American Julian Correa won British Talent Cup Race Two Sunday at rainy Oulton Park, in England. Riding his Microlise Cresswell Racing Honda, Correa won the wet 10-lap race by 0.182 second.
Team City Lifting/RS Racing’s Filip Surowiak was the runner-up, and Kovara Projects/RS Racing’s Amanuel Brinton placed third.
Correa’s countryman Joshua Raymond, Jr. was 14th on his Fibre Tec Honda.
BTC R2
Precision Track Days brings you the results of this weekend’s events.
Revving Up the Track Day Experience with Precision Track Day!
Troy Herfoss won MotoAmerica Mission King Of The Baggers Race Two Sunday at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), in Austin, Texas. Riding his S&S Indian Challenger on Dunlop control tires, the reigning Australian Superbike Champion won the five-lap race by just 0.445 second. It was Herfoss’ sixth win of the season, and it drew him closer to the top of the Championship point standings.
Kyle Wyman was right behind Herfoss the entire way but couldn’t make a pass with his Harley-Davidson Factory Racing Road Glide. Instead, Wyman settled for second place and a smaller, two-point Championship lead over Herfoss heading into the season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Rocco Landers backed up his win in Race One by taking third place in Race Two on his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson.
Hayden Gillim, Landers’ teammate and the defending Champion, finished fourth.
Wyman’s teammate James Rispoli rounded out the top five finishers.
Herfoss’ teammate Tyler O’Hara was racing at the front on the original start, but his Indian started leaking oil, causing the race to be stopped with a red flag so the oil could be cleaned off the track. Because of the oil leak, O’Hara was not allowed to restart the race.
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More, from a press release issued by MSVR:
Ryde rebounds to close the gap to Bridewell as Irwin returns to winning ways
The opening round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship Showdown delivered drama in an intense Oulton Park weekend as Glenn Irwin returned to winning ways in race two, but Kyle Ryde rebounded in style in race three to close the gap to Tommy Bridewell to just six points in the standings ahead of Donington Park.
Three intense races in Cheshire saw seven different riders claim podium finishers for as many different teams and five different manufacturers, as Irwin added to his winning tally, whilst Ryde made it a double victory in the final race of the weekend.
After dry conditions yesterday, race two was wet and Hager PBM Ducati emerged victorious after Irwin made a determined last lap move on Leon Haslam at Hislops. The ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team rider ran on, but was able to re-join in third place as Danny Kent capitalised to take second place at the McAMS Racing Yamaha team’s home round.
Bridewell bounced back from yesterday’s race one crash to finish fourth in race two for Honda Racing UK, but it was disappointment for Ryde who could only finish 13th, which meant he lost the standings lead to the reigning champion.
Race three began in damp but improving conditions and several riders looked set to make a gamble on tyre choice. However, after a red flag interruption when Lewis Rollo crashed out at Hislops, the race was restarted in full wet conditions after another rain shower with a five lap sprint to the chequered flag.
In the first part of the race, Storm Stacey had again showed his prowess in the wet conditions and on the restart, he launched off the line to take the lead for LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki. Ryde was on the attack though and the OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing rider moved into second position on lap two, before taking the lead a lap later at Old Hall.
Ryde was then able to break the pack by an impressive 5.965s at the chequered flag to close a further three points on Bridewell as the defending champion held off Stacey for second place as LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki celebrated another podium finish.
Bridewell heads into the penultimate round of the Showdown with just a six-point lead as Ryde prepares for his home round on 27/28/29 September. Irwin meanwhile leads the chasing pack after nearly halving the advantage to the top of the standings in Cheshire, trailing Bridewell by 45 points with a maximum of 180 points remaining over the final two rounds.
Kyle Ryde
OMG GRILLA Racing Yamaha
“The goal this weekend was to claw a few points back and we did that in a massive fashion yesterday.
“The 13th I had in Race 2 wasn’t ideal, but the team and I came back to win a tricky Race 3.
“Thank you to the Bennetts BSB fans for voting me as Rider of the Round, my second in a row, and thank you to the team for giving me a great bike.
“I’m looking forward to Donington Park, my home round and we’ll continue to fight for the title.”
Precision Track Days brings you the results of this weekend’s events.
Revving Up the Track Day Experience with Precision Track Day!
Cameron Beaubier won MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike Race Three Sunday afternoon at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas.
With the Championship on the line, Beaubier, Josh Herrin, and Sean Dylan Kelly battled it out for 10 laps in the scorching heat and humidity. Beaubier and Herrin swapped the lead back and forth nearly every lap, but in the end Beaubier was able to get his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW to the checkered flag first to win his sixth race of the season and keep his title hopes alive.
Herrin pushed all the way to the end and nearly crashed his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R on the final lap, but he was able to save it and hang on to finish second. Although a win would have clinched the Championship for Herrin, he heads into the season finale doubleheader at New Jersey Motorsports Park with a 46-point lead over Beaubier.
After taking his career-first win in Race Two, rookie sensation Kelly was a close third on his EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing BMW in Race Three.
Richie Escalante pushed forward at the end of the race to claim fourth place on his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000R.
Herrin’s teammate Loris Baz ran fourth for much of the race but slipped to fifth in the final laps.
Escalante’s teammate Brandon Paasch was in the fight for fourth until he had an issue three laps from the end that relegated him to sixth.
Beaubier’s teammate JD Beach got seventh.
Ashton Yates took eighth and the win in the Superbike Cup category.
Benjamin Smith finished ninth on his new FLO4LAW Racing Yamaha Superbike.
Cameron Petersen ended a troubled weekend with 10th on his Attack Performance/Progressive Yamaha YZF-R1.
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More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Kelly Gets His First, Beaubier Takes Two Of Three On The Weekend At COTA
Sean Dylan Kelly Scored A Career-First Victory In Race Two, Beaubier Holds Off Herrin In Race Two To Keep Title Hopes Alive As The Series Heads To New Jersey Motorsport Park
AUSTIN, TX (September 15, 2024) – Sean Dylan Kelly will never forget that on September 15, 2024, he won his first MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike race. He’ll also know that he beat the very best in a straight fight to get that win after passing five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier in the last corner on the last lap of Circuit of The Americas on a scorching hot Sunday.
That was the early race on Sunday. There was more to come in race three.
With a track temperature of 120 degrees, the third and final Superbike race got started with another Josh Herrin holeshot. This time, Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Beaubier didn’t waste much time in moving past his championship rival. But it didn’t last as Ezra Beaubier’s (his younger brother) BMW blew up and dumped oil on the track, bringing out a red flag.
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Herrin got the jump on the field on the restart, but this time there was jostling at the top for the duration with Herrin leading five laps and Beaubier holding the spot across the line on five occasions, including the final four.
At the finish it was Beaubier holding off Herrin by .970 of a second after an absolute thrillfest of a Superbike race. Kelly was also in the fray until backing off near the end of the race to finishing 2.9 seconds behind in third.
When all was said and done, Beaubier had won two of the three Steel Commander Superbike races to pull back valuable points on Herrin. Going into the series finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park in two weeks, Beaubier trails Herrin by 46 points, 300-254.
“So, you’re telling me there’s a chance,” might be a bit optimistic, but Beaubier’s win-second-win weekend has breathed a bit of life into his championship aspirations.
The top three in race three were the same as in race two, but not in the same order. It was Beaubier, Herrin, Kelly in race three; Kelly, Beaubier, Herrin in race two.
Fourth place in the final race of the weekend went to Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante, almost five seconds ahead of Herrin’s teammate Loris Baz with Escalante’s teammate Brandon Paasch finishing for the second time on the day.
Seventh place in race three went to Beaubier’s teammate JD Beach, who was well clear of Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates.
FLO4LAW Racing’s Benjamin Smith and Attack Performance/Progressive/Yamaha Racing’s Cameron Petersen rounded out the top 10.
Superbike Race 2
Despite all the back and forth at the front, Kelly somehow managed to lead all 12 laps at the stripe, but he lost the lead on the final lap when Beaubier stuffed his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000R under the similar BMW of Kelly at the end of the backstraight. At this point, it looked like Beaubier had control with just a handful of corners left, but Kelly was determined, and he returned the favor on his former Moto2 teammate with a lunge up the inside in the final corner. From there he was able to get to the finish line first to earn that first-ever Superbike in a race to remember.
All of this played into the hands of Herrin, who dropped off the lead duo and hoped that Kelly could somehow beat Beaubier to help him in his championship quest. With Kelly doing just that, Beaubier only pulled back four points on Herrin and not the nine he would have gained if he’d won with Kelly between them. Herrin was just a tick under five seconds adrift of the lead duo.
Kelly’s margin of victory over Beaubier was .177 of a second and it made him the sixth different winner of a MotoAmerica Superbike race in 2024 – joining Herrin, Beaubier, Jake Gagne, Bobby Fong, and Cameron Petersen.
In winning the first race of his career as a rookie on a first-year team, EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing’s Kelly became the 66th rider to win an AMA Superbike National.
Herrin’s teammate Baz improved his pace dramatically from Saturday’s race one to finish fourth, some eight seconds off the leader after slowing in the final laps.
Another to improve from Saturday’s race one was Wrench Motorcycle’s Bobby Fong with the Californian racing to fifth – one spot better than in race one.
Sixth place went to Paasch, with the youngster finding something in morning warmup to increase his pace.
Petersen, Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Xavi Forés, Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Beach and Yates rounded out the top 10.
Escalante stood on the podium in race one on Saturday, but he suffered a crash in race two that resulted in a DNF.
Quotes
Sean Dylan Kelly – First/Third
“Yeah, this one is definitely up there. It was unreal to get that first superbike win, as you guys can imagine. I’ve been working really, really hard for it. From the beginning of the season, just being close in a handful of races. I crashed out of the lead in Road America. I had a couple more chances here and there. Didn’t just come true, but this race two earlier today was absolutely incredible. It was pretty cool to be battling with these guys and even cooler to be honest to be able to do that pass in the last corner for the win. That was insane. Brought me a little flashback from Supersport days with Richie (Escalante), doing all those last-lap scraps. It was also a little bit of a fairytale first win with that special livery that we did ten days ago with all the kids from the Children’s Hospital. Obviously, it was a dream to be able to make it happen. Dreaming and doing are two different things, and that was amazing. Just feeling on top of the moon with what we did today.”
Josh Herrin – Third/Second
“I was feeling extra motivated. We’ve got the DRE (Ducati ride day) tomorrow. I like going to those things with a win. It’s not fun going if you don’t win. Everybody is not as pumped. We had the Ferracci stuff on. I wanted to get it for him. I’m bummed that we didn’t get it with that on. But it was kind of like one of those days where it was so hot that if you don’t just give it your all, then you’re going to be a lot weaker, in my mind. You can think, I’m going to go out and just relax, but then you do worse because you just let the heat get to you. Where if you just put your head down and go for it, then it makes it a lot easier. It was hot behind Cam’s (Beaubier) bike, so I didn’t want to sit behind him the whole race. Probably took one too many risks. I just talked to Hayes on the way in. He said those are the rides that make your crew happy to be working for you. So, I just wanted to go out and do good for them, do good for my family. I wanted to go hang out. I don’t want to win by just riding around and cruising. I want to win by riding like Beaubier or (Josh) Hayes or (Mat) Mladin did. I don’t want to just ride around. That was a super difficult weekend. I’m happy to come out of here. It’s crazy how many points you can lose even when you’re riding that good. We lost I think 14 points or something. I got really lucky in race two because I didn’t think I was going to be able to battle for the win, and when I saw Sean (Dylan Kelly) go and I know how motivated he is to win, I just wanted to leave a little bit of a gap, or try to create a bigger gap to him and Beaubier because I knew Beaubier was going to be strong at the end, and I just was adding up during the race. If I can make myself lose four points instead of five points, it puts me in a better position. I can then beat him in the third race and have one point on top, because I know he’s got more race wins than me. So, I needed to beat him in the last one. Just probably way too much thinking going on this weekend. That last race, I just I didn’t want to think. I just wanted to go. Hats off to the boys for making such a good bike. Congrats to Sean on his win. It’s not just cool seeing him win because he’s getting his first win, but we’re OnlyFans teammates. He’s been racing at my house since he was a little kid, so it’s cool battling and just getting beat by somebody that got raised at my house racing. That’s a cool feeling. Hats off to them. Good job, Beaubier. Get to hopefully wrap it up at our home race in Jersey.”
Cameron Beaubier – Second/First
“Those last couple laps, I just put everything I had into trying to open up just enough of a gap to where I could keep the track open and get to the line first. Josh (Herrin) and I were stuffing each other left and right, pretty much all day. It was a pretty fun race this afternoon, honestly. I think to go out and push as hard as you can this afternoon was going to be pretty tough, so I felt like the way we were racing each other, it kind of kept it light and kept us on our toes and not just drilling the pace lap after lap after lap. I felt like that was honestly pretty fun. It was a good fight. I was pretty surprised he was fighting me that hard with as much as he has to lose. I definitely wouldn’t have been doing that. Didn’t do that in the past, but credit to him. He was riding hard. It was good. I haven’t had a tough day like that in a long time. That was a pretty hard day with those two superbike races on Sunday in 100-plus heat out at this track. I’d say this track is probably one of the most physical tracks we have on the schedule. Happy with being able to just come back after my foot injury with some fitness. The last month break was really good for me just to try to get some fitness back. We’re keeping it alive going into Jersey, but to be honest with you, it’s pretty much done. I did everything I could for the boys to just give us a fighting chance.”
More, from a press release issued by Ducati:
The title fight rolls on to New Jersey after Josh Herrin’s heroic COTA performance
Sunnyvale, Calif., September 15, 2024 — Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin showed his racing maturity during a steaming hot weekend at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, taking three podium places and putting himself in the box seat to wrap up the 2024 Steel Commander MotoAmerica Superbike Championship title at New Jersey Motorsports Park at the end of September.
In a weekend where sealing the title was a distinct possibility, Herrin refused to play it safe and threw caution to the wind, engaging in three nail-biting races with Cameron Beaubier and Sean Dylan Kelly.
Resplendent in a special Fast by Ferracci livery to mark 30 years since Troy Corser sealed Ducati’s last AMA Superbike title in 1994, Herrin was at his spectacular best, sliding the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R around the expansive 3.4-mile layout and making some incredible around-the-outside moves in race three on Beaubier.
Ultimately, Herrin took second place in race one, third in race two, and a very close second in race three, leaving Texas with a 46-point title lead with one round, two races, and 50 points remaining in the 2024 championship.
For Herrin’s teammate Loris Baz, the fast Frenchman carded two fourth place finishes and a fifth at COTA, elevating himself to equal sixth in the championship standings with the absent Jake Gagne.
2024 Steel Commander MotoAmerica Superbike Championship After Round Eight
P1 – Josh Herrin (Ducati) 300
P2 – Cameron Beaubier 254
P3 – Bobby Fong 213
P4 – Sean Dylan Kelly 208
P5 – Cameron Petersen 195
P6 – Loris Baz (Ducati) 192
Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati–#2)
“I can’t ask for much better than what we did this weekend,” Herrin said. “They were incredibly difficult conditions—we knew Cam (Beaubier) was going to be strong this weekend, as Sean (Dylan Kelly) due to his Moto2 experience here, but I’m really happy with what myself and the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati team accomplished.
“We made lots of improvements over the weekend to the bike, and I’m happy to be going into the DRE (Ducati Ride Experience) event on Monday with all the Ducatisti after a weekend like that.
“This whole year has been great, so now we have a 46-point lead heading into New Jersey, where I’ll just ride my race and try to wrap this thing up.”
Loris Baz (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati–#76)
“It’s been a long weekend for everyone,” Baz said in the heat of Sunday afternoon. “The results weren’t quite what we wanted, but we were strong all weekend. The pace was good, and I felt more comfortable on the bike. I was losing a lot of time on the straight, but the guys changed the engine last night, which was a bit better. However, we need to find a little more grip as well.
“I need to be a little more aggressive in the early stages, but overall, it was a good weekend for the team, which is the most important thing. Josh did a great job, and I tried to help him as much as possible, especially in qualifying. I can’t say I’m really happy, but we’re all working hard and looking forward to a great final round in a few weeks’ time.”
The final round of the 2024 Steel Commander MotoAmerica Superbike Championship will be Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s home race at New Jersey Motorsports Park and is scheduled for September 27-29, 2024.
Precision Track Days brings you the results of this weekend’s events.
Revving Up the Track Day Experience with Precision Track Day!
Mathew Scholtz has one hand on the 2024 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship trophy after he won Race Two Sunday at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) and his only title rival experienced some bad luck.
Scholtz, riding his Strack Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 on Dunlop control tires, fought his way to the front and was able to win the 11-lap race by two seconds.
Tyler Scott led at points on his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R750, but he had to settle for second place in the scorching hot conditions.
N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha rider Blake Davis backed up his podium performance in Race One with a third place, 0.4 second behind Scott, in Race Two.
Corey Alexander came back from a slow start to claim fourth on his Rahal Ducati Moto w/Roller Die + Forming Panigale V2.
Race One winner Jake Lewis didn’t have the winning pace in Race Two and the best he could do was fifth, right behind Alexander, on his Altus Motorsports Suzuki.
The big news in Race Two, however, was the crash of Scholtz’s Championship rival PJ Jacobsen. Jacobsen was running third on his Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL Panigale V2, right behind Scott, on the final lap when he lost the front and fell two corners from the finish.
Jacobsen was able to pick up his Ducati and return to the race, but he crossed the line 19th and out of the points. As a result, Scholtz’s lead in the Championship point standings went from 14 to 39 points with two races and 50 possible points remining.
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More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Two Points Separate Wyman From Herfoss With NJMP Finale To Come
The Battle For The 2024 Mission King Of The Baggers Title Will Go Down To The Wire In Jersey
AUSTIN, TX (September 15, 2024) – With Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman and S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Troy Herfoss winning 12 of the 16 Mission King Of The Baggers races, it’s fitting that those two will battle to the bitter end in a winner-take-all-championship at New Jersey Motorsports Park, September 27-29.
Of course, the duo battled on Sunday afternoon at Circuit of The Americas with the two running nose to tail for the majority of the race. At the end of the five-lap sprint, it was Herfoss taking his sixth win of the season with Wyman just .445 of a second behind in second place.
The championship? There’s now just two points between the two with Wyman leading Herfoss, 315-313, with the series headed to Wyman’s home track of NJMP in two weeks.
No one else was a real factor in this one with Saturday’s Mission King Of The Baggers victor Rocco Landers riding his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to third, 3.7 seconds behind the lead duo.
Landers’ teammate Hayden Gillim rode to a gutsy fourth after undergoing surgery on a broken hand just a week or so prior to racing in Texas. Gillim was right on Landers at the finish line.
Wyman’s teammate James Rispoli rounded out the top five, some five seconds adrift of the intra-team Landers/Gillim battle.
“Today was a really good day,” Herfoss said. “Yesterday I got caught out. It was a tough race yesterday. Just having young Rocco (Landers) again. I see a lot in him. I know that he’s going to race to win every stage of the year. I sort of didn’t open fire as much as I probably could have, but in saying that, he was just so in control. I sort of knew that if I was going to make a pass, he was so dialed in it wasn’t going to do much. It wasn’t going to get me far. But today, we made a few adjustments and sort of predicted the way the track would go in that heat. I kept a good eye on the Superbike races today. The answer is yes, I was extremely comfortable. As I said on the podium, a little bit of a smart-ass comment, but I have also been super respectful all the year because I was so comfortable, I don’t go back on that. I felt like it was a puppet show, and I felt like I was in charge of it. I tried to get Kyle (Wyman) to do something he didn’t want to do, and like I knew he was too smart to try. It’s even and we’re going to the last round. Best man can win. I understand full well that it’s a track that he’s really good at. I’ve got a lot of respect for that. I can’t wait to go there and see what I can do there.”
Supersport – Breathing Room For Scholtz
The 2024 Supersport Championship will go down to the final round of the season after a drama-filled weekend that began with a 25-point lead for Strack Racing Yamaha’s Mathew Scholtz over Rahal Ducati Moto’s PJ Jacobsen and ended with Scholtz now taking a 39-point lead to New Jersey Motorsports Park for the final two races of the championship.
Scholtz survived some intense challenges from the other riders and a near-get-off from his Yamaha to take the checkered flag by a little over two seconds ahead of Vision Wheel ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott. Third place went to N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha’s Blake Davis.
But, what about Jacobsen? Well, the title contender led the race, was shuffled back in the lead pack, and ultimately looked like he’d finish on the podium until the penultimate corner on the final lap when he inexplicably went down and slid out of the race, which cost him most of the valuable points that he had gained from the results of Saturday’s race one.
“I knew I had the pace to do (fast laps) consistently, and I knew that I should be able to win,” Scholtz said. “It sucks that PJ crashed, but it really, really helps me in the championship. So, now, we go to New Jersey for the final round. Two more races, and we have the advantage. We’ll be ready.”
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship – West Crowned!
Saddlemen Harley-Davidson’s Cory West did exactly what he needed to do to earn the 2024 Mission Super Hooligan National Championship. He finished second to championship rival Tyler O’Hara on Saturday morning at COTA, and that earned the veteran racer from Arkansas his first career AMA title.
The race was won by S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s O’Hara, but it wasn’t enough as he didn’t get the help he was hoping for. When his teammate Troy Herfoss went out with a mechanical problem, that put the onus of help on the shoulders of his other teammate, 61-year-old Jeremy McWilliams. McWilliams gave it his all but came up .167 of a second behind West in third. Even if he’d gotten the spot and West had ended the race tied with O’Hara on points, the title would have gone to West based on the tiebreaker of number of wins.
Second place on the track went to uber talent Alessandro Di Mario, who was riding a non-homologated Ducati Streetfighter V2. Di Mario was racing knowing that the bike would be disqualified, but it didn’t take away from the fact that the 15-year-old was impressive in his debut in the class.
Fourth place went to West’s teammate Jake Lewis, with the Kentuckian playing the role of wingman to perfection. The third Saddlemen Harley-Davidson teamster, Travis Wyman, finished fifth.
“It’s hard to stay cool when it’s so hot out,” West said. “Saddlemen Harley Davidson Pan America… I can’t say enough. That bike just worked awesome. It was a really stressful race. I had to finish third. I knew what TO (Tyler O’Hara) was going to do. He was going to go out and try to win it. I just kept my head down and did what I could. This is a dream come true. It’s something that you’ve always wanted when you were a kid when you start to racing, to be a champion. It’s just complete, man. It’s a check off the old bucket list. I really have to thank everybody. Dave, Amy, Chris. My beautiful wife, who is due in eight days. Jake, Taylor, Kento, Eric, Matty, Fury, Ricky, everybody. I love you guys. My family is here this weekend. I’ve got so many friends. We brought home the number-one plate, and I couldn’t be happier.”
BellissiMoto Twins Cup – Di Mario Takes It
The BellissiMoto Twins Cup Championship came down to the final race of the season, and at the start, it looked like we were going to get the epic showdown was expected between title contenders Alessandro Di Mario and Rocco Landers, who were only separated by six points after Saturday’s race one.
Landers got the holeshot coming out of turn one on the first lap, but 15-year-old phenom Di Mario took the lead before the opening lap had been completed, and he pressed his advantage all the way to the checkered flag.
The Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering rider led every lap of the race and took the checkered flag by more than six and a half seconds.
Meanwhile, after challenging on the opening lap, Landers had a mechanical problem, which put him out of the race and unfortunately out of the championship.
For Di Mario, who is only in his second year of MotoAmerica racing and is a Twins Cup rookie, he notched his first of what may be many MotoAmerica class championships to come.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Rossi Moor, who celebrated his 17th birthday on Friday, finished second for his best result of the season, while Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing’s Dominic Doyle came home third, which was his sixth podium finish in the 2024 BellissiMoto Twins Cup Championship.
Di Mario, whose cool, calm demeanor belies his young age, was asked if he felt the pressure of being in contention for his first MotoAmerica Championship.
“It was hard. It wasn’t easy at all,” Di Mario said. “Rocco (Landers) was fast all year. I came into this weekend, and I was really confident. I like the track. It was really hot, but it was a little better than yesterday. Yesterday felt a lot worse. I just went out and I knew what I could do. I just tried to do as many fast laps as possible at the start, tried to pull a little gap. When I saw the pit board with the gap, I started to manage it until the last lap. My last lap was super slow. I didn’t want to make any mistakes. I left off quite a bit. I just want to thank everybody, my whole team, Mike, Chad, Kevin, Freddy from home, Sara for the pictures. I love you. My teammate, Gus (Rodio). He’s been a great teammate all year. I just want to thank all my sponsors. Also, my brother. He’s in the Marine Corps. I think he’s watching from home. I love you. I just want to thank everybody. Dainese, HJC, all my sponsors. Thank you so much.”
More, from a press release issued by Rahal Ducati Moto:
CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS RACE 2
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2024 | WARM-UP & RACE 2
Sunday at Circuit of The Americas proved bittersweet for the Rahal Ducati Moto team. The battle for the podium came down to the very last lap with PJ Jacobsen trading positions with championship leader Mathew Scholtz, Tyler Scott, and Blake Davis. In true competitor fashion, Jacobsen was determinded to go for second-place on the final lap to keep the championship tight, however his move in Turn 19 of 20 landed him in the gravel. Jacobsen was able to get his bike back up and join the race to finish 19th. Scholtz now leads Jacobsen by 39 points leading into the final two rounds of the season.
Corey Alexander fumbled on the start but was able to quickly move through the field and picking off competitors one at a time. Wearing race boots a size smaller than usual to help with shifting, Alexander eventually climbed to the fourth position when he crossed the finish line earning his eighth top five of the season.
Kayla Yaakov rode her first-ever Supersport race at Circuit of The Americas just last year. Showing improvement steadily throughout the weekend, Kayla earned a seventh place finish after impressive passes throughout the field.
The team packs the truck to head to the East Coast where the final two rounds of the season will be held at all three rider’s home track of New Jersey Motorsports Park. Join the team at the season finale September 27-29.
COREY ALEXANDER
No. 23 ROLLER DIE + FORMING DUCATI PANIGALE V2
STARTED: 5th
FINISHED: 4th
CHAMPIONSHIP: 6th (140 pts)
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “We had a great race today. I got a bad start – the first one we’ve had in a long time, which made our race more difficult than it should have been. We had the pace to run away with the front group, but I made it too hard for myself with the gap. Unfortunately, with my size, and without a draft, it was very difficult. Overall, it was a positive weekend. I hate for PJ to crash out like that on the last lap, but for me, it was a positive weekend. Thanks to the whole crew for sweating it out with the brutal heat.”
KAYLA YAAKOV
No. 19 XPEL DUCATI PANIGALE V2
STARTED: 12th
FINISHED: 7th
CHAMPIONSHIP: 8th (134 pts)
WHAT SHE’S SAYING: “It was a decent end to the weekend. We made such a big improvement from Friday and Race 1, so I can’t thank my team enough. This program has helped me so much, and to see where I was last year at this race to where I am now, it’s a completely different rider. I owe it all to Ben and all the fitness that he’s put me through, to Graham for trusting me, and Richie for putting together this amazing program for us riders. We tried our best today, and we were able to come out on top of the group that I was in, and continue to improve our pace. Now, we are going to focus on New Jersey, our home race. I think we’ll have a good showing and hopefully get all three bikes on the podium. That and getting PJ his championship would be a dream ending to the season.”
PJ JACOBSEN
No. 15 XPEL DUCATI PANIGALE V2
STARTED: 3rd
FINISHED: 19th
CHAMPIONSHIP: 2nd (290 pts)
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “Honestly, it was a bad weekend for us. We were struggling here all weekend with the bike. The team did a great job, we just have to figure some things out after this weekend. I’m not sure if it was the heat that was making us struggle. We go to my home race next in New Jersey, so I’m pretty confident about those races. It’s a bummer to end the weekend like this but we’ll focus on New Jersey and getting two wins there.”
BEN SPIES
TEAM PRINCIPAL
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “It was a little bit of a bittersweet Sunday. PJ had a good start and great pace, Corey was riding really well after getting hung up at the start, but he came through the pack. Kayla had a better race than she did yesterday, so we had some improvements. With the heat at the track, our chassis and the bike were struggling with edge grip and losing too much for PJ to make the difference. He was going for it, trying to save valuable championship points going for second place, but lost the front. That’s how it happens sometimes in racing. We have one race weekend left, but we have to be happy with the year and how everything has gone so far. As a team, you always want to win, so it’s a bit frustrating, but we’ll regroup and come back stronger in a couple of weeks.”
Precision Track Days brings you the results of this weekend’s events.
Revving Up the Track Day Experience with Precision Track Day!
Alessandro Di Mario, age 15, wrapped up the 2024 MotoAmerica BellissiMoto Twins Cup Championship with a victory in Race Two Sunday at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), in Austin, Texas.
Riding his Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering Aprilia RS 660 on Dunlop control tires, Di Mario ran away to win the eight-lap race by 6.550 seconds.
Rossi Moor bounced back from a painful crash in Race One on Saturday and took the runner-up spot in Race Two on his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-8R.
Dominic Doyle got third on his Giaccmoto Racing Yamaha YZF-R7.
Di Mario’s teammate Gus Rodio finished fourth.
Newly crowned Junior Cup Champion Matthew Chapin crashed his BARTCON Racing Suzuki on the final lap, but he was able to pick up his machine and cross the finish line fifth.
Di Mario’s Championship rival Rocco Landers retired from the race due to a technical problem with his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki.
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Precision Track Days brings you the results of this weekend’s events.
Revving Up the Track Day Experience with Precision Track Day!
Sean Dylan Kelly came out on top of a great duel with Cameron Beaubier to earn his career-first MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike race win in Race Two Sunday at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), in Austin, Texas.
The former Moto2 World Championship teammates fought down to the final corner of the final lap. There, Kelly dived up the inside of Beaubier on the brakes to take the lead and the victory on his Dunlop-shod EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing BMW M 1000 RR.
Beaubier tried to cut back underneath Kelly and beat him in the short drag race to the checkered flag, but the Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW rider came up 0.177 second short.
Josh Herrin fought for the lead for the first half of the race, but Herrin decided bringing his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R home in third place was the smart move. As a result, Herrin heads into Race Three Sunday afternoon with a 51-point lead in the Championship. If Herrin can finish in front of Beaubier in Race Three he will clinch the 2024 Superbike Championship.
Herrin’s teammate Loris Baz finished a lonely fourth.
Bobby Fong took fifth on his Wrench Motorcycles Yamaha.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch came out on top of a four-rider battle for sixth.
Attack Performance/Progressive Yamaha’s Cameron Petersen rebounded from a tough Race One to get seventh in Race Two, just behind Paasch and just ahead of his fill-in teammate Xavi Fores in eighth. Beaubier’s teammate JD Beach finished right behind Fores in ninth.
Ashton Yates, riding his Jones Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP, rounded out the top 10 finishers and won the Superbike Cup class.
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Precision Track Days brings you the results of this weekend’s events.
Revving Up the Track Day Experience with Precision Track Day!
Tyler O’Hara won MotoAmerica RSD Mission Super Hooligan Race Two Sunday at Circuit of The America (COTA), in Austin, Texas. Riding his S&S Indian FTR on Dunlop control tires, the defending Champion won the six-lap race by over four seconds.
Cory West took second place on his Team Saddlemen Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250, and that was enough for the Arkansas native to capture the 2024 Championship.
Jeremy McWilliams, riding as a wild card entry for S&S Indian, finished third, right behind West.
West’s teammates Jake Lewis and Travis Wyman came home fourth and fifth, respectively.
Troy Herfoss retired with a technical problem on his S&S Indian.
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More, from a press release issued by Energica:
PURE PERFORMANCE AT COTA
The credits have rolled on the 2024 Mission Foods Super Hooligan National Championship with the final two races of the season that took place at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas on September 14-15. Stefano Mesa scored a brace of ninth place finishes around the long and fast 3.426-mile circuit aboard Tytlers Cycle Racing’s #137 Eva Ribelle RS KCC (Kit Corsa Clienti), showing great speed in the early part of both encounters.
If we look deeper into the performance put together by the 31-year-old Colombian rider, we can see that his quickest lap time of the weekend was a 2:17.167 logged on lap four in today’s race two. This very lap-time would have been the fastest lap of any competitor in either of the two Super Hooligan races held at CoTA in 2023. To put this into context, Mesa’s best time in last year’s historical race one, second-place finish was a 2:20.648, so his time this year has improved by almost three and a half seconds.
Yesterday’s 2:17.464 set in qualifying 2 – which placed him in seventh position on the grid – would have translated in a front-row start for the #137 in 2023.
Every motorcycle racing season is a whole different story, and this couldn’t be any closer to the truth this time around. Series evolve, new players come in, new rules are introduced, so the variables are many and constantly shifting. But as the only EV entry in a field of otherwise ICE motorcycles, Energica can only be proud with the incredible steps forwards made in 2024 with the invaluable support of Tytlers Cycle Racing, Stefano Mesa, the whole crew, and our partners: PETRONAS iona, Siemens and Sonic Tools.
The Eva Ribelle RS KCC is still a fine example of what a street-derivative electric motorcycle is capable of in closed-circuit competition and as far as we’re concerned, we’ll keep working hard to make sure that all this knowledge is transferred to the roads for all of you to enjoy on a daily basis. After all, this is what racing is all about.
The final classification sees Stefano Mesa 9th with x points scored across ten individual races and a huge wealth of experience for everyone involved heading into the future. In this ever-accelerated world, Energica keeps the throttle wide open (and for good reasons!).
A big thank you to all of you, who keep showing an immense amount of support.
Italian racer Luca Salvadori has died from injuries sustained in a crash during an International Road Racing Championship (IRRC) event in Germany.
Salvadori crashed on Saturday, September 14 at the Frohburger Dreieck, a 3.0-mile triangle-shaped circuit composed of closed-off public roads. He succumb to his injuries today.
Salvadori’s passing was announced on social media by his team, Broncos Racing Team.
He was 32 years old.
American Flat Track (AFT) Series
Lake Ozark Short Track
Lake Ozark Speedway
Eldon, Missouri
September 14, 2024
Provisional Mission AFT SuperTwins Main Event Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Jared Mees (Ind), 36 laps
2. Dallas Daniels (Yam), -00.423 seconds
3. Jarod VanDerKooi (Ind), -00.728
4. Brandon Robinson (Ind), -02.952
5. Briar Bauman (KTM), -03.597
6. Declan Bender (Ind), -04.241
7. Davis Fisher (Ind), -06.677
8. Sammy Halbert (Har), -08.301
9. Trevor Brunner (Ind), -08.863
10. Bronson Bauman (KTM), -10.535
11. Brandon Price (Yam), -11.944
12. Dan Bromley (Suz), -12.342
13. Max Whale (Har), -13.172
14. Cameron Smith (KTM), -17.543
15. Dalton Gauthier (Roy), -18.081
16. Trent Lowe (Hon), -1 lap, -02.697
17. Ben Lowe (KTM), -1 lap, -03.455
18. Billy Ross (Kaw), -1 lap, -10.575
19. Morgen Mischler (Hon), -15 laps,
Provisional Parts Unlimited AFT Singles Main Event Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Tom Drane (Yam), 22 laps
2. Chase Saathoff (Hon), -00.061 seconds
3. Kody Kopp (KTM), -00.149
4. Evan Renshaw (Hon), -00.251
5. Trent Lowe (Hon), -00.431
6. Tarren Santero (Hon), -00.937
7. Jared Lowe (Hon), -01.391
8. Chad Cose (Hus), -01.639
9. Tyler Raggio (KTM), -02.014
10. Shayna Texter-Bauman (KTM), -02.069
11. Ian Wolfe (Hon), -02.231
12. Reece Pottorf (Hon), -02.403
13. Hunter Bauer (Yam), -02.445
14. Travis Petton (KTM), -02.822
15. Justin Anselmi (Yam), -03.156
16. Evan Kelleher (KTM), -03.470
17. Jacob Vanderkooi (Hus), -03.649
18. Maclain Drucker (Hon), -05.113
Provisional Royal Enfield BTR Main Event Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Shasta L’Heureux (Roy), 8 laps
2. Kenzie Luker (Roy), -02.096 seconds
3. Taia Little (Roy), -02.372
4. Mya Maffei (Roy), -02.678
5. Mikaela Nichols-Lionetti (Roy), -03.922
6. Morgan Piller (Roy), -07.357
7. Hannah Lange (Roy), -10.845
8. Hannah Robertson (Roy), -12.781
9. Kristiana Ross (Roy), -17.952
More, from a press release issued by AFT:
Unprecedented: Mees, Kopp Complete Bids for History at 2024 Progressive AFT Finale
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 14, 2024) – Jared Mees (No. 1 Rogers Racing/SDI Racing/Indian Motorcycle FTR750) put the finishing touches on what may prove the final and most convincing argument in support of his claim as the greatest rider in the history of Progressive American Flat Track, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing: an unprecedented tenth Grand National Championship.
Mees did exactly what he needed to – and then some – at Lake Ozark Speedway to secure this crowning achievement as the 2024 season came to its conclusion with the inaugural running of the Parts Plus Lake Ozark Short Track presented by Arrowhead Brass & Arby’s in Eldon, Missouri.
Racing before a packed house with some 125,000 motorcycle enthusiasts flooding the area for the 18th Annual Lake of the Ozarks Bikefest, the Mission AFT SuperTwins Main Event was loaded with talented riders motivated to end their respective ‘24 campaigns on a high note.
And yet still no one could compare to Mees on this night, just like so many other nights before it. Despite requiring just three points to clinch his record tenth title, the Indian Motorcycle hero grabbed the holeshot and battled it out over the race’s opening stages with second-ranked Brandon Robinson (No. 44 Mission Roof Systems Indian FTR750), the only rider retaining even the slimmest mathematical chance of stealing away the #1 plate.
But by the contest’s halfway point, Mees had shook free at the front, shifting the race’s epicenter of drama back to Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT), whose season-long podium streak was in serious threat after the Estenson Racing ace found himself mired down in ninth.
However, Daniels systematically worked his way forward while Robinson duked it out with Jarod Vanderkooi (No. 20 JMC Motorsports/Fairway Ford Ohio Indian FTR750) for second. Daniels eventually made his way up to their scrap, displacing Robinson and then Vanderkooi, all the while drawing shockingly near to Mees as the contest reached its final circulation.
But that’s as far as Daniels’ charge would carry him. Mees held on to finish the season – and potentially his career – on top in practically every sense, winning the season finale by 0.423 seconds over his young rival.
Vanderkooi earned the final spot on the podium, with Robinson and Briar Bauman (No. 3 Rick Ware Racing/KTM/Parts Plus KTM 790 Duke) rounding out the top five. Rookie Declan Bender (No. 70 GOMR/BriggsAuto.com/Martin Trucking Indian FTR750) finished sixth, followed by Davis Fisher (No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s BMC Racing Indian FTR750), Sammy Halbert (No. 69 OnlyFans/Castrol/Kings Kustoms/LZ Racing Harley-Davidson XR750), Trevor Brunner (No. 21 Mission Foods/Zanotti Racing Indian FTR750), and Bronson Bauman (No. 37 Fastrack Racing Mission Foods KTM 790 Duke) to complete the top ten.
Mees’ résumé is far too extensive to list here in full, but in brief, tonight’s championship triumph updates his Grand National Championship victory tally to now include 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. He also ranks first or second in the career wins rankings for Half-Miles, Short Tracks, Miles, and total GNC Main Event victories.
Mees, who elevated an already Hall-of-Fame-worthy career to stratospheric heights once he joined forces with Indian Motorcycle in 2017, sent the marque’s remarkable FTR750 out in appropriate fashion this season. Tonight’s championship secures the bike a perfect eight-for-eight record in Grand National Championship battles in what will go down as one of the most dominant eras the sport has ever witnessed from both man and machine.
In the end, Mees earned the 2024 Mission AFT SuperTwins title with 311 points, followed by Robinson at 280 and Daniels at 276.
After claiming an unprecedented tenth Grand National Championship, Mees said, “It was a goal. Everybody would say it was a dream, but it was a goal. I made my dream my goal and worked hard at it. It hasn’t even sunk in yet. I had a big points lead coming in here, but there was only one way to go out the way I want to go out, and that was by winning this damn race.
“I can’t say enough for my entire team. Kenny (Tolbert), Bubba (Bently), Jimmy (Wood), you guys have won me a lot of races and a lot of championships. I definitely wouldn’t be as successful without you three and all my sponsors. Indian Motorcycle – I took their very first win in 2017, I opened that book for them, and tonight I got to close it for them. I can’t say enough for that company…
“So many people contributed to my program over these years. I feel like I could have this microphone until tomorrow morning and talk about my career and all the people who were in it to make me successful. I just want to say thank you.”
Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER
As if Mees’ record-breaking achievement wasn’t enough to secure the ‘24 finale’s place in the sport’s annals, Kody Kopp (No. 1 Rick Ware Racing/Parts Plus KTM 450 SX-F) closed out the Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER season by securing the 450cc equivalent.
Needing to merely avoid catastrophe, Kopp actually jumped out into the lead to open the decisive final contest. However, once Chase Saathoff (No. 88 JPG Motorsports Honda CRF450R) and then Trent Lowe (No. 48 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R) drove underneath him, Kopp seemed to reevaluate his strategy, dropping down to fifth before settling back in.
With Saathoff powering away out front, Kopp wicked his pace back up, pouncing on Tom Drane (No. 59 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) and Evan Renshaw (No. 265 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R) in rapid succession to slot back into a podium position.
He then carried that momentum past Lowe and began the difficult task of closing the gap to Saathoff when a red flag flew as a result of a Travis Petton IV (No. 82 ECG Racing/A.M Ortega KTM 450 SX-F) fall with less than a minute remaining on the clock.
That development changed the complexion of the race completely, transforming it into a wild bar-to-bar affair to the flag. Lowe led initially before Saathoff and Drane took their season-long rivalry to the front of the pack. Kopp was again shuffled back to fifth where he could have easily stayed to collect his third #1 plate, but instead he made a final push to claim third ahead of Renshaw and Lowe.
Meanwhile, the season’s final victory went to Drane over Saathoff by 0.061 seconds, handing the Australian bragging rights for most wins on the season at seven in the process.
Drane said, “I was able to bounce back (after a bad start). That restart really helped me there at the end. I was able to fight back and had a good battle with Chase. It was good to finally get something back on him after all the stuff he’s done to me this year. I can’t thank my team enough for all their effort all year.”
Kopp ultimately took the crown with a grand total of 339 points to Drane’s 324 and Saathoff’s 318. And like Mees in the premier class, he now stands alone in the Parts Unlimited AFT Singles record books. Following the completion of his third successive title run, the Rick Ware Racing star now owns more championships (three) and more race victories (22) than anyone in the category’s history, while also holding either sole possession or a share of first place all-time in terms of Short Track, Half-Mile, and single-season victories.
The conquering Kopp said, “I couldn’t be more proud of my Rick Ware Racing team. It’s been a dream season. I would have loved to get a win there, but those guys at the front were riding a little over the top, and I wasn’t going to play that game. We had a championship to win, and that was way more important… It’s a dream come true. Who knows what will be after three?”
Finally, Shasta L’Heureux (No. 67 Royal Enfield) completed the 2024 season for Royal Enfield’s successful and popular Build. Train. Race. (BTR) program by claiming her first-career victory in the class with perpetual frontrunners Kenzie Luker (No. 17 Royal Enfield) and Taia Little (No. 11 Royal Enfield) rounding out the podium.
Next Up:
For those who can’t catch the action from the circuit, FloRacing is the live streaming home of Progressive AFT. Sign up now and catch every second of the on-track action, from the first practice to the victory podium, at https://flosports.link/aft.
FOX Sports coverage of the Lake Ozark Short Track, featuring in-depth features and thrilling onboard cameras, will premiere on FS1 on Sunday, September 22, at 12:00 p.m. ET (9:00 a.m. PT).
For more information on Progressive AFT visit https://www.americanflattrack.com.
American Julian Correa won British Talent Cup Race Two Sunday at rainy Oulton Park, in England. Riding his Microlise Cresswell Racing Honda, Correa won the wet 10-lap race by 0.182 second.
Team City Lifting/RS Racing’s Filip Surowiak was the runner-up, and Kovara Projects/RS Racing’s Amanuel Brinton placed third.
Correa’s countryman Joshua Raymond, Jr. was 14th on his Fibre Tec Honda.
BTC R2
Precision Track Days brings you the results of this weekend’s events.
Revving Up the Track Day Experience with Precision Track Day!
Troy Herfoss won MotoAmerica Mission King Of The Baggers Race Two Sunday at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), in Austin, Texas. Riding his S&S Indian Challenger on Dunlop control tires, the reigning Australian Superbike Champion won the five-lap race by just 0.445 second. It was Herfoss’ sixth win of the season, and it drew him closer to the top of the Championship point standings.
Kyle Wyman was right behind Herfoss the entire way but couldn’t make a pass with his Harley-Davidson Factory Racing Road Glide. Instead, Wyman settled for second place and a smaller, two-point Championship lead over Herfoss heading into the season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Rocco Landers backed up his win in Race One by taking third place in Race Two on his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson.
Hayden Gillim, Landers’ teammate and the defending Champion, finished fourth.
Wyman’s teammate James Rispoli rounded out the top five finishers.
Herfoss’ teammate Tyler O’Hara was racing at the front on the original start, but his Indian started leaking oil, causing the race to be stopped with a red flag so the oil could be cleaned off the track. Because of the oil leak, O’Hara was not allowed to restart the race.
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More, from a press release issued by MSVR:
Ryde rebounds to close the gap to Bridewell as Irwin returns to winning ways
The opening round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship Showdown delivered drama in an intense Oulton Park weekend as Glenn Irwin returned to winning ways in race two, but Kyle Ryde rebounded in style in race three to close the gap to Tommy Bridewell to just six points in the standings ahead of Donington Park.
Three intense races in Cheshire saw seven different riders claim podium finishers for as many different teams and five different manufacturers, as Irwin added to his winning tally, whilst Ryde made it a double victory in the final race of the weekend.
After dry conditions yesterday, race two was wet and Hager PBM Ducati emerged victorious after Irwin made a determined last lap move on Leon Haslam at Hislops. The ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team rider ran on, but was able to re-join in third place as Danny Kent capitalised to take second place at the McAMS Racing Yamaha team’s home round.
Bridewell bounced back from yesterday’s race one crash to finish fourth in race two for Honda Racing UK, but it was disappointment for Ryde who could only finish 13th, which meant he lost the standings lead to the reigning champion.
Race three began in damp but improving conditions and several riders looked set to make a gamble on tyre choice. However, after a red flag interruption when Lewis Rollo crashed out at Hislops, the race was restarted in full wet conditions after another rain shower with a five lap sprint to the chequered flag.
In the first part of the race, Storm Stacey had again showed his prowess in the wet conditions and on the restart, he launched off the line to take the lead for LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki. Ryde was on the attack though and the OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing rider moved into second position on lap two, before taking the lead a lap later at Old Hall.
Ryde was then able to break the pack by an impressive 5.965s at the chequered flag to close a further three points on Bridewell as the defending champion held off Stacey for second place as LKQ Euro Car Parts Kawasaki celebrated another podium finish.
Bridewell heads into the penultimate round of the Showdown with just a six-point lead as Ryde prepares for his home round on 27/28/29 September. Irwin meanwhile leads the chasing pack after nearly halving the advantage to the top of the standings in Cheshire, trailing Bridewell by 45 points with a maximum of 180 points remaining over the final two rounds.
Kyle Ryde
OMG GRILLA Racing Yamaha
“The goal this weekend was to claw a few points back and we did that in a massive fashion yesterday.
“The 13th I had in Race 2 wasn’t ideal, but the team and I came back to win a tricky Race 3.
“Thank you to the Bennetts BSB fans for voting me as Rider of the Round, my second in a row, and thank you to the team for giving me a great bike.
“I’m looking forward to Donington Park, my home round and we’ll continue to fight for the title.”
Precision Track Days brings you the results of this weekend’s events.
Revving Up the Track Day Experience with Precision Track Day!
Cameron Beaubier won MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike Race Three Sunday afternoon at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas.
With the Championship on the line, Beaubier, Josh Herrin, and Sean Dylan Kelly battled it out for 10 laps in the scorching heat and humidity. Beaubier and Herrin swapped the lead back and forth nearly every lap, but in the end Beaubier was able to get his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW to the checkered flag first to win his sixth race of the season and keep his title hopes alive.
Herrin pushed all the way to the end and nearly crashed his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R on the final lap, but he was able to save it and hang on to finish second. Although a win would have clinched the Championship for Herrin, he heads into the season finale doubleheader at New Jersey Motorsports Park with a 46-point lead over Beaubier.
After taking his career-first win in Race Two, rookie sensation Kelly was a close third on his EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing BMW in Race Three.
Richie Escalante pushed forward at the end of the race to claim fourth place on his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000R.
Herrin’s teammate Loris Baz ran fourth for much of the race but slipped to fifth in the final laps.
Escalante’s teammate Brandon Paasch was in the fight for fourth until he had an issue three laps from the end that relegated him to sixth.
Beaubier’s teammate JD Beach got seventh.
Ashton Yates took eighth and the win in the Superbike Cup category.
Benjamin Smith finished ninth on his new FLO4LAW Racing Yamaha Superbike.
Cameron Petersen ended a troubled weekend with 10th on his Attack Performance/Progressive Yamaha YZF-R1.
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More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Kelly Gets His First, Beaubier Takes Two Of Three On The Weekend At COTA
Sean Dylan Kelly Scored A Career-First Victory In Race Two, Beaubier Holds Off Herrin In Race Two To Keep Title Hopes Alive As The Series Heads To New Jersey Motorsport Park
AUSTIN, TX (September 15, 2024) – Sean Dylan Kelly will never forget that on September 15, 2024, he won his first MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike race. He’ll also know that he beat the very best in a straight fight to get that win after passing five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier in the last corner on the last lap of Circuit of The Americas on a scorching hot Sunday.
That was the early race on Sunday. There was more to come in race three.
With a track temperature of 120 degrees, the third and final Superbike race got started with another Josh Herrin holeshot. This time, Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Beaubier didn’t waste much time in moving past his championship rival. But it didn’t last as Ezra Beaubier’s (his younger brother) BMW blew up and dumped oil on the track, bringing out a red flag.
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Herrin got the jump on the field on the restart, but this time there was jostling at the top for the duration with Herrin leading five laps and Beaubier holding the spot across the line on five occasions, including the final four.
At the finish it was Beaubier holding off Herrin by .970 of a second after an absolute thrillfest of a Superbike race. Kelly was also in the fray until backing off near the end of the race to finishing 2.9 seconds behind in third.
When all was said and done, Beaubier had won two of the three Steel Commander Superbike races to pull back valuable points on Herrin. Going into the series finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park in two weeks, Beaubier trails Herrin by 46 points, 300-254.
“So, you’re telling me there’s a chance,” might be a bit optimistic, but Beaubier’s win-second-win weekend has breathed a bit of life into his championship aspirations.
The top three in race three were the same as in race two, but not in the same order. It was Beaubier, Herrin, Kelly in race three; Kelly, Beaubier, Herrin in race two.
Fourth place in the final race of the weekend went to Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante, almost five seconds ahead of Herrin’s teammate Loris Baz with Escalante’s teammate Brandon Paasch finishing for the second time on the day.
Seventh place in race three went to Beaubier’s teammate JD Beach, who was well clear of Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates.
FLO4LAW Racing’s Benjamin Smith and Attack Performance/Progressive/Yamaha Racing’s Cameron Petersen rounded out the top 10.
Superbike Race 2
Despite all the back and forth at the front, Kelly somehow managed to lead all 12 laps at the stripe, but he lost the lead on the final lap when Beaubier stuffed his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000R under the similar BMW of Kelly at the end of the backstraight. At this point, it looked like Beaubier had control with just a handful of corners left, but Kelly was determined, and he returned the favor on his former Moto2 teammate with a lunge up the inside in the final corner. From there he was able to get to the finish line first to earn that first-ever Superbike in a race to remember.
All of this played into the hands of Herrin, who dropped off the lead duo and hoped that Kelly could somehow beat Beaubier to help him in his championship quest. With Kelly doing just that, Beaubier only pulled back four points on Herrin and not the nine he would have gained if he’d won with Kelly between them. Herrin was just a tick under five seconds adrift of the lead duo.
Kelly’s margin of victory over Beaubier was .177 of a second and it made him the sixth different winner of a MotoAmerica Superbike race in 2024 – joining Herrin, Beaubier, Jake Gagne, Bobby Fong, and Cameron Petersen.
In winning the first race of his career as a rookie on a first-year team, EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing’s Kelly became the 66th rider to win an AMA Superbike National.
Herrin’s teammate Baz improved his pace dramatically from Saturday’s race one to finish fourth, some eight seconds off the leader after slowing in the final laps.
Another to improve from Saturday’s race one was Wrench Motorcycle’s Bobby Fong with the Californian racing to fifth – one spot better than in race one.
Sixth place went to Paasch, with the youngster finding something in morning warmup to increase his pace.
Petersen, Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Xavi Forés, Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Beach and Yates rounded out the top 10.
Escalante stood on the podium in race one on Saturday, but he suffered a crash in race two that resulted in a DNF.
Quotes
Sean Dylan Kelly – First/Third
“Yeah, this one is definitely up there. It was unreal to get that first superbike win, as you guys can imagine. I’ve been working really, really hard for it. From the beginning of the season, just being close in a handful of races. I crashed out of the lead in Road America. I had a couple more chances here and there. Didn’t just come true, but this race two earlier today was absolutely incredible. It was pretty cool to be battling with these guys and even cooler to be honest to be able to do that pass in the last corner for the win. That was insane. Brought me a little flashback from Supersport days with Richie (Escalante), doing all those last-lap scraps. It was also a little bit of a fairytale first win with that special livery that we did ten days ago with all the kids from the Children’s Hospital. Obviously, it was a dream to be able to make it happen. Dreaming and doing are two different things, and that was amazing. Just feeling on top of the moon with what we did today.”
Josh Herrin – Third/Second
“I was feeling extra motivated. We’ve got the DRE (Ducati ride day) tomorrow. I like going to those things with a win. It’s not fun going if you don’t win. Everybody is not as pumped. We had the Ferracci stuff on. I wanted to get it for him. I’m bummed that we didn’t get it with that on. But it was kind of like one of those days where it was so hot that if you don’t just give it your all, then you’re going to be a lot weaker, in my mind. You can think, I’m going to go out and just relax, but then you do worse because you just let the heat get to you. Where if you just put your head down and go for it, then it makes it a lot easier. It was hot behind Cam’s (Beaubier) bike, so I didn’t want to sit behind him the whole race. Probably took one too many risks. I just talked to Hayes on the way in. He said those are the rides that make your crew happy to be working for you. So, I just wanted to go out and do good for them, do good for my family. I wanted to go hang out. I don’t want to win by just riding around and cruising. I want to win by riding like Beaubier or (Josh) Hayes or (Mat) Mladin did. I don’t want to just ride around. That was a super difficult weekend. I’m happy to come out of here. It’s crazy how many points you can lose even when you’re riding that good. We lost I think 14 points or something. I got really lucky in race two because I didn’t think I was going to be able to battle for the win, and when I saw Sean (Dylan Kelly) go and I know how motivated he is to win, I just wanted to leave a little bit of a gap, or try to create a bigger gap to him and Beaubier because I knew Beaubier was going to be strong at the end, and I just was adding up during the race. If I can make myself lose four points instead of five points, it puts me in a better position. I can then beat him in the third race and have one point on top, because I know he’s got more race wins than me. So, I needed to beat him in the last one. Just probably way too much thinking going on this weekend. That last race, I just I didn’t want to think. I just wanted to go. Hats off to the boys for making such a good bike. Congrats to Sean on his win. It’s not just cool seeing him win because he’s getting his first win, but we’re OnlyFans teammates. He’s been racing at my house since he was a little kid, so it’s cool battling and just getting beat by somebody that got raised at my house racing. That’s a cool feeling. Hats off to them. Good job, Beaubier. Get to hopefully wrap it up at our home race in Jersey.”
Cameron Beaubier – Second/First
“Those last couple laps, I just put everything I had into trying to open up just enough of a gap to where I could keep the track open and get to the line first. Josh (Herrin) and I were stuffing each other left and right, pretty much all day. It was a pretty fun race this afternoon, honestly. I think to go out and push as hard as you can this afternoon was going to be pretty tough, so I felt like the way we were racing each other, it kind of kept it light and kept us on our toes and not just drilling the pace lap after lap after lap. I felt like that was honestly pretty fun. It was a good fight. I was pretty surprised he was fighting me that hard with as much as he has to lose. I definitely wouldn’t have been doing that. Didn’t do that in the past, but credit to him. He was riding hard. It was good. I haven’t had a tough day like that in a long time. That was a pretty hard day with those two superbike races on Sunday in 100-plus heat out at this track. I’d say this track is probably one of the most physical tracks we have on the schedule. Happy with being able to just come back after my foot injury with some fitness. The last month break was really good for me just to try to get some fitness back. We’re keeping it alive going into Jersey, but to be honest with you, it’s pretty much done. I did everything I could for the boys to just give us a fighting chance.”
More, from a press release issued by Ducati:
The title fight rolls on to New Jersey after Josh Herrin’s heroic COTA performance
Sunnyvale, Calif., September 15, 2024 — Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin showed his racing maturity during a steaming hot weekend at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, taking three podium places and putting himself in the box seat to wrap up the 2024 Steel Commander MotoAmerica Superbike Championship title at New Jersey Motorsports Park at the end of September.
In a weekend where sealing the title was a distinct possibility, Herrin refused to play it safe and threw caution to the wind, engaging in three nail-biting races with Cameron Beaubier and Sean Dylan Kelly.
Resplendent in a special Fast by Ferracci livery to mark 30 years since Troy Corser sealed Ducati’s last AMA Superbike title in 1994, Herrin was at his spectacular best, sliding the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R around the expansive 3.4-mile layout and making some incredible around-the-outside moves in race three on Beaubier.
Ultimately, Herrin took second place in race one, third in race two, and a very close second in race three, leaving Texas with a 46-point title lead with one round, two races, and 50 points remaining in the 2024 championship.
For Herrin’s teammate Loris Baz, the fast Frenchman carded two fourth place finishes and a fifth at COTA, elevating himself to equal sixth in the championship standings with the absent Jake Gagne.
2024 Steel Commander MotoAmerica Superbike Championship After Round Eight
P1 – Josh Herrin (Ducati) 300
P2 – Cameron Beaubier 254
P3 – Bobby Fong 213
P4 – Sean Dylan Kelly 208
P5 – Cameron Petersen 195
P6 – Loris Baz (Ducati) 192
Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati–#2)
“I can’t ask for much better than what we did this weekend,” Herrin said. “They were incredibly difficult conditions—we knew Cam (Beaubier) was going to be strong this weekend, as Sean (Dylan Kelly) due to his Moto2 experience here, but I’m really happy with what myself and the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati team accomplished.
“We made lots of improvements over the weekend to the bike, and I’m happy to be going into the DRE (Ducati Ride Experience) event on Monday with all the Ducatisti after a weekend like that.
“This whole year has been great, so now we have a 46-point lead heading into New Jersey, where I’ll just ride my race and try to wrap this thing up.”
Loris Baz (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati–#76)
“It’s been a long weekend for everyone,” Baz said in the heat of Sunday afternoon. “The results weren’t quite what we wanted, but we were strong all weekend. The pace was good, and I felt more comfortable on the bike. I was losing a lot of time on the straight, but the guys changed the engine last night, which was a bit better. However, we need to find a little more grip as well.
“I need to be a little more aggressive in the early stages, but overall, it was a good weekend for the team, which is the most important thing. Josh did a great job, and I tried to help him as much as possible, especially in qualifying. I can’t say I’m really happy, but we’re all working hard and looking forward to a great final round in a few weeks’ time.”
The final round of the 2024 Steel Commander MotoAmerica Superbike Championship will be Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s home race at New Jersey Motorsports Park and is scheduled for September 27-29, 2024.
Precision Track Days brings you the results of this weekend’s events.
Revving Up the Track Day Experience with Precision Track Day!
Mathew Scholtz has one hand on the 2024 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship trophy after he won Race Two Sunday at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) and his only title rival experienced some bad luck.
Scholtz, riding his Strack Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 on Dunlop control tires, fought his way to the front and was able to win the 11-lap race by two seconds.
Tyler Scott led at points on his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R750, but he had to settle for second place in the scorching hot conditions.
N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha rider Blake Davis backed up his podium performance in Race One with a third place, 0.4 second behind Scott, in Race Two.
Corey Alexander came back from a slow start to claim fourth on his Rahal Ducati Moto w/Roller Die + Forming Panigale V2.
Race One winner Jake Lewis didn’t have the winning pace in Race Two and the best he could do was fifth, right behind Alexander, on his Altus Motorsports Suzuki.
The big news in Race Two, however, was the crash of Scholtz’s Championship rival PJ Jacobsen. Jacobsen was running third on his Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL Panigale V2, right behind Scott, on the final lap when he lost the front and fell two corners from the finish.
Jacobsen was able to pick up his Ducati and return to the race, but he crossed the line 19th and out of the points. As a result, Scholtz’s lead in the Championship point standings went from 14 to 39 points with two races and 50 possible points remining.
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More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Two Points Separate Wyman From Herfoss With NJMP Finale To Come
The Battle For The 2024 Mission King Of The Baggers Title Will Go Down To The Wire In Jersey
AUSTIN, TX (September 15, 2024) – With Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman and S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Troy Herfoss winning 12 of the 16 Mission King Of The Baggers races, it’s fitting that those two will battle to the bitter end in a winner-take-all-championship at New Jersey Motorsports Park, September 27-29.
Of course, the duo battled on Sunday afternoon at Circuit of The Americas with the two running nose to tail for the majority of the race. At the end of the five-lap sprint, it was Herfoss taking his sixth win of the season with Wyman just .445 of a second behind in second place.
The championship? There’s now just two points between the two with Wyman leading Herfoss, 315-313, with the series headed to Wyman’s home track of NJMP in two weeks.
No one else was a real factor in this one with Saturday’s Mission King Of The Baggers victor Rocco Landers riding his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to third, 3.7 seconds behind the lead duo.
Landers’ teammate Hayden Gillim rode to a gutsy fourth after undergoing surgery on a broken hand just a week or so prior to racing in Texas. Gillim was right on Landers at the finish line.
Wyman’s teammate James Rispoli rounded out the top five, some five seconds adrift of the intra-team Landers/Gillim battle.
“Today was a really good day,” Herfoss said. “Yesterday I got caught out. It was a tough race yesterday. Just having young Rocco (Landers) again. I see a lot in him. I know that he’s going to race to win every stage of the year. I sort of didn’t open fire as much as I probably could have, but in saying that, he was just so in control. I sort of knew that if I was going to make a pass, he was so dialed in it wasn’t going to do much. It wasn’t going to get me far. But today, we made a few adjustments and sort of predicted the way the track would go in that heat. I kept a good eye on the Superbike races today. The answer is yes, I was extremely comfortable. As I said on the podium, a little bit of a smart-ass comment, but I have also been super respectful all the year because I was so comfortable, I don’t go back on that. I felt like it was a puppet show, and I felt like I was in charge of it. I tried to get Kyle (Wyman) to do something he didn’t want to do, and like I knew he was too smart to try. It’s even and we’re going to the last round. Best man can win. I understand full well that it’s a track that he’s really good at. I’ve got a lot of respect for that. I can’t wait to go there and see what I can do there.”
Supersport – Breathing Room For Scholtz
The 2024 Supersport Championship will go down to the final round of the season after a drama-filled weekend that began with a 25-point lead for Strack Racing Yamaha’s Mathew Scholtz over Rahal Ducati Moto’s PJ Jacobsen and ended with Scholtz now taking a 39-point lead to New Jersey Motorsports Park for the final two races of the championship.
Scholtz survived some intense challenges from the other riders and a near-get-off from his Yamaha to take the checkered flag by a little over two seconds ahead of Vision Wheel ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott. Third place went to N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha’s Blake Davis.
But, what about Jacobsen? Well, the title contender led the race, was shuffled back in the lead pack, and ultimately looked like he’d finish on the podium until the penultimate corner on the final lap when he inexplicably went down and slid out of the race, which cost him most of the valuable points that he had gained from the results of Saturday’s race one.
“I knew I had the pace to do (fast laps) consistently, and I knew that I should be able to win,” Scholtz said. “It sucks that PJ crashed, but it really, really helps me in the championship. So, now, we go to New Jersey for the final round. Two more races, and we have the advantage. We’ll be ready.”
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship – West Crowned!
Saddlemen Harley-Davidson’s Cory West did exactly what he needed to do to earn the 2024 Mission Super Hooligan National Championship. He finished second to championship rival Tyler O’Hara on Saturday morning at COTA, and that earned the veteran racer from Arkansas his first career AMA title.
The race was won by S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s O’Hara, but it wasn’t enough as he didn’t get the help he was hoping for. When his teammate Troy Herfoss went out with a mechanical problem, that put the onus of help on the shoulders of his other teammate, 61-year-old Jeremy McWilliams. McWilliams gave it his all but came up .167 of a second behind West in third. Even if he’d gotten the spot and West had ended the race tied with O’Hara on points, the title would have gone to West based on the tiebreaker of number of wins.
Second place on the track went to uber talent Alessandro Di Mario, who was riding a non-homologated Ducati Streetfighter V2. Di Mario was racing knowing that the bike would be disqualified, but it didn’t take away from the fact that the 15-year-old was impressive in his debut in the class.
Fourth place went to West’s teammate Jake Lewis, with the Kentuckian playing the role of wingman to perfection. The third Saddlemen Harley-Davidson teamster, Travis Wyman, finished fifth.
“It’s hard to stay cool when it’s so hot out,” West said. “Saddlemen Harley Davidson Pan America… I can’t say enough. That bike just worked awesome. It was a really stressful race. I had to finish third. I knew what TO (Tyler O’Hara) was going to do. He was going to go out and try to win it. I just kept my head down and did what I could. This is a dream come true. It’s something that you’ve always wanted when you were a kid when you start to racing, to be a champion. It’s just complete, man. It’s a check off the old bucket list. I really have to thank everybody. Dave, Amy, Chris. My beautiful wife, who is due in eight days. Jake, Taylor, Kento, Eric, Matty, Fury, Ricky, everybody. I love you guys. My family is here this weekend. I’ve got so many friends. We brought home the number-one plate, and I couldn’t be happier.”
BellissiMoto Twins Cup – Di Mario Takes It
The BellissiMoto Twins Cup Championship came down to the final race of the season, and at the start, it looked like we were going to get the epic showdown was expected between title contenders Alessandro Di Mario and Rocco Landers, who were only separated by six points after Saturday’s race one.
Landers got the holeshot coming out of turn one on the first lap, but 15-year-old phenom Di Mario took the lead before the opening lap had been completed, and he pressed his advantage all the way to the checkered flag.
The Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering rider led every lap of the race and took the checkered flag by more than six and a half seconds.
Meanwhile, after challenging on the opening lap, Landers had a mechanical problem, which put him out of the race and unfortunately out of the championship.
For Di Mario, who is only in his second year of MotoAmerica racing and is a Twins Cup rookie, he notched his first of what may be many MotoAmerica class championships to come.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Rossi Moor, who celebrated his 17th birthday on Friday, finished second for his best result of the season, while Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing’s Dominic Doyle came home third, which was his sixth podium finish in the 2024 BellissiMoto Twins Cup Championship.
Di Mario, whose cool, calm demeanor belies his young age, was asked if he felt the pressure of being in contention for his first MotoAmerica Championship.
“It was hard. It wasn’t easy at all,” Di Mario said. “Rocco (Landers) was fast all year. I came into this weekend, and I was really confident. I like the track. It was really hot, but it was a little better than yesterday. Yesterday felt a lot worse. I just went out and I knew what I could do. I just tried to do as many fast laps as possible at the start, tried to pull a little gap. When I saw the pit board with the gap, I started to manage it until the last lap. My last lap was super slow. I didn’t want to make any mistakes. I left off quite a bit. I just want to thank everybody, my whole team, Mike, Chad, Kevin, Freddy from home, Sara for the pictures. I love you. My teammate, Gus (Rodio). He’s been a great teammate all year. I just want to thank all my sponsors. Also, my brother. He’s in the Marine Corps. I think he’s watching from home. I love you. I just want to thank everybody. Dainese, HJC, all my sponsors. Thank you so much.”
More, from a press release issued by Rahal Ducati Moto:
CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS RACE 2
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2024 | WARM-UP & RACE 2
Sunday at Circuit of The Americas proved bittersweet for the Rahal Ducati Moto team. The battle for the podium came down to the very last lap with PJ Jacobsen trading positions with championship leader Mathew Scholtz, Tyler Scott, and Blake Davis. In true competitor fashion, Jacobsen was determinded to go for second-place on the final lap to keep the championship tight, however his move in Turn 19 of 20 landed him in the gravel. Jacobsen was able to get his bike back up and join the race to finish 19th. Scholtz now leads Jacobsen by 39 points leading into the final two rounds of the season.
Corey Alexander fumbled on the start but was able to quickly move through the field and picking off competitors one at a time. Wearing race boots a size smaller than usual to help with shifting, Alexander eventually climbed to the fourth position when he crossed the finish line earning his eighth top five of the season.
Kayla Yaakov rode her first-ever Supersport race at Circuit of The Americas just last year. Showing improvement steadily throughout the weekend, Kayla earned a seventh place finish after impressive passes throughout the field.
The team packs the truck to head to the East Coast where the final two rounds of the season will be held at all three rider’s home track of New Jersey Motorsports Park. Join the team at the season finale September 27-29.
COREY ALEXANDER
No. 23 ROLLER DIE + FORMING DUCATI PANIGALE V2
STARTED: 5th
FINISHED: 4th
CHAMPIONSHIP: 6th (140 pts)
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “We had a great race today. I got a bad start – the first one we’ve had in a long time, which made our race more difficult than it should have been. We had the pace to run away with the front group, but I made it too hard for myself with the gap. Unfortunately, with my size, and without a draft, it was very difficult. Overall, it was a positive weekend. I hate for PJ to crash out like that on the last lap, but for me, it was a positive weekend. Thanks to the whole crew for sweating it out with the brutal heat.”
KAYLA YAAKOV
No. 19 XPEL DUCATI PANIGALE V2
STARTED: 12th
FINISHED: 7th
CHAMPIONSHIP: 8th (134 pts)
WHAT SHE’S SAYING: “It was a decent end to the weekend. We made such a big improvement from Friday and Race 1, so I can’t thank my team enough. This program has helped me so much, and to see where I was last year at this race to where I am now, it’s a completely different rider. I owe it all to Ben and all the fitness that he’s put me through, to Graham for trusting me, and Richie for putting together this amazing program for us riders. We tried our best today, and we were able to come out on top of the group that I was in, and continue to improve our pace. Now, we are going to focus on New Jersey, our home race. I think we’ll have a good showing and hopefully get all three bikes on the podium. That and getting PJ his championship would be a dream ending to the season.”
PJ JACOBSEN
No. 15 XPEL DUCATI PANIGALE V2
STARTED: 3rd
FINISHED: 19th
CHAMPIONSHIP: 2nd (290 pts)
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “Honestly, it was a bad weekend for us. We were struggling here all weekend with the bike. The team did a great job, we just have to figure some things out after this weekend. I’m not sure if it was the heat that was making us struggle. We go to my home race next in New Jersey, so I’m pretty confident about those races. It’s a bummer to end the weekend like this but we’ll focus on New Jersey and getting two wins there.”
BEN SPIES
TEAM PRINCIPAL
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “It was a little bit of a bittersweet Sunday. PJ had a good start and great pace, Corey was riding really well after getting hung up at the start, but he came through the pack. Kayla had a better race than she did yesterday, so we had some improvements. With the heat at the track, our chassis and the bike were struggling with edge grip and losing too much for PJ to make the difference. He was going for it, trying to save valuable championship points going for second place, but lost the front. That’s how it happens sometimes in racing. We have one race weekend left, but we have to be happy with the year and how everything has gone so far. As a team, you always want to win, so it’s a bit frustrating, but we’ll regroup and come back stronger in a couple of weeks.”
Precision Track Days brings you the results of this weekend’s events.
Revving Up the Track Day Experience with Precision Track Day!
Alessandro Di Mario, age 15, wrapped up the 2024 MotoAmerica BellissiMoto Twins Cup Championship with a victory in Race Two Sunday at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), in Austin, Texas.
Riding his Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering Aprilia RS 660 on Dunlop control tires, Di Mario ran away to win the eight-lap race by 6.550 seconds.
Rossi Moor bounced back from a painful crash in Race One on Saturday and took the runner-up spot in Race Two on his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-8R.
Dominic Doyle got third on his Giaccmoto Racing Yamaha YZF-R7.
Di Mario’s teammate Gus Rodio finished fourth.
Newly crowned Junior Cup Champion Matthew Chapin crashed his BARTCON Racing Suzuki on the final lap, but he was able to pick up his machine and cross the finish line fifth.
Di Mario’s Championship rival Rocco Landers retired from the race due to a technical problem with his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki.
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Precision Track Days brings you the results of this weekend’s events.
Revving Up the Track Day Experience with Precision Track Day!
Sean Dylan Kelly came out on top of a great duel with Cameron Beaubier to earn his career-first MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike race win in Race Two Sunday at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), in Austin, Texas.
The former Moto2 World Championship teammates fought down to the final corner of the final lap. There, Kelly dived up the inside of Beaubier on the brakes to take the lead and the victory on his Dunlop-shod EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing BMW M 1000 RR.
Beaubier tried to cut back underneath Kelly and beat him in the short drag race to the checkered flag, but the Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW rider came up 0.177 second short.
Josh Herrin fought for the lead for the first half of the race, but Herrin decided bringing his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R home in third place was the smart move. As a result, Herrin heads into Race Three Sunday afternoon with a 51-point lead in the Championship. If Herrin can finish in front of Beaubier in Race Three he will clinch the 2024 Superbike Championship.
Herrin’s teammate Loris Baz finished a lonely fourth.
Bobby Fong took fifth on his Wrench Motorcycles Yamaha.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch came out on top of a four-rider battle for sixth.
Attack Performance/Progressive Yamaha’s Cameron Petersen rebounded from a tough Race One to get seventh in Race Two, just behind Paasch and just ahead of his fill-in teammate Xavi Fores in eighth. Beaubier’s teammate JD Beach finished right behind Fores in ninth.
Ashton Yates, riding his Jones Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP, rounded out the top 10 finishers and won the Superbike Cup class.
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Precision Track Days brings you the results of this weekend’s events.
Revving Up the Track Day Experience with Precision Track Day!
Tyler O’Hara won MotoAmerica RSD Mission Super Hooligan Race Two Sunday at Circuit of The America (COTA), in Austin, Texas. Riding his S&S Indian FTR on Dunlop control tires, the defending Champion won the six-lap race by over four seconds.
Cory West took second place on his Team Saddlemen Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250, and that was enough for the Arkansas native to capture the 2024 Championship.
Jeremy McWilliams, riding as a wild card entry for S&S Indian, finished third, right behind West.
West’s teammates Jake Lewis and Travis Wyman came home fourth and fifth, respectively.
Troy Herfoss retired with a technical problem on his S&S Indian.
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More, from a press release issued by Energica:
PURE PERFORMANCE AT COTA
The credits have rolled on the 2024 Mission Foods Super Hooligan National Championship with the final two races of the season that took place at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas on September 14-15. Stefano Mesa scored a brace of ninth place finishes around the long and fast 3.426-mile circuit aboard Tytlers Cycle Racing’s #137 Eva Ribelle RS KCC (Kit Corsa Clienti), showing great speed in the early part of both encounters.
If we look deeper into the performance put together by the 31-year-old Colombian rider, we can see that his quickest lap time of the weekend was a 2:17.167 logged on lap four in today’s race two. This very lap-time would have been the fastest lap of any competitor in either of the two Super Hooligan races held at CoTA in 2023. To put this into context, Mesa’s best time in last year’s historical race one, second-place finish was a 2:20.648, so his time this year has improved by almost three and a half seconds.
Yesterday’s 2:17.464 set in qualifying 2 – which placed him in seventh position on the grid – would have translated in a front-row start for the #137 in 2023.
Every motorcycle racing season is a whole different story, and this couldn’t be any closer to the truth this time around. Series evolve, new players come in, new rules are introduced, so the variables are many and constantly shifting. But as the only EV entry in a field of otherwise ICE motorcycles, Energica can only be proud with the incredible steps forwards made in 2024 with the invaluable support of Tytlers Cycle Racing, Stefano Mesa, the whole crew, and our partners: PETRONAS iona, Siemens and Sonic Tools.
The Eva Ribelle RS KCC is still a fine example of what a street-derivative electric motorcycle is capable of in closed-circuit competition and as far as we’re concerned, we’ll keep working hard to make sure that all this knowledge is transferred to the roads for all of you to enjoy on a daily basis. After all, this is what racing is all about.
The final classification sees Stefano Mesa 9th with x points scored across ten individual races and a huge wealth of experience for everyone involved heading into the future. In this ever-accelerated world, Energica keeps the throttle wide open (and for good reasons!).
A big thank you to all of you, who keep showing an immense amount of support.
Italian racer Luca Salvadori has died from injuries sustained in a crash during an International Road Racing Championship (IRRC) event in Germany.
Salvadori crashed on Saturday, September 14 at the Frohburger Dreieck, a 3.0-mile triangle-shaped circuit composed of closed-off public roads. He succumb to his injuries today.
Salvadori’s passing was announced on social media by his team, Broncos Racing Team.
He was 32 years old.
American Flat Track (AFT) Series
Lake Ozark Short Track
Lake Ozark Speedway
Eldon, Missouri
September 14, 2024
Provisional Mission AFT SuperTwins Main Event Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Jared Mees (Ind), 36 laps
2. Dallas Daniels (Yam), -00.423 seconds
3. Jarod VanDerKooi (Ind), -00.728
4. Brandon Robinson (Ind), -02.952
5. Briar Bauman (KTM), -03.597
6. Declan Bender (Ind), -04.241
7. Davis Fisher (Ind), -06.677
8. Sammy Halbert (Har), -08.301
9. Trevor Brunner (Ind), -08.863
10. Bronson Bauman (KTM), -10.535
11. Brandon Price (Yam), -11.944
12. Dan Bromley (Suz), -12.342
13. Max Whale (Har), -13.172
14. Cameron Smith (KTM), -17.543
15. Dalton Gauthier (Roy), -18.081
16. Trent Lowe (Hon), -1 lap, -02.697
17. Ben Lowe (KTM), -1 lap, -03.455
18. Billy Ross (Kaw), -1 lap, -10.575
19. Morgen Mischler (Hon), -15 laps,
Provisional Parts Unlimited AFT Singles Main Event Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Tom Drane (Yam), 22 laps
2. Chase Saathoff (Hon), -00.061 seconds
3. Kody Kopp (KTM), -00.149
4. Evan Renshaw (Hon), -00.251
5. Trent Lowe (Hon), -00.431
6. Tarren Santero (Hon), -00.937
7. Jared Lowe (Hon), -01.391
8. Chad Cose (Hus), -01.639
9. Tyler Raggio (KTM), -02.014
10. Shayna Texter-Bauman (KTM), -02.069
11. Ian Wolfe (Hon), -02.231
12. Reece Pottorf (Hon), -02.403
13. Hunter Bauer (Yam), -02.445
14. Travis Petton (KTM), -02.822
15. Justin Anselmi (Yam), -03.156
16. Evan Kelleher (KTM), -03.470
17. Jacob Vanderkooi (Hus), -03.649
18. Maclain Drucker (Hon), -05.113
Provisional Royal Enfield BTR Main Event Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Shasta L’Heureux (Roy), 8 laps
2. Kenzie Luker (Roy), -02.096 seconds
3. Taia Little (Roy), -02.372
4. Mya Maffei (Roy), -02.678
5. Mikaela Nichols-Lionetti (Roy), -03.922
6. Morgan Piller (Roy), -07.357
7. Hannah Lange (Roy), -10.845
8. Hannah Robertson (Roy), -12.781
9. Kristiana Ross (Roy), -17.952
More, from a press release issued by AFT:
Unprecedented: Mees, Kopp Complete Bids for History at 2024 Progressive AFT Finale
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 14, 2024) – Jared Mees (No. 1 Rogers Racing/SDI Racing/Indian Motorcycle FTR750) put the finishing touches on what may prove the final and most convincing argument in support of his claim as the greatest rider in the history of Progressive American Flat Track, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing: an unprecedented tenth Grand National Championship.
Mees did exactly what he needed to – and then some – at Lake Ozark Speedway to secure this crowning achievement as the 2024 season came to its conclusion with the inaugural running of the Parts Plus Lake Ozark Short Track presented by Arrowhead Brass & Arby’s in Eldon, Missouri.
Racing before a packed house with some 125,000 motorcycle enthusiasts flooding the area for the 18th Annual Lake of the Ozarks Bikefest, the Mission AFT SuperTwins Main Event was loaded with talented riders motivated to end their respective ‘24 campaigns on a high note.
And yet still no one could compare to Mees on this night, just like so many other nights before it. Despite requiring just three points to clinch his record tenth title, the Indian Motorcycle hero grabbed the holeshot and battled it out over the race’s opening stages with second-ranked Brandon Robinson (No. 44 Mission Roof Systems Indian FTR750), the only rider retaining even the slimmest mathematical chance of stealing away the #1 plate.
But by the contest’s halfway point, Mees had shook free at the front, shifting the race’s epicenter of drama back to Dallas Daniels (No. 32 Estenson Racing Yamaha MT-07 DT), whose season-long podium streak was in serious threat after the Estenson Racing ace found himself mired down in ninth.
However, Daniels systematically worked his way forward while Robinson duked it out with Jarod Vanderkooi (No. 20 JMC Motorsports/Fairway Ford Ohio Indian FTR750) for second. Daniels eventually made his way up to their scrap, displacing Robinson and then Vanderkooi, all the while drawing shockingly near to Mees as the contest reached its final circulation.
But that’s as far as Daniels’ charge would carry him. Mees held on to finish the season – and potentially his career – on top in practically every sense, winning the season finale by 0.423 seconds over his young rival.
Vanderkooi earned the final spot on the podium, with Robinson and Briar Bauman (No. 3 Rick Ware Racing/KTM/Parts Plus KTM 790 Duke) rounding out the top five. Rookie Declan Bender (No. 70 GOMR/BriggsAuto.com/Martin Trucking Indian FTR750) finished sixth, followed by Davis Fisher (No. 67 Rackley Racing/Bob Lanphere’s BMC Racing Indian FTR750), Sammy Halbert (No. 69 OnlyFans/Castrol/Kings Kustoms/LZ Racing Harley-Davidson XR750), Trevor Brunner (No. 21 Mission Foods/Zanotti Racing Indian FTR750), and Bronson Bauman (No. 37 Fastrack Racing Mission Foods KTM 790 Duke) to complete the top ten.
Mees’ résumé is far too extensive to list here in full, but in brief, tonight’s championship triumph updates his Grand National Championship victory tally to now include 2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. He also ranks first or second in the career wins rankings for Half-Miles, Short Tracks, Miles, and total GNC Main Event victories.
Mees, who elevated an already Hall-of-Fame-worthy career to stratospheric heights once he joined forces with Indian Motorcycle in 2017, sent the marque’s remarkable FTR750 out in appropriate fashion this season. Tonight’s championship secures the bike a perfect eight-for-eight record in Grand National Championship battles in what will go down as one of the most dominant eras the sport has ever witnessed from both man and machine.
In the end, Mees earned the 2024 Mission AFT SuperTwins title with 311 points, followed by Robinson at 280 and Daniels at 276.
After claiming an unprecedented tenth Grand National Championship, Mees said, “It was a goal. Everybody would say it was a dream, but it was a goal. I made my dream my goal and worked hard at it. It hasn’t even sunk in yet. I had a big points lead coming in here, but there was only one way to go out the way I want to go out, and that was by winning this damn race.
“I can’t say enough for my entire team. Kenny (Tolbert), Bubba (Bently), Jimmy (Wood), you guys have won me a lot of races and a lot of championships. I definitely wouldn’t be as successful without you three and all my sponsors. Indian Motorcycle – I took their very first win in 2017, I opened that book for them, and tonight I got to close it for them. I can’t say enough for that company…
“So many people contributed to my program over these years. I feel like I could have this microphone until tomorrow morning and talk about my career and all the people who were in it to make me successful. I just want to say thank you.”
Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER
As if Mees’ record-breaking achievement wasn’t enough to secure the ‘24 finale’s place in the sport’s annals, Kody Kopp (No. 1 Rick Ware Racing/Parts Plus KTM 450 SX-F) closed out the Parts Unlimited AFT Singles presented by KICKER season by securing the 450cc equivalent.
Needing to merely avoid catastrophe, Kopp actually jumped out into the lead to open the decisive final contest. However, once Chase Saathoff (No. 88 JPG Motorsports Honda CRF450R) and then Trent Lowe (No. 48 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R) drove underneath him, Kopp seemed to reevaluate his strategy, dropping down to fifth before settling back in.
With Saathoff powering away out front, Kopp wicked his pace back up, pouncing on Tom Drane (No. 59 Estenson Racing Yamaha YZ450F) and Evan Renshaw (No. 265 American Honda/Mission Foods CRF450R) in rapid succession to slot back into a podium position.
He then carried that momentum past Lowe and began the difficult task of closing the gap to Saathoff when a red flag flew as a result of a Travis Petton IV (No. 82 ECG Racing/A.M Ortega KTM 450 SX-F) fall with less than a minute remaining on the clock.
That development changed the complexion of the race completely, transforming it into a wild bar-to-bar affair to the flag. Lowe led initially before Saathoff and Drane took their season-long rivalry to the front of the pack. Kopp was again shuffled back to fifth where he could have easily stayed to collect his third #1 plate, but instead he made a final push to claim third ahead of Renshaw and Lowe.
Meanwhile, the season’s final victory went to Drane over Saathoff by 0.061 seconds, handing the Australian bragging rights for most wins on the season at seven in the process.
Drane said, “I was able to bounce back (after a bad start). That restart really helped me there at the end. I was able to fight back and had a good battle with Chase. It was good to finally get something back on him after all the stuff he’s done to me this year. I can’t thank my team enough for all their effort all year.”
Kopp ultimately took the crown with a grand total of 339 points to Drane’s 324 and Saathoff’s 318. And like Mees in the premier class, he now stands alone in the Parts Unlimited AFT Singles record books. Following the completion of his third successive title run, the Rick Ware Racing star now owns more championships (three) and more race victories (22) than anyone in the category’s history, while also holding either sole possession or a share of first place all-time in terms of Short Track, Half-Mile, and single-season victories.
The conquering Kopp said, “I couldn’t be more proud of my Rick Ware Racing team. It’s been a dream season. I would have loved to get a win there, but those guys at the front were riding a little over the top, and I wasn’t going to play that game. We had a championship to win, and that was way more important… It’s a dream come true. Who knows what will be after three?”
Finally, Shasta L’Heureux (No. 67 Royal Enfield) completed the 2024 season for Royal Enfield’s successful and popular Build. Train. Race. (BTR) program by claiming her first-career victory in the class with perpetual frontrunners Kenzie Luker (No. 17 Royal Enfield) and Taia Little (No. 11 Royal Enfield) rounding out the podium.
Next Up:
For those who can’t catch the action from the circuit, FloRacing is the live streaming home of Progressive AFT. Sign up now and catch every second of the on-track action, from the first practice to the victory podium, at https://flosports.link/aft.
FOX Sports coverage of the Lake Ozark Short Track, featuring in-depth features and thrilling onboard cameras, will premiere on FS1 on Sunday, September 22, at 12:00 p.m. ET (9:00 a.m. PT).
For more information on Progressive AFT visit https://www.americanflattrack.com.
