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.
More, from a news release issued by MotoAmerica:
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin emerged from a race-long battle with Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier with his third straight MotoAmerica Superbike victory. The win on Saturday at Ridge Motorsports Park was Herrin’s third MotoAmerica Superbike win in a row, a career first for the defending series champion.
The win didn’t come easy as what initially was a three-rider battle between Herrin, Beaubier, and Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne, turned into a two-rider fight between the top two in the championship – Herrin and Beaubier.
Herrin did the majority of the leading and even gapped Beaubier by a second-and-a-half mid-race, but Beaubier fought back to take the lead on the 12th of 16 laps. The five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion held the lead for three laps before Herrin struck back, taking the lead on the 15th lap and holding off the determined Beaubier.
At the finish line, it was Herrin by .194 of a second over Beaubier. With the win came a five-point swing in what is shaping up to be a nail-biter of a championship as Herrin now leads Beaubier by three points.
The win was the 19th of Herrin’s career, and it puts him ninth on the all-time AMA Superbike win list.
Gagne, meanwhile, lost touch with the Herrin/Beaubier battle, with the pole-sitter finishing 2.4 seconds adrift in third place. The top three raced three different brands of motorcycles to the podium – Ducati, BMW and Yamaha.
Some three seconds behind Gagne came his teammate Bobby Fong with the Californian fending off the advances of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante.
Escalante’s teammate Sean Dylan Kelly crossed the finish line some 13 seconds behind in sixth place. BPR Racing’s Bryce Kornbau was a lonely seventh. Ditto for eighth-placed JD Beach and his Stock 1000-spec Real Steel Honda CBR1000RR-R SP.
Edge Racing’s Jason Waters and Thrashed Bike Racing’s Max Flinders rounded out the top 10.
Notable among the non-finishers was Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim, the Kentuckian involved in a bump and run with Ashton Yates in the first corner. Yates crashed and Gillim didn’t, but the melee put him well back in the pack. He went on a charge that saw him climb to seventh before a crash ended his day.
FLO4LAW/SBU Racing’s Benjamin Smith only completed a lap before a mechanical issue knocked him out of the race.
Superbike Race One
- Josh Herrin (Ducati)
2. Cameron Beaubier (BMW)
3. Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
4. Bobby Fong (Yamaha)
5. Richie Escalante (Suzuki)
6. Sean Dylan Kelly (Suzuki)
7. Bryce Kornbau (Yamaha)
8. JD Beach (Honda)
9. Jason Waters (BMW)
10. Max Flinders (Yamaha)
Quotes
Jake Gagne – Third Place
“Just foreign territory up there going into turn one not behind a bunch of guys. Compared to how slow I’ve been this year, it’s just good to be up there and finish a few seconds off those guys, and at least that first half kind of be sniffing them. I don’t even remember what happened in turn one. I think we were in there in third. Josh (Herrin), I think, was leading it. Those guys got off to a really good start. It was just a lot for me to learn, to kind of try running with those guys, see what they were doing better, see where we stacked up. It had been a long time, besides the rain stuff, that I’ve ran even close to these guys. So, it’s just good to be up there. I think we can learn a lot and try to make some improvements for tomorrow and see if we can get a little closer. Everybody is going to step it up tomorrow. It’s tough, though. This track with these tires, that second half of the race it was greasy and slippery. That’s where those guys really kind of were able to take off. I’m happy enough to be on the podium. It’s been a long time.”
Cameron Beaubier – Second Place
“Honestly, just to be in the race for the win was a win in itself. Yesterday it was a pretty tough day. We were struggling pretty bad with the bike, mainly on the front end. The guys stayed really late last night kind of looking everything over. They had to rebuild me a bike after I threw it into the fence at Road America. So, a completely new bike. We had a couple things that we were struggling with that we don’t normally struggle with. Big thanks to those guys for working so hard and giving me a good bike that I could fight with today. We definitely have some stuff that we need to go back and improve to really put up a good fight with Josh (Herrin). I felt like I was there in the middle of the race. He started pulling on me a little bit. I went into this race, and I was like, ‘I need to get some points. I need to keep this thing on two wheels.’ I knew how fast Jake (Gagne) was going and Josh this weekend. That was the main target. When Josh started riding away from me, I was like, ‘let’s just be patient.’ Then he started coming back a little bit. I got a sniff and kept going. We had a little battle at the end, but I couldn’t get close enough. He was really good off all the short corners getting that thing hooked up onto the straights. I just wasn’t close enough to make any kind of move.”
Josh Herrin – Winner
“It was fun. Like you guys talked about there, in the middle of the race I saw a plus 1.1 and I think I let it get to my head a little bit. I honestly thought about it a little bit too much. I didn’t know if he (Cameron Beaubier) made a little mistake and I got that gap, or if I earned it. I kind of let off that little bit and you’re not supposed to do that. Just keep looking forward. I felt good. I honestly did get a little bit tired there. I haven’t been feeling great today, but I don’t know if that’s why or if it’s just this track is physical and I’m not there. I just gave it my all there the last three laps. Just held my breath and just went for it and tried to put as many good laps together as I could. I’m happy. The bike feels great. Today, even though we got the win, I feel like I disappointed myself a little bit by letting that lead go away. I know I can do it. I‘ve just got to grind it out a little bit better. The guy’s got a great bike underneath me. I think for sure this is the best bike on the grid and everybody knows it. I’m just trying to take advantage of it while I have it. Thank you to the whole Warhorse HSBK Racing team. I love coming to the Ridge. It’s been a good bike for the Ducati since I got on the Supersport bike. Happy to be up here. Never had three Superbike wins in a row in my life, so that feels good. We got the two for Palmer and Ava last weekend, and I left Griffin out, so I had to get one more at least. Happy to do that. It’s cool. To have three kids and be winning Superbike races – Rachel is obviously the one doing 90 percent of the work at home, but it’s mentally just insane. It’s cool to be able to be up here and to be getting wins with kids. It’s such a special feeling to do that.”
Still more, from a news release issued by MotoAmerica:
Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz went into Saturday’s Motovation Supersport race at Ridge Motorsports Park knowing it was go-time as he trailed championship leader PJ Jacobsen by 20 points. The South African responded in kind, dropping the hammer in the closing stages of the race to pull away from Jacobsen, who had inherited second place when Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott crashed out while chasing Scholtz with three laps to go.
Now that points gap is down to 15.
Although the battle at the front lacked for passes, it oozed suspense with Scholtz out front and Scott and Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL’s Jacobsen applying pressure from behind. With Jacobsen fading a bit in the latter stages, it was a two-man race that looked set to go the distance. However, with three laps to go, Scott crashed his Suzuki GSX-R750 in the chicane in a carbon copy of Scholtz’s crash that ruined his Q2 session earlier in the day.
Riding a Yamaha YZF-R9 with a set-up that was basically unknown to him since he’d crashed early in Q2 and didn’t get to test the team’s latest set-up, Scholtz nabbed the holeshot from pole position (earned in Friday’s Q1) but used patience while making sure the motorcycle was the way he needed it. Turns out it was good enough as Scholtz raced to his third victory of the season by 4.2 seconds over Jacobsen, who had resigned himself to third before Scott crashed his Suzuki.
A resilient Cameron Petersen’s mood turned from dismay to elation as he fought the pain of his injured shoulder to finish third on his Celtic/Economy Lube+Tire/Warhorse HSBK Ducati Panigale V2 for his second podium of the season.
In order to get on the podium, Petersen had to pull off a last-lap pass on Strack Racing’s Blake Davis, beating the teenager to the flag by .333 of a second.
Jacobsen’s teammate Kayla Yaakov was fifth with Scott remounting to finish sixth. Altus Motorsports’ Jake Lewis was hot on Scott’s heels and just ahead of BPR Racing Yamaha’s Teagg Hobbs, who came out on top of a race-long battle with his teammate Josh Hayes.
Corey Alexander finished 10th on the third of the Rahal Ducatis.
“I just didn’t feel good,” Scholtz said. “From Friday practice, I was pretty bummed with the pace. We made a few changes coming into qualifying two and I crashed in the third or fourth lap, so didn’t get to try any other changes. Damaged the forks. We had to change that. So, coming into this race now, we didn’t have the same set-up that we had yesterday or in qualifying two. We used some of qualifying two, some that we had on Friday afternoon. I wasn’t really sure how the bike would actually feel. So, the first couple laps I was just kind of feeling out the bike, feeling what it would do, and I didn’t feel good. At the halfway point I was sort of feeling a little bit better, hitting my marks more. But I could see that Tyler (Scott) was actually catching me. I think it was maybe four laps to go, I felt like I did a really good lap time, but I couldn’t see. The dashboard wasn’t working properly. So, I wasn’t sure if I was doing 42s or 43s or whatever, but it felt like I did something good. Then one lap turned to 1.5, so I thought he ran off or he crashed or something. So, I kind of chilled for the last three laps. Overall, I’m really happy with how things went. They worked so hard to get the bike ready for this race. It feels like I’m back up on the Superbike podium with Cam (Petersen) and PJ (Jacobsen). So that’s really cool. But overall, I’ve got a lot of things to try and look at and work on for the second race. To get back to a comfortable feeling. Through the middle of the corner, which is usually a strong point for me, I don’t feel confident. So, I’m really happy I managed to do this well with not feeling good there. So hopefully I can come out swinging and come out a little bit better for the second race.”
SC-Project Twins Cup – Di Mario By A Mile
Alessandro Di Mario destroyed the competition in Saturday’s SC-Project Twins Cup race at Ridge Motorsports Park with the Robem Engineering rider completely dominating the 12-lap race on his Aprilia RS 660.
The win wasn’t a surprise as the Kentuckian had plenty in hand all weekend, lapping two seconds quicker than the competition to take pole position for the two Twins Cup races.
After just five laps, Di Mario led by six seconds and it was a margin that continued to grow to the finish, with Aprilia rider crossing the finish line 12.4 seconds ahead of Karns/TST Industries Levi Badie, who came out the better in a fight with RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki’s Mathew Chapin by .214 of a second.
Fourth place went to Robem Engineering’s Hank Vossberg in his SC-Project Twins Cup debut. Vossberg was mostly alone, 8.9 seconds behind the battle for second and over 15 seconds ahead of fifth-placed Seth Dahmer.
Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing’s Dominic Doyle was in the battle for second until a mechanical issue slowed him. The South African managed to nurse his Yamaha home to sixth but was hit with a sanction after the race. Doyle’s computer was plugged into his bike for two minutes and 30 seconds too long after the team ignored officials’ instructions to remove the cable. Doyle will start his next race from the back of the grid.
“I had a big crash in qualifying so I can’t thank the team enough. Mike, Matt, Chad, just everybody that’s helped me put the bike back together. I wouldn’t be here without them, so I owe it to them. Thank you so much.”
Royal Enfield. Build.Train.Race. – First Of Three To Knebel
With two more races on the docket tomorrow, the women of Build.Train.Race. will have two more shots at trying to catch and beat Kira Knebel.
Knebel won Saturday’s Royal Enfield battle, topping Shea MacGregor by 7.5 seconds with pole-sitter Miranda Cain a shadow third and just .071 of a second behind MacGregor, who made a last-lap pass on Cain after a race-long battle.
The win was Knebel’s third on the season and it came after a practice crash left her with a badly battered motorcycle.
The top three were 26 seconds clear of fourth-placed Kate West, who in turn had 6.9 seconds on Camille Conrad.
“I couldn’t be here without the team,” Knebel said. “That was a very bad crash, and it’s incredible what they were able to pull off in the time that they were. My mechanic, Sean, I told him I had to win this for him because he flew out here early, rebuilt the entire thing, and it was ready for me to just button up once I got here. It’s so incredible what we’re able to do with the support that we have here with the team and all of the sponsors that help make this possible for us. Huge shout out to Royal Enfield and all of the other sponsors involved for getting us those extras and being able to make this happen for me and all the other women here. It’s really important to us to be able to do that. I appreciate all the people that are here watching us and everybody at home that is also helping make that happen.”
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship Powered By Harley Davidson – Weight No More
Saddlemen Race Development’s Jake Lewis shrugged off the mandated 38-pound weight-gain on his Harley-Davidson Pan America to win Saturday’s Mission Super Hooligan National Championship race with the Kentuckian leading every lap.
At the finish line, it was Lewis taking the victory over KWR Harley-Davidson’s James Rispoli (with his Pan America taking on an additional 24 pounds) by 1.9 seconds.
Third place went to Competition Werkes Racing’s Andy DiBrino and his Triumph 765 RS, with the Oregonian 2.9 seconds ahead of defending class champion Cory West. West had run off track while running second but was able to gather things up to finish fourth.
Rispoli’s KWR teammate Hayden Schultz rounded out the top five. ARCH Racing’s Corey Alexander was sixth, his best finish of the year thus far on the Keanu Reeves-owned 2S-R.
