BARTCON Racing’s Mathew Chapin won MotoAmerica Junior Cup Race One Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway, in Brainerd, Minnesota.
Bad Boys Racing’s Avery Dreher was leading his teammate and younger sister Ella Dreher and Chapin on lap nine of 11 when the race was stopped because it started raining.
Officials called the race complete and reverted to the running order of the last lap completed by the entire field, lap eight, to determine the finishing order.
Chapin, age 15, was awarded the victory, his third in a row and fourth of the season.
Avery Dreher, age 17, was scored second just ahead of 14-year-old Ella Dreher, making history as the first brother-and-sister duo to finish on the podium in a MotoAmerica race.
Karns Performance’s Levi Badie got fourth, and Wolfe Racing Ryan Wolfe rounded out the top five finishers.
Hayden Gillim won MotoAmerica Mission King Of The Baggers Race One Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway, in Brainerd, Minnesota. Riding his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Road Glide, the defending Champion won the nine-lap race — his first win of the season — by 4.937 seconds.
Gillim’s teammate Rocco Landers made an amazing push to pass Kyle Wyman, Tyler O’Hara, and Troy Herfoss in the last two laps and take second place — his first podium finish in the class.
In spite of getting passed in the final corner by Landers and finishing third, Herfoss increased his Championship point lead over Wyman, who was a close fourth just ahead of O’Hara in fifth.
Bobby Fong won MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike Race One Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway, in Brainerd, Minnesota. Riding his Wrench Motorcycles Yamaha YZF-R1 on Dunlop control tires, Fong passed Josh Herrin on the last lap and won the 17-lap race by 0.419 second.
Herrin led from lap nine on his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati but had to settle for the runner-up spot behind Fong and just 0.200 second ahead of his teammate Loris Baz in third.
Sean Dylan Kelly was in the fight for the lead until lappers got in his way late in the race, but the Superbike rookie was able to score fourth on his TopPro Racing BMW M 1000 RR.
Cameron Petersen was also in the lead group until the encounter with backmarkers pushed him back to an eventual fifth-place finish.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch passed JD Beach and Jake Gagne in the last two laps to secure sixth place.
Beach finished right behind Paasch in seventh on his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW.
Three-time and defending Champion Gagne had another rough race that ended with him taking eighth.
Australian Superbike Champion Troy Herfoss, riding in place of injured Cameron Beaubier, finished ninth in his first MotoAmerica Superbike race.
Max Flinders rounded out the top 10 finishers on his Thrashed Bike Racing Yamaha.
Fantastic Fong Flies To Brainerd Steel Commander Superbike Victory
Bobby Fong Wins His First Superbike Race Of The Year In A Thriller
Bobby Fong (50) leads Cameron Petersen (45), Josh Herrin (2), and Loris Baz (76) at Brainerd. Photo by Brian J. Nelson, courtesy MotoAmerica.
BRAINERD, MN (June 15, 2024) – In what was easily the best MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike race of the season and one of the best in recent memory, three riders battled to the bitter end with Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong spending a lot of laps as the meat in the middle of the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati sandwich of Josh Herrin and Loris Baz.
Fong, however, got the last laugh when Herrin made a mistake on the final lap that allowed Fong the space he needed to forge into the lead. It also kept Baz at bay since he wasn’t going to do anything that could jeopardize teammate Herrin’s race on the final lap.
The margin of victory? .419 of a second from Fong to Herrin and .619 from Fong to Baz.
The win was the fourth AMA Superbike victory of Fong’s career and his first since he won three races in 2020. It also propelled him to second in the 2024 Steel Commander Superbike Championship and established him as a serious title threat.
Attack Performance/Progressive/Yamaha Racing’s Cameron Petersen led the first seven laps at the start/finish line before Fong took over for two laps before giving way to Herrin. From there the top three – Herrin, Fong and Baz – pulled a gap from the Petersen and Sean Dylan Kelly battle when the top five hit traffic for the first time and Petersen and Kelly were badly baulked.
Herrin continued to lead until the final lap when he finally caved to the pressure being applied by Fong. Baz, meanwhile, wasn’t going to do anything silly and the three crossed the line as a trio.
EarlyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly got the better of Petersen, who set the fastest lap of the race, in their battle for fourth, well clear of the fight for sixth.
That fight ultimately went to Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch by just .804 of a second over Tytlers Cycle Racing’s JD Beach.
Three-time and defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Jake Gagne finished eighth after yet another race-long struggle with arm-pump. The Attack Performance/Progressive/Yamaha Racing rider was some two seconds behind Beach and six seconds clear of Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Troy Herfoss, the three-time Australian Superbike Champion racing in the place of injured five-time champion Cameron Beaubier.
Thrashed Bike Racing’s Max Flinders rounded out the top 10 finishers.
Paasch’s teammate Xavi Forés pulled out of the race early with the pain from his Friday crash too much to handle.
Gagne continues to lead the championship point standings, but he now has Fong closing in as the pair are separated by just eight points, 121-113. Herrin jumps to third with 99 points with Kelly fourth on 96. Beaubier, who is hoping to return to action at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, falls to fifth, but only 27 points out of the lead. Baz (88), Beach (69), Paasch (54) and Gillim (45) round out the top 10 heading into tomorrow’s race two at BIR.
Superbike Race One
Bobby Fong (Yamaha)
Josh Herrin (Ducati)
Loris Baz (Ducati)
Sean Dylan Kelly (BMW)
Cameron Petersen (Yamaha)
Brandon Paasch (Suzuki)
JD Beach (BMW)
Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
Troy Herfoss (BMW)
Max Flinders (Yamaha)
Quotes
Bobby Fong – Winner
“I wanted to keep it clean, but I was holding some stuff back a little bit. You never know with this guy. He’ll make a move. If you make a move, he’s going to counter. He’s so good on the brakes. There were sections where I felt like I could easily make this, where they wouldn’t expect it. But I knew he was going to counter because he’s so good on the brakes. So, it’s hard to fight. It’s hard to plan. Especially if you have a group behind you. You see plus zero on your board. You’re like, ‘hell, if I make this move and mess up, I’m going to lose a podium here.’ So, you’ve got to put it smart. I knew he was going to be strong at the end. Like I said, he had his advantages. I had mine. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was going to do something clever but try to keep it clean. It’s always a fight. Me and this dude (Josh Herrin) have been duking it out on and off the track since 2014. It’s kind of been a love-hate relationship through our whole friendship, career. We hate each other one minute and then we’re okay the next minute. At the end of the day, it’s racing and it’s a small community. It’s tough to walk around these pits. The parts are so small to hate somebody and stuff like that. One of these days, we’re going to have to put on the gloves and see what’s up. I know he’s a wrestler, so he might get me on the ground. But it’s all love. We rode a good race and I expect another battle tomorrow.”
Josh Herrin – Second Place
“I was just trying to put my head down and just put in as good of a lap as I could. Definitely bummed that I made that mistake because I don’t think he would have gone under me there, because I was pretty good on the brakes there the whole race. But I was expecting a move in five. Possibly he’d try five coming out of the left into the right. If he didn’t get it there, I thought he might try in the last corner, coming out of the second-to-last corner out of the left to go tight to the right. So, I was planning on guarding those two spots because I knew I had the power on him coming out and I’m using first and he’s using second. So, I knew I’d have the torque. Just made a mistake. He was pressuring me the whole race. I knew he had the pace all weekend, so I was already riding nervous in front just because I wasn’t feeling super confident about leading here. But it’s really good for us in the championship and it was a good race. I had a lot of fun. Super happy, like Loris (Baz) said, to get both Ducatis on the podium. That’s the first time in a really long time there’s been two Ducatis on the podium in Superbike. I don’t know the last time, maybe early 2000s or something. So, I think that’s a really big deal. Like I said, I want a first, but I’m happy with this. Hats off to the entire team, especially KATO. They’ve been a supporter of us for a long time and I always forget to mention them on the podium. I want to thank them.”
Loris Baz – Third Place
“Yeah, we’ve been strong all weekend and I think that’s the first time of the season. I was strong in Barber, but I never felt comfortable on the bike. I never felt I had the chance to fight for a win or something. Here it’s really the first time I felt strong. The guys from the team back in Italy in Ducati from Warhorse, all the guys did a really good job improving the bike between the races. It’s the first time I come on the weekend with the bike I like in FP1. That makes all the difference because you can just focus on yourself, improve, building your confidence back. I was really confident going into the race. I had some battles in the early laps. When the grip was higher, Cam (Petersen) and SDK (Sean Dylan Kelly) were a bit faster and always coming back, but I managed at the end with old tires to pass them, come back on Bobby (Beaubier) and Josh. I was pretty confident to come back, but also not really sure where I could overtake. I was just strong in the change of direction. That’s where I got all the guys. But on the braking itself, we still need to improve a little bit my confidence on the bike to be able to overtake. I knew that before the race, but it’s super cool. I think it’s a good thing for the championship with both coming back. It’s the first double podium for the team. I’m just happy. I would have liked more, but I come from a really difficult beginning of season, so you need to build back the confidence as well when you’re riding. So, we’re just starting to feel a really good vibe in the team with the bike. There’s nothing I could have done to win in the last lap, so I don’t regret anything. Hats off to them. Josh (Hayes) could have got it, I think, but he was stressed going into the turn three closing the door. It was a nice battle and I hope we can put a nice show again tomorrow, so congrats to them and thanks for all the sponsors. I’m so happy and proud to be back racing again in the U.S.”
More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:
Petersen Scores Top-Five Finish in Superbike Race 1 at Brainerd
Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Cameron Petersen finishes fifth in a hard-fought MotoAmerica Superbike battle at Brainerd International Raceway
Cameron Petersen (45) leads Bobby Fong (50), Sean Dylan Kelly (40), Josh Herrin (2), Loris Baz (76), and Jake Gagne (1) in Race One at Brainerd. Photo courtesy Yamaha.
MARIETTA, Ga. – June 16, 2024 – Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Cameron Petersen finished fifth in a hard-fought battle for top honors in MotoAmerica Superbike Race 1 at Brainerd International Raceway. Despite adversity, his teammate Jake Gagne salvaged points with an eighth-place finish at round four of the championship, holding on to the top spot in the point standings.
Qualifying times were tight at the top, with six riders within .5 of a second of pole position at the 2.5-mile circuit in Brainerd, Minnesota. Petersen qualified fifth and got a great start from the second row of the grid to take the lead. The South African tried to build a gap up front, but it turned into a multi-rider rider battle. He was shuffled to third before the halfway mark and then fourth a couple of laps later. Petersen kept pushing and reclaimed third as the lead group grew to five riders battling for position. With four laps remaining, he was riding in fourth and looking to advance but unfortunately got held up behind lapped traffic and lost touch with the lead group, ultimately finishing fifth.
Gagne had a strong start to the day, qualifying on the front row in third. He didn’t get the start he was hoping for in race one and found himself sixth. Dealing with arm pump issues, the defending three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion did what he could to salvage points with an eighth-place finish. Gagne continues to hold the championship lead, eight points clear of fellow Yamaha rider Bobby Fong.
The Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing team lines up again this afternoon for MotoAmerica Superbike Race 2 at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota.
Richard Stanboli – Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing Team Manager
“The team did a good job, and the bikes were competitive. The race did not go as planned, but the winning potential for Cameron does not go unnoticed. We will try to put both riders on the top of the box in race two.”
Cameron Petersen – Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing #45
“It was a tough one today. It’s not the results we were looking for, but taking away the positives, we got a great start and were battling up front. We get another shot tomorrow and will come back stronger for race two.”
Jake Gagne – Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing #1
“It was a rough day today, which was all on me. The bike is working great here, but I’m still struggling with arm pump and couldn’t ride the bike to its potential.”
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Mathew Scholtz won MotoAmerica Supersport Race One Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway, in Brainerd, Minnesota. Scholtz got off to a slow start, but he quickly moved forward, took the lead on lap two, set a new Race Lap Record of 1:33.300, and pulled away to win the 16-lap race by 8.491 seconds on his Strack Racing Yamaha YZF-R6.
PJ Jacobsen bounced back from a crash in Qualifying Two on Saturday morning to score a runner-up finish on his Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL Panigale V2.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Teagg Hobbs held off Roller Die + Forming Ducati’s Corey Alexander to take third and his first podium finish of the season. Alexander, who fractured his pelvis in May, crossed the finish line 0.255 second behind Hobbs.
Jake Lewis placed fifth on his Altus Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R750.
Hobbs’ teammate Tyler Scott was in the pack racing for the lead on lap five when he crashed at high speed in Turn 11. Scott walked away from the crash scene.
Close Racing All Around On Saturday At Brainerd International Raceway
Gillim, Scholtz, Chapin And Landers Star On Day One In Minnesota
Hayden Gillim (1) was in a class of his own in winning his first Mission King Of The Baggers race of the season on Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
BRAINERD, MN (June 15, 2024) – It’s rare that you win a race and get overshadowed by your teammate who finished second, but that’s sort of what happened to Hayden Gillim on Saturday afternoon at Brainerd International Raceway in the Mission King Of The Baggers race.
As expected, given his pace at BIR all week, Gillim got the jump on the pack on his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson and never looked back. It was his first win of what has been a difficult season for the defending class champion, and it was well earned.
Some four seconds behind Gillim came his Mission King Of The Baggers rookie teammate Rocco Landers after an impressive final lap that saw him pass both of the factory S&S Cycle/Indian Challengers ridden by Tyler O’Hara and points leader Troy Herfoss on the final lap. Landers had earlier already disposed of the all-time winningest rider in the class, Kyle Wyman.
It was hard to not be impressed by Landers’ ride as his best finish coming into the Brainerd round was fifth in the first race of the year at Daytona International Speedway. Landers was ecstatic, as he should be, and even those he beat were happy for him.
It was also a big day for the RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson team as they swept the top two steps on the podium.
Third place went to Herfoss, and it extended his championship points lead to 12 over Wyman, with the Harley-Davidson Factory Racing rider ending up fourth in the race.
Wyman’s teammate James Rispoli crashed out of second place early in the race.
“It’s been a rough, rough start,” Gillim said of his early season woes. “I think before this I had one podium. So not a great backup to the championship. It’s been a long road. I thought we were a little better off coming into the season than what we ended up being. We’ve been right there the whole time. Just missing a little bit. I knew the first few tracks we went to, Road Atlanta, COTA, Road America, Daytona were going to be difficult. Somehow, I pulled out some podiums last year at some of those tracks, but this year everybody is on top of their game. Both factories have really stepped it up. They haven’t really made many mistakes this year, so not much to capitalize on there. Coming into this weekend, I knew this was a really good track for me. I was ready to go, especially after how Road America went. To have one-two Vance & Hines, it’s really good for the Motul RevZilla team. Good for this kid’s (Rocco Landers) confidence. He’s a confidence wave, man. If he’s on it, he’s confident and he’s going to be tough. Obviously, being up here with Troy (Herfoss) is really good for my confidence. I’ve got a lot of work to do to even hope of trying to get back in this championship. Really from here on out, we’ve talked about it. The only thing I can really do is try and win races and fight with these guys and capitalize where I can capitalize. Luckily my starts have been getting a lot better, so it helps a ton. I’m really excited. It’s been a really good weekend so far. Hopefully we can keep it going.”
Supersport – Scholtz Gets It Done
Mathew Scholtz (11) won the Supersport race on Saturday at BIR with PJ Jacobsen (15) second and Teagg Hobbs (79) third. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
The level of competitiveness in this year’s Supersport class has increased fairly dramatically compared with last year as a handful of former Superbike riders are now competing in MotoAmerica’s middleweight class. Two of those riders – Strack Racing Yamaha’s Mathew Scholtz and PJ Jacobsen – are right in the thick of things at the top of this year’s championship standings.
One of last year’s major Supersport combatants, Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott, started from the pole, but he was unable to withstand the pressure from Scholtz and Jacobsen, causing Scott to crash out of the race on lap five of the 16-lap event. Meanwhile, Scholtz had already taken the lead, and he didn’t relinquish it, ultimately crossing the finish line eight and a half seconds ahead of Jacobsen. Scott’s Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki teammate Teagg Hobbs finished third for his first podium finish so far this year.
For Scholtz, it was his third win of the season, matching Jacobsen’s wins total, and he is now just seven points behind points-leader Jacobsen.
“I knew that I was going to be able to do low 33’s for pretty much all 16 laps if I really, really had to, but I didn’t think that I was going to break them as soon as I did,” Scholtz said. “I think obviously being a little bit bigger with those conditions out there, the wind helped me muscle the bike a little bit more. I think I did get a little bit lucky with these guys battling, but overall, just really, really happy. We made a major change from Friday to qualifying two today, and it was I wouldn’t say a gamble, but it was one of the biggest changes that we’ve done over the last couple of seasons. Thankfully, everything paid off. I’d just like to thank all of the team, all the members back at the Strack Racing company. Everyone is really working hard, and they’ve given me a beautiful bike, beautiful package. This shows that we should be racing at the front of the Supersport class on the R6.”
Stock 1000 – Mr. Brainerd Does It
Hayden Gillim (1) dominated the Stock 1000 race on Saturday at BIR. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
If Brainerd International Raceway wasn’t already defending Stock 1000 Champion Hayden Gillim’s favorite racetrack before this weekend started, it certainly has to be now. The Real Steel Motorsports Honda rider hasn’t put a wheel wrong in any session aboard his #1 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP.
He earned the pole position earlier on Saturday with a record-setting lap that eclipsed his own record-setting lap set in Friday’s first qualifying session. And then, in Saturday afternoon’s 11-lap race one, Gillim also set a new race lap record on his way to winning by nearly seven-and-a-half seconds over runner-up Benjamin Smith aboard his FLO4LAW Racing Yamaha YZF-R1. Third place went to Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates.
“I like tracks that have just a flow,” commented Gillim when asked what it is about Brainerd that he likes so much. “Road America is not a good track for me. Road Atlanta, I tend to struggle a little bit. The kind of point-and-shoot tracks, I struggle with. For some reason, I feel like I’m good on the brakes but then I always seem to mess up the exit. So, this place doesn’t have much of that. Everything flows together really good. Turn one and two are fun. They’re two of my favorite corners in the world. It’s sweet because you just go in, roll out of it for a second, and then you’re back to pin. It’s a fun track. It’s a fun layout. For that reason, I go good here. I knew coming into this weekend it was kind of like going to Barber. I know I go really good at Barber. I know these guys are going to be gunning for it. These weekends, I’ve got to take what I can get and capitalize on the confidence that I’ve got coming in. When we get to Ridge and Laguna, I know those tracks, Laguna specifically, I go good there but I’m not great there. I don’t have a great track record there, so I’m trying to just capitalize at the tracks that I know are good for me and hopefully not have to bend it at the other tracks.”
BellissiMoto Twins Cup – Landers Unbeatable
Rocco Landers (97) beat Alessandro Di Mario (27) to win the BellissiMoto Twins Cup race at BIR on Saturday. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Along with Hayden Gillim, another rider who just can’t seem to get enough of Brainerd International Raceway just so happens to be his Mission King Of The Baggers teammate and protégé Rocco Landers, who races the RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki GSX-8R in the BellissiMoto Twins Cup Championship.
In Saturday’s race one, Landers started from the pole after going fastest in Friday’s first qualifying, and it was a record-setting lap for Landers, too. In the race, Landers got the holeshot and led all but one of the 11 laps to ultimately take the checkered flag by just under four seconds over Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering’s Alessandro Di Mario, with Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Rossi Moor finishing a very close third behind Di Mario.
Along the way, Landers ran the fastest lap of the race, which was also a new race lap record.
“Honestly, this result is probably going to be overshadowed by that Baggers Challenge race (in which he placed second a little earlier on Saturday),” Landers said. “That was one of the best races of my life even though it was only two laps. Considering where we started on this bike, we were P5 in race one. We were like P7 in one of the practices at Daytona. The thing was completely new to us. It was like a total street bike. But one thing we did have, was the direction to go. We’ve just been following the breadcrumbs, I should say. The thing has been getting better and better every round. Need to start doing more training on different bikes. Those first two laps are kind of hard because I’m adjusting myself from the Bagger to the Twin. It tends to lead to a couple mistakes, missing brake markers and that type of thing. But that was a good race for me. I just tried to get out there. I made a small mistake adjusting my clutch lever on the first lap. Rossi got up underneath me and Alessandro almost did. After that, I was just trying to see if I could lead the race, lay down some decent laps and do what I could. I didn’t really find my groove there until lap three or four, and then I started to feel solid. My whole team has just busted their butts completely. My mechanic Matt, my crew chief Steve, Motor Terry, my bagger mechanic Quentin, team manager Craig, and our fab guy, Josh. Every one of them is always busting their butts and making everything as good as we can go. We’re obviously heading in a decent direction, so I cannot wait until tomorrow.”
Junior Cup – Rain Leads To Chapin Win
The Drehers – Avery (left) and Ella (right) – became the first brother/sister combo to stand on an AMA road racing podium. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Rain was in the forecast on Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway, but it held off, save for a few raindrops here and there, until the closing laps of Junior Cup race one. At the time, Bad Boys Racing’s Avery Dreher had regained the lead and looked to be headed for victory. Due to the rain, a red flag was displayed, and the race was stopped. By rules, the results reverted to the lap prior, and that happened to be when BARTCON Racing’s Matthew Chapin had just taken the lead.
It’s ironic that Chapin’s team owner is an Irishman because Chapin’s short time in the lead was just enough to be named the winner of the race. A stroke of Irish luck if there ever was one. For Chapin, who has now won four races on the season, he is definitely lucky AND good. That’s a solid combination.
Chapin’s good fortune was offset by Avery Dreher’s misfortune. But it was not all bad for the defending Junior Cup Champion. He made history on Saturday at Brainerd when he and his sister Ella became the first brother and sister to finish on an AMA road racing podium. Clearly, it was a memory of a lifetime for the Dreher family.
“I really had no idea if they were going to red flag it or not,” Chapin said. “I wanted to lead the race the whole time, but Avery and Ella were ripping. It was overall a good race, and it was fun riding with them.”
More, from a press release issued by Rahal Ducati Moto:
BRAINERD RACE 1
SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 2024 | QUALIFYING 2 & RACE 1
With team owner, Graham Rahal, present for this weekend’s event, the trio of Rahal Ducati Moto riders showed the MotoAmerica series that the new team means business. With all three finishing in the top six, the riders earned 33 points collectively for their championship runs.
The weather conditions for the 16-lap race started questionable with the possibility of forthcoming rain during the session. While the rain held off, heavy winds blew across the track, impacting the handling and consistency of the bikes.
Tomorrow’s schedule consists of a warm up session in the morning, prior to Round 8 of Supersport competition. Coverage is available on MotoAmericaLivePlus.com.
PJ JACOBSEN
No. 15 XPEL DUCATI PANIGALE V2
STARTED: 5th
FINISHED: 2nd
CHAMPIONSHIP: 1st (151 pts)
NOTES: While passing a slow-paced rider, hit a bump and slid on his bike requiring service in the hot pit and limiting track time to significantly improve his qualifying time // Despite the small amount of track time to complete qualifying, Jacobsen improved his time to secure a fifth-place starting position // Remains in the championship lead – seven points over Mathew Scholtz // Recorded his seventh podium finish in the seven races this season
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “It’s not the result we wanted, but it was still a good day for championship points and for the Rahal Ducati Moto team overall. I knew it would be hard to get the run off the start with the other guys in Turn 1 to [Turn] 2. Corey [Alexander] had an impressive jump at the beginning of the race and was riding really well, but then I got stuck in position at the tail of the group and everyone was mixing up in front of me. We’re going to do our homework tonight to see where we can come up with some straight-line speed and we’re going to try and put up a battle on track with Scholtz tomorrow for Race 2.”
COREY ALEXANDER
No. 23 ROLLER DIE + FORMING DUCATI PANIGALE V2
STARTED: 4th
FINISHED: 4th
CHAMPIONSHIP: 8th (52 pts)
NOTES: Put on a stellar performance in his return to Supersport competition after an injury prevented him from competing in Rounds 5 and 6 // Recorded running as high as third in the 16-lap race // Despite falling three positions in the championship after sitting out the Road America races, jumped one spot to eighth in his return
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “I’m very happy with the results today. It’s always bittersweet to be that close to a podium finish, and of course, it would’ve been nice for the team and Graham [Rahal] to be there for both PJ [Jacobsen] and me on the podium, but there’s always tomorrow! We’ll take what we learned today during the race and use it to improve. Overall, considering where we were four weeks ago, missing the last round after my big crash, I couldn’t really be much happier. I rode well and I’m happy with that. Thanks to the team for their work on making the bike feel better for me. I’m really pleased with where we are at and I’m hoping to build on our progress tomorrow.”
KAYLA YAAKOV
No. 19 XPEL DUCATI PANIGALE V2
STARTED: 8th
FINISHED: 6th
CHAMPIONSHIP: 10th (45 pts) -tied
NOTES: Fought competitively with the lead group throughout the race // Made an impressive pass in Turn 2 over Stefano Mesa to claim the sixth position // Earned her fourth top 10 finish of the season
WHAT SHE’S SAYING: “Day two at Brainerd [International Raceway] was really positive. The whole weekend has been absolutely amazing. Finishing within the top 10 for every session so far has been really special for our Rahal Ducati Moto w/ XPEL team. We talk about always improving and climbing the ladder in this class, and I can really feel the effects of that. Today’s race was really good, I had a lot of fun. The overcast conditions and wind made the race pretty tricky, but I got a really good start and was able to stay in the battle of the front group for a few laps, which is huge for me. In the last few laps I was able to make a pass and get into P6 and ride it home. I’m really happy with the day and I’m excited to make tomorrow good as well.”
BEN SPIES
TEAM PRINCIPAL
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “We had a good race today. You always want more but second, fourth, and sixth are really good results for us. We’re just a little bit down on some straight line speed. PJ did as good as he could to collect championship points. Corey rode awesome coming back from the injury, and Kayla had her best dry weather result and her lap times looked super strong through the whole race. All-in-all it was a really good race for us. We always want more but will try to be better for tomorrow.”
Rocco Landers won MotoAmerica BellissiMoto Twins Cup Race One Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway, in Brainerd, Minnesota. Riding his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki GSX-8R on Dunlop control tires, Landers took the lead on the opening lap and held on to win the 11-lap race by 3.817 seconds.
Alessandro Di Mario and Rossi Moor battled for the runner-up spot all the way to the checkered flag. In the end, Di Mario got his Rodio Racing – Powered by Rodem Engineering Aprilia RS 660 across the finish line 0.036 second before Moor and his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-8R.
Di Mario’s teammate Gus Rodio finished fourth, and class rookie Avery Dreher got fifth on his TopPro Racing Aprilia.
Hayden Gillim continued his domination of the MotoAmerica Mission King Of The Baggers class at Brainerd International Raceway with a convincing victory in Saturday’s Mission Challenge race.
Riding his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Road Glide, Gillim won the two-lap dash-for-cash by 1.342 seconds, earning the $5,000 winner-take-all purse.
Gillim’s teammate Rocco Landers went from sixth on the grid to second place at the finish.
Troy Herfoss was running in second place on his S&S Indian Challenger until he ran wide in Turn 12 on the final lap. The reigning Australian Superbike Champion recovered in time to still get third place.
Hayden Gillim took pole position during MotoAmerica Mission King Of The Baggers Qualifying Two (Q2) Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway, in Brainerd, Minnesota.
Riding his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Road Glide on Dunlop control tires, Gillim turned a 1:34.717, which eclipsed the new All-Time Lap Record of 1:34.747 he set in Qualifying One (Q1) on Friday.
Troy Herfoss bounced back from two crashes on Friday to qualify second with a 1:34.883 on his S&S Indian Challenger.
Herfoss’s teammate Tyler O’Hara was third-fastest with a 1:35.013.
Harley-Davidson Factory Racing teammates Kyle Wyman (1:35.111) and James Rispoli (1:35.187) will line up on row two alongside Gillim’s teammate Rocco Landers (1:35.480).
Herrera just beats Carrasco across the line in an historic first WorldWCR race at Misano
Maria Herrera (6) beat Ana Carrasco (22) to win the first-ever WorldWCR race. Photo courtesy Dorna.
Race 1 Highlights:
Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Factory Team) wins the inaugural five-lap WorldWCR race at the Misano World Circuit, setting a blistering pace and crossing the line just 0.067 of a second ahead of fellow Spaniard Ana Carrasco (Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team)
Sara Sanchez (511 Terra&Vita Racing Team) came out on top in the exciting battle for third, closing half a second ahead of Roberta Ponziani (Yamaha Motoxracing WCR Team), fourth, and Beatriz Neila (Ampito / Pata Prometeon Yamaha), fifth
It was Spaniard Carrasco who set the fastest lap of the race, a 1’48.594 (lap four). This result means that she will start Sunday’s Race 2 from pole position
The race came to a premature end for Lena Kemmer (Bertl K. Racing Team), Iryna Nadieieva (MPS.RT) and Mallory Dobbs (Sekhmet Motorcycle Racing Team), all of whom crashed but sustained no serious injuries
It was a race of three parts, the original race red-flagged on lap six due to a serious incident for Mia Rusthen (Rusthen Racing) through Turn 16. Norwegian Rusthen has suffered a head injury with concussion and is currently receiving treatment at the Bufalini Trauma Centre in Cesena. The patient’s condition has been stabilised
A second ‘heat’ was also red-flagged after Jessica Howden (Team Trasimeno) crashed on lap one. The South African rider has been diagnosed with concussion and was transported by helicopter to the Bufalini Trauma Centre. The rider is conscious
Championship Standings:
Herrera’s maiden WorldWCR victory means that she takes an early championship lead with 25 points
Carrasco and Sanchez follow close behind, having banked 20 and 16 points respectively
Key Points:
Pole position: Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Factory Team) – 1’49.390
Race 1 winner: Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Factory Team)
Race fastest lap: Ana Carrasco (Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team) – 1’48.594
P1 | Maria Herrera | Klint Forward Factory Team
“I’m so happy, not only to have won the first ever WorldWCR race, but also because we have been able to achieve this result after so much hard work over the last month. I didn’t even ride the bike until yesterday but I really wanted to win, so I pushed hard in every session and was also able to set pole, which came as a nice surprise. I had a great battle with Ana in the race; it was tough, and I was on the limit, but I was strong on the brakes. I still need to understand the bike more in order to be faster, but I’m working well with the team and am really pleased with what we’ve done so far.”
P2 | Ana Carrasco | Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team
“I’m pretty happy with today’s result, especially after the red flags earlier in the day. A race made up of only five laps is always difficult to manage and, in the end, I wasn’t quite able to win, but it was very close. I’ll try to improve a little ahead of tomorrow and go for the win in Race 2. This is my first race since last October so Maria has definitely had more race experience than me this season, and perhaps the sprint format suited her better today. Our pace was almost identical though, so I think we’re in for a similar race tomorrow. I think there were some nerves among the riders today, with this being the very first race in a new championship, but that’s to be expected I guess; I was nervous too!”
P3 | Sara Sanchez | 511 Terra&Vita Racing Team
“Today was not easy, not least because we started the race three times. I’m very happy to have reached the podium, also because the level is very high, but I want to keep improving so that I can try to win tomorrow. I lost time off the line today and then only had five laps in which to make up the lost ground. It was great to be there battling with Neila and Ponziani, but I think with a longer race tomorrow I can be more competitive, as long as I make a better start than I did in Race 1.”
More, from a press release issued by
Highs and lows for Sekhmet Racing in first WorldWCR race(s)
P18 for Lissy Whitmore but DNF for Mallory Dobbs while fighting for top ten at Misano
Misano, 15 June 2024
The inaugural round of the World Women’s Circuit Racing Championship has brought mixed success for Sekhmet International Racing Team riders Lissy Whitmore and Mallory Dobbs at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.
The team’s British racer Whitmore was happy to come home just outside the points in P18 in her first world championship race, but with a crash for her American teammate Dobbs bringing to an end a charge through the pack on a chaotic opening day.
The 12-lap race was first set to take place on Saturday morning, but red flags came out half way through it after an incident involving Mia Rusthen. Initially delayed, the race was then postponed until the end of the day and shortened to five laps.
Red flagged again after a crash on the opening lap, when the race eventually got underway properly, both Dobbs and Whitmore were able to make strong starts. Rising to as high as 11th, Dobbs was making progress towards the top ten when she crashed out unhurt at turn 14.
Whitmore was able to make steady progress throughout the race, only just losing out in the battle for P17 in the final corners.
Thankfully both won’t have long to wait until they get to capitalise on Saturday’s experience though, with the series’ second race to set underway on Sunday morning at 1150 local time. The race will be televised free and in full on the series’ YouTube channel.
Maddi Patterson, Team Principal
Firstly, I’d like to send my best wishes to Mia. I hope she has a speedy recovery and to her family, friends and supporters, we are all rooting for her. Secondly, to the other competitors who have been hurt and injured in today’s racing, I wish you well and I was happy to see you back walking around the paddock at the conclusion of today’s racing.
It was a bit of a mixed bag today. For my riders and myself. I think there’s a lot to learn and there’s no shame in saying that. New track, lots of stop and starts, and a reality check. Don’t sweat the small stuff, is my observation and my advice.
Lissy went out and did what we wanted her to. She had great starts, and the first restart was looking so promising before it was red flagged. I know to the outsider looking in it might not look that way – but looking at the bigger picture, she is turning into a great young professional, and she showed today what I have said all along. The tools are there, and she’s doing it.
I was gutted for Mal because I know all she wanted to do was hunt down that top 10 position. The reality is she hasn’t had a good start to the weekend and I hope it improves. This is a new track for Mallory. A new country and a new way of working. I have no doubt she will find her feet and hone in on her craft. It’s there. I don’t ever want to hear her doubt herself again. She needs to find the faith.
Lissy Whitmore, #34
P18
I qualified and then I finished, so I’m really happy, because that was the target. The only way is up for me, and I am happy overall.
There’s more pace to come. I just need to not forget that this is my first time at this circuit as well as my second time ever riding an R7 as well. Before Cremona, I’d never touched one. It’s just little things I need to remember; I’m still learning, and we’ve had a good-ish start.
Too much went through my head on the restarts. We’ve had a really unfortunate day. All I can ask is that we not brush it under the carpet but learn from it and I just hope that everybody today who was involved in all of those crashes is okay, because it’s not nice to have to see and it’s not nice to have to experience.
I’ve had chats with James Toseland and Neil Hodgson, with Sam Lowes, and they’ve all said the same thing to me – just clear your head from today, you’ll automatically feel better tomorrow. We’re just going to see what happens!
James came over on the grid and he was helping me out. I was happy. I feel like I belong. I’d had a bit of imposter syndrome because it’s a big paddock and I’ve never been in something like this before, but I feel like I’m meant to be here now.
Mallory Dobbs, #14
DNF
If we start with the positives, it does feel like we’ve made a lot of steps in the right direction today.
We improved. The nice thing about the first restart is that we’d done our Long Lap Penalty and we’d moved up two grid spots from our original start. When we did the restart the second time, we got to gain two grid spots and we didn’t have a Long Lap Penalty anymore, so it was a better race for us. It put us in a better situation, which was exciting.
It was unfortunate for the riders who went down – we obviously want to make sure that everyone is okay, but we did good in the restart and worked our way up to 11th before we crashed. Really good improvements, and we did decrease our lap time by a little bit.
In the race we kind of lost the group that was ahead of us on the last lap, and I figured it would just be good to set some good laps to get a better grid position for tomorrow, to put us in a little bit of a better spot – just was doing my own thing running some laps and unfortunately took the front in Turn 14.
There’s a little bit of bump there, the tyres had gone through a numerous number of restarts, a number of laps. It was a chaotic day of three or four restarts. I think we started three times today, so it was definitely a lot of chaos. The tyres definitely didn’t wear too great, not that that is an excuse. We just went in there, no different than I really had before, although obviously the data will tell us otherwise, and tucked the front. We’re all good physically and we’ll try again tomorrow.
Now we’ll just forget about today and start back over tomorrow. It was a tough day in the office and it’s always hard not to dwell on this stuff, but we definitely just want to reset!
Tyler Scott topped MotoAmerica Supersport Qualifying Two (Q2) Saturday morning at Brainerd International Raceway, in Brainerd, Minnesota. Riding his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R750 on Dunlop control tires, Scott, age 18, lowered his best lap time from 1:34.099 in Qualifying One (Q1) to a 1:32.771 in Q2 and captured pole position.
Strack Racing Yamaha rider Matthew Scholtz was on top of the timing screen with a 1:32.990 late in Q2, before he was bumped to second by Scott.
Scott’s teammate Teagg Hobbs also made a big improvement from Q1 to Q2 and claimed the third and final spot on the front row of the grid.
Corey Alexander fractured his pelvis in a crash at Barber Motorsports Park in May, but he was able to come back this weekend and qualify fourth with a 1:33.451 on his Roller Die + Forming Ducati Panigale V2.
Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL rider PJ Jacobsen was fastest in Q1, but he crashed his Panigale V2 early in Q2 and ended up fifth with a 1:33.588.
Jake Lewis will start from sixth on the grid courtesy of the 1:33.836 he did on his Altus Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R750.
Row Three starters include Tytlers Cycles Racing Kawasaki’s Stefano Mesa (1:34.107), Jacobsen’s 17-year-old teammate Kayla Yaakov (1:34.449), and SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki rider Max Van (1:34.870).
David Anthony (1:34.980) rounded out the top 10 qualifiers on his Wrench Motorcycles Suzuki GSX-R750.
BARTCON Racing’s Mathew Chapin won MotoAmerica Junior Cup Race One Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway, in Brainerd, Minnesota.
Bad Boys Racing’s Avery Dreher was leading his teammate and younger sister Ella Dreher and Chapin on lap nine of 11 when the race was stopped because it started raining.
Officials called the race complete and reverted to the running order of the last lap completed by the entire field, lap eight, to determine the finishing order.
Chapin, age 15, was awarded the victory, his third in a row and fourth of the season.
Avery Dreher, age 17, was scored second just ahead of 14-year-old Ella Dreher, making history as the first brother-and-sister duo to finish on the podium in a MotoAmerica race.
Karns Performance’s Levi Badie got fourth, and Wolfe Racing Ryan Wolfe rounded out the top five finishers.
Hayden Gillim won MotoAmerica Mission King Of The Baggers Race One Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway, in Brainerd, Minnesota. Riding his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Road Glide, the defending Champion won the nine-lap race — his first win of the season — by 4.937 seconds.
Gillim’s teammate Rocco Landers made an amazing push to pass Kyle Wyman, Tyler O’Hara, and Troy Herfoss in the last two laps and take second place — his first podium finish in the class.
In spite of getting passed in the final corner by Landers and finishing third, Herfoss increased his Championship point lead over Wyman, who was a close fourth just ahead of O’Hara in fifth.
Bobby Fong won MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike Race One Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway, in Brainerd, Minnesota. Riding his Wrench Motorcycles Yamaha YZF-R1 on Dunlop control tires, Fong passed Josh Herrin on the last lap and won the 17-lap race by 0.419 second.
Herrin led from lap nine on his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati but had to settle for the runner-up spot behind Fong and just 0.200 second ahead of his teammate Loris Baz in third.
Sean Dylan Kelly was in the fight for the lead until lappers got in his way late in the race, but the Superbike rookie was able to score fourth on his TopPro Racing BMW M 1000 RR.
Cameron Petersen was also in the lead group until the encounter with backmarkers pushed him back to an eventual fifth-place finish.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch passed JD Beach and Jake Gagne in the last two laps to secure sixth place.
Beach finished right behind Paasch in seventh on his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW.
Three-time and defending Champion Gagne had another rough race that ended with him taking eighth.
Australian Superbike Champion Troy Herfoss, riding in place of injured Cameron Beaubier, finished ninth in his first MotoAmerica Superbike race.
Max Flinders rounded out the top 10 finishers on his Thrashed Bike Racing Yamaha.
Fantastic Fong Flies To Brainerd Steel Commander Superbike Victory
Bobby Fong Wins His First Superbike Race Of The Year In A Thriller
Bobby Fong (50) leads Cameron Petersen (45), Josh Herrin (2), and Loris Baz (76) at Brainerd. Photo by Brian J. Nelson, courtesy MotoAmerica.
BRAINERD, MN (June 15, 2024) – In what was easily the best MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike race of the season and one of the best in recent memory, three riders battled to the bitter end with Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong spending a lot of laps as the meat in the middle of the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati sandwich of Josh Herrin and Loris Baz.
Fong, however, got the last laugh when Herrin made a mistake on the final lap that allowed Fong the space he needed to forge into the lead. It also kept Baz at bay since he wasn’t going to do anything that could jeopardize teammate Herrin’s race on the final lap.
The margin of victory? .419 of a second from Fong to Herrin and .619 from Fong to Baz.
The win was the fourth AMA Superbike victory of Fong’s career and his first since he won three races in 2020. It also propelled him to second in the 2024 Steel Commander Superbike Championship and established him as a serious title threat.
Attack Performance/Progressive/Yamaha Racing’s Cameron Petersen led the first seven laps at the start/finish line before Fong took over for two laps before giving way to Herrin. From there the top three – Herrin, Fong and Baz – pulled a gap from the Petersen and Sean Dylan Kelly battle when the top five hit traffic for the first time and Petersen and Kelly were badly baulked.
Herrin continued to lead until the final lap when he finally caved to the pressure being applied by Fong. Baz, meanwhile, wasn’t going to do anything silly and the three crossed the line as a trio.
EarlyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly got the better of Petersen, who set the fastest lap of the race, in their battle for fourth, well clear of the fight for sixth.
That fight ultimately went to Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch by just .804 of a second over Tytlers Cycle Racing’s JD Beach.
Three-time and defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Jake Gagne finished eighth after yet another race-long struggle with arm-pump. The Attack Performance/Progressive/Yamaha Racing rider was some two seconds behind Beach and six seconds clear of Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Troy Herfoss, the three-time Australian Superbike Champion racing in the place of injured five-time champion Cameron Beaubier.
Thrashed Bike Racing’s Max Flinders rounded out the top 10 finishers.
Paasch’s teammate Xavi Forés pulled out of the race early with the pain from his Friday crash too much to handle.
Gagne continues to lead the championship point standings, but he now has Fong closing in as the pair are separated by just eight points, 121-113. Herrin jumps to third with 99 points with Kelly fourth on 96. Beaubier, who is hoping to return to action at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, falls to fifth, but only 27 points out of the lead. Baz (88), Beach (69), Paasch (54) and Gillim (45) round out the top 10 heading into tomorrow’s race two at BIR.
Superbike Race One
Bobby Fong (Yamaha)
Josh Herrin (Ducati)
Loris Baz (Ducati)
Sean Dylan Kelly (BMW)
Cameron Petersen (Yamaha)
Brandon Paasch (Suzuki)
JD Beach (BMW)
Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
Troy Herfoss (BMW)
Max Flinders (Yamaha)
Quotes
Bobby Fong – Winner
“I wanted to keep it clean, but I was holding some stuff back a little bit. You never know with this guy. He’ll make a move. If you make a move, he’s going to counter. He’s so good on the brakes. There were sections where I felt like I could easily make this, where they wouldn’t expect it. But I knew he was going to counter because he’s so good on the brakes. So, it’s hard to fight. It’s hard to plan. Especially if you have a group behind you. You see plus zero on your board. You’re like, ‘hell, if I make this move and mess up, I’m going to lose a podium here.’ So, you’ve got to put it smart. I knew he was going to be strong at the end. Like I said, he had his advantages. I had mine. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was going to do something clever but try to keep it clean. It’s always a fight. Me and this dude (Josh Herrin) have been duking it out on and off the track since 2014. It’s kind of been a love-hate relationship through our whole friendship, career. We hate each other one minute and then we’re okay the next minute. At the end of the day, it’s racing and it’s a small community. It’s tough to walk around these pits. The parts are so small to hate somebody and stuff like that. One of these days, we’re going to have to put on the gloves and see what’s up. I know he’s a wrestler, so he might get me on the ground. But it’s all love. We rode a good race and I expect another battle tomorrow.”
Josh Herrin – Second Place
“I was just trying to put my head down and just put in as good of a lap as I could. Definitely bummed that I made that mistake because I don’t think he would have gone under me there, because I was pretty good on the brakes there the whole race. But I was expecting a move in five. Possibly he’d try five coming out of the left into the right. If he didn’t get it there, I thought he might try in the last corner, coming out of the second-to-last corner out of the left to go tight to the right. So, I was planning on guarding those two spots because I knew I had the power on him coming out and I’m using first and he’s using second. So, I knew I’d have the torque. Just made a mistake. He was pressuring me the whole race. I knew he had the pace all weekend, so I was already riding nervous in front just because I wasn’t feeling super confident about leading here. But it’s really good for us in the championship and it was a good race. I had a lot of fun. Super happy, like Loris (Baz) said, to get both Ducatis on the podium. That’s the first time in a really long time there’s been two Ducatis on the podium in Superbike. I don’t know the last time, maybe early 2000s or something. So, I think that’s a really big deal. Like I said, I want a first, but I’m happy with this. Hats off to the entire team, especially KATO. They’ve been a supporter of us for a long time and I always forget to mention them on the podium. I want to thank them.”
Loris Baz – Third Place
“Yeah, we’ve been strong all weekend and I think that’s the first time of the season. I was strong in Barber, but I never felt comfortable on the bike. I never felt I had the chance to fight for a win or something. Here it’s really the first time I felt strong. The guys from the team back in Italy in Ducati from Warhorse, all the guys did a really good job improving the bike between the races. It’s the first time I come on the weekend with the bike I like in FP1. That makes all the difference because you can just focus on yourself, improve, building your confidence back. I was really confident going into the race. I had some battles in the early laps. When the grip was higher, Cam (Petersen) and SDK (Sean Dylan Kelly) were a bit faster and always coming back, but I managed at the end with old tires to pass them, come back on Bobby (Beaubier) and Josh. I was pretty confident to come back, but also not really sure where I could overtake. I was just strong in the change of direction. That’s where I got all the guys. But on the braking itself, we still need to improve a little bit my confidence on the bike to be able to overtake. I knew that before the race, but it’s super cool. I think it’s a good thing for the championship with both coming back. It’s the first double podium for the team. I’m just happy. I would have liked more, but I come from a really difficult beginning of season, so you need to build back the confidence as well when you’re riding. So, we’re just starting to feel a really good vibe in the team with the bike. There’s nothing I could have done to win in the last lap, so I don’t regret anything. Hats off to them. Josh (Hayes) could have got it, I think, but he was stressed going into the turn three closing the door. It was a nice battle and I hope we can put a nice show again tomorrow, so congrats to them and thanks for all the sponsors. I’m so happy and proud to be back racing again in the U.S.”
More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:
Petersen Scores Top-Five Finish in Superbike Race 1 at Brainerd
Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Cameron Petersen finishes fifth in a hard-fought MotoAmerica Superbike battle at Brainerd International Raceway
Cameron Petersen (45) leads Bobby Fong (50), Sean Dylan Kelly (40), Josh Herrin (2), Loris Baz (76), and Jake Gagne (1) in Race One at Brainerd. Photo courtesy Yamaha.
MARIETTA, Ga. – June 16, 2024 – Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Cameron Petersen finished fifth in a hard-fought battle for top honors in MotoAmerica Superbike Race 1 at Brainerd International Raceway. Despite adversity, his teammate Jake Gagne salvaged points with an eighth-place finish at round four of the championship, holding on to the top spot in the point standings.
Qualifying times were tight at the top, with six riders within .5 of a second of pole position at the 2.5-mile circuit in Brainerd, Minnesota. Petersen qualified fifth and got a great start from the second row of the grid to take the lead. The South African tried to build a gap up front, but it turned into a multi-rider rider battle. He was shuffled to third before the halfway mark and then fourth a couple of laps later. Petersen kept pushing and reclaimed third as the lead group grew to five riders battling for position. With four laps remaining, he was riding in fourth and looking to advance but unfortunately got held up behind lapped traffic and lost touch with the lead group, ultimately finishing fifth.
Gagne had a strong start to the day, qualifying on the front row in third. He didn’t get the start he was hoping for in race one and found himself sixth. Dealing with arm pump issues, the defending three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion did what he could to salvage points with an eighth-place finish. Gagne continues to hold the championship lead, eight points clear of fellow Yamaha rider Bobby Fong.
The Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing team lines up again this afternoon for MotoAmerica Superbike Race 2 at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota.
Richard Stanboli – Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing Team Manager
“The team did a good job, and the bikes were competitive. The race did not go as planned, but the winning potential for Cameron does not go unnoticed. We will try to put both riders on the top of the box in race two.”
Cameron Petersen – Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing #45
“It was a tough one today. It’s not the results we were looking for, but taking away the positives, we got a great start and were battling up front. We get another shot tomorrow and will come back stronger for race two.”
Jake Gagne – Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing #1
“It was a rough day today, which was all on me. The bike is working great here, but I’m still struggling with arm pump and couldn’t ride the bike to its potential.”
About Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A.
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Mathew Scholtz won MotoAmerica Supersport Race One Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway, in Brainerd, Minnesota. Scholtz got off to a slow start, but he quickly moved forward, took the lead on lap two, set a new Race Lap Record of 1:33.300, and pulled away to win the 16-lap race by 8.491 seconds on his Strack Racing Yamaha YZF-R6.
PJ Jacobsen bounced back from a crash in Qualifying Two on Saturday morning to score a runner-up finish on his Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL Panigale V2.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Teagg Hobbs held off Roller Die + Forming Ducati’s Corey Alexander to take third and his first podium finish of the season. Alexander, who fractured his pelvis in May, crossed the finish line 0.255 second behind Hobbs.
Jake Lewis placed fifth on his Altus Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R750.
Hobbs’ teammate Tyler Scott was in the pack racing for the lead on lap five when he crashed at high speed in Turn 11. Scott walked away from the crash scene.
Close Racing All Around On Saturday At Brainerd International Raceway
Gillim, Scholtz, Chapin And Landers Star On Day One In Minnesota
Hayden Gillim (1) was in a class of his own in winning his first Mission King Of The Baggers race of the season on Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
BRAINERD, MN (June 15, 2024) – It’s rare that you win a race and get overshadowed by your teammate who finished second, but that’s sort of what happened to Hayden Gillim on Saturday afternoon at Brainerd International Raceway in the Mission King Of The Baggers race.
As expected, given his pace at BIR all week, Gillim got the jump on the pack on his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson and never looked back. It was his first win of what has been a difficult season for the defending class champion, and it was well earned.
Some four seconds behind Gillim came his Mission King Of The Baggers rookie teammate Rocco Landers after an impressive final lap that saw him pass both of the factory S&S Cycle/Indian Challengers ridden by Tyler O’Hara and points leader Troy Herfoss on the final lap. Landers had earlier already disposed of the all-time winningest rider in the class, Kyle Wyman.
It was hard to not be impressed by Landers’ ride as his best finish coming into the Brainerd round was fifth in the first race of the year at Daytona International Speedway. Landers was ecstatic, as he should be, and even those he beat were happy for him.
It was also a big day for the RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson team as they swept the top two steps on the podium.
Third place went to Herfoss, and it extended his championship points lead to 12 over Wyman, with the Harley-Davidson Factory Racing rider ending up fourth in the race.
Wyman’s teammate James Rispoli crashed out of second place early in the race.
“It’s been a rough, rough start,” Gillim said of his early season woes. “I think before this I had one podium. So not a great backup to the championship. It’s been a long road. I thought we were a little better off coming into the season than what we ended up being. We’ve been right there the whole time. Just missing a little bit. I knew the first few tracks we went to, Road Atlanta, COTA, Road America, Daytona were going to be difficult. Somehow, I pulled out some podiums last year at some of those tracks, but this year everybody is on top of their game. Both factories have really stepped it up. They haven’t really made many mistakes this year, so not much to capitalize on there. Coming into this weekend, I knew this was a really good track for me. I was ready to go, especially after how Road America went. To have one-two Vance & Hines, it’s really good for the Motul RevZilla team. Good for this kid’s (Rocco Landers) confidence. He’s a confidence wave, man. If he’s on it, he’s confident and he’s going to be tough. Obviously, being up here with Troy (Herfoss) is really good for my confidence. I’ve got a lot of work to do to even hope of trying to get back in this championship. Really from here on out, we’ve talked about it. The only thing I can really do is try and win races and fight with these guys and capitalize where I can capitalize. Luckily my starts have been getting a lot better, so it helps a ton. I’m really excited. It’s been a really good weekend so far. Hopefully we can keep it going.”
Supersport – Scholtz Gets It Done
Mathew Scholtz (11) won the Supersport race on Saturday at BIR with PJ Jacobsen (15) second and Teagg Hobbs (79) third. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
The level of competitiveness in this year’s Supersport class has increased fairly dramatically compared with last year as a handful of former Superbike riders are now competing in MotoAmerica’s middleweight class. Two of those riders – Strack Racing Yamaha’s Mathew Scholtz and PJ Jacobsen – are right in the thick of things at the top of this year’s championship standings.
One of last year’s major Supersport combatants, Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott, started from the pole, but he was unable to withstand the pressure from Scholtz and Jacobsen, causing Scott to crash out of the race on lap five of the 16-lap event. Meanwhile, Scholtz had already taken the lead, and he didn’t relinquish it, ultimately crossing the finish line eight and a half seconds ahead of Jacobsen. Scott’s Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki teammate Teagg Hobbs finished third for his first podium finish so far this year.
For Scholtz, it was his third win of the season, matching Jacobsen’s wins total, and he is now just seven points behind points-leader Jacobsen.
“I knew that I was going to be able to do low 33’s for pretty much all 16 laps if I really, really had to, but I didn’t think that I was going to break them as soon as I did,” Scholtz said. “I think obviously being a little bit bigger with those conditions out there, the wind helped me muscle the bike a little bit more. I think I did get a little bit lucky with these guys battling, but overall, just really, really happy. We made a major change from Friday to qualifying two today, and it was I wouldn’t say a gamble, but it was one of the biggest changes that we’ve done over the last couple of seasons. Thankfully, everything paid off. I’d just like to thank all of the team, all the members back at the Strack Racing company. Everyone is really working hard, and they’ve given me a beautiful bike, beautiful package. This shows that we should be racing at the front of the Supersport class on the R6.”
Stock 1000 – Mr. Brainerd Does It
Hayden Gillim (1) dominated the Stock 1000 race on Saturday at BIR. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
If Brainerd International Raceway wasn’t already defending Stock 1000 Champion Hayden Gillim’s favorite racetrack before this weekend started, it certainly has to be now. The Real Steel Motorsports Honda rider hasn’t put a wheel wrong in any session aboard his #1 Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP.
He earned the pole position earlier on Saturday with a record-setting lap that eclipsed his own record-setting lap set in Friday’s first qualifying session. And then, in Saturday afternoon’s 11-lap race one, Gillim also set a new race lap record on his way to winning by nearly seven-and-a-half seconds over runner-up Benjamin Smith aboard his FLO4LAW Racing Yamaha YZF-R1. Third place went to Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates.
“I like tracks that have just a flow,” commented Gillim when asked what it is about Brainerd that he likes so much. “Road America is not a good track for me. Road Atlanta, I tend to struggle a little bit. The kind of point-and-shoot tracks, I struggle with. For some reason, I feel like I’m good on the brakes but then I always seem to mess up the exit. So, this place doesn’t have much of that. Everything flows together really good. Turn one and two are fun. They’re two of my favorite corners in the world. It’s sweet because you just go in, roll out of it for a second, and then you’re back to pin. It’s a fun track. It’s a fun layout. For that reason, I go good here. I knew coming into this weekend it was kind of like going to Barber. I know I go really good at Barber. I know these guys are going to be gunning for it. These weekends, I’ve got to take what I can get and capitalize on the confidence that I’ve got coming in. When we get to Ridge and Laguna, I know those tracks, Laguna specifically, I go good there but I’m not great there. I don’t have a great track record there, so I’m trying to just capitalize at the tracks that I know are good for me and hopefully not have to bend it at the other tracks.”
BellissiMoto Twins Cup – Landers Unbeatable
Rocco Landers (97) beat Alessandro Di Mario (27) to win the BellissiMoto Twins Cup race at BIR on Saturday. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Along with Hayden Gillim, another rider who just can’t seem to get enough of Brainerd International Raceway just so happens to be his Mission King Of The Baggers teammate and protégé Rocco Landers, who races the RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki GSX-8R in the BellissiMoto Twins Cup Championship.
In Saturday’s race one, Landers started from the pole after going fastest in Friday’s first qualifying, and it was a record-setting lap for Landers, too. In the race, Landers got the holeshot and led all but one of the 11 laps to ultimately take the checkered flag by just under four seconds over Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering’s Alessandro Di Mario, with Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Rossi Moor finishing a very close third behind Di Mario.
Along the way, Landers ran the fastest lap of the race, which was also a new race lap record.
“Honestly, this result is probably going to be overshadowed by that Baggers Challenge race (in which he placed second a little earlier on Saturday),” Landers said. “That was one of the best races of my life even though it was only two laps. Considering where we started on this bike, we were P5 in race one. We were like P7 in one of the practices at Daytona. The thing was completely new to us. It was like a total street bike. But one thing we did have, was the direction to go. We’ve just been following the breadcrumbs, I should say. The thing has been getting better and better every round. Need to start doing more training on different bikes. Those first two laps are kind of hard because I’m adjusting myself from the Bagger to the Twin. It tends to lead to a couple mistakes, missing brake markers and that type of thing. But that was a good race for me. I just tried to get out there. I made a small mistake adjusting my clutch lever on the first lap. Rossi got up underneath me and Alessandro almost did. After that, I was just trying to see if I could lead the race, lay down some decent laps and do what I could. I didn’t really find my groove there until lap three or four, and then I started to feel solid. My whole team has just busted their butts completely. My mechanic Matt, my crew chief Steve, Motor Terry, my bagger mechanic Quentin, team manager Craig, and our fab guy, Josh. Every one of them is always busting their butts and making everything as good as we can go. We’re obviously heading in a decent direction, so I cannot wait until tomorrow.”
Junior Cup – Rain Leads To Chapin Win
The Drehers – Avery (left) and Ella (right) – became the first brother/sister combo to stand on an AMA road racing podium. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Rain was in the forecast on Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway, but it held off, save for a few raindrops here and there, until the closing laps of Junior Cup race one. At the time, Bad Boys Racing’s Avery Dreher had regained the lead and looked to be headed for victory. Due to the rain, a red flag was displayed, and the race was stopped. By rules, the results reverted to the lap prior, and that happened to be when BARTCON Racing’s Matthew Chapin had just taken the lead.
It’s ironic that Chapin’s team owner is an Irishman because Chapin’s short time in the lead was just enough to be named the winner of the race. A stroke of Irish luck if there ever was one. For Chapin, who has now won four races on the season, he is definitely lucky AND good. That’s a solid combination.
Chapin’s good fortune was offset by Avery Dreher’s misfortune. But it was not all bad for the defending Junior Cup Champion. He made history on Saturday at Brainerd when he and his sister Ella became the first brother and sister to finish on an AMA road racing podium. Clearly, it was a memory of a lifetime for the Dreher family.
“I really had no idea if they were going to red flag it or not,” Chapin said. “I wanted to lead the race the whole time, but Avery and Ella were ripping. It was overall a good race, and it was fun riding with them.”
More, from a press release issued by Rahal Ducati Moto:
BRAINERD RACE 1
SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 2024 | QUALIFYING 2 & RACE 1
With team owner, Graham Rahal, present for this weekend’s event, the trio of Rahal Ducati Moto riders showed the MotoAmerica series that the new team means business. With all three finishing in the top six, the riders earned 33 points collectively for their championship runs.
The weather conditions for the 16-lap race started questionable with the possibility of forthcoming rain during the session. While the rain held off, heavy winds blew across the track, impacting the handling and consistency of the bikes.
Tomorrow’s schedule consists of a warm up session in the morning, prior to Round 8 of Supersport competition. Coverage is available on MotoAmericaLivePlus.com.
PJ JACOBSEN
No. 15 XPEL DUCATI PANIGALE V2
STARTED: 5th
FINISHED: 2nd
CHAMPIONSHIP: 1st (151 pts)
NOTES: While passing a slow-paced rider, hit a bump and slid on his bike requiring service in the hot pit and limiting track time to significantly improve his qualifying time // Despite the small amount of track time to complete qualifying, Jacobsen improved his time to secure a fifth-place starting position // Remains in the championship lead – seven points over Mathew Scholtz // Recorded his seventh podium finish in the seven races this season
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “It’s not the result we wanted, but it was still a good day for championship points and for the Rahal Ducati Moto team overall. I knew it would be hard to get the run off the start with the other guys in Turn 1 to [Turn] 2. Corey [Alexander] had an impressive jump at the beginning of the race and was riding really well, but then I got stuck in position at the tail of the group and everyone was mixing up in front of me. We’re going to do our homework tonight to see where we can come up with some straight-line speed and we’re going to try and put up a battle on track with Scholtz tomorrow for Race 2.”
COREY ALEXANDER
No. 23 ROLLER DIE + FORMING DUCATI PANIGALE V2
STARTED: 4th
FINISHED: 4th
CHAMPIONSHIP: 8th (52 pts)
NOTES: Put on a stellar performance in his return to Supersport competition after an injury prevented him from competing in Rounds 5 and 6 // Recorded running as high as third in the 16-lap race // Despite falling three positions in the championship after sitting out the Road America races, jumped one spot to eighth in his return
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “I’m very happy with the results today. It’s always bittersweet to be that close to a podium finish, and of course, it would’ve been nice for the team and Graham [Rahal] to be there for both PJ [Jacobsen] and me on the podium, but there’s always tomorrow! We’ll take what we learned today during the race and use it to improve. Overall, considering where we were four weeks ago, missing the last round after my big crash, I couldn’t really be much happier. I rode well and I’m happy with that. Thanks to the team for their work on making the bike feel better for me. I’m really pleased with where we are at and I’m hoping to build on our progress tomorrow.”
KAYLA YAAKOV
No. 19 XPEL DUCATI PANIGALE V2
STARTED: 8th
FINISHED: 6th
CHAMPIONSHIP: 10th (45 pts) -tied
NOTES: Fought competitively with the lead group throughout the race // Made an impressive pass in Turn 2 over Stefano Mesa to claim the sixth position // Earned her fourth top 10 finish of the season
WHAT SHE’S SAYING: “Day two at Brainerd [International Raceway] was really positive. The whole weekend has been absolutely amazing. Finishing within the top 10 for every session so far has been really special for our Rahal Ducati Moto w/ XPEL team. We talk about always improving and climbing the ladder in this class, and I can really feel the effects of that. Today’s race was really good, I had a lot of fun. The overcast conditions and wind made the race pretty tricky, but I got a really good start and was able to stay in the battle of the front group for a few laps, which is huge for me. In the last few laps I was able to make a pass and get into P6 and ride it home. I’m really happy with the day and I’m excited to make tomorrow good as well.”
BEN SPIES
TEAM PRINCIPAL
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “We had a good race today. You always want more but second, fourth, and sixth are really good results for us. We’re just a little bit down on some straight line speed. PJ did as good as he could to collect championship points. Corey rode awesome coming back from the injury, and Kayla had her best dry weather result and her lap times looked super strong through the whole race. All-in-all it was a really good race for us. We always want more but will try to be better for tomorrow.”
Rocco Landers won MotoAmerica BellissiMoto Twins Cup Race One Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway, in Brainerd, Minnesota. Riding his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki GSX-8R on Dunlop control tires, Landers took the lead on the opening lap and held on to win the 11-lap race by 3.817 seconds.
Alessandro Di Mario and Rossi Moor battled for the runner-up spot all the way to the checkered flag. In the end, Di Mario got his Rodio Racing – Powered by Rodem Engineering Aprilia RS 660 across the finish line 0.036 second before Moor and his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-8R.
Di Mario’s teammate Gus Rodio finished fourth, and class rookie Avery Dreher got fifth on his TopPro Racing Aprilia.
Hayden Gillim continued his domination of the MotoAmerica Mission King Of The Baggers class at Brainerd International Raceway with a convincing victory in Saturday’s Mission Challenge race.
Riding his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Road Glide, Gillim won the two-lap dash-for-cash by 1.342 seconds, earning the $5,000 winner-take-all purse.
Gillim’s teammate Rocco Landers went from sixth on the grid to second place at the finish.
Troy Herfoss was running in second place on his S&S Indian Challenger until he ran wide in Turn 12 on the final lap. The reigning Australian Superbike Champion recovered in time to still get third place.
Hayden Gillim took pole position during MotoAmerica Mission King Of The Baggers Qualifying Two (Q2) Saturday at Brainerd International Raceway, in Brainerd, Minnesota.
Riding his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Road Glide on Dunlop control tires, Gillim turned a 1:34.717, which eclipsed the new All-Time Lap Record of 1:34.747 he set in Qualifying One (Q1) on Friday.
Troy Herfoss bounced back from two crashes on Friday to qualify second with a 1:34.883 on his S&S Indian Challenger.
Herfoss’s teammate Tyler O’Hara was third-fastest with a 1:35.013.
Harley-Davidson Factory Racing teammates Kyle Wyman (1:35.111) and James Rispoli (1:35.187) will line up on row two alongside Gillim’s teammate Rocco Landers (1:35.480).
Herrera just beats Carrasco across the line in an historic first WorldWCR race at Misano
Maria Herrera (6) beat Ana Carrasco (22) to win the first-ever WorldWCR race. Photo courtesy Dorna.
Race 1 Highlights:
Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Factory Team) wins the inaugural five-lap WorldWCR race at the Misano World Circuit, setting a blistering pace and crossing the line just 0.067 of a second ahead of fellow Spaniard Ana Carrasco (Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team)
Sara Sanchez (511 Terra&Vita Racing Team) came out on top in the exciting battle for third, closing half a second ahead of Roberta Ponziani (Yamaha Motoxracing WCR Team), fourth, and Beatriz Neila (Ampito / Pata Prometeon Yamaha), fifth
It was Spaniard Carrasco who set the fastest lap of the race, a 1’48.594 (lap four). This result means that she will start Sunday’s Race 2 from pole position
The race came to a premature end for Lena Kemmer (Bertl K. Racing Team), Iryna Nadieieva (MPS.RT) and Mallory Dobbs (Sekhmet Motorcycle Racing Team), all of whom crashed but sustained no serious injuries
It was a race of three parts, the original race red-flagged on lap six due to a serious incident for Mia Rusthen (Rusthen Racing) through Turn 16. Norwegian Rusthen has suffered a head injury with concussion and is currently receiving treatment at the Bufalini Trauma Centre in Cesena. The patient’s condition has been stabilised
A second ‘heat’ was also red-flagged after Jessica Howden (Team Trasimeno) crashed on lap one. The South African rider has been diagnosed with concussion and was transported by helicopter to the Bufalini Trauma Centre. The rider is conscious
Championship Standings:
Herrera’s maiden WorldWCR victory means that she takes an early championship lead with 25 points
Carrasco and Sanchez follow close behind, having banked 20 and 16 points respectively
Key Points:
Pole position: Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Factory Team) – 1’49.390
Race 1 winner: Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Factory Team)
Race fastest lap: Ana Carrasco (Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team) – 1’48.594
P1 | Maria Herrera | Klint Forward Factory Team
“I’m so happy, not only to have won the first ever WorldWCR race, but also because we have been able to achieve this result after so much hard work over the last month. I didn’t even ride the bike until yesterday but I really wanted to win, so I pushed hard in every session and was also able to set pole, which came as a nice surprise. I had a great battle with Ana in the race; it was tough, and I was on the limit, but I was strong on the brakes. I still need to understand the bike more in order to be faster, but I’m working well with the team and am really pleased with what we’ve done so far.”
P2 | Ana Carrasco | Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team
“I’m pretty happy with today’s result, especially after the red flags earlier in the day. A race made up of only five laps is always difficult to manage and, in the end, I wasn’t quite able to win, but it was very close. I’ll try to improve a little ahead of tomorrow and go for the win in Race 2. This is my first race since last October so Maria has definitely had more race experience than me this season, and perhaps the sprint format suited her better today. Our pace was almost identical though, so I think we’re in for a similar race tomorrow. I think there were some nerves among the riders today, with this being the very first race in a new championship, but that’s to be expected I guess; I was nervous too!”
P3 | Sara Sanchez | 511 Terra&Vita Racing Team
“Today was not easy, not least because we started the race three times. I’m very happy to have reached the podium, also because the level is very high, but I want to keep improving so that I can try to win tomorrow. I lost time off the line today and then only had five laps in which to make up the lost ground. It was great to be there battling with Neila and Ponziani, but I think with a longer race tomorrow I can be more competitive, as long as I make a better start than I did in Race 1.”
More, from a press release issued by
Highs and lows for Sekhmet Racing in first WorldWCR race(s)
P18 for Lissy Whitmore but DNF for Mallory Dobbs while fighting for top ten at Misano
Misano, 15 June 2024
The inaugural round of the World Women’s Circuit Racing Championship has brought mixed success for Sekhmet International Racing Team riders Lissy Whitmore and Mallory Dobbs at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.
The team’s British racer Whitmore was happy to come home just outside the points in P18 in her first world championship race, but with a crash for her American teammate Dobbs bringing to an end a charge through the pack on a chaotic opening day.
The 12-lap race was first set to take place on Saturday morning, but red flags came out half way through it after an incident involving Mia Rusthen. Initially delayed, the race was then postponed until the end of the day and shortened to five laps.
Red flagged again after a crash on the opening lap, when the race eventually got underway properly, both Dobbs and Whitmore were able to make strong starts. Rising to as high as 11th, Dobbs was making progress towards the top ten when she crashed out unhurt at turn 14.
Whitmore was able to make steady progress throughout the race, only just losing out in the battle for P17 in the final corners.
Thankfully both won’t have long to wait until they get to capitalise on Saturday’s experience though, with the series’ second race to set underway on Sunday morning at 1150 local time. The race will be televised free and in full on the series’ YouTube channel.
Maddi Patterson, Team Principal
Firstly, I’d like to send my best wishes to Mia. I hope she has a speedy recovery and to her family, friends and supporters, we are all rooting for her. Secondly, to the other competitors who have been hurt and injured in today’s racing, I wish you well and I was happy to see you back walking around the paddock at the conclusion of today’s racing.
It was a bit of a mixed bag today. For my riders and myself. I think there’s a lot to learn and there’s no shame in saying that. New track, lots of stop and starts, and a reality check. Don’t sweat the small stuff, is my observation and my advice.
Lissy went out and did what we wanted her to. She had great starts, and the first restart was looking so promising before it was red flagged. I know to the outsider looking in it might not look that way – but looking at the bigger picture, she is turning into a great young professional, and she showed today what I have said all along. The tools are there, and she’s doing it.
I was gutted for Mal because I know all she wanted to do was hunt down that top 10 position. The reality is she hasn’t had a good start to the weekend and I hope it improves. This is a new track for Mallory. A new country and a new way of working. I have no doubt she will find her feet and hone in on her craft. It’s there. I don’t ever want to hear her doubt herself again. She needs to find the faith.
Lissy Whitmore, #34
P18
I qualified and then I finished, so I’m really happy, because that was the target. The only way is up for me, and I am happy overall.
There’s more pace to come. I just need to not forget that this is my first time at this circuit as well as my second time ever riding an R7 as well. Before Cremona, I’d never touched one. It’s just little things I need to remember; I’m still learning, and we’ve had a good-ish start.
Too much went through my head on the restarts. We’ve had a really unfortunate day. All I can ask is that we not brush it under the carpet but learn from it and I just hope that everybody today who was involved in all of those crashes is okay, because it’s not nice to have to see and it’s not nice to have to experience.
I’ve had chats with James Toseland and Neil Hodgson, with Sam Lowes, and they’ve all said the same thing to me – just clear your head from today, you’ll automatically feel better tomorrow. We’re just going to see what happens!
James came over on the grid and he was helping me out. I was happy. I feel like I belong. I’d had a bit of imposter syndrome because it’s a big paddock and I’ve never been in something like this before, but I feel like I’m meant to be here now.
Mallory Dobbs, #14
DNF
If we start with the positives, it does feel like we’ve made a lot of steps in the right direction today.
We improved. The nice thing about the first restart is that we’d done our Long Lap Penalty and we’d moved up two grid spots from our original start. When we did the restart the second time, we got to gain two grid spots and we didn’t have a Long Lap Penalty anymore, so it was a better race for us. It put us in a better situation, which was exciting.
It was unfortunate for the riders who went down – we obviously want to make sure that everyone is okay, but we did good in the restart and worked our way up to 11th before we crashed. Really good improvements, and we did decrease our lap time by a little bit.
In the race we kind of lost the group that was ahead of us on the last lap, and I figured it would just be good to set some good laps to get a better grid position for tomorrow, to put us in a little bit of a better spot – just was doing my own thing running some laps and unfortunately took the front in Turn 14.
There’s a little bit of bump there, the tyres had gone through a numerous number of restarts, a number of laps. It was a chaotic day of three or four restarts. I think we started three times today, so it was definitely a lot of chaos. The tyres definitely didn’t wear too great, not that that is an excuse. We just went in there, no different than I really had before, although obviously the data will tell us otherwise, and tucked the front. We’re all good physically and we’ll try again tomorrow.
Now we’ll just forget about today and start back over tomorrow. It was a tough day in the office and it’s always hard not to dwell on this stuff, but we definitely just want to reset!
Tyler Scott topped MotoAmerica Supersport Qualifying Two (Q2) Saturday morning at Brainerd International Raceway, in Brainerd, Minnesota. Riding his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R750 on Dunlop control tires, Scott, age 18, lowered his best lap time from 1:34.099 in Qualifying One (Q1) to a 1:32.771 in Q2 and captured pole position.
Strack Racing Yamaha rider Matthew Scholtz was on top of the timing screen with a 1:32.990 late in Q2, before he was bumped to second by Scott.
Scott’s teammate Teagg Hobbs also made a big improvement from Q1 to Q2 and claimed the third and final spot on the front row of the grid.
Corey Alexander fractured his pelvis in a crash at Barber Motorsports Park in May, but he was able to come back this weekend and qualify fourth with a 1:33.451 on his Roller Die + Forming Ducati Panigale V2.
Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL rider PJ Jacobsen was fastest in Q1, but he crashed his Panigale V2 early in Q2 and ended up fifth with a 1:33.588.
Jake Lewis will start from sixth on the grid courtesy of the 1:33.836 he did on his Altus Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R750.
Row Three starters include Tytlers Cycles Racing Kawasaki’s Stefano Mesa (1:34.107), Jacobsen’s 17-year-old teammate Kayla Yaakov (1:34.449), and SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki rider Max Van (1:34.870).
David Anthony (1:34.980) rounded out the top 10 qualifiers on his Wrench Motorcycles Suzuki GSX-R750.
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Blindness Mode
Allows using the site with your screen-reader
This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Online Dictionary
Readable Experience
Content Scaling
Default
Text Magnifier
Readable Font
Dyslexia Friendly
Highlight Titles
Highlight Links
Font Sizing
Default
Line Height
Default
Letter Spacing
Default
Left Aligned
Center Aligned
Right Aligned
Visually Pleasing Experience
Dark Contrast
Light Contrast
Monochrome
High Contrast
High Saturation
Low Saturation
Adjust Text Colors
Adjust Title Colors
Adjust Background Colors
Easy Orientation
Mute Sounds
Hide Images
Hide Emoji
Reading Guide
Stop Animations
Reading Mask
Highlight Hover
Highlight Focus
Big Dark Cursor
Big Light Cursor
Cognitive Reading
Virtual Keyboard
Navigation Keys
Voice Navigation
Accessibility Statement
www.roadracingworld.com
April 5, 2026
Compliance status
We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience,
regardless of circumstance and ability.
To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level.
These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible
to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific
disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.
Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML,
adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.
If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email
Screen-reader and keyboard navigation
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with
screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive
a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements,
alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website.
In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels;
descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups),
and others. Additionally, the background process scans all the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag
for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology.
To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on
as soon as they enter the website.
These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside it.
Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Disability profiles supported in our website
Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments
Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over seven different coloring options.
Animations – person with epilepsy can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.
Browser and assistive technology compatibility
We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers).
Notes, comments, and feedback
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs. There may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to
