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Video: Wayne Rainey’s First Ride On His YZR500 At Goodwood
Watch BT Sport GP’s special video chronicling Wayne Rainey’s first ride on his 1992 World Championship-winning YZR500 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed via the link below.
Video: Shayna Texter, The SuperTwins Journey
Shayna Texter is a true trailblazer. As the lone woman in American Flat Track, Texter had a dominant career in the Singles division, claiming the most Singles victories in AFT history. Yet, despite that success, she continues to set her sights on even higher goals and aspirations by taking on a new class and challenge. Among a long list of other firsts, Texter is the first woman in history to secure a factory ride with Indian Motorcycle Racing and compete in the premiere Super Twins class, where she races alongside and against her teammate husband, Briar Bauman.
As America’s First Motorcycle Company, Indian Motorcycle is celebrating “First Movers” and those who have made their mark in motorcycling with a special video series. In this second episode, Indian Motorcycle recognizes Shayna Texter, celebrating her past successes while documenting her all-new challenges in the SuperTwins class.
MotoAmerica: Kyle Wyman Subbing For Lewis At Laguna Seca
WYMAN AND VENTURA TO SUBSTITUTE FOR VISION WHEEL M4 ECSTAR SUZUKI AT MOTOAMERICA ROUND IN LAGUNA SECA
BREA, Calif., July 7, 2022 — Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki will field two replacement riders at this coming weekend’s MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California.
Kyle Wyman will ride a Suzuki GSX-R1000R in Superbike competition in place of the injured Jake Lewis, while Cory Ventura will substitute for Sam Lochoff aboard a Suzuki GSX-R750 in Supersport.
Lewis is recovering from surgery after suffering an injury during Saturday’s race at the Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, Washington.
Wyman, from Macedon, New York, has excelled in several MotoAmerica classes, has won the Daytona 200, and boasts multiple Superbike podium finishes over his career, including scoring one earlier this year while riding in a substitute role for another team at Road Atlanta.
“We looked for someone with Superbike experience who could get a result and was available,” said Chris Ulrich, Vice President of Racing Operations for Team Hammer. “Kyle was at the top of the list. He has tested with us before so we know his skill set and how he works. We’re looking forward to seeing what he can do on our bike.”
With Lochoff out, Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki will turn to Cory Ventura to substitute at his home track. The Twins Cup regular is an AFM champion and a proven standout at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, where he has taken three MotoAmerica Supersport podiums in the series’ most recent two stops at the fabled venue.
“Sam needs to recover from a dirt bike incident while training. He fractured his ankle. We need to fill the seat while Sam recovers, so we are giving Cory Ventura a shot,” said Ulrich. “Cory did surprisingly well in 2021 at Laguna Seca, so we decided to see how he will do on our 750 at his home track. We know how good the bike is, even in its first season, and fully expect Cory to do well.”
Team Hammer will race at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California, on July 8-10.
ABOUT TEAM HAMMER
The 2022 season marks Team Hammer’s 42nd consecutive year of operating as a professional road racing team. Racebikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 129 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races, have finished on AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National podiums 340 times, and have won 11 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National Championships, as well as two FIM South American Championships (in Superbike and Supersport.) The team has also won 137 endurance races overall (including seven 24-hour races) and 13 Overall WERA National Endurance Championships with Suzuki motorcycles and holds the U.S. record for mileage covered in a 24-hour race. The team also competed in the televised 1990s Formula USA National Championship, famously running “Methanol Monster” GSX-R1100 Superbikes fueled by methanol, and won four F-USA Championships.
ABOUT VISION WHEEL
Founded in 1976, Vision Wheel is one of the nation’s leading providers of custom wheels for cars and trucks, and one of the first manufacturers of custom wheels and tires for ATVs, UTVs, and golf carts. Vision Wheel looks beyond the current trends and to the future in developing, manufacturing, and distributing its wheels. Vision’s lines of street, race, off-road, American Muscle, and Milanni wheels are distributed nationally and internationally through a trusted network of distributors. Vision Wheel also produces the Vision It AR app to allow users to see how their wheel of choice will look on their vehicle before purchase and installation. For more information on Vision Wheel, visit www.visionwheel.com.
ABOUT SUZUKI
Suzuki Motor USA, LLC. (SMO) distributes Motorcycles, ATVs, Scooters, Automotive Parts, Accessories, and ECSTAR Oils & Chemicals via an extensive dealer network throughout 49 states. Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), based in Hamamatsu, Japan, is a diversified worldwide manufacturer of Motorcycles, ATVs, Scooters, Automobiles, Outboard Motors, and related products. Founded in 1909 and incorporated in 1920, SMC has business relations with 201 countries/regions. For more information, visit www.suzuki.com.
MotoAmerica: Previews Of The Six Other Classes Racing At Laguna Seca (Updated)
Ready, Set, Go: Six Support-Class Thrillers Slated For WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Round
Everything From King Of The Baggers To Junior Cup To Super Hooligans Set For GEICO Motorcycle MotoAmerica Superbike Speedfest At Monterey, July 8-10
IRVINE, CA (July 7, 2022) – So what class features the closest title fight as the 2022 MotoAmerica Championship heads to WeatherTech Raceway for the GEICO Motorcycle MotoAmerica Superbike Speedfest At Monterey? Well, that would be the SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup Championship with just eight points separating the top four riders – and just 19 points separating the top five – in the class where youth is most definitely served.
The Yuasa Stock 1000 class is also anyone’s title with 10 points separating the top three; the Mission King Of The Baggers class returns to the racetrack at Laguna with eight points separating the top three; and just four points separate the three riders at the top in the Roland Sands Design’s Super Hooligan National Championship.
So how important is the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca round as the MotoAmerica Championship barrels into its second half? Read on.
SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup – It’s A Rodio At The Top
Rodio Racing/Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Gus Rodio didn’t start his 2022 Junior Cup campaign with a flurry, but he did make sure he put gobs of points in the bank until things turned around. And they have turned around. After starting the season with a pair of fifths and a fourth-place finish, Rodio has been on a tear of late with five podiums in a row, including his lone victory coming two weeks ago at Ridge Motorsports Park.
His consistency, speed and zero non-finishes (the only rider in the class to pocket points in every race) has Rodio at the top of the SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup Championship, albeit by just two points in what is the most hotly contested points battle in the series.
Rodio leads Alpha Omega’s Cody Wyman and SportbikeTrackGear.com’s Joseph LiMandri Jr. by just two points with those two tied for second. Wyman is the class leader with three wins, but an off weekend in the Pacific Northwest knocked Wyman out of the points lead. LiMandri, like Rodio, has had the hot hand of late with four podiums in a row, including his lone victory at Road America.
Hot off her first career MotoAmerica victory is Kayla Yaakov, and she comes to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca just eight points out of the championship lead and hungry for more wins.
Yuasa Stock 1000 – Alexander vs. Gillim vs. Wyman
Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing’s Corey Alexander has won every race that he’s finished in the Yuasa Stock 1000 class in 2022 and those four wins have him atop the championship point standings. Alexander’s bogey on his scorecard came at VIR when he crashed in qualifying and suffered a concussion that kept him out of the two races.
Those two races were won by Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim and the pair arrives on the Monterey Peninsula just eight points apart. Next up, and just 10 points behind his points-leading teammate, is Travis Wyman. Wyman has finished every single round thus far (with four podiums) and he’s likely to stick around for the long haul and fight for this championship.
Wyman’s confidence should also be buoyed coming into the Laguna round by the fact that he beat Alexander by .032 of a second last year to win the race. Gillim, meanwhile, was off the couch for the weekend but racing in the Mission King Of The Baggers class and not Stock 1000.
Forty-one riders have entered the Yuasa Stock 1000 class for Laguna.
Mission King Of The Baggers: Indian vs. Harley
The Indian vs. Harley-Davidson rivalry in the MotoAmerica paddock isn’t a made-up public relations ploy. It’s real. And it picks back up this weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with Sunday’s eight-lap finale that will mark the fifth race of the series.
Leading the way in the title chase is Mission Foods/S&S Cycle/Indian Challenger Team’s Tyler O’Hara with the Petaluma resident making the 150-mile drive south with a seven-point lead over his teammate Jeremy McWilliams, the Ulsterman making the 5000-mile trip from Belfast second in the championship with a victory and three other podiums to his credit.
O’Hara leads the championship by virtue of a victory, a second, a third and a fourth – in that order – from the first four races.
The first of the Harleys is the HD Screamin’ Eagle Road Glide ridden by Travis Wyman, the Las Vegas resident taking his first win in the class the last time out at Road America. Travis Wyman has also finished all four races and it’s him and not his brother, defending series champion Kyle, who sits just eight points behind O’Hara.
Kyle Wyman’s defense of his Baggers title is all about a comeback has he fights to gain back the points from his non-finish in race two at Daytona International Speedway. Since Daytona, Kyle Wyman has finished first and second at Road Atlanta and Road America. Kyle is 13 points behind O’Hara as he comes to the track where he won his championship a season ago.
Two riders are tied for fifth and they are the two Vance & Hines Harley riders – James Rispoli and Taylor Knapp. Rispoli showed he had the pace of the top four at Road Atlanta when he finished second to Kyle Wyman. Knapp, meanwhile, has been the more consistent of the two with three fifths and a sixth in the four races.
REV’IT! Twins Cup – Barry’s Blight
Veloce Racing’s Jody Barry was running away with the 2022 REV’IT! Twins Cup Championship right up until the time that he wasn’t. That time was at the last round at Ridge Motorsports Park when he scuttled away with just 13 points from the two races while Rodio Racing/Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Anthony Mazziotto filled his pockets with 50 points, thus gaining 37 on Barry.
And just like that we have a battle for the REV’IT! Twins Cup Championship.
Cycle Tech’s Hayden Schultz is third, 39 points behind Barry and 17 ahead of N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s Blake Davis, the two men who won races at Daytona but haven’t won since. The top four in the championship are also the four who have won races in 2022: Barry (four), Mazziotto (two), Schultz (one) and Davis (one).
A rider to keep your eye on at WeatherTech Raceway in Twins Cup may be Team Yoshimura’s Ari Henning, the racing journalist set to compete on a highly visible and technically tricked-out Yamaha YZF-R7 straight from Yoshimura’s race shop.
Supersport – All Herrin
Sixty-eight points is a big lead at the end of the season. At the halfway mark, it’s massive. With four rounds and eight races in the bank, Josh Herrin and his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC Panigale V2 is 68 points ahead of his nearest competitor after winning five of the eight races held thus far in 2022. He’s also finished every race and has been on the podium in every round bar one – and that was a fourth-place finish in race one at VIR.
If beating Herrin elsewhere has been difficult, beating him at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca may be impossible. Let’s not forget that it’s one of Herrin’s favorites. Oh, yeah, and he’s also the outright Superbike lap record holder at the circuit.
It’s the battle for second in the title chase that will likely bring the suspense in Supersport and right now it’s Landers Racing’s Rocco Landers holding that spot with finishes in every round and four podiums.
Landers is just three points clear of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott, the rookie winning his first race in the class at Road America and scoring podium finishes in three other races.
N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s Kevin Olmedo has also finished in the points in every race and he’s coming off his first podium of the year at Ridge a few weeks ago. Olmedo is 15 points behind Scott and just five ahead of Sam Lochoff. Lochoff, however, will miss the Laguna round after undergoing surgery on a fractured ankle. He will be replaced on the second Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki for the weekend, though no announcement has been made yet.
Roland Sands Design’s Super Hooligan National Championship – DiBrino, Barely
Last year, Andy DiBrino and Chris Fillmore battled to the bitter end in the Roland Sands Design’s Super Hooligan National Championship race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with Fillmore winning by just .045 of a second. Since then, Fillmore has gone back to his day job at KTM and DiBrino has made hay while the sun has shined to lead this year’s championship heading to Monterey.
Guess what? Now he must face Fillmore again. And this race will mark the series finale for the series so there’s plenty to play for.
With a day of Supermoto practice under his belt, Fillmore makes his return to racing on his KTM 890 Duke R and will more than likely face-off against JLC Concrete/KTM/DiBrino Racing’s Andy DiBrino and his similar Duke.
Saddlemen/Lloyd’z Garage’s Cory West is the rider closest to DiBrino in the 2022 title chase and he’s only three points behind with a victory at Road Atlanta. West, in turn, is just one point ahead of Roland Sands Design’s Tyler O’Hara, the third of the three riders to score victory in 2022. O’Hara will be aboard his RSD Indian FTR1200.
The consistent Nate Kern sits fourth in the championship, 26 points behind after a fourth and two fifth-place finishes. Then comes O’Hara’s teammate Jeremy McWilliams, the Ulsterman missing Daytona but finishing fourth and second at Road Atlanta.
Pre-Race WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Support Class Notes…
As noted above, one of the closest of all the races last year at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca was the Roland Sands Design’s Super Hooligan National Championship race between Chris Fillmore and Andy DiBrino. The race was hotly contested and ultimately won by Fillmore by just .045 of a second.
Sean Dylan Kelly won both Supersport races at Laguna Seca last year, besting his rival Richie Escalante in both. Kelly went on to win the Supersport Championship and now races as a teammate to Cameron Beaubier on the American Racing team in the Moto2 World Championship. Escalante, meanwhile, has moved to the Medallia Superbike class on a Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki.
The Twins Cup race last year was won by Kaleb De Keyrel over Anthony Mazziotto and Jody Barry. The top three were covered by just 1.071 seconds at the conclusion of their 13-lap race.
Travis Wyman rode his BMW to victory in the Yuasa Stock 1000 race in 2021 by just .032 of a second over Corey Alexander. Jake Lewis, meanwhile, was third and only .286 behind with less than a second covering first to fourth-placed Andrew Lee. Lee wasn’t slated to ride Stock 1000 this year, but he’s signed up to replace the injured Michael Gilbert on the Cycle World/Octane/Chuckwalla Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 for the Laguna round.
Both SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup races a year ago were won by Tyler Scott, the youngster who would go on to take the title. Scott, who now races in the Supersport class, topped Benjamin Gloddy in both races. Gloddy now competes in the REV’IT Twins Cup Championship.
Kyle Wyman beat Tyler O’Hara by 4.3 seconds to win the Mission King Of The Baggers Race in 2022 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. With the win, Wyman sealed the championship.
One thing to watch for this weekend is the lap times of the Mission King Of The Baggers as lap records have tumbled at each of the rounds so far in 2022. Last year, O’Hara qualified on pole at Laguna with a 1:32.327 but that was bettered by Kyle Wyman’s 1:31.983 during the race.
About MotoAmerica
MotoAmerica is the North American road racing series created in 2014 that is home to the AMA Superbike Championship. MotoAmerica is an affiliate of KRAVE Group LLC, a partnership that includes three-time 500cc World Champion, two-time AMA Superbike Champion, and AMA Hall of Famer Wayne Rainey, ex-racer and former manager of Team Roberts Chuck Aksland, motorsports marketing executive Terry Karges, and businessman Richard Varner. For more information on MotoAmerica, visit www.MotoAmerica.com. Also make sure to follow MotoAmerica on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
More, from a press release issued by Ducati North America:
MotoAmerica Supersport Round 5 – Herrin Heads to His Favorite Hunting Ground at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
Josh Herrin aiming to extend his commanding lead in the 2022 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship at Laguna Seca this weekend
Sunnyvale, Calif. – Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC) heads to the famed grounds of Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca a massive 68 points clear of his nearest rival in the MotoAmerica Supersport title chase.
The Californian’s dominant double victory at round four at The Ridge in Washington State put the field on notice he is now the firm favorite to add to his previous triumph in 2013 AMA Superbike Championship.
A good performance at Laguna Seca will see Herrin with one hand effectively on the title as the team welcomes Medallia as a title sponsor for this event on the 2022 MotoAmerica schedule.
Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC Ducati – #2): “I’m super excited to go to Laguna Seca,” Herrin said. “I still have the outright MotoAmerica Superbike lap record there at a 1:22.908, so that’s something I’ve always been proud of. Laguna Seca is very similar to The Ridge, which I predicted before that we would have a really good race, so I think we’ll see the same here, Pittsburgh and Barber. These are all tracks I’m really looking forward to racing on the V2. We also have Medallia stepping up as the title sponsor and we’re super excited to have them as a partner for the year and be a part of a company as large as they are.”
Round five of the 2022 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship kicks off with practice on Friday, July 8 with race one scheduled for 2:10 pm PST on Saturday, July 9. Race two is scheduled for 2:10 pm PST on Sunday, July 10.
World Supersport: Debise Racing As Wild Card At Most
Valentin Debise, the current leader in the French Superbike and Supersport 600 Championships, will race his Team33accessoires.fr by VRT81 Yamaha YZF-R6 as a wild card in the FIM Supersport World Championship round July 29-31 at Autodrom Most, in the Czech Republic.
Debise will compete with his own team but will be supported with technical and logistical assistance from the GMT94 Yamaha team.
Canadian Superbike: Dion, Lafortune Lead Support Classes Into Calabogie
Dion, Lafortune lead unpredictable support classes into Calabogie this weekend
Toronto, ON – The Canadian Superbike Championship returns for more thrilling action in round two at Calabogie Motorsports Park, and with it comes more opportunities for the five wide-open support classes to steal the show this weekend, July 9-10.
The biggest spotlight amongst them is on the Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike class, where emerging star Trevor Dion carries a slim 12-point advantage into the second-round doubleheader over Elliot Vieira and just another point clear of David MacKay.
Dion made plenty of headlines for his Pro Superbike efforts in Grand Bend as he produced a historic rookie debut while “doing the double” in the two Pro categories, but it was his performance in the Sport Bike class that he will likely be more pleased with as he won race one and followed it up with a third-place finish in race two.
His home track advantage gave him the early benchmark he needed, especially given Dion’s lack of experience at Calabogie. The LDS Consultants Kawasaki rider has yet to appear at the track as a Pro, and in fact has not raced at CMP since his Lightweight days back in 2019, a key story to watch as he hopes to exit the first four races with a championship lead intact.
The betting favourite on race days may instead be Vieira, something the former Guyanese champion has likely not heard in some time. The Snow City Yamaha rider has made steady progress since moving to Canada in 2017, but luck has rarely gone Vieira’s way – most notably last season in Calabogie when he suffered a mechanical failure whilst pushing Sebastian Tremblay for the win.
That performance was especially notable as it represented one of the only legitimate challenges to Tremblay, who bagged a perfect season en route to the title. With the reigning champion now out of the picture, good luck may be all that stands in Vieira’s way of a first career Pro national victory.
Benefitting most from that mechanical issue a year ago was MacKay, who went on to finish second in the race and the championship overall. The disappointment of a race one DNF at his home track will still sting, but a race two victory has kept the Fast Company Kawasaki rider firmly in the title mix with six races to go.
With consistency proving to be key in the support classes, this weekend could be especially crucial for MacKay, who has proven to be a sure-fire podium threat at every track on the calendar. The same could almost be said of Hornblower, but the fourth-place runner in the championship has yet to score national points at Calabogie, putting the pressure on the 2019 champion and Bickle Racing Yamaha rider this weekend.
Another name to watch out for in ‘Bogie will be the return of Phillippe Masse, who finished third in the overall standings a year ago thanks to podiums in both CMP rounds (and three of four races overall). Masse did not contest round one in Grand Bend, but has continued his local dominance in the Pro 6 GP regional series and will look to carry that momentum back onto the podium this weekend.
As for the Amateur ranks, a familiar name will look to overcome two differing rivals, as Julien Lafortune leads the AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike class and Sebastian Hothaza paces the Amateur Sport Bike category – both ahead of Nathan Playford.
Lafortune got the better of Playford in the opening round at Calabogie last season, qualifying on pole position and eventually finishing third for Kawasaki, while Playford could only muster seventh aboard his Honda, but both riders have shown increased pace to begin the 2022 campaign.
However, both may have to deal with the return of local BMW star Guillaume Lavalee, who finished second in both races at Calabogie last season and has continued his expertise in the Pro 6 GP series.
As for in the Sport Bike category, its Hothaza who will carry a slim lead over Playford, but the Grand Bend local is questionable for round two in Calabogie. Regardless, Playford may be the overwhelming favourite to take over the title chase, having finished third in round one at CMP last season and running at the front again in round three before crashing out.
The most wide-open class remains the Super Sonic Race School Lightweight category, even if the round one results would suggest otherwise. Championship leader Evan Moriarity dominated Grand Bend with pole position and a pair of victories, but a win at the recent Pro 6 GP event has been his only ever experience at Calabogie.
His biggest challenger may be Kawasaki veteran Jacob Black, who finished second in all four races he finished last season but had his championship challenge ruined by a pair of crashes. Black has continued his strong form regionally at Calabogie, and remains just six points off second in the national championship through round one.
As for the Pro/Am ranks, the inaugural series will head to CMP for the first time after a successful debut weekend in round one. Jared Walker will lead the Pro ranks after a pair of overall victories, though his two closest competitors, Istvan Hidvegi and Harvey Renaud, both have far more experience around the Calabogie circuit.
The Amateur division will carry the closest margin of any class into round two, as Vincent Wilson leads Grant Nesbitt by just a single point. Nesbitt would be the more experience of the pair at Calabogie, though both will have to contend with Black at the front in the combined series.
The full schedule of the support class action can be found on the series’ official website.
American Mikey Lou Sanchez On The Moto4 Podium In Spain
CIV (Campeonato Interautonomica de Velocidad)
Circuito de Navarra, Spain
July 3, 2022
Mikey Lou Sanchez finishes on the podium at Circuito de Navarra.
American Mikey Lou Sanchez raced in the Spanish CIV Series this past weekend, July 3, at the Circuito de Navarra in the Moto4 category on his personal training bike.
Friday consisted of four practice sessions during which Mikey was able to get his bike set up for this track. On Saturday, he had two qualifying sessions and he qualified P2.
During the warm-up session on Sunday morning, Mikey was able to improve his lap time by 0.8 second over his qualifying time.
In the race, Mikey improved his lap times by another 0.6 second and finished in second place.
“We have decided to do some of the Spanish CIV rounds to prepare Mikey for the ESBK Championship rounds coming up, including when he races here at Navarra in September. His next race is in two weeks at Motorland Aragon on July 23-24,” said Mikey’s father Mike Sanchez.
Mikey Lou Sanchez would like to thank these people for their support: Shawn Knoche, Roadway Traffic Control, Williams Custom Painting, San Marcos Iron Doors, Texas Motorcycle Academy, Fondu, Niemi Fine Art, and Paul Stamper.
MotoAmerica: Herrin Heads Supersport FP1 At Laguna Seca
MotoAmerica: Rispoli Rips During Twins Cup FP1 At Laguna Seca
MotoAmerica: Van Leads Junior Cup FP1 At Laguna Seca
Video: Wayne Rainey’s First Ride On His YZR500 At Goodwood
Watch BT Sport GP’s special video chronicling Wayne Rainey’s first ride on his 1992 World Championship-winning YZR500 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed via the link below.
Video: Shayna Texter, The SuperTwins Journey
Shayna Texter is a true trailblazer. As the lone woman in American Flat Track, Texter had a dominant career in the Singles division, claiming the most Singles victories in AFT history. Yet, despite that success, she continues to set her sights on even higher goals and aspirations by taking on a new class and challenge. Among a long list of other firsts, Texter is the first woman in history to secure a factory ride with Indian Motorcycle Racing and compete in the premiere Super Twins class, where she races alongside and against her teammate husband, Briar Bauman.
As America’s First Motorcycle Company, Indian Motorcycle is celebrating “First Movers” and those who have made their mark in motorcycling with a special video series. In this second episode, Indian Motorcycle recognizes Shayna Texter, celebrating her past successes while documenting her all-new challenges in the SuperTwins class.
MotoAmerica: Kyle Wyman Subbing For Lewis At Laguna Seca
WYMAN AND VENTURA TO SUBSTITUTE FOR VISION WHEEL M4 ECSTAR SUZUKI AT MOTOAMERICA ROUND IN LAGUNA SECA
BREA, Calif., July 7, 2022 — Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki will field two replacement riders at this coming weekend’s MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California.
Kyle Wyman will ride a Suzuki GSX-R1000R in Superbike competition in place of the injured Jake Lewis, while Cory Ventura will substitute for Sam Lochoff aboard a Suzuki GSX-R750 in Supersport.
Lewis is recovering from surgery after suffering an injury during Saturday’s race at the Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, Washington.
Wyman, from Macedon, New York, has excelled in several MotoAmerica classes, has won the Daytona 200, and boasts multiple Superbike podium finishes over his career, including scoring one earlier this year while riding in a substitute role for another team at Road Atlanta.
“We looked for someone with Superbike experience who could get a result and was available,” said Chris Ulrich, Vice President of Racing Operations for Team Hammer. “Kyle was at the top of the list. He has tested with us before so we know his skill set and how he works. We’re looking forward to seeing what he can do on our bike.”
With Lochoff out, Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki will turn to Cory Ventura to substitute at his home track. The Twins Cup regular is an AFM champion and a proven standout at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, where he has taken three MotoAmerica Supersport podiums in the series’ most recent two stops at the fabled venue.
“Sam needs to recover from a dirt bike incident while training. He fractured his ankle. We need to fill the seat while Sam recovers, so we are giving Cory Ventura a shot,” said Ulrich. “Cory did surprisingly well in 2021 at Laguna Seca, so we decided to see how he will do on our 750 at his home track. We know how good the bike is, even in its first season, and fully expect Cory to do well.”
Team Hammer will race at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California, on July 8-10.
ABOUT TEAM HAMMER
The 2022 season marks Team Hammer’s 42nd consecutive year of operating as a professional road racing team. Racebikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 129 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races, have finished on AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National podiums 340 times, and have won 11 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National Championships, as well as two FIM South American Championships (in Superbike and Supersport.) The team has also won 137 endurance races overall (including seven 24-hour races) and 13 Overall WERA National Endurance Championships with Suzuki motorcycles and holds the U.S. record for mileage covered in a 24-hour race. The team also competed in the televised 1990s Formula USA National Championship, famously running “Methanol Monster” GSX-R1100 Superbikes fueled by methanol, and won four F-USA Championships.
ABOUT VISION WHEEL
Founded in 1976, Vision Wheel is one of the nation’s leading providers of custom wheels for cars and trucks, and one of the first manufacturers of custom wheels and tires for ATVs, UTVs, and golf carts. Vision Wheel looks beyond the current trends and to the future in developing, manufacturing, and distributing its wheels. Vision’s lines of street, race, off-road, American Muscle, and Milanni wheels are distributed nationally and internationally through a trusted network of distributors. Vision Wheel also produces the Vision It AR app to allow users to see how their wheel of choice will look on their vehicle before purchase and installation. For more information on Vision Wheel, visit www.visionwheel.com.
ABOUT SUZUKI
Suzuki Motor USA, LLC. (SMO) distributes Motorcycles, ATVs, Scooters, Automotive Parts, Accessories, and ECSTAR Oils & Chemicals via an extensive dealer network throughout 49 states. Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), based in Hamamatsu, Japan, is a diversified worldwide manufacturer of Motorcycles, ATVs, Scooters, Automobiles, Outboard Motors, and related products. Founded in 1909 and incorporated in 1920, SMC has business relations with 201 countries/regions. For more information, visit www.suzuki.com.
MotoAmerica: Previews Of The Six Other Classes Racing At Laguna Seca (Updated)
Ready, Set, Go: Six Support-Class Thrillers Slated For WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Round
Everything From King Of The Baggers To Junior Cup To Super Hooligans Set For GEICO Motorcycle MotoAmerica Superbike Speedfest At Monterey, July 8-10
IRVINE, CA (July 7, 2022) – So what class features the closest title fight as the 2022 MotoAmerica Championship heads to WeatherTech Raceway for the GEICO Motorcycle MotoAmerica Superbike Speedfest At Monterey? Well, that would be the SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup Championship with just eight points separating the top four riders – and just 19 points separating the top five – in the class where youth is most definitely served.
The Yuasa Stock 1000 class is also anyone’s title with 10 points separating the top three; the Mission King Of The Baggers class returns to the racetrack at Laguna with eight points separating the top three; and just four points separate the three riders at the top in the Roland Sands Design’s Super Hooligan National Championship.
So how important is the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca round as the MotoAmerica Championship barrels into its second half? Read on.
SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup – It’s A Rodio At The Top
Rodio Racing/Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Gus Rodio didn’t start his 2022 Junior Cup campaign with a flurry, but he did make sure he put gobs of points in the bank until things turned around. And they have turned around. After starting the season with a pair of fifths and a fourth-place finish, Rodio has been on a tear of late with five podiums in a row, including his lone victory coming two weeks ago at Ridge Motorsports Park.
His consistency, speed and zero non-finishes (the only rider in the class to pocket points in every race) has Rodio at the top of the SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup Championship, albeit by just two points in what is the most hotly contested points battle in the series.
Rodio leads Alpha Omega’s Cody Wyman and SportbikeTrackGear.com’s Joseph LiMandri Jr. by just two points with those two tied for second. Wyman is the class leader with three wins, but an off weekend in the Pacific Northwest knocked Wyman out of the points lead. LiMandri, like Rodio, has had the hot hand of late with four podiums in a row, including his lone victory at Road America.
Hot off her first career MotoAmerica victory is Kayla Yaakov, and she comes to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca just eight points out of the championship lead and hungry for more wins.
Yuasa Stock 1000 – Alexander vs. Gillim vs. Wyman
Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing’s Corey Alexander has won every race that he’s finished in the Yuasa Stock 1000 class in 2022 and those four wins have him atop the championship point standings. Alexander’s bogey on his scorecard came at VIR when he crashed in qualifying and suffered a concussion that kept him out of the two races.
Those two races were won by Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim and the pair arrives on the Monterey Peninsula just eight points apart. Next up, and just 10 points behind his points-leading teammate, is Travis Wyman. Wyman has finished every single round thus far (with four podiums) and he’s likely to stick around for the long haul and fight for this championship.
Wyman’s confidence should also be buoyed coming into the Laguna round by the fact that he beat Alexander by .032 of a second last year to win the race. Gillim, meanwhile, was off the couch for the weekend but racing in the Mission King Of The Baggers class and not Stock 1000.
Forty-one riders have entered the Yuasa Stock 1000 class for Laguna.
Mission King Of The Baggers: Indian vs. Harley
The Indian vs. Harley-Davidson rivalry in the MotoAmerica paddock isn’t a made-up public relations ploy. It’s real. And it picks back up this weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with Sunday’s eight-lap finale that will mark the fifth race of the series.
Leading the way in the title chase is Mission Foods/S&S Cycle/Indian Challenger Team’s Tyler O’Hara with the Petaluma resident making the 150-mile drive south with a seven-point lead over his teammate Jeremy McWilliams, the Ulsterman making the 5000-mile trip from Belfast second in the championship with a victory and three other podiums to his credit.
O’Hara leads the championship by virtue of a victory, a second, a third and a fourth – in that order – from the first four races.
The first of the Harleys is the HD Screamin’ Eagle Road Glide ridden by Travis Wyman, the Las Vegas resident taking his first win in the class the last time out at Road America. Travis Wyman has also finished all four races and it’s him and not his brother, defending series champion Kyle, who sits just eight points behind O’Hara.
Kyle Wyman’s defense of his Baggers title is all about a comeback has he fights to gain back the points from his non-finish in race two at Daytona International Speedway. Since Daytona, Kyle Wyman has finished first and second at Road Atlanta and Road America. Kyle is 13 points behind O’Hara as he comes to the track where he won his championship a season ago.
Two riders are tied for fifth and they are the two Vance & Hines Harley riders – James Rispoli and Taylor Knapp. Rispoli showed he had the pace of the top four at Road Atlanta when he finished second to Kyle Wyman. Knapp, meanwhile, has been the more consistent of the two with three fifths and a sixth in the four races.
REV’IT! Twins Cup – Barry’s Blight
Veloce Racing’s Jody Barry was running away with the 2022 REV’IT! Twins Cup Championship right up until the time that he wasn’t. That time was at the last round at Ridge Motorsports Park when he scuttled away with just 13 points from the two races while Rodio Racing/Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Anthony Mazziotto filled his pockets with 50 points, thus gaining 37 on Barry.
And just like that we have a battle for the REV’IT! Twins Cup Championship.
Cycle Tech’s Hayden Schultz is third, 39 points behind Barry and 17 ahead of N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s Blake Davis, the two men who won races at Daytona but haven’t won since. The top four in the championship are also the four who have won races in 2022: Barry (four), Mazziotto (two), Schultz (one) and Davis (one).
A rider to keep your eye on at WeatherTech Raceway in Twins Cup may be Team Yoshimura’s Ari Henning, the racing journalist set to compete on a highly visible and technically tricked-out Yamaha YZF-R7 straight from Yoshimura’s race shop.
Supersport – All Herrin
Sixty-eight points is a big lead at the end of the season. At the halfway mark, it’s massive. With four rounds and eight races in the bank, Josh Herrin and his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC Panigale V2 is 68 points ahead of his nearest competitor after winning five of the eight races held thus far in 2022. He’s also finished every race and has been on the podium in every round bar one – and that was a fourth-place finish in race one at VIR.
If beating Herrin elsewhere has been difficult, beating him at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca may be impossible. Let’s not forget that it’s one of Herrin’s favorites. Oh, yeah, and he’s also the outright Superbike lap record holder at the circuit.
It’s the battle for second in the title chase that will likely bring the suspense in Supersport and right now it’s Landers Racing’s Rocco Landers holding that spot with finishes in every round and four podiums.
Landers is just three points clear of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott, the rookie winning his first race in the class at Road America and scoring podium finishes in three other races.
N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s Kevin Olmedo has also finished in the points in every race and he’s coming off his first podium of the year at Ridge a few weeks ago. Olmedo is 15 points behind Scott and just five ahead of Sam Lochoff. Lochoff, however, will miss the Laguna round after undergoing surgery on a fractured ankle. He will be replaced on the second Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki for the weekend, though no announcement has been made yet.
Roland Sands Design’s Super Hooligan National Championship – DiBrino, Barely
Last year, Andy DiBrino and Chris Fillmore battled to the bitter end in the Roland Sands Design’s Super Hooligan National Championship race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with Fillmore winning by just .045 of a second. Since then, Fillmore has gone back to his day job at KTM and DiBrino has made hay while the sun has shined to lead this year’s championship heading to Monterey.
Guess what? Now he must face Fillmore again. And this race will mark the series finale for the series so there’s plenty to play for.
With a day of Supermoto practice under his belt, Fillmore makes his return to racing on his KTM 890 Duke R and will more than likely face-off against JLC Concrete/KTM/DiBrino Racing’s Andy DiBrino and his similar Duke.
Saddlemen/Lloyd’z Garage’s Cory West is the rider closest to DiBrino in the 2022 title chase and he’s only three points behind with a victory at Road Atlanta. West, in turn, is just one point ahead of Roland Sands Design’s Tyler O’Hara, the third of the three riders to score victory in 2022. O’Hara will be aboard his RSD Indian FTR1200.
The consistent Nate Kern sits fourth in the championship, 26 points behind after a fourth and two fifth-place finishes. Then comes O’Hara’s teammate Jeremy McWilliams, the Ulsterman missing Daytona but finishing fourth and second at Road Atlanta.
Pre-Race WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Support Class Notes…
As noted above, one of the closest of all the races last year at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca was the Roland Sands Design’s Super Hooligan National Championship race between Chris Fillmore and Andy DiBrino. The race was hotly contested and ultimately won by Fillmore by just .045 of a second.
Sean Dylan Kelly won both Supersport races at Laguna Seca last year, besting his rival Richie Escalante in both. Kelly went on to win the Supersport Championship and now races as a teammate to Cameron Beaubier on the American Racing team in the Moto2 World Championship. Escalante, meanwhile, has moved to the Medallia Superbike class on a Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki.
The Twins Cup race last year was won by Kaleb De Keyrel over Anthony Mazziotto and Jody Barry. The top three were covered by just 1.071 seconds at the conclusion of their 13-lap race.
Travis Wyman rode his BMW to victory in the Yuasa Stock 1000 race in 2021 by just .032 of a second over Corey Alexander. Jake Lewis, meanwhile, was third and only .286 behind with less than a second covering first to fourth-placed Andrew Lee. Lee wasn’t slated to ride Stock 1000 this year, but he’s signed up to replace the injured Michael Gilbert on the Cycle World/Octane/Chuckwalla Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 for the Laguna round.
Both SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup races a year ago were won by Tyler Scott, the youngster who would go on to take the title. Scott, who now races in the Supersport class, topped Benjamin Gloddy in both races. Gloddy now competes in the REV’IT Twins Cup Championship.
Kyle Wyman beat Tyler O’Hara by 4.3 seconds to win the Mission King Of The Baggers Race in 2022 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. With the win, Wyman sealed the championship.
One thing to watch for this weekend is the lap times of the Mission King Of The Baggers as lap records have tumbled at each of the rounds so far in 2022. Last year, O’Hara qualified on pole at Laguna with a 1:32.327 but that was bettered by Kyle Wyman’s 1:31.983 during the race.
About MotoAmerica
MotoAmerica is the North American road racing series created in 2014 that is home to the AMA Superbike Championship. MotoAmerica is an affiliate of KRAVE Group LLC, a partnership that includes three-time 500cc World Champion, two-time AMA Superbike Champion, and AMA Hall of Famer Wayne Rainey, ex-racer and former manager of Team Roberts Chuck Aksland, motorsports marketing executive Terry Karges, and businessman Richard Varner. For more information on MotoAmerica, visit www.MotoAmerica.com. Also make sure to follow MotoAmerica on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
More, from a press release issued by Ducati North America:
MotoAmerica Supersport Round 5 – Herrin Heads to His Favorite Hunting Ground at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
Josh Herrin aiming to extend his commanding lead in the 2022 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship at Laguna Seca this weekend
Sunnyvale, Calif. – Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC) heads to the famed grounds of Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca a massive 68 points clear of his nearest rival in the MotoAmerica Supersport title chase.
The Californian’s dominant double victory at round four at The Ridge in Washington State put the field on notice he is now the firm favorite to add to his previous triumph in 2013 AMA Superbike Championship.
A good performance at Laguna Seca will see Herrin with one hand effectively on the title as the team welcomes Medallia as a title sponsor for this event on the 2022 MotoAmerica schedule.
Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC Ducati – #2): “I’m super excited to go to Laguna Seca,” Herrin said. “I still have the outright MotoAmerica Superbike lap record there at a 1:22.908, so that’s something I’ve always been proud of. Laguna Seca is very similar to The Ridge, which I predicted before that we would have a really good race, so I think we’ll see the same here, Pittsburgh and Barber. These are all tracks I’m really looking forward to racing on the V2. We also have Medallia stepping up as the title sponsor and we’re super excited to have them as a partner for the year and be a part of a company as large as they are.”
Round five of the 2022 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship kicks off with practice on Friday, July 8 with race one scheduled for 2:10 pm PST on Saturday, July 9. Race two is scheduled for 2:10 pm PST on Sunday, July 10.
World Supersport: Debise Racing As Wild Card At Most
Valentin Debise, the current leader in the French Superbike and Supersport 600 Championships, will race his Team33accessoires.fr by VRT81 Yamaha YZF-R6 as a wild card in the FIM Supersport World Championship round July 29-31 at Autodrom Most, in the Czech Republic.
Debise will compete with his own team but will be supported with technical and logistical assistance from the GMT94 Yamaha team.
Canadian Superbike: Dion, Lafortune Lead Support Classes Into Calabogie
Dion, Lafortune lead unpredictable support classes into Calabogie this weekend
Toronto, ON – The Canadian Superbike Championship returns for more thrilling action in round two at Calabogie Motorsports Park, and with it comes more opportunities for the five wide-open support classes to steal the show this weekend, July 9-10.
The biggest spotlight amongst them is on the Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike class, where emerging star Trevor Dion carries a slim 12-point advantage into the second-round doubleheader over Elliot Vieira and just another point clear of David MacKay.
Dion made plenty of headlines for his Pro Superbike efforts in Grand Bend as he produced a historic rookie debut while “doing the double” in the two Pro categories, but it was his performance in the Sport Bike class that he will likely be more pleased with as he won race one and followed it up with a third-place finish in race two.
His home track advantage gave him the early benchmark he needed, especially given Dion’s lack of experience at Calabogie. The LDS Consultants Kawasaki rider has yet to appear at the track as a Pro, and in fact has not raced at CMP since his Lightweight days back in 2019, a key story to watch as he hopes to exit the first four races with a championship lead intact.
The betting favourite on race days may instead be Vieira, something the former Guyanese champion has likely not heard in some time. The Snow City Yamaha rider has made steady progress since moving to Canada in 2017, but luck has rarely gone Vieira’s way – most notably last season in Calabogie when he suffered a mechanical failure whilst pushing Sebastian Tremblay for the win.
That performance was especially notable as it represented one of the only legitimate challenges to Tremblay, who bagged a perfect season en route to the title. With the reigning champion now out of the picture, good luck may be all that stands in Vieira’s way of a first career Pro national victory.
Benefitting most from that mechanical issue a year ago was MacKay, who went on to finish second in the race and the championship overall. The disappointment of a race one DNF at his home track will still sting, but a race two victory has kept the Fast Company Kawasaki rider firmly in the title mix with six races to go.
With consistency proving to be key in the support classes, this weekend could be especially crucial for MacKay, who has proven to be a sure-fire podium threat at every track on the calendar. The same could almost be said of Hornblower, but the fourth-place runner in the championship has yet to score national points at Calabogie, putting the pressure on the 2019 champion and Bickle Racing Yamaha rider this weekend.
Another name to watch out for in ‘Bogie will be the return of Phillippe Masse, who finished third in the overall standings a year ago thanks to podiums in both CMP rounds (and three of four races overall). Masse did not contest round one in Grand Bend, but has continued his local dominance in the Pro 6 GP regional series and will look to carry that momentum back onto the podium this weekend.
As for the Amateur ranks, a familiar name will look to overcome two differing rivals, as Julien Lafortune leads the AIM Insurance Amateur Superbike class and Sebastian Hothaza paces the Amateur Sport Bike category – both ahead of Nathan Playford.
Lafortune got the better of Playford in the opening round at Calabogie last season, qualifying on pole position and eventually finishing third for Kawasaki, while Playford could only muster seventh aboard his Honda, but both riders have shown increased pace to begin the 2022 campaign.
However, both may have to deal with the return of local BMW star Guillaume Lavalee, who finished second in both races at Calabogie last season and has continued his expertise in the Pro 6 GP series.
As for in the Sport Bike category, its Hothaza who will carry a slim lead over Playford, but the Grand Bend local is questionable for round two in Calabogie. Regardless, Playford may be the overwhelming favourite to take over the title chase, having finished third in round one at CMP last season and running at the front again in round three before crashing out.
The most wide-open class remains the Super Sonic Race School Lightweight category, even if the round one results would suggest otherwise. Championship leader Evan Moriarity dominated Grand Bend with pole position and a pair of victories, but a win at the recent Pro 6 GP event has been his only ever experience at Calabogie.
His biggest challenger may be Kawasaki veteran Jacob Black, who finished second in all four races he finished last season but had his championship challenge ruined by a pair of crashes. Black has continued his strong form regionally at Calabogie, and remains just six points off second in the national championship through round one.
As for the Pro/Am ranks, the inaugural series will head to CMP for the first time after a successful debut weekend in round one. Jared Walker will lead the Pro ranks after a pair of overall victories, though his two closest competitors, Istvan Hidvegi and Harvey Renaud, both have far more experience around the Calabogie circuit.
The Amateur division will carry the closest margin of any class into round two, as Vincent Wilson leads Grant Nesbitt by just a single point. Nesbitt would be the more experience of the pair at Calabogie, though both will have to contend with Black at the front in the combined series.
The full schedule of the support class action can be found on the series’ official website.
American Mikey Lou Sanchez On The Moto4 Podium In Spain
CIV (Campeonato Interautonomica de Velocidad)
Circuito de Navarra, Spain
July 3, 2022
Mikey Lou Sanchez finishes on the podium at Circuito de Navarra.
American Mikey Lou Sanchez raced in the Spanish CIV Series this past weekend, July 3, at the Circuito de Navarra in the Moto4 category on his personal training bike.
Friday consisted of four practice sessions during which Mikey was able to get his bike set up for this track. On Saturday, he had two qualifying sessions and he qualified P2.
During the warm-up session on Sunday morning, Mikey was able to improve his lap time by 0.8 second over his qualifying time.
In the race, Mikey improved his lap times by another 0.6 second and finished in second place.
“We have decided to do some of the Spanish CIV rounds to prepare Mikey for the ESBK Championship rounds coming up, including when he races here at Navarra in September. His next race is in two weeks at Motorland Aragon on July 23-24,” said Mikey’s father Mike Sanchez.
Mikey Lou Sanchez would like to thank these people for their support: Shawn Knoche, Roadway Traffic Control, Williams Custom Painting, San Marcos Iron Doors, Texas Motorcycle Academy, Fondu, Niemi Fine Art, and Paul Stamper.