Rahal Ducati Moto delivered an exciting performance in Race 1 of the MotoAmerica Supersport weekend at Road America, with PJ Jacobsen capturing another win in a tightly contested battle at the front of the field. 

After a challenging qualifying session for all three riders, the team rebounded with a strong race-pace. Jacobsen fought within the lead group throughout the 11-lap race, trading positions with multiple contenders before taking the checkered flag aboard his No. 15 XPEL Ducati Panigale V2.

Kayla Yaakov also put in a standout performance with a fourth-place finish, narrowly missing the podium after staying with the front group for the duration of the race. Her speed and consistency continue to build round by round.

Corey Alexander returned to the track after an injury at the previous round, and brought the No. 23 Roller Die + Forming Ducati home in 13th. After limited track time at Road Atlanta, Alexander’s finish marks a step forward in his continued return to form.

The team now turns its attention to Sunday’s Race 2, aiming to carry today’s momentum into another strong performance.

 

PJ JACOBSEN – No. 15 XPEL DUCATI PANIGALE V2

 “The race today was pretty tough, but we were in the right position to get the win. We need to make some changes tomorrow to be stronger, as I was having some problems. We’re going to come out swinging tomorrow. Thank you to the entire XPEL and the entire Rahal Ducati Moto team—I’m hopeful we can pull off another win tomorrow.”

 

It hasn’t taken Andrew Lee long to knock off the rust from not competing in MotoAmerica full time for about half a decade. The OrangeCat racing rider and two-time MotoAmerica Stock 1000 champion was at the top of his game May 30-June 1 as he followed up clinching his second pole position in as many rounds with two impressive wins in both Stock 1000 races at Road America.  

The Californian’s early season success – he’s amassed three triumphs in four races and hasn’t finished lower than second place – has allowed him to build a more than two dozen point gap in the championship standings with six races remaining this season. 

Lee’s teammate and 2024 MotoAmerica Stock 1000 runner-up Jayson Uribe had a positive start to the weekend. He ever-so-slightly missed out on pole position, set a lap record and scored a podium result in Saturday’s Race 1 before crashing out early in Sunday’s Race 2. 

Lee kicked off the round’s on-track action at the top of the time sheets. He was the fastest rider in Friday morning practice by a margin of 1.4 seconds. Uribe finished that session fourth-fastest. Later Friday, the first of two qualifying sessions took place in wet conditions. Uribe finished that session eighth-fastest and Lee 12th-fastest. 

Qualifying wrapped up Saturday morning with Lee edging out Uribe for pole position. Lee’s best lap time of 2:13.269 around Road America’s 4.050-mile circuit was a mere 0.081 seconds faster than Uribe’s best lap time. Lee’s pole also marked the second time he’s clinched the Stock 1000 pole position this year. 

It proved to be Lee’s race to lose in Saturday afternoon’s Race 1 as his stellar pace helped him capture his second win in three races. Lee got a very good start and grabbed the holeshot on the way to leading every lap of the 8-lap contest and winning by a margin of 1.942 seconds. Uribe challenged Lee for the lead at times but had another rider pass him late in the race for runner-up spot. He held off another front-running rider to finish third and claim his third podium finish of the season. Uribe also reset the Stock 1000 lap record at Road America on Lap 6 with a time of 2:12.945. 

Lee’s path to victory wasn’t as straightforward in Sunday’s Race 2, but the result was the same. Uribe led the first lap of the race, with Lee running in a close second place. Unfortunately, Uribe crashed at the start of Lap 2 and was unable to finish the contest. Uribe’s retirement allowed Lee to assume the race lead, and Lee’s fast and consistent pace led to him notching his second win of the weekend by a margin of 2.893 seconds. Lee also reset the Stock 1000 lap record at Road America on Lap 3 with a lap time of 2:12.730. 

Lee’s double-victory weekend at Road America – as well as his win and second place at the previous round at Road Atlanta – has given him a 30-point lead in the Stock 1000 points standings. Uribe isn’t far behind his teammate in fourth place – and just four points behind the current second-place rider. 

 

The OrangeCat Racing team will be back in action at the next MotoAmerica Stock 1000 round, which is scheduled for Aug. 1-3 when the series makes its return to Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va. 

Andrew Lee / No. 14 

“I’m really happy with how everything has been going inside the team. Everyone works so well together, and they are putting in so much effort to get this bike sorted and competitive. I’ve never been this comfortable on a bike before. The weekend was kind of picture perfect on my side of the canopy with qualifying on pole and doing the double. It’s unfortunate Jayson had his incident in Race 2, but I’m hoping he feels better for the VIR round.” 

Jayson Uribe / No. 36 

” Overall, it was a good weekend for the OrangeCat crew. Everyone put in the work to give both Andrew and I incredible motorcycles to set new lap records with and score podium finishes. I’ll be the first to admit this wasn’t my best race weekend. I wasn’t able to capitalize on the opportunity presented to me to its full potential. Finishing third in Race 1 after a race-long dogfight wasn’t in the game plan, and crashing out of the lead in Race 2 wasn’t the step forward I was expecting. I’m sorry to the team and our supporters, and I’m ready to be back at my best at VIR. A huge thanks goes out to the entire crew. They gave me an absolutely awesome motorcycle and continue to support me through adversity.” 

OrangeCat Racing’s promotional and technical partners for the 2025 MotoAmerica season include Motoworks Chicago, Ohlins USA, and alpha Racing. 

Jayson Uribe’s personal sponsors for the 2025 MotoAmerica season include Dainese, Arai Helmets, CT Racing, Code 3 Consultations, San Jose BMW, and BSP Racing.

Andrew Lee’s personal sponsors for the 2025 MotoAmerica season include CT Racing, KYT, Luxvoni, Aliv World Wide, KD.51CD, Coolbreeze Heating and Air, JP43 Training and Barrett Racing.   

To learn more about OrangeCat Racing, visit the team’s website at http://orangecatracing.com and follow the team on Instagram at @orangecatracing.  

 

Hayden Gillim and JD Beach had a successful weekend at Road America on their Honda CBR 1000RR-R SP Fireblades with podium finishes in the Stock 1000 class for JD and top 6 finishes for Hayden in the Superbike class. The opposite was true for Ian Fraley in the MotoAmerica Talent Cup class with a DNF in Race 1 and a DNS for Race 2 due to being ruled medically unfit.

 In the first Stock 1000 race on Saturday JD ran up front from the start with a strong performance that saw him battle for 2^nd place, the entire race coming out on top on the final lap. In Superbike later that day Hayden held his 6^th place starting position on the 2^ndrow of the grid and finished 6^th while JD unfortunately scored a DNF. In the Talent Cup race Ian was working on a top 10 finish when he suffered a crash on the last lap which resulted in a DNF.

On Sunday JD again battled at the front in Stock 1000, netting a 3^rd place finish and holds 3^rd place in the Stock 1000 championship standings. Hayden worked his way forward in Superbike Race 2 getting as high as 4^th place until a technical issue had him drop back to 6^th place at the end.and he is in 6^th place in the Superbike championship standings. JD passed Hayden on the last lap to finish 5^thand win the Superbike Cup race and now leads that championship with 125 points.

Real Steel Honda Racing is proudly supported by American Honda, HRC, Progressive Insurance, Pro Honda Oils. Southern Honda Powersports, Steel Commander Corp, Idemitsu, Comstock Energy LLC, Vesrah, K-Tech suspension, Orient Express, Dunlop, Akrapovic Exhaust Systems, CRC Body Work, Vortex, Evol Technology and REB Graphics.

 

Hayden Gillim – Rider #69: “I feel like we had a great weekend overall and made some big steps with the Superbike. We have been slowly making progress on the bike and getting some new parts for it. This weekend showed me that we are moving in the right direction with a good qualifying and two strong races. We had a small problem at the end of race 2 that kept us from a shot at a possible podium. I’m really excited to keep working and see what we’ve got at the Ridge.”

JD Beach – Rider #95: “I think Road America was another strong building block for the season for myself and the crew. Friday, we started out on pace and took advantage of a rain session Friday afternoon to build more confidence on the Fireblade in wet conditions. 

Since Atlanta the team has worked really hard to help me bridge the gap in the Stock 1000 class and that has really paid off. Both races this weekend I knew before the start I had a bike I could fight for the podium with. It was really enjoyable to be in race long battles for the podium positions but also refreshing for me to remind myself what I can do when I’m comfy and having fun. We were able to get a 2nd in Race 1 and a 3rd in Race 2 after a couple small mistakes on my part, trying too hard. 

With the added confidence from the Stock 1000 races I feel like that helped my performance in the Superbike class as well. Saturday, we had a 6th or 7th place ride going until a bike issue that made me pull off early. But Sunday we were right back in the mix. Trusting myself to really push and make some good passes the first few laps. With a little bit of luck, we were able to bring the Real Steel Honda home in 5th and winning the Superbike Cup class. 

Overall, I think Road America was a great weekend. A big thank you to Honda and the whole team for all the help and belief in me.”

Ian Fraley – Rider #10: ““The team made some big changes in the right direction this weekend, and it paid off – we secured our best qualifying result yet with P9. Unfortunately, a small mistake on the final lap of Race 1 set us back, and after being diagnosed with a mild concussion, I was ruled out of Race 2 on Sunday. Still, I’m incredibly excited about the path the team has me on — they’ve worked nonstop on and off the track to push us forward. Next up is Round 4 at my home track, Mid-Ohio, and I’m fully focused on getting back strong and putting on a great show for my hometown crowd.”

 

—– 

 

Road America, Wisconsin, was the venue for Round Three of MotoAmerica 2025, with FLO4LAW/SBU Racing building on their results in the opening events of the year. 
 
Fresh from his first top five Superbike finish at Road Atlanta Ben Smith qualified ninth on the grid for the weekend’s two twelve lap races at the ultra-fast four mile road course, despite a torrential downpour on Friday, which cost him track time, and a technical issue on Saturday morning that resulted in him missing a significant chunk of Q2. 
 
Unable to take to the grid for Race 1, the team worked hard to rectify the issue. With the bike fixed all eyes were on the second race of the weekend, Ben focused on achieving the best result possible despite his limited laps. 
 
Sunday’s race began with Ben launching immediately into the top four after the lights went out. Showing pace that would keep him top six contention the #78 battled hard throughout the twelve-lap encounter, narrowly missing out on a maiden podium after fighting back after losing a couple of positions with a couple of laps to go to fourth at the flag, a mere three seconds from P3!
 
A career best finish for both Ben and the FLO4LAW/SBU Racing Yamaha squad underlines the competitiveness that they have brought to the 2025 MotoAmerica Superbike season. The entire team motivated for more when the championship resumes at The Ridge Motorsport Park in Washington state in a few weeks’ time. 
 
The team was also on track in Stock1000 with Bobby Davies flying the flag once again. At the back of the grid following clutch issues in qualifying two, Davies finished twenty-seventh on Saturday before crossing the line nineteenth on Sunday. Despite missing points Bobby moves on to the next round of the series at Laguna Seca confident after posting a personal best lap at Road America. 

 

 
Benjamin Smith: “It was an up and down weekend for sure. Practice one on Friday was pretty promising. We had some good data to work off and we got some solid laps in. The weather rolled in for Q1 and it wasn’t worth us going out due to the track conditions. It was dry for Q2 on Saturday morning and we had a solid plan. I had an issue which took us out of session, but we still managed to qualify on the third row despite not being able to put in our fastest laps. The guys worked so hard, but it was one of those things and it wasn’t meant to be for race one. We made the decision to regroup for Sunday, which is exactly what we did. We had a solid warm up and I felt good about the pace and the improvements we were going to make going into race two. I made a great start and went from ninth to fourth. I settled into the race and was sitting fifth and I was happy with where we were. I got caught up with a lapper in the middle of the race and had to run off track at turn five. I put my head down and gave it my all for the last three laps of the race. I clawed my way back to P4. The results are there, and we have made some big jumps all things considered, especially in the last couple of rounds and I am super positive heading to the west coast. I love The Ridge, and I am pumped to hit the track there.”
 

 

Bobby Davies: “Road America was an interesting round. We started the weekend not having our usual trailer which put us on the back foot. We ran some decent times on Friday morning, and I was able to learn the track again. Q1 it rained and due to the fact, our trailer was still in North Carolina we didn’t have another set of rims for wet tyres and so we decided not to risk going out on slicks. We knew that the rest of the weekend would be dry. We instantly had a mechanical in Q2 and I didn’t get to turn a single lap. That led me to have to start thirty fifth on the grid. I got a five second penalty for a jump start but worked my way up to about eighteenth before I ran off before the Carousel and I ended up P23. Warm up on Sunday went well and we tried a lot of new things. The bike felt ten times better. We made some more changes for race two and finished nineteenth overall after posting my fastest time ever at Road America and having to come from the back of the grid once again.”
 
Freddy Carswell – Team Principal: “We started off the Road America weekend with a bang, literally, when our transporter had an axle failure a few hours away from our workshop. As a result, we had to carefully travel back, fully unload, and selectively load what we could fit into a much smaller trailer and leave a full day behind schedule. After doing so, we managed to get to the track in the early morning hours on Friday and immediately got to work, adjusting our schedule as best we could. Performance of our superbike felt really strong right away, but we had an issue in Q2 that unfortunately led to our missing Race One. The team worked diligently to resolve the issue and despite the frustrating Saturday, we felt we had a strong package for Sunday. Race Two proved just that, with Ben narrowly missing out on a podium, even after having to avoid lap traffic and running off track whilst taking evasive action to avoid hitting that rider. On the Stock1000 side of our program, Bobby continues to improve and impress with his ability to adapt and find time. We had a tremendous number of challenges, a downsized workspace, much less gear and a full day of setup lost at the track, but the team persevered and we secured a great result to close out the weekend on our Yamaha superbike. Onto The Ridge!”