Australian Superbike: Race Report From Wakefield Park Raceway

David Swarts

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April 24, 2022

Australian Superbike: Race Report From Wakefield Park Raceway

ASBK ’22: Jones takes the round, Maxwell back in the hunt

Twas a foggy start to the day and there was some talk of a delay to the start of the warmup sessions. But again, the Racing Gods were kind and proceedings kicked off at 9 am for the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship, presented by Motul as the OJC headed out on track for their warmup. By 10 am the sun was out, the fog cleared, and we settled in for what would be a great day of racing…

Alpinestars Superbike

Ordinarily, the morning warm-up would pass with barely a mention. But Wayne Maxwell had noted at the Saturday evening press conference that the Boost Mobile with K tech team would be returning to previous settings, so interest was piqued. The #1 plate was up by a lot on the Friday and just conceded ground in every session from then on. In the warmup it was that Mike Jones (Yamaha Racing Team) from Maxwell with Cru Halliday third.

Notable news from the warmup were crashes from both Lachlan Epis and Broc Pearson- in Pearson’s case, the Racesafe Medical team were dispatched to attend to him. Shortly after the session concluded, Race Direction sent out a bulletin indicating that Pearson was to be transferred to the hospital for further investigation and would play no further part in the day’s proceedings.

As they say, once the flag drops, the BS stops and it was Wayne Maxwell who took the lead into turn one, showing the Yamaha Racing Team pair of Jones and Halliday the way around the 2.2km Wakefield Park Raceway.

It remained thus: Maxwell, Jones and Halliday. Local lad, the much-improved Troy Herfoss, worked his way up to fourth and when Halliday had a small glitch early in the race, Herfoss found himself in contention for a podium spot.

At the front, Jones was probing and poking the bear that is Wayne Maxwell. While Maxwell was not only in P1 and had nailed the fastest lap of the race, he was somehow not riding away. Smooth, yes, alone; no. A .3 of a second lead was the most he could manage and as ASBK Commentator Phil Harlum would note “that’s a Wakefield zero”.

Behind the leading quartet, Bryan Staring found himself in no man’s land while Sissis, Waters, Allerton, Falzon and Epis all fought for position. Marcus Chiodo was having a solid dice with this second group until a crash at turn one ended his race and turned his bike into a collection of spare parts. He walked away, seemingly uninjured, but an ankle injury would see him out for the day.

At the front, it remained tense. At half distance, Maxwell and Jones remained locked in an immoveable arm wrestle. Every fast Maxwell lap saw Jones follow suit. The gap between the two sat at less than .2 of a second and the pundits wondered aloud if Jones was just content to stay where he was and wait for the final act.

While Halliday had fallen into Herfoss’ clutches for a time, he just put his head down and worked his way back into contention, but with six laps to go, he sat just a tantalising .8 off the back of the leading pair. Herfoss had been unable to stay with Halliday and a four-second gap opened.

Jones stopped biding his time with three to go and showed Maxwell a wheel at every opportunity and finally put a pass on the 2021 champion to take the lead into turn three- much to the surprise of onlookers and riders alike.

It was as unexpected as it was brilliant, and Maxwell seemed to have no answer. Immediately, Jones pushed his Yamaha R1 ahead and opened a seemingly unbeatable .6 gap to Maxwell’s familiar Boost Mobile Ducati.

Jones would hit the finish line by 1.118 seconds to take a tactically perfect victory and increase his lead in the Alpinestars Superbike Championship.

Halliday would finish third with the top ten made up of Herfoss, Staring, Sissis, Allerton, Waters, Falzon and West.

In race two, Jones got the good start he needed, and a motivated and aggressive Cru Halliday held on for second with Wayne Maxwell similarly aggressive. These two came together as they came onto the straight and set the tone for the rest of the 20 lap journey.

Halliday would get shuffled back to fourth by Bryan Staring as Jones again tried to get away from the pursuing pack. Maxwell- who lead the first race- now found himself as the hunter and settled happily into second place.

Meanwhile, fifth-placed Troy Herfoss stayed in contention behind Halliday. Up front, Maxwell was all over Jones but these two had now opened a one-second gap to the riders behind. Arthur Sissis showed he’s realising his huge potential by sitting in sixth with a German triumvirate of BMWs behind him in the form of Waters, Allerton and Epis.

Out front, Maxwell seemed to be playing the numbers and saving his tyres. While Jones happily – in Maxwell’s words “did the donkey work”, the 2021 champion did the same thing Jones did in race one; observed, poked and prodded.

Halliday got past Staring in an important championship-points situation. Staring’s tyre woes appeared to have struck as Herfoss also put a pass on the Western Australian’s DesmoSport Panigale.

At the halfway point it was Jones and Maxwell out front with Maxwell “shadowing Jones perfectly” according to ASBK commentator Steve Martin. The tactic also seemed to suit Maxwell physically who had complained of arm pump in race one.

Herfoss and Halliday were trading lap times in third and fourth, but neither was able to set off after the leaders, while Staring was clearly struggling with his Ducati.’s rear grip.

On lap 14, Maxwell ran out of patience- or saw an opportunity- and took the race lead into the last turn. Immediately he did the expected thing and banged out a fast lap. But he might as well have been actually towing Jones around as the blue R1 stayed glued to his tailpipe.

Meanwhile, Herfoss was as brave as he was confident, and tried to get around Halliday, only to run wide and let Halliday get away.

At the pointy end, the tables were turned, with Jones now in hot pursuit. Maxwell was riding 10/10ths and while there were only a few laps left, it was far from over.

Maxwell got out to a .3 second lap, but for all that effort, Jones reeled him in again with a lap to go to get back on terms. For all his efforts, Jones seemed to be losing some drive and Maxwell was clearly hungry for the win.

Maxwell played the last lap to perfection and drove the Ducati to the line to take the win to put himself well into the championship contention in terms of points and perhaps even more importantly, put himself psychologically back in the game.

Final Results: https://www.computime.com.au/Meetings/2022/ASBK22_3/ASBK22_3_R15.pdf

End of round live press conference: https://youtu.be/A_308YGaw_8

Alpinestars Superbike standings after Round 3

1 46 Mike JONES Yamaha 132

2 1 Wayne MAXWELL Ducati 109

3 67 Bryan STARING Ducati 102

Michelin Supersport

Sean Condon stepped in for the absent Tom Edwards and there were murmurs in the paddock about how a retired rider with a seven-year absence from racing could turn up and take pole.

The talk was not suspicion about Condon’s pace, but rather the lack of it from the rest of the field who, once the flag dropped for Race One, needed to show that season-long racers would beat a one-off guest rider.

Almost immediately after the race started, Tom Drane had an excursion at turn two and that brought out the red flag. Drane remounted and returned to the track. Sean Condon was one of the few riders pleased to see the red flag after he literally missed the start. While being interviewed by Kate Peck for ASBK TV, he admitted that he not only missed the start, but he also wasn’t even sure about how the light sequence worked.

At the restart, Condon repeated his poor start and immediately dropped to fourth, with Lytras, Lynch and Nicholson ahead.

On lap two, all hell broke loose with Bramich, Nicholson and Mahon all crashing in the space of 30 seconds. Nicholson would remount but go a lap down.

Out front, Lytras and Lynch diced for the lead, trading places while Condon looked on. The leading trio would push out to a 6+ second lead. Lytras tried to push hard in the middle part of the race to get a gap, but Lynch and Condon gave him nothing. Condon seemed to be checking out potential passing points while biding his time.

With two laps to go, the lap times dropped under one minute and Condon tried to push past Lynch, but could not find a gap.

Lytras lead them into the final lap and ground out a small, but handy lead. Meanwhile, Condon finally took second place from Lynch, while Lytras saluted for the win.

Mitch Kuhne and Jake Farnsworth were fourth and fifth while Scott Nicholson salvaged some championship points by finishing 10th.

For the post-lunch break race two, the light rain that had threatened to derail everyone’s best-laid plans did the honourable thing and disappeared with some cloud and sun setting up a tantalising battle.

Polesitter Sean Condon had- courtesy of a restart in race one- two race starts and both were ugly. Race two was no different as the bike reared up briefly and he gifted the lead to John Lytras with Ty Lynch and Scott Nicholson filling the top three.

Lytras took the lead and immediately got down to business, pressing home the advantage out to 7/10th of a second while the following trio of Lynch, Nicholson and Condon tried to stay in touch.

Things would remain that way for much of the early and middle part of the race and while Lytras was keen to get away, the pursuers still had him in sight and were not letting go.

In the final third of the race, the leading foursome split into two pairs of Lytras and Lynch and then Nicholson and Condon.

Mitch Kuhne ran out of luck after several heart in mouth moments and crashed, remounting in 12th place.

With two to go, Condon got past Nicholson and set off after the leading pair. Lytras and Lynch started the last lap nose to tail, and it became clear that only they could take the top spot on the podium.

Lytras again showed his determination and stamped not only his authority on the race, but showed he is capable of taking the 2022 title, winning by .520 from Ty Lynch, with Sean Condon on the podium some 1.7 behind.

Scott Nicholson and Tom Bramich were fourth and fifth.

Lytras now ascends to the seemingly cursed leadership of the Michelin Supersport in a season where there have already been three leaders (and nominal leaders) by round three.

Michelin Supersport standings after round 3

1 308 John LYTRAS Yamaha 117

2 85 Ty LYNCH Yamaha 100

3 39 Scott NICHOLSON 82

Full results: https://www.computime.com.au/Meetings/2022/ASBK22_3/ASBK22_3_R13.pdf

Dunlop Supersport 300

At the start of race one, the question was whether Dunker could sneak off and not tow anyone around for the 10 lap journey.

But it was not to be, as Dunker fluffed the start, dropped back to fourth and gifted Jonathan Nahlous, Hayden Nelson and Taiyo Aksu the top three spots.

But Dunker had been the fastest 300 rider all weekend and would not be denied. With less than three laps completed, he was back in the lead. The pressure that Dunker created took its toll immediately, with Nahlous trail braking too far into the final turn and folding the front end to crash out of the race.

Dunker now put his head down and tried to eke out a lead. While he would stretch the rubber band between him and the chasing pack, the main straight would see them re-attach to the Dunker freight train.

It was now a race of packs. The lead group of Dunker, Hayden Nelson, Akso and Glenn Nelson had a 6 second lead over pack two of Jacobs, Waters, Nikolis, Swain, Gawith and Championship leader Snell.

With just a few laps to go the leading quartet swapped turns and leadership with Dunker as far down at fourth – but also often leading,

Of course, it would come down to the final corner. Dunker desperately strove for the line with Aksu breaking out from the slipstream to also dive for the finish. It would be Dunker by 9/1000th of a second to Aksu, Hayden Nelson and Glenn Nelson.

The final race of the weekend for the Dunlop Supersport 300s again saw a hotly contested start with Dunker taking the holeshot, in the absence of an apparently injured Jonathan Nahlous who was due to start from P2.

Dunker again tried a magic trick in an attempt to disappear from view and got out to a .4 lead early in the race. Glenn Nelson sensed danger and pushed hard on lap two to get back on terms with Dunker and dragged Taiyo Aksu and Hayden Nelson with him.

The leading four gapped the field with a lonely James Jacobs on the lone Kawasaki caught between two groups.

Thanks to his diminutive stature, Dunker was able to maintain a highly aerodynamic profile that prevented- for a time- any riders from being able to get a solid draft behind him for the overtake.

At half race distance, Glenn Nelson slipped by and lit up the back half of the race. Dunker realised he was not going to be able to sneak off the front and began to dice for lead, taking it back from Glenn Nelson and then giving it back in what can only be described as a “classic Supersport 300 situation”. The lead changed too many times to mention, but the riders were just marking time to position themselves for the finale.

Taiyo Akso showed he wanted to get involved and took the lead while Dunker was shuffled down to fourth and was lucky just to stay on the bike. There were just two laps to go and while the literal gloves were on, the metaphorical ones were off.

Dunker pushed hard to get back into second place on the last lap with Aksu in the lead. Dunker had a look at Aksu here and there, but the assembled crowd were watching for the last turn where Dunker finally took the lead again.

Dunker did all he could to prevent the pursuing riders from making use of the slipstream and he did exactly that, taking the win by .051 from Taiyo Aksu in second and Hayden Nelson in third.

Glenn Nelson – who was in the lead for a time- finished fourth with a four-second gap to James Jacobs in fifth, Liam Waters (6th), Cameron Swain (7th), former championship leader Henry Snell (8th), Brodie Gawith (9th) and Marianos Nikolis (10th).

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup

The baby-faced assassin that is Cameron Dunker took his familiar pole position for the opening Sunday race for the Yamaha Finance R3 Cup and while the pack tried to swamp him into turn one, Dunker’s flouro yellow Yamaha still exited the opening turn in first position.

As the race settled in, Dunker naturally tried to check out of the race, the track and his hotel, but second-placed Hayden Nelson stayed in touch with Glenn Nelson on the move, lapping one second faster than the leading pair as he reeled them in.

Soon it was a train of six: Dunker, Hayden Nelson, Glenn Nelson, Cameron Swain and Taiyo Aksu.

And, as is almost always the case, once you have that many R3’s in close proximity, the lead started to change hands regularly. Dunker found himself down as low as third with the (unrelated) Nelsons at the front.

Into the last lap, Dunker played all of his aces, taking the lead and absolutely riding on the limit “A pretty impressive move” noted former ASBK champion and official commentator Steve Martin.

As always, it was the last corner and the drag to the line and it was Glenn Nelson who played it to perfection, slipstreaming and pulling alongside Dunker to record a cosy 7/1000th of a second win at the line from polesitter Cameron Dunker with Hayden Nelson rounding out the podium.

In the final race, Dunker would again take the holeshot, but this time 2021 OJC champion Cameron Swain would find himself second with Glenn Nelson in third.

After a day of separated pack racing, this final race settled into classic R3 conditions- a long, long train of ten riders all in contention.

Dunker and Glenn Nelson traded places several times and between them created a small gap to Liam Waters in third.

With two laps to go, there was still nothing between them. Liam Waters lead for a time while Dunker and others tried to position themselves for the final salvo.

Into the last lap and the inevitable R3 shenanigans really kicked off. Dunker found himself down in fourth, but as always, not out of the running. He moved into the lead by the last corner, but was now the hunted.

The ol’ run to the line saw a deserving Liam Waters take the slipstream win by the biggest margin of the day – .050! Second was Cameron Dunker followed by Glenn Nelson to round out the podium.

The top ten was made up of Hayden Nelson, Brodie Gawith, Cameron Swain, Taiyo Aksu, Marcus Hamod, Henry Snell and Sam Pezzeta.

Final results: https://www.computime.com.au/Meetings/2022/ASBK22_3/ASBK22_3_R14.pdf

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup

It was an unusually subdued and cautious bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup field that made its way to the start line for their first race of the Sunday. A mist/light rain had descended upon the Wakefield circuit and as the riders gridded up on slick tyres the field, families, fans and officials all looked skyward for answers.

Mercifully the track was warm enough to dry the rain before it had a chance to cause carnage. From the get-go, most of the riders rode with care, maturity and the sort of mindfulness that Garry McCoy has been teaching all season.

The race itself saw Hudson Thompson and Harrison Watts aggressively break away from the rest of the riders who – for a change- were not hunting in packs but were rather in a single file with oddly sensible gaps between them.

As the laps wound down, Hudson Thompson seemed to have all he needed in terms of pace to take the win. Watts was close and of course, this being the OJC, being close means you’re still well in the hunt.

The riders chasing Thompson and Watts started to form into a chase group but they did not have enough laps remaining to mount a serious challenge. The stage was set: Thompson v Watts for the win.

Then Hudson Thompson made a mistake he will probably never make again, saluting for the win while actually greeting the one-lap-to-go board. Realising his mistake, he put his head down again to chase after Harrison Watts.

Thompson was able to immediately get on terms with Watts, but at the line, the commentators couldn’t call the win and this time neither rider celebrated. Official timing providers Computime gave the win to Watts by a tiny 2/1000th of a second, with Thompson second and a gap back to Marcus Hamod in third.

It would not end there. After the race, Thompson and Watts were penalised one place each for – in the words of the Clerk of the Course – “…breaching the safety of other competitors”. This was a serious situation and as younger riders in a development series, this was a necessary penalty for weaving over the white line while racing down the start-finish straight.

This elevated third-placed rider Levi Russo to the race win with Watts and Thompson in second and third respectively.

The final race started out in typical manner, but it was Hamod and Rende who joined Thompson at the front as part of a group of six: Thompson, Hamod, Watts, Rende, Russo and Drane.

Thompson managed to get out to a .4 second lead and was hoping to remove the drafting option for those following.

At the halfway point, just four riders remained in contention for the podium and the win: Thompson, Hamod, Watts and Rende. The lead group were mindful of each other as they traded spots, with all four taking a turn at the front.

The final lap beckoned and once again it was 14 (Watts) and 41 (Thompson) at the front as they went into the last corner. And there, a lot happened; Rende made a lunge up the inside for the lead from third, Thompson took the lead from Watts, Watts went back to fourth and Hamod was just happy to be in the hunt in second.

..and there they would finish. Hunter Thompson, Marcus Hamod, Harrison Watts and Cameron Rende in fourth.

MotoAmerica: STG Junior Cup Race Two Results From Road Atlanta (Updated)

David Swarts

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April 24, 2022

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MotoAmerica: STG Junior Cup Race Two Results From Road Atlanta (Updated)

Altus Motorsports’ Kayla Yaakov, age 14, made some great moves under braking on the last lap and crossed the finish line first, apparently winning MotoAmerica Junior Cup Race Two and becoming the first female to win a MotoAmerica race.

Before the podium ceremony, however, MotoAmerica officials ruled that Yaakov, and others, had passed under yellow flag conditions. Yaakov was docked two positions, dropping her to third and elevating Max Van to first place, giving him his career-first MotoAmerica race win.

The penalties assessed are not noted on the results sheet below.

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The revised results from Race Two indicating the penalties that changed the finishing order from what was seen on TV.

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MotoAmerica: Supersport Race Two Results From Road Atlanta (Updated)

David Swarts

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April 24, 2022

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MotoAmerica: Supersport Race Two Results From Road Atlanta (Updated)

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More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:

Herrin Stays Perfect In MotoAmerica Supersport At Road Atlanta

Kyle Wyman Bounces Back To Win Mission King Of The Baggers

BRASELTON, GA (April 24, 2022) – Only one racer during the MotoAmerica round at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta was perfect and that was Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Josh Herrin, the 2013 AMA Superbike Champion winning both MotoAmerica Supersport races in Georgia.

While Herrin was perfect, the rest of the races featured a lot of parity.

Twins Cup – Barry Wins A Close One

Jody Barry (11) battled Teagg Hobbs (79) throughout the Twins Cup race with Barry ultimately taking the victory. Photo by Brian J. Nelson, courtesy MotoAmerica.

The day started with the 12-lap Twins Cup race, which was red-flagged on the first lap due to a group of riders who crashed out unhurt, and the race was restarted with a seven-lap sprint to the finish line. Polesitter Jody Barry got the holeshot and led the first four laps aboard his Veloce Racing Aprilia, but Robem Engineering’s Teagg Hobbs was in hot pursuit. Hobbs overtook Barry on lap five and held the lead until the seventh and final lap when Barry got around Hobbs and held off the New Hampshirite’s strong challenge to take the checkered flag by just seven one-hundredths of a second.

Hobbs’ Robem Engineering Aprilia teammate had his own battle with Jackson Blackmon Racing Yamaha rider Jackson Blackmon, but he managed to get around Blackmon on lap four and maintain his third-place position all the way to the checkers.

When asked about the brave move that Hobbs tried to put on Barry on the final lap, Barry said, “I definitely expected him to try to make something happen. I would have done the exact same thing. I guess I broke late enough to the point where he couldn’t make it stick. Just after that, I tried to hit my markers and finish a clean lap, but don’t kill my drive on the front straight or anything. Everything worked out pretty good.”

Mission King Of The Baggers – The Champ Fights Back

Kyle Wyman (1) held off the advances of James Rispoli (43) to win the Mission King Of The Baggers race at Road Atlanta. Photo by Brian J. Nelson, courtesy MotoAmerica.

In the eight-lap Mission King Of The Baggers race, defending class champion Kyle Wyman returned to form after a tough day on Saturday, in which he crashed out of the three-lap King Of The Baggers Challenge. Ironically, Challenge winner Bobby Fong, who earned the pole for today’s race based on his victory in the Challenge, mimicked Wyman and crashed his Roland Sands Design Indian. That opened the door for Wyman, who went on to get the win. Second place went to Vance & Hines Racing Harley-Davidson’s James Rispoli, the two-time AMA SuperSport Champion returning to MotoAmerica after an eight-year hiatus. Mission Foods/S&S Cycle/Indian Challenger Team’s Tyler O’Hara rounded out the podium in third.

“It’s been a tough weekend,” Wyman said. “I took an opportunity on a Superbike on Thursday night, so it’s been a busy weekend and that has kind of played into going back and forth on the bikes, trying to just be more focused than ever. Honestly, I think if I didn’t crash yesterday and learned that lesson, I might have crashed out today because it was way greasier. I had to exercise some patience today that I didn’t yesterday. I decked out on the cases just flicking it into 10B and lifted both tires off the ground. Had to remind myself that thing is not quite there yet where I can just pancake it on the side of the tire that quick. Today, I tried to exercise a little bit of patience, be there at the end. If I can get a clean run through the esses, I know I can get away. That was my game plan. Yesterday was tough. A tough pill to swallow being sixth on the grid the way the challenge sets the grid, even though you have the track record. It’s kind of weird. I’m really happy just to redeem ourselves from Daytona. The long off-season that these guys have been developing this bike, it’s truly an arms race that’s just still on such a steep incline. It’s crazy. I think 31.7 in the race. Does that sound right? That’s what I saw. That’s five seconds faster than last year. It’s just silly what we’re doing on these things. I think we’ve still got some big chunks to take out of them.”

Supersport – It’s Herrin Time Again

Josh Herrin (2) put his head down and gapped the Supersport field on the opening lap en route to his second victory of the weekend at Road Atlanta. Photo by Brian J. Nelson, courtesy MotoAmerica.

The only double win of the weekend was delivered by Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC rider Josh Herrin, who followed up his dominant win in Saturday’s Supersport race with another dominant win is Sunday’s race. Starting from the pole, just like yesterday, the former Superbike Champion got another great jump off the line and led the 18-lap race from start to finish, stretching his lead our to nearly five seconds by the time he took the checkers.

Finishing second and also holding his position for the entirety of the race was Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider Sam Lochoff, who was aboard the only GSX-R750 in the field. Third place went to Landers Racing’s Rocco Landers, the young, but talented rider notching his 50th podium in MotoAmerica competition.

“To be honest, from the beginning of the race, I’m just doing what I always do and just push as hard as I can,” said Herrin. I’ve never been one for strategies. It just so happened the last two days, it worked out that way. But I’m just putting my head down and riding as hard as I can. I was a little nervous. The start yesterday and today, just a full load of fuel, the thing is all the way to the max to make sure that we make it the distance. I was a little nervous at first with it, but it was good. I’m happy with the results.

“Bobby, the team owner, has been calling me fat all weekend so it’s been giving me a little bit of motivation. I have a little dad bod going on this off-season. A lot of late nights with the baby, a lot of snacking. It’s time to go to work. The Georgia heat beat me up this weekend, that’s for sure. Hayes has been telling me all weekend he’s coming for us at VIR, so I need to step it up and be ready for him because I know when he gets here, it’s going to go up another level. Just having fun. I’m excited to be on this team, the whole Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC. Our team is a lot of fun to be around. I’m just enjoying myself. It’s awesome having (son) Griffin here, and (wife) Rachel here, and my whole family here from the Herrin Compound. Thank you, everybody, for coming out and all the fans for coming out. I’m looking forward to going to VIR.”

SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup – Van Gets His First

Max Van (48) leads the SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup class en route to his first MotoAmerica victory on Sunday. Photo by Brian J. Nelson, courtesy MotoAmerica.

The 11-lap SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup race two got off to its usual rousing start, with nearly 20 of MotoAmerica’s youngest riders racing in close formation aboard their lightweight 400cc motorcycles. But it was the ending of the race that brought the most attention. After the race concluded, the podium result ended up being changed due to a MotoAmerica rule about passing in a corner where there is a standing yellow flag. As a result, Altus Motorsports Kawasaki rider Kayla Yaakov unfortunately rode an emotional roller coaster where she went from the thrill of victory to the agony of defeat as her race win was nullified and she was moved from first to third. That handed the victory to SportbikeTrackGear.com’s Max Van, with second place going to Calishine Racing’s Aden Thao, and aforementioned Yaakov completing the podium.

Also adding to the drama of the final lap was the fact that a couple of riders crashed out just before the final run to the finish line.

“Today, I don’t really feel like I deserve this win, but I’m really sorry to Kayla,” said Van. “She rode a great race and, honestly, I feel like she deserves this. But I’ll take the points and I’ll take them into VIR with a lot of confidence. I just hope everybody is okay in that wreckage in the last corner. Levi, I think something happened. I feel like he highsided, and he landed into me. I have marks all on my boot. I really hope everybody is okay, including my teammate (Joe LiMandri) and (BARTCON Racing’s) Levi (Badie). I hope you guys are well soon.”

Roland Sands Design Super Hooligan – O’Hara Wins The Fight

Tyler O'Hara (2) leads Jeremy McWilliams (99), Cory West (13) and Andy DiBrino (behind West) in Roland Sands Design (RSD) Super Hooligan Race Two on Sunday. Photo by Brian J. Nelson, courtesy MotoAmerica. — Tyler O’Hara (2) leads Jeremy McWilliams (99), Cory West (13) and Andy DiBrino (behind West) in Roland Sands Design (RSD) Super Hooligan Race Two on Sunday. Photo by Brian J. Nelson, courtesy MotoAmerica.

The MotoAmerica race weekend at Road Atlanta concluded with Roland Sands Design’s Super Hooligan race two. The series features naked bikes with up to 125 horsepower, which include everything from Harley-Davidsons and Indians, to KTMs, Ducatis and a BMW. Roland Sand Design Indian rider Tyler O’Hara won the eight-lap event over his teammate Jeremy McWilliams, who passed for the lead on lap six, but couldn’t make it stick.

JLC Concrete/KTM/DiBrino Racing’s Andy DiBrino stalked Saturday’s Hooligan race winner Cory West, who was in third place until the final lap. DiBrino finally made his move and overtook West to snatch the final spot on the podium.

“It was such a blast,” O’Hara said. “To be able to start up front where we belong and be able to go with the boys and really kind of let the race unfold. Got a few clean laps out front and Jeremy came around me in turn one early in the race, and it was a great pass. I knew I needed to clean up turn one and get that figured out. Then he passed me again going back into 10 like I was standing still. Obviously, I was going in there soft. He went around me like a MotoGP rider. He took me to school. I figured out what I needed to work on. I think, with two to go, he was on the opposite side of me going up into turn one again, and we played chicken all the way up into turn three. We both went off the track, but it was fun. I ended up coming out of the deal. Just so fun riding these FTR1200 Indians. Just such a beautiful motorcycle and so much fun to ride. We’re still developing it, really. Just, every session, we’re figuring them out and getting more comfortable. We still have a ways to go. I think there are some big chunks still to get more comfortable. The whole Mission Foods support and Roland Sands Design and shout out to Patricia Fernandez for basically loaning us her motor. We lost a motor, and she had crashed and totaled her bike, so we took her motor yesterday in-between sessions. Big hats off to her. It was super fun with my teammate and (Andy) DiBrino. It’s just a fun class. It’s the Super Hooligan class. It’s supposed to be fun.”

MotoAmerica: Mission King Of The Baggers Race Results From Road Atlanta

David Swarts

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April 24, 2022

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MotoAmerica: Mission King Of The Baggers Race Results From Road Atlanta

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MotoAmerica: Twins Cup Race Results From Road Atlanta

David Swarts

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April 24, 2022

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MotoAmerica: Twins Cup Race Results From Road Atlanta

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WorldSBK: Race Two Results From Assen (Updated)

David Swarts

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April 24, 2022

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WorldSBK: Race Two Results From Assen (Updated)

SBK Race 2
SBK Points after R2

More, from a press release issued by Dorna WorldSBK Press Office:

Bautista emerges as Assen winner after Rea and Razgatlioglu clash

The Spanish rider claimed the Championship lead with victory in Race 2 ahead of Locatelli and Lecuona

Jonathan Rea (65) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (1) crashed out of World Superbike Race Two. Alvaro Bautista (19). Andrea Locatelli (55), and Iker Lecuona (7) are eyewitnesses. Photo courtesy Dorna WorldSBK Press Office.

Fighting at the front in the early laps of the race, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) battled with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) but it came to an early end on Lap 6. Razgatlioglu ran wide at the right-hander, but remained on track, with Rea making his way through Turn 1 shortly after. The pair collided on the exit of the corner with both riders being forced to retire from the race, leaving Bautista to take the win.

Bautista was able to pull away at the front of the field to win by 8.7s ahead of Locatelli. Reflecting on his victory, he said: “I was quite fast and quite consistent. I sometimes just tried to relax because I saw the gap was increasing a lot. I started to make some small mistakes, but I preferred to just keep the rhythm and concentrate until the end. Consistency is the key for this season, especially because Toprak and Jonathan are very fast. I don’t think I can win a lot of races like I did three years ago. I think this weekend has been very important for me and for my team. In Aragon, we had a different setup on the bike than the winter tests. At that time, we thought it could be good performing. Here, I struggled a lot during Friday and Saturday and today my team changed a little bit the setup. This morning, I found a good bike for me, an easy bike, and more competitive. Now, fortunately, we found one step that allows me to go faster.”

Andrea Locatelli was second after passing Lecuona on lap 18, claiming his best WorldSBK result so far. He commented: “For me it’s amazing to finish on the podium. It was our objective, and we are here, we take the points. I’m sorry for my teammate and Jonny, because they were really fast but this is the race. When I saw I had the possibility to get a podium, I tried to push. I tried to close the gap to Iker, and I could finish in front of him. Now it’s so difficult to catch up with Bautista so we need to improve a little more.”

Bautista and Locatelli were joined on the podium by Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) in third place. The Spanish Rookie claimed his first WorldSBK podium with Honda. Reacting to his first podium, he said: “I’m very happy, I didn’t expect this podium for sure. All weekend, I felt very fast and very good with the bike. I have very good feedback. I had some ups and downs during the weekend. In the first race, I finished in P5. I feel comfortable with the bike, I feel fast. In the Superpole Race, again I finished in P5 but closer to the top guys. I tried to use a bit more tyre in the first laps to make some gap with the second group. When I saw the crash with Rea and Toprak, I knew it was my opportunity to overtake Alvaro and Loca. Alvaro went very fast; I couldn’t follow him. All the race, I have a small gap to Loca but in the end I don’t have tyre because I used them in the first laps. He overtook me. I’m very happy, very excited. Thanks to the team I had two big crashes and they repaired the bike very, very fast.”

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) bounced back from technical issues in Race 1 and the Superpole Race to take fourth on Sunday afternoon after battling with Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing). Redding finished in fifth place, his best finish since switching to BMW, after Bassani was given a three-second time penalty for repeatedly exceeding track limits throughout the race.

Reacting to his weekend, Lowes said: “During the weekend overall I’ve been quite fast. This has been positive, obviously qualifying in second. I’ve been unlucky in the first two races because I think we should have been able to get top five results. Today, I really struggled at the start of the race. Then I wasn’t able to stay with Locatelli. Not the way I really wanted to really ride, but fourth place is still a fourth place. We have to take the positive.”

Following his first top five for BMW, Redding said: “There was chaos in the first corner, and I got lucky to come through. I was pulling away from the guys behind, holding the gap to the guys in front and I thought maybe I could catch a bit. Then there was the crash between Jonny and Toprak. The pace in front, they just rolled the throttle. I was on the limit trying to get on the back of them. I got on the back of them and I was quite comfortable. I was able to come through on Bassani, Rinaldi, Alex and feeling quite good but literally at 110%. With a few laps to go, I got a small hole in the rear tyre on the right side, so I had no rear grip. I was tipping in and it was just coming around. I just wanted to finish. Alex passed me, Bassani passed me. We battled a bit, I tried to be defensive but there was no grip.”

After the race, both Razgatlioglu and Rea shared their point of view on the incident that took them both out of contention for the win.

Rea said: “Just a little bit frustrated. Going into T1, he completely outbraked himself and almost stopped the bike on the kerb on the outside to avoid going off track. At that point, his corner was so slow. I kept my normal line and carried on with my race if you like. You expect, especially when you know someone’s right beside you, that they’re going to be there, and he cut straight back. I understand it’s a racing accident. I was there, I was in front with track position, and I felt like myself and Toprak were also robbed of a good race.”

Razgatlioglu commented: “I tried to brake hard at the first corner and I ran a little bit wide, but I didn’t go outside the track. I’m turning also onto the racing line. I touched the kerb but I stayed on the racing line, I didn’t come back inside. I saw Jonny and he was very fast. After, we crashed. I think for me this is a racing incident. I think Jonny needs to look at me. I go a little bit wide, I stay on the track, but he’s not looking. He’s just opened the gas and we crashed together. I am surprised to crash with Jonny, normally he doesn’t make this mistake because he’s a WorldSBK legend.”

Championship leader Bautista moved 18 points clear off Rea in the standings, with Razgatlioglu in third with 64 points.

Moto2: World Championship Race Results From Portimao, Portugal (Updated)

David Swarts

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April 24, 2022

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Moto2: World Championship Race Results From Portimao, Portugal (Updated)

The original Moto2 race was started in the dry, but it began raining, causing several of the leaders, including American Cameron Beaubier, to crash. Several of those crashers, including Beaubier, were not able to make the restart, which was run in mixed wet/dry conditions. Results from both parts of the race are listed below. The results for Race Part Two are the official race results.

Moto2 Race 2 results
Moto2 Race 1 Results
Moto2 points after race

More, from a press release issued by Italtrans Racing:

Italtrans Racing Team back to the victory with Joe Roberts at Portuguese GP

Joe Roberts (center) with the Italtrans Racing Team. Photo courtesy Italtrans Racing.

After 22 years an American rider is back to the first step of Moto2 podium (John Kocinski, Australia 1990; 11 years in MotoGP with the victory of Ben Spies, Assen 2011) in a masterpiece signed by Italtrans Racing Team together with Joe Roberts.

The victory of the cowboy from Los Angeles at Portuguese GP, fifth round of a season full of emotions, was so exciting.

Portimao is a magical track for Italtrans Racing Team, because right here, on 22nd November 2020, the team celebrated the Moto2 World Championship title with Enea Bastianini.

Taking off the third row of the grid, Joe maintained a steady pace in eighth position. On lap 8 the race was heavily affected by the appearance of rain and a multiple-rider crash at Turn 2, that forced a red flag. Second on grid 2, at the start the American rider immediately took the lead of the race, maintaining the first position for all seven laps until the chequered flag. With a perfect race 2, Joe won the Grand Prix of Portugal and taking the “The Star-Spangled Banner” to the top of the podium.
Joe is now fourth in the standings with 49 points.

Misfortune for Lorenzo Dalla Porta. 23rd at the end of the first race, unfortunately on the starting grid of race 2 his Kalex did not start despite numerous attempts by the team.

The next round is on May 1st at Jerez de la Frontera.

DNF Lorenzo Dalla Porta

“Today was a good opportunity to score some points. Even though I had problems with the clutch in the first part of the race, I was convinced I could be competitive in the second one. I’m so disappointed”.

1st Joe Roberts

“It’s a long road to victory. Winning means so much. It’s been a long time since an American rider has been on the first step of the podium. I still can’t believe it! In the race I knew I had a good gap, but I almost didn’t believe it, I didn’t know what to do: I simply tried not to make mistakes. It’s a great day for the whole team! I thank all those who supported me during this period and I hope this is just the first success of a long series”.

Franco Brugnara – Lorenzo Dalla Porta’s Crew Chief

“Unfortunately, Lorenzo’s bike had a technical problem with the clutch. It was a shame because it was an important race for us to get experience and points. Hopefully we can make up for it at Jerez. I’m happy for Joe: it’s a victory for the whole team”.

Giovanni Sandi – Joe Roberts’ Crew Chief

“I knew we would be competitive. We made a good qualifying and in race he did his best. We did a lot of work and it paid off. It’s a fantastic victory! Congratulations to the whole team!”

More, from a press release issued by American Racing Team:

A day of two halves: first points for Sean, Cam robbed of first podium

It was story of two-halves for the American Racing Team at Portimão as Cameron Beaubier was involved in a multi-rider crash through no fault of his own as he fought for the win, whilst teammate Sean Dylan Kelly claims his first Moto2 World Championship points.

After an incredible qualifying result, Cam lined up in second on the grid, putting him in prime position to fight for the podium. As the lights went out, the Californian got the holeshot, sending him into the lead before Aron Canet fought back to regain the place. The duo battled it out for the lead in the opening laps as rain began to fall across the Portuguese circuit with Honda Team Asia rider Ai Ogura coming to join the party.

A huge crash caused by the sudden increase in rainfall on lap nine involving Cam and multiple other riders brought out a red flag. Thankfully all riders were conscious and largely unharmed. Unfortunately, due to the damage sustained in the crash, Cam was unable to join the restart.

Sean was able to avoid the chaos and therefore able to take part in the restart where the Florida-native was a second faster off the line than the previous start. The shortened race distance proved costly for some in Sean’s group with a fall for Niccolò Antonelli but Sean was able to avoid any mistakes, taking his first Moto2 points as he ended the race in 13th.

Cameron Beaubier (6) battling for the lead of the Moto2 race with Aron Canet (40). Photo courtesy American Racing Team.

Cam Beaubier #6 – DNF

“That was my best chance yet at a win. It’s a huge bummer. I was feeling so good on the bike, I had points where I felt stronger than [Aron] Canet and some where he was stronger than me, but I felt really good where I was. I definitely felt some sprinkles here and there, mainly the first couple of sectors, it was drizzling. I saw Canet’s rear end step out big time right in front of me then next thing I knew, I was flying through the air. Obviously, it’s a huge bummer but you’ve just got to focus on the fact everyone, for the most part, is alright, because that was some pretty scary stuff to see bikes flying past you in the gravel trap. Luckily, we’re OK and now we move onto Jerez and take the positives from this weekend because we were fast throughout. I’m going to keep working with the team and the way we’re going because I feel fast, I feel good. I had a decent result here last year, so I knew it was going to be a solid weekend for us but we’re going to some other tracks now so let’s try and keep it going.”

Sean Dylan Kelly (4). Photo courtesy American Racing Team.

Sean Dylan Kelly #4 – 13th

“Obviously, we have to be happy [with the first points] but honestly, I’m just happy no one got hurt in that crash because there were so many people down and, when I went past, there were bikes on fire and still some people on the ground, so it was really scary to be honest. I’m glad everyone walked away from that and, at the end of the day, it’s not the way I wanted to get my first points, but they say that ‘first you must finish’ and today I finished. Even in the restarted race, there was a fight right in front of me with one rider down and even though we had quite the crazy circumstances, we still had to get to the finish line. I am still happy for myself because I made a step in that restart, and I went the fastest I’ve done all weekend in the dry. We need to look at the big picture and we got our first points so, we’re going to take that with us, but we also need to take the work we did this weekend; we kept it on two wheels, we progressed in the wet, we were strong in the wet and we kept on building in the dry. I’m looking forward to Jerez now.”

John Hopkins – Racing Director

“It was a wild weekend all around. Being in Portimão, we assumed we were going to be in nice, sunny weather all weekend long, but nobody can control the weather. It was a pretty solid weekend all the way through. Cam was on fire in every session and every condition. He was strong like we expected him to be. He was riding really well, he felt really comfortable.

For Sean, we knew it was going to be another experience, yet we knew he’d done some laps here, but it was a track he’d struggled at in testing at the beginning of the year, so it was a matter of him just regaining the confidence and working his way forward which he did! In the rain sessions, he had solid pace throughout the weekend and was steadily working his way forward then unfortunately the only dry session of the weekend ended up being in qualifying, so it ended up being a bit difficult for him.

For Cam, we knew he was going to be strong, and he went out and put it on the front row, did the lap time entirely by himself so it was a good weekend up until that point. He was solid, we knew he was going to be strong; his confidence was on a high and everything was looking and feeling good. As for the race, unfortunately, it was one of ‘those’. It’s an incident that nobody can control. I’ve had it in MotoGP races when you have a wet part of the track, you can be on one part and it pours in another, it’s always the leaders who find it out first and, unfortunately for Cam, that was what happened. It was just an extremely unlucky unfortunate incident but there was nothing he could have done differently to avoid it. I am 100% confident he would have won that race. He easily had the pace; he was doing the exact race plan we had set out to do. It’s funny, I have every bit of belief that he would have won that.

On the other hand, it worked out in Sean’s favour. It was awesome to see Sean get some points. He’s finally up on the board for receiving his first Moto2 points and he was solid in the race. In the second part of the race, even though the conditions were not that good and there were still wet areas, he went a second faster than he did in the first start and that was the plan, that was what we told him to do in the beginning; work on your pace, this is your chance to really work on yourself and work on the riding. Now we’re going to Jerez where he was really strong in testing at the start of the year, so we’re excited about it.

It was a bummer, it was a knock, but we’ll get back up again and I’m sure the riders and the team will be strong going into Jerez, we’ve got to turn it around and get the results they both deserve and reach their full potential.”

MotoGP: World Championship Race Results From Portimao, Portugal (Updated)

David Swarts

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April 24, 2022

0

MotoGP: World Championship Race Results From Portimao, Portugal (Updated)

MotoGP race
MotoGP points after race

More, from a press release issued by Dorna:

Portimão perfection: Quartararo pulls the pin for victory and the Championship lead

The reigning Champion is back on top, with Zarco and Aleix Espargaro completing the podium after drama between Mir and Miller

Sunday, 24 April 2022

How’s that for a victory? Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™’s Fabio Quartararo got the hammer down to dominate the Grande Premio Tissot de Portugal and take his first win of the season in style, nearly five seconds clear by the flag. In a day to remember for France, he was joined on the podium by Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) in second, whilst Aprilia Racing’s Aleix Espargaro benefitted from late drama involving Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) to take third. Quartararo is now leading the Championship although tied with points with Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins, who put in arguably the ride of the day by recovering from 23rd on the grid to finish fourth.

Off the line it was Mir with the perfect launch, firing clear of the rest of the grid to take the holeshot and gain some early breathing space. Another strong start came from Quartararo too, who quickly moved through on his compatriot Zarco to take second halfway around the opening lap. Meanwhile, further back, Alex Rins had somehow launched his Suzuki up an incredible 13 places on the first lap to go from 23rd to inside the top ten.

At the front, it didn’t take long for Quartararo to get into his rhythm. The Frenchman was flying and had quickly reduced Mir’s early advantage down to nothing before then, at the start of Lap 4, he made his move on the 2020 World Champion at Turn 1. Mir had no response and Quartararo was leading a race for the first time this year.

Nobody could match the metronomic pace of the reigning World Champion as he edged further and further into the lead. A new fastest lap and lap record, a 1:39.435, came in on Lap 10, by which point Mir had seemingly been forced to throw in the towel and was starting to instead look over his shoulder in the fight for second. Quartararo would eventually cruise across the line over five seconds clear of second place for his first victory since the British Grand Prix in August of last year and, as a result, he jumps to the top of the MotoGP™ World Championship standings.

It was much closer in the fight for the final podium places, with Mir defending hard as Zarco applied more and more pressure. The Frenchman took advantage of a tiny error by the Spaniard out of the final corner to power past him down the start-finish straight and take over in second, but the Frenchman ran wide at Turn 1 – allowing Mir to swoop back through. A lap later though Zarco got the job done, again capitalising on a small wheelie from Mir out of the final corner to dive through on the brakes into Turn 1, this time making it stick.

Soon enough, only six laps remained and Miller was now challenging Mir for third. And then came the biggest drama of the race as the Australian pulled alongside the Suzuki man down the start-finish straight and they headed into Turn 1 side-by-side on the brakes… before the front end of Miller’s Ducati let go. He went down and he took an innocent and unsuspecting Mir with him, both riders ok but scoring a painful 0 points each.

That elevated Aleix Espargaro to third as he eyed only the third MotoGP™ rostrum finish for Aprilia, with the number 41 having shown good pace to get into the podium postcode. The Argentina winner closed onto the rear wheel of Zarco on the final lap too, but just couldn’t find a way through. Zarco took second, the thirteenth of his premier class career, and Aleix Espargaro had to settle for third – but one step closer to Aprilia losing out on concessions as their successes continue.

Fourth across the line was arguably the man of the day, however: Rins. A quite incredible performance from the factory Suzuki man saw him come through from 23rd and, in doing so, the number 42 lifted himself to equal on points with Quartararo in the Championship chase.

Another strong comeback ride came courtesy of home hero Miguel Oliveira, as the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing man clinched a top five to bounce back from two crashes on home soil in 2021.

Behind that, it was Marquez vs Marquez. For the first time in MotoGP™ we were treated to a 73 vs 93 battle on the final lap of the race, with LCR Castrol Honda’s Alex Marquez holding off older brother Marc quite brilliantly as the laps ticked by. But on the last lap, the gloves came off. The eight-time World Champion squeezed his way through to take sixth place, but it was by just 0.020 ahead of Alex as the number 73 absolutely nailed the final corner and the two crossed the line side by side.

Only half a second back on that duel, Ducati Lenovo Team’s Francesco Bagnaia was gritting his teeth through the pain barrier to salvage eighth place too, thanks to a last lap move on Repsol Honda’s Pol Espargaro. Bagnaia started dead last, making up a pile of positions on race day despite a painful shoulder.

Aprilia’s Maverick Viñales took the final place inside the top ten as the 12-Noale combination continues to gain some traction, with a gap then back to Andrea Dovizioso (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP). The veteran held off Mooney VR46’s Luca Marini, with Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) next up. Two rookies completed the points as Remy Gardner (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) pulled clear of Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team).

There were crashes for Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing), Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Idemitsu Honda), although the Japanese rider finished. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) also crashed out, bringing to an end a run of 18 straight point-scoring finishes. Perhaps most notably, the former World Championship leader, Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) tumbled out – but the Italian remains in touch in the standings, only eight points off the top.

From the Algarve to Andalucia, MotoGP™ now gets back on the road to head for the Gran Premio Red Bull de España. It’s only next weekend too, so get ready for more as the Circuito de Jerez-Angeli Nieto welcomes the paddock back once more.

MotoGP™ PODIUM

1 Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) – Yamaha – 41’39.611

2 Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) – Ducati – +5.409

3 Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) – Aprilia – +6.068

Fabio Quartararo: “Pushing myself to the limit. To be honest, I pushed the same in Austin and Argentina but mainly here our bike feels good, the straight is not so long and we had grip so we could go hammer time! Today I felt amazing from the Warm Up but in the race I made an amazing start. I wanted to be aggressive from the beginning because I knew if I was behind the Ducatis I would struggle so much. I’m super happy because I managed to get that first victory of the season and it’s the most important thing for me, to you know, never give up and it was the most important.”

The first win of the season for the reigning Champion also sees him lead the Championship

Joe Roberts on top of the Moto2 World Championship podium. Photo courtesy Dorna.

Roberts takes maiden win after dramatic Moto2™ race

The American dominated a shortened seven-lap sprint, pulling nearly three seconds clear of Vietti after a dramatic first start for some key players

Italtrans Racing Team’s Joe Roberts is a Grand Prix winner! Grabbing a golden opportunity in a red-flagged and dramatic intermediate class encounter at the Grande Premio Tissot de Portugal, the American bolted nearly three seconds clear in only a seven-lap sprint, taking the first intermediate class win for the USA in 32 years, and the first in any class since 2011. Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) took second to extend his points lead by a margin after drama for key contenders, with Jorge Navarro (Flexbox HP 40) completing the podium.

A first start saw Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) take the holeshot from Aron Canet (FlexBox HP40) before the Spaniard then hit the front, but an isolated rain shower at Turn 2 then caught out eleven riders, including the top six at the time.

The leading trio of Canet, Beaubier and Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) were joined in the gravel trap seconds later by Chantra, Arbolino, Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing), Albert Arenas (Autosolar GasGas Aspar), Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Zonta van den Goorbergh (RW Racing) and Simone Corsi (MV Agusta Forward Racing) as the sudden shower caused some chaos, with the red flag shown immediately thereafter.

None of the riders involved in the Turn 2 pile-up were able to take part in the 7-lap restart, meaning we had a revised grid of 18 riders: Autosolar GasGas Aspar Team’s Jake Dixon fired from pole position and took the lead on the opening lap, with Roberts starting second, but disaster struck for the Brit at Turn 7 as he slid out.

Roberts then put the pedal to the metal, and the American was absolutely hammering clear. The Californian was three seconds ahead of the fight for second in the blink of an eye, before managing his nerves on the final couple of laps to take a historic win – eleven years on from the last American Grand Prix victory and 32 years on from the last in the intermediate class.

Championship leader Vietti fought his way back into second for a valuable 20 points as key rivals were denied the chance to score, making the most of his slice of fortune as he extended his title lead out to 34 points. The Italian managed to find a way through on Navarro on the penultimate lap, before defending well on the final lap to secure his fourth podium in the opening five races of 2022. Navarro was delighted with third though, a first rostrum visit since Silverstone last year. Strong rides came in from Marcel Schrötter and rookie Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 MasterCamp) to take fourth and fifth.

Fellow rookie Jeremy Alcoba (Liqui Moly Intact GP) ended up sixth after Fermin Aldeguer (Lightech Speed Up) was demoted a place to seventh on the final lap afetr a track limits infringement, and rounding out the top ten were Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team), Barry Baltus (RW Racing) and Gabriel Rodrigo (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team).

Moto2™ heads for Jerez next, with a fair few serious contenders looking to bounce back and get some serious points. Who will come out on top in Andalucia? We’ll find out next weekend!

Moto2™ PODIUM

1 Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) – Kalex – 12’09.757

2 Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) – Kalex – +2.818

3 Jorge Navarro (Flexbox HP 40) – Kalex – +2.991

Joe Roberts: “Man, it’s been a long road for me. It means so much to me to get that win, especially for all the American fans back home. It’s been a long time coming but we finally got it done. It’s real nice to see the flag at the top of the podium. I couldn’t believe it. In the last two laps, I saw the gap and I was like ‘I can’t believe I have this gap right now’. I couldn’t even ride on the last lap, I was all over the place. I just wanted to not make a mistake and bring it home. It’s an amazing day for my team, for everyone back home in America and I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who’s supported me during this time. Let’s hope it’s the first of many!”

Sergio Garcia (11) leads Jaume Masia (5), Ayumu Sasaki (behind Masia), Deniz Oncu (53), and Izan Guevara (28) across the finish line at the end of the Moto3 race. Photo courtesy Dorna.

Garcia grabs Championship lead with perfect push for victory in Portugal

The Aspar rider is back on top, Masia and Sasaki complete the podium after a five-rider fight for the win on the Algarve

Sergio Garcia (Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team) took his second win of the year in the Grande Premio Tissot de Portugal, first escaping in the lead and then fighting it out in a five-rider battle that went down to the final lap. COTA winner Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was back on the podium in second as he gets into the 2022 groove, and likewise Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) in third as the Japanese rider continues his speed this season.

Polesitter Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) got a great start to take the holeshot, but it was a storming start for Garcia and the number 11 was soon right on the Turk’s tail. Even sooner, he was past and making a gap at the front as Öncü slipped back into the clutches of Izan Guevara (Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team), Sasaki and Masia.

As the laps ticked on, Guevara was tucked in and hunting down his teammate. A gap of over a second and a half gradually disappeared until, with 12 laps to go, the number 28 GASGAS machine took over at the front, and the troops had arrived alongside too to create a five-rider fight for the win.

Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing), meanwhile, was still facing a fight for a bigger points haul. The number 7 faded back to outside the points early on and then had to pick his way back through, up to just outside the top ten with 10 to go.

By then, the battle at the front was heating up although the quintet remained over five seconds clear. Masia and Garcia bashed fairings into Turn 1 as both went for the same bit of track, no harm done, but the elbows were out and they remained so.

Onto the last lap, Sasaki was ahead but Garcia nailed the final corner to tuck into the slipstream, shooting past and leading into Turn 1. Masia attacked too and got past Sasaki, then able to start homing in on the number 11 ahead, but it was soon close as ever. By the final corner for the final time, Garcia, Masia, Sasaki, Öncu and Guevara were absolutely glued together, and hammering towards the line each was just able to hang on in that order. No moves were made, but it was a spectacular finish nonetheless.

That’s a second win for Garcia this season and it puts him into the Championship lead by two points ahead of Foggia, and it was victory in a different style to his perfect pickpocketing in Argentina. Masia takes back to back podiums as he comes home second two weeks on from his COTA win, with Sasaki back on the box once again as his consistency continues in 2022.

Öncü just misses out on the podium once more but showed good speed, with Guevara forced to settle for fifth and the final spot in that fight at the front.

The battle behind saw Carlos Tatay (CFMoto Racing PrüstelGP) come out on top in P6, with he and Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team) able to get a little breathing space and turn that into a duel.

Foggia pushed his way through to eighth to do some damage limitation, with Australian rookie Joel Kelso (CIP Green Power) taking P9. Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) was top debutant for much of the battle and crossed the line nearly alongside Foggia, but the Brazilian was then docked two positions for exceeding track limits and is classified P10.

Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse), Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) and British rookie Scott Ogden (VisionTrack Racing Team) were the last of that group in P11, P12 and P13, with Lorenzo Fellon (SIC58 Squadra Corse) and Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team) completing the points scorers – Fellon despite a late Long Lap Penalty for track limits, and Nepa just pipping front row starter Mario Aji (Honda Team Asia).

That’s a wrap on the rollercoaster for another season – and it’s next stop Jerez with home hero Garcia back on top in the standings. It’s only two points in it though, so can Foggia hit back on enemy turf? We’ll find out next weekend!

Moto3™ PODIUM

1 Sergio Garcia (Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team) – GASGAS – 38’17.725

2 Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) – KTM – +0.069

3 Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) – Husqvarna – +0.110

Sergio Garcia: “It was amazing today. It was the first time I began the last lap in first position, and then finished in first position. Today was a really difficult race but I pushed really hard. The track was very slippery but I pushed until the last corner. This is for all my family and all my team and I’m really, really happy!”

MotoAmerica: Photos Of Saturday’s Race Winners At Road Atlanta

David Swarts

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April 24, 2022

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MotoAmerica: Photos Of Saturday’s Race Winners At Road Atlanta

Here are a collection of action photos of the winners of the MotoAmerica races run Saturday, April 23 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. All photos were taken by JR Howell.

Danilo Petrucci (9), riding his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC Panigale V4 R, won Medallia Superbike Race One. It was Petrucci's third win in a row. Photo by JR Howell. — Danilo Petrucci (9), riding his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC Panigale V4 R, won Medallia Superbike Race One. It was Petrucci’s third win in a row. Photo by JR Howell.

Josh Herrin (2) rode his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC Panigale V2 to victory in Supersport Race One. Photo by JR Howell.

Cody Wyman (34) took a narrow victory over Max Van (48) in SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup Race One. Photo by JR Howell. — Cody Wyman (34), riding his Cody Wyman Racing Kawasaki Ninja 400, took a narrow victory over Max Van (48) in SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup Race One. Photo by JR Howell.

Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing BMW's Corey Alexander (23) edged out Cycle World/Octane/Chuckwalla Racing Suzuki's Michael Gilbert (55) by 0.001 second in the Yuasa Stock 1000 race. Photo by JR Howell. — Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing BMW’s Corey Alexander (23) edged out Cycle World/Octane/Chuckwalla Racing Suzuki’s Michael Gilbert (55) by 0.001 second in the Yuasa Stock 1000 race. Photo by JR Howell.

Bobby Fong (50), riding his RSD Indian Challenger, won the three-lap Mission King Of The Baggers Challenge race. Photo by JR Howell. — Bobby Fong (50), riding his RSD Indian Challenger, won the three-lap Mission King Of The Baggers Challenge race and the $5,000 purse. Photo by JR Howell.

World Supersport: Race Two Results From Assen

David Swarts

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April 24, 2022

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World Supersport: Race Two Results From Assen

SSP Race 2
SSP points after R2

Australian Superbike: Race Report From Wakefield Park Raceway

April 24, 2022

Mike Jones (46) leads the start of Australian Superbike Race Two on Sunday at Wakefield Park Raceway. Photo by Karl Phillipson/optikalphoto, courtesy ASBK.