KurveyGirl.com brings you the results of this weekend’s events.
On Friday, three-time 500cc Grand Prix World Champion Wayne Rainey turned his first laps at Laguna Seca since he won the US Grand Prix there in 1991. Rainey, a three-time 500cc Grand Prix winner at the circuit, was paralyzed in a 1993 crash and did not participate in that year’s US Grand Prix. (There was no Grand Prix at Laguna Seca in 1992). Yamaha put together a special XSR900 GP machine in the livery Rainey raced in, and equipped it with the Y-AMT fully automatic transmission. Rainey was pushed off, did two full laps and pulled in to pit lane, where his team caught him as he came to a halt. After the post-ride media interviews were done, Rainey spent some time talking to fellow wheelchair pilot Mario Bonfante, a former motorcycle road racer paralyzed in a bicycle accident in 2006. Bonfante has since developed a set of controls to allow him to drive high-performance racing cars.
More, from a news release issued by MotoAmerica:
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin cartwheeled his Ducati Panigale V4 R in turn four midway through Q1 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Friday afternoon, but it didn’t stop him from earning provisional pole based on the 1:23.880 he set before he crashed.
It was tight at the top with the top five within a half second of each other when the 40-minute session concluded. Herrin led the way, but by just .006 of a second from an on-form Bobby Fong and his Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing YZF-R1. Fong, who led the morning session, turned in a 1:23.886.
Fong’s best was just .185 of a second better than Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier. Then came Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sean Dylan Kelly and Fong’s teammate Jake Gagne, who was the last rider within half a second of Herrin.
Real Steel Honda’s JD Beach was sixth-fastest on his Stock 1000-spec Honda CBR1000RR-R SP.
Richie Escalante had a scary highside on the exit of turn 11 early in the session that brought out the red flag. The Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider injured his wrist, but he was back on track later in the session, and he ended up seventh. He is not expected to miss any track time this weekend due to his sore wrist.
FLO4LAW/SBU Racing’s Benjamin Smith was eighth with Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim ninth, one spot better than the third Honda CBR1000RR-R SP ridden to 10th by Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates.
Motovation Supersport – Jacobsen Gets It Started
Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL’s PJ Jacobsen fired the first shot in the battle for the 2025 Motovation Supersport Championship with last year’s double winner at Laguna Seca snatching provisional pole position on Friday afternoon.
Jacobsen ripped off a 1:26.819 on his 13th go-around to barely beat out Strack Racing’s Blake Davis by just .050 of a second. Jacobsen’s championship rival Mathew Scholtz, meanwhile, was third-fastest on his Strack Racing Yamaha YZF-R9. Scholtz was .247 off Jacobsen’s best.
Celtic/Economy Lube+Tire/Warhorse HSBK Ducati’s Cameron Petersen was fourth-fastest and within a half a second of Jacobsen. Ditto for Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott, the last rider to get within half a second of provisional pole.
Jacobsen’s teammate Kayla Yaakov ended the session in sixth – the last rider to lap in the 1:27s.
BPR Racing teammates Josh Hayes and Teagg Hobbs were seventh and eighth with Altus Motorsports’ Maxi Gerardo and MP13 Racing’s Aiden Sneed rounding out the top 10.
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship – Rispoli!
KWR Harley-Davidson’s James Rispoli put his Pan America on provisional pole position on Friday afternoon at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with his 1:29.103 topping defending class champion Cory West and his Saddlemen Race Development Harley-Davidson by .213 of a second.
Andy DiBrino was the last of the riders in the 1:29s as he broke up the Harley-Davidson party by putting his Competition Werkes Racing Triumph 765RS third on the provisional front row with a 1:29.725.
KWR Harley-Davidson’s Cody Wyman and Edge Racing’s Jason Waters, who like DiBrino was Triumph-mounted, rounded out the top five.
The session was red-flagged with a scary incident on the front straight when Saddlemen Race Development’s Jake Lewis ran into the back of KWR Harley-Davidson’s Cody Wyman on his first lap of Q1. Lewis, the championship points leader, was transported to hospital to get an MRI on his shoulder, and he also suffered a concussion in the crash. He will miss the remainder of the weekend.
SC-Project Twins – A Robem One-Two
Runaway championship leader Alessandro Di Mario led a Robem Engineering one-two by topping teammate Hank Vossberg with the two teenagers taking the top two spots in Q1.
Di Mario bested his teammate by .793 of a second with Vossberg continuing to impress in just his second weekend on the team’s Aprilia RS 660.
Bad Boys Racing’s Avery Dreher and Speeddemon Racing’s Logan Cunnison rounded out the top four with all four riding Aprilia RS 660s.
The first non-Aprilia was the Suzuki GSX-8R ridden to the fifth-fastest time by RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki’s Matthew Chapin.
Mission King Of The Baggers – Wyman Over Gillim
Championship points leader Kyle Wyman and his Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing Road Glide earned provisional pole position in Mission King Of The Baggers Q1 action at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Friday, narrowly beating out RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson’s Hayden Gillim by just .100 of a second.
Wyman’s best was a 1:28.057 that left him hungry for a 1:27 lap that he believes will be obtainable tomorrow. Wyman was one of seven riders in the 1:28s with Gillim the best of the rest on his Harley-Davidson Road Glide.
The first of the Indians was third with S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Loris Baz’s best lap .385 of a second off Wyman’s provisional pole.
SDI Racing’s Cameron Petersen was fourth-fastest in his best qualifying effort to date, but his session ended early with a crash in the Corkscrew that brought out the red flag with just a few minutes remaining in the session.
S&S/Indian Motorcycle teammates Tyler O’Hara and Troy Herfoss were fifth and sixth, respectively. Gillim’s teammate Rocco Landers ended the day seventh with Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s James Rispoli and Bradley Smith eighth and ninth.
Lyndall Brakes/M3’s Max Flinders rounded out the top 10.
