KurveyGirl.com brings you the results of this weekend’s events.

At our online motorcycle parts store, you’ll find a specialized selection of quarter turn “Dzus” fasteners, titanium hardware, premium tire valve stems, Vesrah racing brake pads, Brembo parts and accessories, and other unique hardware specifically designed for race and trackday motorcycles.

Two-time and defending Champion Jake Gagne rode his Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha to victory in MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Race Two Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park, in Birmingham, Alabama. Gagne led from start to finish and won the 20-lap race by 2.935 seconds. It was his third straight win.

Mathew Scholtz and Cameron Beaubier raced for second place most of the way, and Westby Racing Yamaha’s Scholtz was able to hold off Beaubier and his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW by 0.161 second at the finish line.

Richie Escalante finished fourth, 5.7 seconds behind Beaubier, on his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000R.

Beaubier’s teammate PJ Jacobsen passed Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Josh Herrin with seven laps to go to secure fifth place.

More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:

Gagne Perfect With Doubleheader Sweep Of Medallia Superbike Races At Barber

Two Races, Two Wins For Jake Gagne In Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, AL (May 21, 2023) – Other than surviving one of the scariest moments of his racing career midway through the Medallia Superbike race at Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday, Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne had the perfect weekend in Alabama. The two-time defending Medallia Superbike Champion started from pole position and led every lap en route to a clean sweep of the two races.

Sunday’s victory was Gagne’s third in a row, and it increased his lead in the championship to 24 points over Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier, 95-71. The win was also the 32nd AMA Superbike victory for Gagne and it moved him into a tie for fourth overall with Miguel Duhamel and Toni Elias on the all-time AMA Superbike win list.

Gagne’s only scare was when he lost control of his Yamaha YZF-R1, ran on to the grass and dirt on the inside of turn three, somehow saved it and carried on to win the 20-lap race by 2.9 seconds.

“It could have been bad. I got lucky,” Gagne said of his near crash after the race.

Other than that, Gagne’s 32nd win was like the other 31. Get a great start and don’t let anyone else get near you, much less past you.

Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz was second on his Yamaha YZF-R1 with the South African getting the better of Beaubier after a near race-long battle for the position. Their race came down to a last-lap brawl with the pair crossing the finish line just .161 of a second apart and almost hitting as Scholtz unknowingly swerved into Beaubier’s path.

Beaubier, who was fourth on Saturday with the harder-compound Dunlop R5s, switched to the softer R3 Dunlop for race two on Sunday and it paid dividends as he was a fighting third.

Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante had his best Superbike weekend to date, and he ended it in style with an impressive fourth-place finish on Sunday. Escalante was 5.7 seconds behind Beaubier and some six seconds clear of fifth-placed PJ Jacobsen with the New Yorker getting the better of Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin, who struggled with tire-wear woes.

With Herrin sixth, seventh went to Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Corey Alexander, who was less than a second ahead of Aftercare Scheibe Racing’s Ashton Yates.

Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Toni Elias was ninth with Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim rounding out the top 10.

The most notable of the non-finishers was Gagne’s teammate Cameron Petersen with the South African crashing out of second on the opening lap while trying to keep pace with Gagne.

Superbike Race 2

1. Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
2. Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)
3. Cameron Beaubier (BMW)
4. Richie Escalante (Suzuki)
5. PJ Jacobsen (BMW)
6. Josh Herrin (Ducati)
7. Corey Alexander (BMW)
8. Ashton Yates (BMW)
9. Toni Elias (Suzuki)
10. Hayden Gillim (Suzuki)

Superbike Quotes
 
Jake Gagne – Winner

“I got off to another good start. There was some chaos on the grid. I pulled up to the grid last and I got off to a sweet start, luckily. I heard Cam (Petersen) went down in five. I was surprised on my gap. Even on the first lap I think I had a half second on my board, or something. So, I think that kind of gave me that little bit of a separation in the beginning. Put my head down. I was surprised to see 22.4 (a 1:22.4 lap), honestly. Really surprised. So, those first couple laps gave me a good break. We made some improvements on the bike. It was a little easier for me to ride. It was turning a little better than it was yesterday. But I think halfway through out of turn two, I had a moment that I haven’t had in years. Totally sideways, almost highsided. Ran off the inside grass, up over the curb, into the grass up over turn three. It was gnarly. I don’t even know. I think I only lost like a second somehow. I was expecting to lose a lot more than that. So, I got really lucky that I even kept it. After that, I’m like, I got to bring this thing home. I know these guys could – I had enough of a gap, they could reel me in a bit. I just needed to bring it home. Good weekend. This is obviously a track that really, really suits the Yamaha. So, I wanted to come in here and take advantage of that. Next up, Road America. I think all these boys are going to be in the hunt. It’s not going to be easy to get a win there, but we’ll just keep doing our job. Again, hats off to the team. I’m glad we got two dry races in here, because the weather was looking kind of gnarly. Good weekend.”

Mathew Scholtz – Second Place

“I think I pulled a little bit of a gap and Cameron (Beaubier) closed me down. I kind of knew from I think maybe lap six or seven that Cam had a couple tenths on me. So, I didn’t really try to push as hard as I could on the limits and use too much tire. Once he passed me, I just made sure I made a couple good laps down that he didn’t pull a gap. There were a couple sectors on the track that he was definitely quicker, a couple sectors I was a little bit faster. On the final lap, I knew Charlotte’s Web was one of the main points that you could pass someone, so I went in there really, really deep. Then ruined the drive coming out. Cameron got up next to me going into corner seven. I brake-passed him there and it was a pretty hard pass. So, I kind of thought that I had a couple bike lengths and going into the final corner I tried to focus on driving out hard. Pushed the front and I just kind of had to close the line a little bit, because I know Cameron was obviously right there and driving off the corner well. Obviously, I don’t mean to try to cut somebody off, but I’m just happy to be sitting up here in second place. Obviously watching Cam ride Moto2 for the last two years, it feels awesome to be up here battling with him. So, well done to Jake (Gagne). He spanked us one more time. Hopefully ,in two weeks’ time we can give him something.”

Cameron Beaubier – Third Place

“This morning I was super happy with how I was riding. I was super happy with the step we made this morning. We made a couple tweaks to the bike overnight and threw the soft tire in. I’ve been struggling pretty much ever since I got on this bike to make a good time on the soft tire. I think part of it is I’m just not trusting the TC, I’m not trusting the bike. I felt just really good first from as soon as I rode out of pit lane. I was just trusting the thing. I was really riding the bike. I felt like I made a good step this morning on it. So, we just decided to race on the R3 soft rear, and it was a lot better than yesterday. I had really good grip there at the beginning. I just got stuck behind Josh (Herrin). He was really good on the brakes. Obviously, the Ducati has some speed on the straight. So, that was a little tough, but I put my head down after I was able to get by him and was able to reel in Matty (Scholtz). Matty had a really good pace going, and so did I at the beginning. I saw low 23s for a while on my dash. I was able to pass Matty and just kept my head down. Then I started running into tire problems. Even my front was pushing around. The rear was coming around here and there. Then I just kind of lost my roll speed around the track. Ended up almost losing it down into five, into Charlotte’s Web. Matty got by. I just tried to do everything I could to stick on Matty’s wheel because he had a really good pace going. He was high 23s, low 24s. I tried to do something with him on the last lap. Like I said, I was struggling just to hang there. I came into the last lap. I was going to try to line him up going into Charlotte’s Web. I wasn’t close enough. Then he pushed the front in the last corner, and I snuck up the inside of him. I thought I was going to beat him to the line, but he got me with a sneaky little swerve. I don’t think he realized I was as close as I was. Hats off to him. He was riding so good. Obviously, Jake (Gagne) rode incredible all weekend. It’s going to be tough to close the gap to that guy, but just happy to get out of here with a podium and move on with the season.”

More, from a press release issued by Westby Racing:

Mathew Scholtz Is Runner-Up In MotoAmerica Superbike Race Two At Barber Motorsports Park

Birmingham, AL – May 21, 2023 – On Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park, Mathew Scholtz, rider of the #11 Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike, showed once again, that he is a world-class rider. He finished second in the weekend’s race after a nearly race-long battle with five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion and former Moto2 World Championship contender Cameron Beaubier.

Taking his grid position on the front row, Mathew got off to a much better start than in Saturday’s race, and that enabled him to set and maintain a good pace, which kept him closer to the front.

He was pursued by Beaubier in third, who did manage to overtake Mathew for second place as the laps wound down. Undaunted by the move, however, Mathew put his head down and retook the position. Beaubier made one more attempt to overtake Mathew on the final run to the checkered flag, but a defensive move by Mathew to break Beaubier’s draft thwarted his effort and ensured Mathew’s runner-up finish while fellow Yamaha rider Jake Gagne took the win.

“I think I pulled a little bit of a gap and Cameron (Beaubier) closed me down,” Mathew said. “I kind of knew from, I think, maybe lap six or seven, that Cam had a couple tenths on me. So, I didn’t really try to push as hard as I could on the limits and use too much tire. Once he passed me, I just made sure I made a couple good laps and that he didn’t pull a gap. There were a couple of sectors on the track where he was definitely quicker, and a couple sectors where I was a little bit faster. On the final lap, I knew ‘Charlotte’s Web’ was one of the main points that you could pass someone, so I went in there really, really deep. Then, I ruined the drive coming out. Cameron got up next to me going into corner seven. I brake-passed him there, and it was a pretty hard pass. So, I kind of thought that I had a couple bike lengths on him.

“Going into the final corner, I tried to focus on driving out hard. I pushed the front, and I just kind of had to close the line a little bit, because I knew Cameron was right there and driving off the corner well. Obviously, I don’t mean to try to cut somebody off, but I’m just happy to be sitting up here in second place. After watching Cam ride in Moto2 for the past two years, it feels awesome to be up here battling with him. Well-done to Jake. He spanked us one more time. Hopefully, in two weeks’ time, we can give him something.”

The Westby Racing team will be back in action on June 3 through 5 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, for round three of the 2023 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship.

MotoAmerica Superbike Standings

1. Jake Gagne – Yamaha – 95

2. Cameron Beaubier – BMW – 71

3. Mathew Scholtz – Yamaha – 59

4. Cameron Petersen – Yamaha – 53

5. Josh Herrin – Ducati – 49

For more updates about Westby Racing, including news, photos, and videos, visit http://www.WestbyRacing.com

Also, follow “Westby Racing” on your favorite social media sites.

More, from a press release issued by Ducati:

Forés Wins MotoAmerica Supersport “Extended” Race as Herrin Battles on in Alabama

Sunnyvale, Calif., May 21, 2023 — The second round of the 2023 MotoAmerica Superbike and Supersport Championship at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama saw the two Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC protagonists fighting at the front of their respective fields. However, Xavi Forés was particularly impressive in the first-ever MotoAmerica Supersport “Extended” race.

The Spanish ace made it look easy on the #12 Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC Panigale V2, dealing with multiple red flags better than the chasing pack and leading into the mandatory pit stop.

Forés emerged at half race distance in the lead ahead of Kawasaki’s Stefano Mesa, a position he would not relinquish as he took the third straight checkered flag of his MotoAmerica Supersport campaign. Forés, thanks to this “Extended” race being a double-points event, now holds a thoroughly commanding 27-point lead in the championship over Mesa with Yamaha’s Josh Hayes 46 points in arrears in third.

Herrin’s weekend in the Heart of Dixie state saw the 2021 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion take a pair of sixth place finishes aboard the factory Ducati Panigale V4 R. Citing continual tire issues that plagued the majority of the Superbike grid, Herrin showed his mettle and refused to give in, his 20-point haul for the weekend cementing him in fifth place so far in the championship on 49 points.

2023 MotoAmerica Superbike Standings After Round Two

P1 – Jake Gagne (Yamaha) 95

P2 – Cameron Beaubier (BMW) 71

P3 – Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) 59

P4 – Cameron Petersen (Yamaha) 53

P5 – Josh Herrin (Ducati) 49

2022 MotoAmerica Supersport Standings After Round Two

P1 – Xavi Forés (Ducati) 100

P2 – Stefano Mesa (Kawasaki) 73

P3 – Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 54

P4 – Tyler Scott (Suzuki) 53

P5 – Michael Gilbert (Suzuki) 48

Xavi Forés (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC– #12)
“It was a really tricky race, but a good one for us!” Forés said. “There were a couple of red flags but we managed the pit stops well, as well as choosing the tires correctly. In the end, we used our experience to win the race. Now we have a 27-point lead in the championship and we’re looking forward to Road America which looks like it’ll be a great track for the Ducati Panigale V2.”

Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC– #2)
“This weekend was tough,” Herrin said after race two. “We knew we might struggle here but we battled the tires more than anything. Everyone had issues with the tires but we just couldn’t find the right set-up to make the tires work as they should. It was frustrating, for sure, but we kept it on two wheels and took a pair of sixth places, got some valuable points. We’ll take the positives and move on to Road America.”

Round Three of the 2023 MotoAmerica Superbike and Supersport Championship will take place at the iconic Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, over the June 2-4 weekend.

KurveyGirl.com brings you the results of this weekend’s events.

At our online motorcycle parts store, you’ll find a specialized selection of quarter turn “Dzus” fasteners, titanium hardware, premium tire valve stems, Vesrah racing brake pads, Brembo parts and accessories, and other unique hardware specifically designed for race and trackday motorcycles.

Belgian rider Levi Badie broke through to take his maiden victory in MotoAmerica Junior Cup Race Two Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park, in Birmingham, Alabama.

Hayden Bicknese led out of the last corner, but Badie was able to get a better drive with his Badie Racing Kawasaki Ninja 400 and beat Bicknese to the checkered flag in a photo finish.

Bicknese was not happy to finish second on his Bicknese Racing Kawasaki Ninja 400.

Championship point leader Avery Dreher’s three-race win streak ended with him taking third on his Bad Boys Racing Kawasaki.

More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:

Support Class Title Chases Tighten Up At Barber Motorsports Park

Just Two Points Separate Three Riders In REV’IT! Twins Cup

BIRMINGHAM, AL (May 21, 2023) – You won’t find a MotoAmerica Championship more closely fought than the one for the REV’IT! Twins Cup title after Sunday’s eventful race at Barber Motorsports Park.

How’s this for close? Defending REV’IT! Twins Cup Champion Blake Davis leads Gus Rodio and Hayden Schultz by just two points after three rounds and six races. And despite not taking part in the two races at Daytona and DNFing the first race at Road Atlanta, Rocco Landers is lurking in fourth just 12 points behind.

Three straight wins will do that for you.

Landers won both races in Alabama and those two wins, combined with two non-finishes by former runaway championship leader Gus Rodio, have flipped the championship upside down.

REV’IT! Twins Cup race two kicked off the feature events on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park, and Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering Aprilia rider Landers completed a perfect weekend where he earned the pole, won race one and was also victorious in race two. Landers’ teammate Rodio didn’t fare as well, unfortunately. He had the points lead coming into the weekend, but a crash in each of the two races moved him down to second in the standings where he is tied with Schultz.

Davis finished second in Sunday’s race aboard his N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha and took over first place in the standings by two points over Rodio. The WagBar MP13 Racing’s Kayla Yaakov got her second podium finish in as many days with a third-place finish on Sunday to go with her second-place finish on Saturday. Yaakov missed the Daytona and Road Atlanta rounds of the REV’IT! Twins Cup Championship due to injury, but she came back strong at Barber Motorsports Park in her debut weekend in the class.

“Somehow, I’m like 12 points back now, Landers said. “It’s wild. We missed the first round and then we had a DNF in Atlanta, which was infuriating. I couldn’t give it up to my whole Robem Engineering Rodio Racing team enough, my mechanic Chad works so hard to make the bike perfect for me. Matt Spicer is helping me out so much, Robem. The whole Rodio family. Such a bummer to see that happen to Gus (Rodio). Always nice to get a team one-two, and for Aprilia, as well. Maybe I could talk them into letting me finish the season off for him, because we’re getting kind of close in the championship. It would be nice. But it was a good race, though. I enjoyed it.”

Junior Cup – Badie’s First

In the Junior Cup Championship, Sunday’s race one saw a Belgian rider take the checkered flag for the first time in MotoAmerica history. Badie Racing’s Levi Badie came from behind during the race to beat out Bicknese Racing’s Hayden Bicknese by only three milliseconds. Bad Boys Racing’s Avery Dreher, who won Saturday’s race one, had his winning streak snapped at three victories when he finished third on Sunday.

“I didn’t think I was going to win,” Badie said. “But I saw him (Bicknese) struggling in the last corner. I saw him held in the limiter, or something. So, I was like, ‘Okay, now is the chance. Go full tucked in and just go for it. If it’s second, it’s second.’ I was happy for both of the places. I didn’t think, but I’m first so I’m happy.”

Stock 1000 – Gillim’s Double

Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim had a horrible opening round to the Steel Commander Stock 1000 Championship at Road Atlanta, but he turned that into a distant memory with his second victory of the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday.

Gillim’s efforts were rewarded as he gained 14 points on championship leader Ezra Beaubier, with the Orange Cat Racing-backed Californian finishing third on Sunday behind Gillim and his teammate Kaleb De Keyrel.

Beaubier now leads Gillim and De Keyrel, who are tied for second, by 26 points, 86-60, with Taylor Knapp Racing’s Taylor Knapp (fourth today) fourth with 50 points and Travis Wyman Racing’s Travis Wyman (DNF today) fifth with 46 points.

“I tried. Ezra (Beaubier) didn’t make that happen very easy. It was good. He got a good start. I was hoping he would be kind of a little easy in turn one again today, and he drove it off in there. It was a good race. It was fun those first couple laps. There were a couple spots I knew where if I could get a little bit of a gap, I didn’t think he could get up next to me and try any out-braking maneuvers. I just put my head down and tried to go. I knew I had really good pace and I knew I could kind of hold it pretty easy. I just pushed and pushed and went and started opening up the gap a little bit. This was a good weekend. I needed this weekend. Atlanta was a pretty big shock to my confidence and everything. I didn’t know if it was me or the bikes. I didn’t know what was going on. So being able to come out here and do this, I knew this track was going to be good for us. It was a great weekend. I’m happy to get up here twice for the team, for myself, and bring home the big trophy.”

KurveyGirl.com brings you the results of this weekend’s events.

At our online motorcycle parts store, you’ll find a specialized selection of quarter turn “Dzus” fasteners, titanium hardware, premium tire valve stems, Vesrah racing brake pads, Brembo parts and accessories, and other unique hardware specifically designed for race and trackday motorcycles.

Rocco Landers rode his Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering Aprilia RS 660 to another victory in MotoAmerica REV’IT! Twins Cup Race Two on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park. Not only was it Landers’ second win of the weekend, it was his third straight win on the season.

Defending Champion Blake Davis came from behind to score second place on his N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha YZF-R7. Davis passed The Wagbar MP13 Racing Yamaha’s Kayla Yaakov on lap seven, but Yaakov challenged Davis to end before having to settle for a very close third.

The race for the lead also involved Landers’ teammate Gus Rodio and Team Iso Yamaha’s Dominic Doyle, but Doyle made contact with Rodio during a pass attempt late in the race and both crashed. Both riders were seen walking away from the incident.

KurveyGirl.com brings you the results of this weekend’s events.

At our online motorcycle parts store, you’ll find a specialized selection of quarter turn “Dzus” fasteners, titanium hardware, premium tire valve stems, Vesrah racing brake pads, Brembo parts and accessories, and other unique hardware specifically designed for race and trackday motorcycles.

Hayden Gillim completed a sweep of the weekend by winning MotoAmerica Steel Commander Race Two Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park, in Birmingham, Alabama.

Unlike in Race One, when he led from the start lights to the checkered flag, Gillim had to fend off Ezra Beaubier for two laps before he could break free. Once in front, Gillim pulled away on his Disrupt Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000R to win the 14-lap race by over five seconds.

Kaleb De Keyrel passed his Orange Cat Racing BMW teammate Beaubier on the final lap to steal the runner-up spot, while Beaubier had to settle for third and a podium-perfect start to his 2023 season.

KurveyGirl.com brings you the results of this weekend’s events.

At our online motorcycle parts store, you’ll find a specialized selection of quarter turn “Dzus” fasteners, titanium hardware, premium tire valve stems, Vesrah racing brake pads, Brembo parts and accessories, and other unique hardware specifically designed for race and trackday motorcycles.

MotoAmerica Mission Mini Cup by Motul race results from the Proving Ground at Barber Motorsports Park, in Birmingham, Alabama.

There are two PDFs below. The first contains the Race One results for each of the five Mini Cup classes, and the second contains the Race Two results for each of the five Mini Cup classes. Use the scroll and zoom tools in the PDF viewer to better see all of the results.

KurveyGirl.com brings you the results of this weekend’s events.

At our online motorcycle parts store, you’ll find a specialized selection of quarter turn “Dzus” fasteners, titanium hardware, premium tire valve stems, Vesrah racing brake pads, Brembo parts and accessories, and other unique hardware specifically designed for race and trackday motorcycles.

Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Xavi Fores won the MotoAmerica “extended” Supersport race Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park, in Birmingham, Alabama. The World Endurance veteran won the double-points race by 9.815 seconds on his Panigale V2.

Tytlers Cycle Racing Kawasaki’s Stefano Mesa was the runner-up, and Anthony Mazziotto finished alone in third on his North East Cycle Outlet Racing Yamaha YZF-R6.

The race was originally scheduled to run 37 laps with one mandatory pit stop taking no less than 55 seconds total time on pit lane. Two red flags, however, broke the race into a rain-affected six-lap opening segment and a dry 22-lap final stint that included all of the riders’ pit stops.

More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:

Fores Wins First-Ever MotoAmerica “Extended” Supersport Race

Gillim, Dreyer And Landers Join Spaniard In Winning At Barber Motorsports Park

BIRMINGHAM, AL (May 20, 2023) – Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Xavi Fores won his third Supersport race in succession on Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park and it was a good one to win as the first-ever MotoAmerica “Extended” Supersport r acepaid double points. For many, however, it probably felt like two races as changing weather conditions prolonged the proceedings despite the race ultimately being shortened from 37 to 28 laps.

Fores completed the 28 laps in 44 minutes, 43.653 seconds to beat Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Stefano Mesa by 9.8 seconds with the pair battling until the mandatory pit stop left Mesa at a disadvantage that he couldn’t recover from.

Third place went to North East Cycle Outlet Racing’s Anthony Mazziotto with the New Jerseyan keeping his nose clean to earn his second career podium in the Supersport class.

Michael Gilbert Racing’s Michael Gilbert was fourth, some eight seconds behind Mazziotto, with Squid Hunter Racing’s Josh Hayes fifth after starting the final portion of the race on rain tires – a mistake that forced him to pit quickly after the restart to change to slicks.

“It was more stressful inside the pits trying to understand which tires to use, which tires to put on the bike, after the couple of red flags. After the first red flag, I didn’t know it was a huge crash and they red-flagged the race. Because I was pulling meters away. I see some drops coming initially, but I was still quite on my pace. I was pulling me and Josh (Hayes) pulling meters away. When I saw the red flag, I was a bit disappointed because I was waiting, waiting, waiting to come in when the proper rain was coming to put the rain tires. But, anyway, we came out again with the rains and was okay. I was still leading and fighting with Josh (Hayes) for one and a half laps. Then the red flag came again. I thought that it’s going to be challenging. So, I stayed inside the pits until the very last minute before to rejoin the grid. At the very last minute, we decided to put the slicks because the sun was coming out and I had some experience on endurance that you can run the slick tires even if it’s slightly wet. So, when the race restarted, I saw Stefano (Mesa) was with me all the time. I was trying to manage a little bit the tires. I put a medium compound in the rear, and it was not feeling so good. But I was so convinced on our pit stop, we did a good job there in the garage. Then I put the soft tire and I was trying to stay on the 27s (1:27 lap times). That was pretty much our race. It was a little bit crazy because two red flags in less than 20 minutes is not usual. When it’s raining coming, everything is quite challenging, but we did well. We got 50 points back home. So, I put my experience from the world endurance in this race and I think it was worth it. Thanks to all the team. They did a massive job inside the garage on the pit change. And all the sponsors. KYT, Alpinestars, Parts Unlimited, everyone who has been involved. They have supported me quite a lot. It has not been easy to arrive here, learn the tracks, being fast, try to learn the races. These guys are fast. They have a lot of experience here. I try to learn as much as I can in a short time.”

REV’IT! Twins Cup – Landers Takes His Second

The changeable weather conditions on Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park had an effect on some of the day’s races, and REV’IT! Twins Cup race one was one of those. The first feature race of the day, the Twins Cup battle was red-flagged and restarted because of a quick shower that unfortunately led to a couple of crashes.

Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering’s Rocco Landers had his Aprilia in the lead when raindrops fell. Landers signaled that it was raining, and he dropped back in the pack until the race was stopped. On the restart, Landers made his way back to the front to notch his second race win in a row. Landers bested The WagBar MP13 Racing Yamaha’s Kayla Yaakov, the 15-year-old finishing as runner-up in her REV’IT! Twins Cup debut. Rounding out the podium was Team Iso Yamaha’s Dominic Doyle.

“That’s how you want races to go,” Landers said. “The second half, for sure. The first half was a little bit gnarly. But Kayla (Yaakov) is riding amazing. I did not expect this. I don’t think anyone on the grid expected her to come back this strong. So many good races with Dom (Doyle). So many good races. Been on the podium with him so many times. It’s an incredible feeling to share the podium with these two people. It’s awesome.”

Landers’s victory was the 11th REV’IT! Twins class win, which moved him to the top on the all-time win list for the class.

Steel Commander Stock 1000 – Hayden Gillim Rebounds

Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim had a “terrible” opening round to his Steel Commander Stock 1000 series campaign, but that was then, and this is now and Gillim put his Road Atlanta hiccup behind him to win the first of two Stock 1000 races at Barber Motorsports Park on Saturday.

Gillim bested championship points leader Ezra Beaubier with Beaubier’s Orange Cat Racing teammate Kaleb De Keyrel finishing third for his first career podium in the class in just his third race on the BMW M 1000 RR.

Travis Wyman Racing’s Travis Wyman lost out on his battle with De Keyrel for third, but the Las Vegas resident held on for fourth with Tom Wood Powersports’ Nolan Lamkin rounding out the top five.

Beaubier leads the title chase by 24 points over Wyman, 70-46 with De Keyrel third on 40 points. Gillim trails Beaubier by 35 points.

“Road Atlanta was terrible. I felt like I could do a little bit more at Road Atlanta than I did. Road Atlanta was just everything that I didn’t need to start the season. So, I’m happy to bounce back from a DNF and a 6th or 7th or something and get this win. I knew this weekend was going to be good for me. I needed to capitalize on this track because Road America is going to be freaking hard. It’s going to be another kind of Road Atlanta situation. So, I needed to capitalize on this track. These guys need to slow it up a little bit and let a couple guys get in front of them in order for me to get back in this thing. But it was a good race. I’m happy for the team, myself. I’ve gotten a little bit slower than I did last year, which I’m not happy about. Me and the bike this year just aren’t clicking quite like I did last year. So, I’ve got some stuff I still have to work on. I’m happy. My kid was happy on the podium, so that’s all that matters to me right now.”

Junior Cup – Dreher. Again.

His team may be called “Bad Boys Racing,” but 16-year-old Avery Dreher is anything but a bad boy when it comes to motorcycle road racing. The Floridian is so far undefeated in the 2023 MotoAmerica Junior Cup Championship.

Dreher followed up his double win at Road Atlanta last month with another victory in Saturday’s race one at Barber Motorsports Park. Riding a Kawasaki Ninja 400, Dreher took the victory by just a little more than half a second over SportbikeTrackGear.com’s Max Van. Third place went to New Yorker Yandel Medina who celebrated his first career MotoAmerica podium.

“Based on qualifying, I definitely felt like I had the pace to break away a little,” commented Dreher. “In the beginning, though, Alessandro (Di Mario) and I think one or two other riders got by me, and I just stuck behind them out there a little bit. Made the pass. Just put my head down. The bike felt amazing. A few weeks ago, we came here to do a test and we got the suspension dialed in. I feel great. Let’s keep this momentum going. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Mission Mini Cup By Motul – Friday

Nathan Gouker Racing’s Nathan Gouker and Historic GP’s Mahdi Salem split wins in Friday’s FIM Mini Cup Ohvale 160 classes on the mini track at Barber Motorsports Park with Alpha Omega’s Ryder Davis sweeping to victories in both of the FIM Mini Cup 190 Ohvale classes.

The support classes on Friday afternoon featured names at the top that also were at the top at Carolina Motorsports Park two weeks ago.

Peterman Racing’s Cole Peterman had another great afternoon of racing with three wins after a sweep of the Stock 50 class and a win in race two of the Stock 110 class. Ryan Clark won the stock race that Peterman didn’t win with his victory in the first of two Stock 110 races. Both of Friday’s Stock 125 races were won by Jacobsen Motorcycle Training/Bettencourt Racing’s Nathan Bettencourt.

Mission Mini Cup By Motul – Saturday

Saturday’s Mission Mini Cup By Motul produced identical podiums in both races in the two Ohvale classes with Nathan Gouker Racing’s Nathan Gouker beating Macc Racing’s Mac MacClugage and Reese Frankenfield Racing’s Reese Frankenfield in the 160 Ohvale class and Alpha Omega’s Ryder Davis topping Historic GP’s Mahdi Salem and Jacobsen Motorcycle Training/Bettencourt’s Racing’s Nathan Bettencourt in the 190 Ohvale class.

Bettencourt had more success in the support classes with victories in both Stock 125 races.

The Stock 50 class featured two different winners on Saturday with Cory Texter Racing/Roof Systems-backed Cruise Texter taking his first victory in race one before SWG Motorsports’ Weston Fager won race two.

Ryan Clark Racing’s Ryan Clark made it a perfect Saturday with a clean sweep of the two Stock 110 classes.

More, from a press release issued by Suzuki motor USA, LLC:

SCOTT TAKES POLE POSITION AND A TOP TEN IN RACE #1 AT BARBER

Suzuki GSX-R750s a Force in the Supersport Class

BREA, CA – May 20, 2023 – Suzuki Motor USA and Team Hammer returned to the 2023 MotoAmerica competition on Saturday at Barber Motorsport Park. The team faced a challenging day in both Superbike and the special extended Supersport race. Tyler Scott earned sixth in Supersport while Richie Escalante was a very competitive seventh in his Superbike contest.

Race Highlights:

•  Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki
  • Supersport
    • Tyler Scott won pole with an all-time track record but was caught out by tire strategy in the wet-dry race and eventually earned sixth.
    • Teagg Hobbs followed his teammate closely securing seventh place.
  • Superbike
    • Richie Escalante held strong during a race-long battle for sixth, coming up just short to earn seventh.
    • Toni Elias earned 12th in just his second race weekend after returning to active competition.

Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott started from pole position for a unique MotoAmerica Supersport race at Barber Motorsport Park. The 37-lap extended race paid double points with one mandatory pit stop and was the first of two planned extended races this season. The 17-year-old Scott described the event as “a short endurance race”, longer than a normal sprint event but shorter than the Daytona 200 he raced in March.

Scott earned the holeshot but settled into fourth just ahead of his teammate Teagg Hobbs as the rain began to fall. After one restart due to an accident on the track, more crashes resulted in a second red flag and a shortening of the race to 28 laps.

The Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R750 pilots chose to start again on wet tires. Unfortunately, other rivals had chosen dry tires for the second restart, and both Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki riders quickly pitted to switch to dry Dunlops as the track dried rapidly, with Scott and Hobbs coming in on successive laps. Despite fast stops, Scott and Hobbs were left far behind the lead group. They fought to collect the double points for sixth and seventh in the weekend’s only Supersport race.

“We made a mistake by going with rain tires in the last red flag”, said Scott. “We would have been fine and contended otherwise. We shredded the tire pretty well in the race so that last stint was not easy, and we couldn’t make up the gap. Still, we gave it our best effort and set the track record in qualifying.”

Teagg Hobbs was seventh, just behind Scott on the circuit. Twenty-year-old Hobbs qualified on the second row, and had a strong start to the race but found himself in the same position as Scott.

“The race was tough. They introduced the extended race, and the weather played more of a factor than we hoped.” Hobbs said. “After the second restart, Ty came in the first time around and I had to do another lap in the dry on wet tires before I could come in. We lost a lot of ground and weren’t in good shape. But qualifying went well and we’ll look to get a better result in Wisconsin.”

Richie Escalante backed up his strong performance during qualifying in the first Superbike race of the weekend. Starting fourth, Escalante battled for third in the first portions of the 16-lap contest, eventually settling into a battle for sixth position on his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000R. That fight for position turned out to be the most hotly-contested battle in the race, with Escalante appearing to have the quicker pace but was unable to make a pass stick over his rival due to the tight confines of Barber Motorsports Park. Escalante came up short in his bid to take the spot but once again showed his development as a Superbike pilot.

“I have been super happy with how things are going so far. I did well here last year, and I like the track, so I felt fine about the weekend,” said Escalante. “We made small changes only and they were in the right direction. I had qualified well and finished P4, so I was happy about that. With the rainy and cold conditions this weekend the tires have not been working as well as normal. It was a last-minute decision for us, and we chose a different tire than most of the others in the top ten. In the race, this choice made it harder for us to maintain a good pace. It was a good race, though, and I believe we have a little bit more. I need to be more aggressive off the start and pass more aggressively. The Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki team is working great, and I feel we are making progress.”

Former MotoAmerica Superbike champion Toni Elias began his second weekend in his return to racing by qualifying tenth. Elias finished the race in 12th but gained more valuable track time. The Spaniard is now eighth in points.

“It was one of the toughest days in my racing career, both with the result and the feeling from the bike in this race,” said Elias. “It is what it is, and we expect more. We tried really hard on both days, but it just wasn’t there. Tomorrow is another day. We are motivated to work hard and fight and I want to thank the team for working hard with me.”

Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki will return to action at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama tomorrow.

For more racing news, results, and special team content please visit https://suzukicycles.com/racing/road-racing.

ABOUT SUZUKI
Suzuki Motor USA, LLC. (SMO) distributes Motorcycles, ATVs, Scooters, Automotive Parts, Accessories, and ECSTAR Oils & Chemicals via an extensive dealer network throughout 49 states. Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), based in Hamamatsu, Japan, is a diversified worldwide manufacturer of Motorcycles, ATVs, Scooters, Automobiles, Outboard Motors, and related products. Founded in 1909 and incorporated in 1920, SMC has business relations with 201 countries/regions. For more information, visit www.suzuki.com.

ABOUT TEAM HAMMER
The 2023 season marks Team Hammer’s 43rd consecutive year of operating as a professional road racing team. Race bikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 129 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races, have finished on AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National podiums 346 times, and have won 11 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National Championships, as well as two FIM South American Championships (in Superbike and Supersport.) The team has also won 137 endurance races overall (including seven 24-hour races) and 13 Overall WERA National Endurance Championships with Suzuki motorcycles, and holds the U.S. record for mileage covered in a 24-hour race. The team also competed in the televised 1990s Formula USA National Championship, famously running “Methanol Monster” GSX-R1100 Superbikes fueled by methanol, and won four F-USA Championships.

ABOUT VISION WHEEL
Founded in 1976, Vision Wheel is one of the nation’s leading providers of custom wheels for cars and trucks, and one of the first manufacturers of custom wheels and tires for ATVs, UTVs, and golf carts. Vision Wheel looks beyond the current trends and to the future in developing, manufacturing, and distributing its wheels. Vision’s lines of street, race, off-road, American Muscle, and Milanni wheels are distributed nationally and internationally through a trusted network of distributors. Vision Wheel also produces the Vision It AR app to allow users to see how their wheel of choice will look on their vehicle before purchase and installation. For more information on Vision Wheel, visit www.visionwheel.com.