 in the WWCR series, those motorcycles are much, much more restricted in the modifications allowed, while the MotoAmerica bike is closer to Superbike-spec. The biggest difference, though, was adapting to Dunlop tires again after racing on Pirellis, she said. Dobbs DNF in Saturday’s Twins Cup Race and finished 12th in Super Hooligan.
