Plain and simple, Bobby Fong is starting to look a lot like a MotoAmerica Superbike Champion. On a sunny and hot day in central Ohio, Fong rode his Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing YZF-R1 to a fifth-straight victory and that victory, combined with Josh Herrin’s seventh-place finish, vaulted the Californian into the championship points lead.
The race was delayed after a red flag was thrown on the opening lap as oil had been dropped in the all-important turn six, the right-hander at the end of the backstraight. It’s important because it’s the place where many a pass is made. Not so after oil dry on the racing line was slippery when the race was restarted, forcing riders to either go inside or outside the oil dry.
The first to suffer from it was Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin. The championship points leader was demonstrative on the start line, waving his arms to try and get things stopped. The race went on, and Herrin almost crashed in the problem area on the opening lap, which led to more arm-waving as he lost several positions and fell back to the bottom third of the results. From there he would forge forward, ultimately finishing seventh to score nine points.
Turn six struck again on the final lap when Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier attempted to pass Fong and had to run off the track to avoid crashing. It took him a bit to navigate the gravel trap and by the time he’d rejoined, he’d dropped from a certain second place back to sixth.
Beaubier’s miscue slotted everyone back to Herrin up a spot with Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sean Dylan Kelly inheriting second place after fighting off the barrage of late-race attacks from Real Steel Honda’s JD Beach.
It was a magical day for Beach as he not only put his Stock 1000-spec Honda CBR1000RR-R SP on the podium, but in the process, he was the highest- finishing MotoAmerica Superbike Cup rider for the 13th time this season. Oh, and Beach also won the Stock 1000 race held earlier in the day to move into serious championship contention.
With Beaubier’s run-off, Fong crossed the finish line eight seconds ahead of Kelly with Beach, Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne, and Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim all crossing the finish line in close succession. Second to fifth were separated by just .805 of a second.
After his extended run through the gravel, a disappointed Beaubier rejoined in sixth place, some four seconds ahead of an angry Herrin.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante, FLO4LAW/SBU Racing’s Benjamin Smith and Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates rounded out the top 10.
With six races left to run, including race two at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course tomorrow, Fong now leads the title chase by 11 points over Herrin, 262-251. Beaubier is third, 26 points behind Fong and 15 behind Herrin.
Superbike Race 1
- Bobby Fong (Yamaha)
- Sean Dylan Kelly (Suzuki)
- JD Beach (Honda)
- Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
- Hayden Gillim (Honda)
- Cameron Beaubier (BMW)
- Josh Herrin (Ducati)
- Richie Escalante (Suzuki)
- Benjamin Smith (Yamaha)
- Ashton Yates (Honda)
JD Beach – Third Place
“Yeah, it will be nice if they just quit the weekend right now. No, it’s been amazing. I really can’t thank Hayden (Gillim) enough. He paved the way for this team. He’s worked really hard. He’s been riding great this year, and I feel like he should have been the one to get the first podium on a Honda in a long time. But if it wasn’t for him, I’d be probably watching this race at home. I was about done racing. To have my luck turn around like it has, it feels amazing. I don’t know what to say. I got on the podium. I feel like I’m riding like I did back in 2018. I feel great. When I stepped away from road racing in 2019, I wasn’t riding good. I didn’t want to end my career like that, and I came back last year and just couldn’t get going. This year, with this bike and this team, and my crew, I feel good. If I ended it tomorrow, I could sleep good tonight.”
Sean Dylan Kelly – Second Place
“I think it (turn six) became a don’t-pass spot instead of an overtaking spot. I tried to actually capitalize on it the first few laps. I put myself in fourth right away, then (Josh) Herrin made that mistake, and I found myself in third. I was really happy to be in that spot. I didn’t really believe that I had the pace for (Cameron) Beaubier and Bobby (Fong) in front of me, but I think I was picking up some pace, some time through turn six. Risking a little bit more probably than I should have. I actually was having a little bit better pace than I expected the first half of the race. Didn’t find myself that far away from these guys. I was really happy. I was obviously doing what I could. Halfway through the race, I started getting some issues, as I’m sure all of us were with some rear grip but mainly the front. I’ve been saving crashes all weekend long. Found myself really on the limit. Obviously, being in third, I had a little gap at the back behind me. I was like, let me just try holding this as long as I can. With some laps to go I looked behind me to see who was there. I saw it was JD (Beach). I didn’t really believe it, to be honest. Just kept on doing what I could. That last lap, seeing Beaubier on the gravel was kind of unexpected. I was really happy to be able to just defend. Didn’t really feel like the man the last few laps. I was just trying to defend and hold the position as much as I can. The fact that we finished on the podium, again back-to-back, is pretty unbelievable considering how long it took me to get on the podium this season. Super pumped. The whole team has been working super hard. I think that we obviously have a whole lot to work on but super pumped to be on the podium back-to-back.”
Bobby Fong – Winner
“No, I definitely didn’t think it was going to be like this. It’s a dream, honestly. It can be over tomorrow. The older I get… I try to live in the moment and try to enjoy it. Most of my life, it’s hard for me to enjoy things. I’ve got to either fight for my ride or do it again tomorrow. I’ve been slowly but surely trying to enjoy it more, being in the moment. I was always just like ‘go, go, go.’ So, you can be hero to zero before you know it, for sure. I thought Cameron (Beaubier) was going to… Well, he did actually take a few shots, but after the back straight if that oil dry wasn’t there I’m sure he would have made a lot more moves. I went over it maybe twice and tucked the front over it twice. I was like, ‘no way.’ It almost felt like there was still oil on the track, but everybody was in the same boat. I didn’t know how to go through it really because I couldn’t learn what everybody was doing. So, I was just guessing people were going around. I was just staying to the inside of it. It got a little line on the inside later on in the race, but MotoAmerica did their best. Everybody was in the same boat. I knew once the red flag came out in the beginning of the race before the start of the race, the tires were going to be greasy. It’s hot out there. I knew the heat was going to come into play for sure. It did. It was pretty slick out there. Not just because of the oil dry, but the heat and everything. But we managed pretty good. We’ll try to do it again tomorrow. The bike’s working good. I know there’s going to be a lot of guys closer tomorrow. Everybody always steps it up on Sunday for sure just from the knowledge of today’s race. So, we’re just going to try to keep working.”
More, from a news release issued by MotoAmerica:
After suffering mechanical DNFs while leading both Mission King Of The Baggers races at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca a month ago, Hayden Gillim went home and didn’t talk to anyone. He wasn’t a happy camper.
This weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Gillim seems hell-bent on making up for the Laguna Seca disappointment with pent-up domination. On Saturday, Gillim got started on his plan of revenge with victories in both the winner-take-all Mission King Of The Baggers Challenge, and in the first of two Mission King Of The Baggers Championship races.
It was Gillim’s first victory of the season in the class on his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Road Glide, and it was well-earned as it came with never-ending pressure from behind in the form of S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Troy Herfoss.
Gillim led every lap of the final, beating Herfoss to the finish line by just .173 of a second.
New father and runaway championship points leader Kyle Wyman was third on his Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing Road Glide, just .337 of a second ahead of his teammate James Rispoli. A few seconds behind the two factory Harleys came SDI Racing’s Cameron Petersen on his Indian Challenger.
Sixth place went to Herfoss’ teammate Loris Baz with the Frenchman some four seconds ahead of Gillim’s teammate Rocco Landers. S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Tyler O’Hara, Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s Travis Wyman, and Lyndall Brakes/M3’s Max Flinders rounded out the top 10.
“After Laguna, I didn’t talk to anybody at Vance & Hines,” Gillim said. “I didn’t talk to anybody on the team. I didn’t talk to anybody for two and a half weeks. It was a long, long weekend. The Vance & Hines guys put in a ton of work, and we actually went testing last Saturday. It was supposed to be a two-day test, to kind of do some durability testing on the transmission, because that’s what our problem was at Laguna. And we found a whole other problem. We blew up both bikes in the span of an hour. So, they had to go back to the shop. They were there Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. I think they loaded up the last load on Thursday morning to drive up here. They had to go back and refigure every motor that we had in the shop and the bikes. So, it’s been a long year. This is my first podium of the season. After last year, being pretty competitive at times, we just have struggled and we’re finally finding our footing again. This one I wasn’t going to give in very easy. I tried swapping up some lines on the back straight. I could hear him kind of gassing it a little bit sooner than I was coming out into the next left. So, I was thinking maybe he was rolling around on the outside a little bit better. It’s hard. Luckily, I had the Superbike race to feel all that out. So, I kind of knew what the lines were like. I was getting tired there at the end. He started closing up on me. I started getting tighter and tighter and tighter. My left arm was cramping going through the Keyhole and everything. I was gripping it so tight. ‘Don’t give this up, man.’ It was just a good day, good weekend. Keep this going tomorrow.”
Motovation Supersport – Jacobsen Rebounds
With Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz winning four of the past six Motovation Supersport races coming into the Mid-Ohio round, it was imperative that Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL’s PJ Jacobsen turn the tables. On Saturday, he did just that.
Jacobsen got the jump on the field from pole position, led into turn one, and was never headed with the New Yorker doing exactly what he needed to do to close the gap to Scholtz in the Motovation Supersport Championship. He also got a little help from Celtic/Economy Lube+Tire/Warhorse HSBK Ducati’s Cameron Petersen, with the South African finishing second, which pushed championship points leader Scholtz down to third.
So, after 18 laps of racing, Jacobsen went from seven points behind in the championship chase to two points ahead of Scholtz, 260-258. Blake Davis is third with 199 points.
The rider who gave Jacobsen the most to think about was Petersen, with the South African staying within striking distance for most of the race. In the closing laps, Scholtz made a charge, though, finishing just .109 of a second behind his countryman.
Scholtz’ teammate Davis won the battle for fourth over Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott by .013 of a second in a photo finish.
Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL’s Kayla Yaakov was a lonely sixth, some nine seconds clear of BPR Racing Yamaha’s Josh Hayes, who won the battle of veterans over Team Hammer’s Larry Pegram. MP13 Racing’s Aiden Sneed and Rahal Ducati Moto w/ Roller Die’s Corey Alexander rounded out the top 10.
“I’ve been getting seconds and thirds, fourths all year,” Jacobsen said. “I was getting hesitant there. I was about to call in (Ben) Spies to replace me for the remaining season because I couldn’t get a win. It’s really good to get a win, finally. The bike has been working well since we got here. I don’t know if it’s because the track has been repaved, so it’s helping us out with a bit more grip and stuff. We’ve been struggling with that all season. The bike felt really good. I felt very comfortable in the race. It was very hot out there, but I felt very consistent and comfortable all race. I feel like when Cam (Petersen) maybe pulled back the plus 1.4, 1.5, 1.2, I was able to push again and bring that back. I felt pretty confident all the way up until the end. At the end, I felt like I could have a bit of breathing room, even running the lap time I was running. So, I’m really happy with the bike. It’s been working really good. It’s good. To get a win is great for us.”
Stock 1000 – Beach Closes In
Real Steel Honda’s JD Beach won his third Stock 1000 race in a row on Saturday afternoon at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with the win moving him to within a championship point of OrangeCat Racing’s Andrew Lee.
Beach took off from the start and never looked back with the two OrangeCat Racing BMWs doing their best to keep up. Jayson Uribe did the best job of it, but he couldn’t match Beach.
Lee was doing damage control in third place, and he narrowly held off BPR Racing’s Bryce Kornbau at the finish line. If he’d slipped to fourth, the title lead would have gone to Beach.
As it stands now, Lee leads Beach, 138-137, with Uribe third on 114 points.
“Today in Stock 1000, it was a really good race,” Beach said. “I got off to a great start. My plan was just to try to go fast as I could the first few laps to see if I could get a gap on the rest of the field and once I kind of broke away a little bit, it was just head down lap after lap. I felt really good, and it feels good to get a win like that, but we still have to race to tomorrow, so we’re gonna see what we can do and hopefully we can back this one up. I have to thank my whole team. They’ve been working so hard and the bike’s working so good. It’s been a great day but that’s why we line up and go racing and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship – Tight At The Top
The Mission Super Hooligan National Championship will be decided in the season finale at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course tomorrow and it’s really anybody’s title to win after Saturday’s battle.
KWR Harley-Davidson’s James Rispoli raced his Pan America to victory for the third race in a row, putting him just six points behind Saddlemen Race Development’s Cory West, who struggled to an eighth-place finish that virtually erased his championship points lead.
West’s teammate Jake Lewis finished a tick over a second behind Rispoli, and his second-place finish moved him to just five points behind West.
The final podium spot fell to Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing’s Dominic Doyle, who was some two seconds behind Lewis and four seconds ahead of ARCH Racing’s Corey Alexander, the New Yorker riding the new bike to its best finish of its debut season.
KWR Harley-Davidson’s Travis Wyman rounded out the top five.
Saturday’s news conferences are below:
