Rennie Scaysbrook | March 9, 2024
Saturday
Daytona 200
The 2024 Daytona 200 promised one of the closest encounters in the history of the race with a stacked field hosting various national and world champions, but in the end, it was the current master of the high banks, Josh Herrin, who took what looked to be an easy win, although he insists it was anything but.
The current Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati MotoAmerica Superbike rider rode two thirds of the race on his own after the first round of pitstops, his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati team putting a faultless first stop together that was some five seconds better than the rest of the field. That gave Herrin a 10.7 second gap to Richie Escalante (Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki), who suffered a massive fuel spill in the pits that didn’t hamper his progress too much, but the Mexican just couldn’t pull the required time back on Herrin before the second round of pit stops.
Herrin actually ran out of fuel heading into the second round of pit stops but as he was at the beginning of pit lane, he could roll the Ducati Panigale V2 to his team for another flawless pit stop and preserve his lead.
“They were two dream pit stops,” Herrin said. We did so much practice on it. They worked so hard to make it as perfect as possible. I don’t know what I like more—riding in a group or riding at the front on my own. In the group in the first stint, one of the riders was putting off a lot of heat and that made it really uncomfortable, so I was happy to get out on my own eventually. It’s difficult leading at Daytona on your own but there’s something peaceful about it, too.
“When you’re leading, your mind can wander a bit so you just have to stay focused and make the lap times as consistent as possible. I knew I could do 1:49s pretty consistently and a few 1:48s, so I just wanted to be kind to the bike stay in the groove.
“This is the third year for me on the Ducati Panigale V2. The bike is amazing and I think a lot of people have been sleeping on it for the past few years. This year there were a lot more on the grid, which is awesome to see. It’s a great motorcycle, and I’m just so happy to be here riding it.”
For Escalante, try as he might, he simply couldn’t pull Herrin and the charging Ducati back but more heartbreak was to follow. On the final lap, the Suzuki GSX-R750 started spluttering at the International Horseshoe corner, signaling his hard fought podium was all but gone. Escalante swayed and pushed the bike and eventually made it to the flag on fumes, but teammate and pole sitter Tyler Scott came by, as did Hayden Gillim and Bobby Fong, and a fourth place was scant consolation for all the work battling with Herrin.
Escalante’s pain was teammate Tyler Scott’s gain as the teenager moved up one place to second for a debut podium at Daytona after qualifying on pole position.
“It was a good race,” Scott said. “I had a decent start but I made a big mistake coming over the start/finish line which put me at the back of the leading pack. I eventually lost Richie’s draft which would have helped me stay close. Most of the race I rode on my own. I was third for the whole race and it’s really unfortunate for Richie (Escalante) to run out of fuel on the last lap, but we’ll take second place,” Scott said.
Hayden Gillim was another benefactor of Escalante’s dry gas tank, the Kentuckian rolling through to take a surprise podium in third on the returning Vesra Suzuki team.
“We had a couple of really good pit stops, so that kept me in the fight with Bobby (Fong),” Gillim said. “In the last couple of laps I was kind of on my own and Bobby caught back up to me. I thought I was on my own and was ready for the race to be over. I let him go by and I was playing with the draft to make sure I could get him on the last lap and on the last lap, he made a small mistake on the infield so I really pushed hard and when I came across the line, I saw I was in third! So that was a stroke of luck, and it’s great to wear the pink and yellow of the famous Vesra team and put it on the box.”
Fourth went to Bobby Fong, initially, but was DQ’d for an oversize gas tank in post-race tech, the Californian leading for a few laps in the early stages but dropping back to be on the cusp of the top five for most of the race, a position that should have been fourth with Escalante in a disappointed fifth after trying all race to close down Josh Herrin.
Escalante was moved up to fourth after Fong’s infringement.
Fifth went to Czech Karel Hanika, the Endurance World Champion on the Yamaha Austria Racing Team entry heading teammate Marvin Fritz with two-time champion Brandon Paasch coming home seventh and the last rider not to be lapped by Herrin.
Stefano Mesa, after qualifying a very impressive second on the Boulder Motorsports Ducati, came home eighth with the top 10 rounded out by Canadian Ben Young on the Team BATTLAX Suzuki and Teagg Hobbs on the third Vision Wheel ECSTAR Suzuki taking 10th.
The DNF list was extensive with 18 riders failing to finish. These included Josh Hayes, Peter Hickman, Richard Cooper, David Anthony and Xavi Fores, who failed to finish lap two for the second year in a row, this time on a Yamaha YZF-R6.
Mission Foods King of The Baggers
The first round of the 2024 King of The Baggers Championship saw a rookie make a massive splash in Australian Troy Herfoss (S&S/Indian Motorcycle), but when the dust settled it was class veteran Kyle Wyman (Harley-Davidson Factory Racing) who emerged with two wins out of three at Daytona.
Wyman and Herfoss engaged in two hard races with James Rispoli (Harley-Davidson Factory Racing), Tyler O’Hara (S&S/Indian Motorcycle), and class champion Hayden Gillim (RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson) all in the mix at various stages. Herfoss came up 0.018s short in race two in what would have been a dream debut win in the championship with Wyman taking the gold and Rispoli in third.
In race two, however, Herfoss was playing the waiting game in the pack of Rispoli, Gillim and O’Hara. With two laps to go he marched to the front ahead of Wyman and put the heater down to gap the former KoTB number one to what looked a race-winning margin.
But it all went wrong heading into the chicane on the final lap. Herfoss got in too hot, lost his drive and Wyman pounced. Then Australian almost pulled Wyman back by the line but came up an infuriating 0.137s short with Rispoli coming home third once again.
Fourth went to O’Hara, 3.2s down on the win with Gillim rounding out the top five.
O’Hara salvaged some pride by taking the win in the two-lap Challenge race ahead of Herfoss and Gillim.
In the championship, Wyman leads on 50 points from Herfoss on 40 and Rispoli third on 32.
Twins Cup
The opening round of the MotoAmerica Twins Cup Championship was all about one man—Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering’s Gus Rodio.
The current Twins Cup number two from season 2023 clearly has no intention of repeating the result this year as he sped to two utterly dominant race wins at Daytona, the first by 11.4 seconds from Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing’s Dominic Doyle and class rookie Avery Dreher (TopPro Racing Team Yamaha).
Race two was another Rodio affair as he triumphed by 11.02s from former class champion Rocco Landers in his debut with the RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki team on the all-new Suzuki GSX-8R. Rodio’s teammate, 15-year-old Alessandro Di Mario took a maiden Twins Cup podium in his first visit to Daytona with third in race two.
“I was just having fun,” Rodio said. “It was a perfect weekend, we led every session by at least four tenths, I broke the track record on race tires, I love Daytona. It’s a great place and this was the best possible start to the season.”
In the championship, Rodio leads on a perfect 50 points from Landers on 31 and Di Mario third on 29.
Mission Foods Super Hooligans National Championship
Two exceptional races for the first round of Super Hooligans showed the 2024 season looks to be a Harley-Davidson and Indian war just like in King of The Baggers.
The impressive class rookie Troy Herfoss (S&S/Indian Motorcycle FTR1200) started his Super Hooligans season off in the perfect style, taking pole position ahead of teammate Tyler O’Hara and Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson Pan America rider Travis Wyman.
The Australian kept the flow going in race one, taking a debut MotoAmerica class win at his first attempt, heading O’Hara by 0.491s with Cory West (Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson Pan America) third, a touch over one second behind Herfoss.
Race two was a barnstormer with six riders—Herfoss, O’Hara, West, Travis Wyman Jake Lewis (Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson Pan America) and Cody Wyman (Gator Harley/KWR/Harley-Davidson Pan America) locked in a battle for the win. On the final run to the line, it would be West who would emerge the victor by a scant 0.020s, the win sweet redemption for being disqualified from his win after a technical infringement. Lewis made it a happy day for the Saddlemen team with second and Cody Wyman emerging third to make it the first clean sweep of the Super Hooligans podium for the Harley-Davidson Pan America. O’Hara and Herfoss lost out in the draft to take fourth and fifth.
In the series points, West leads on 41 points from Herfoss on 36 and O’Hara third on 33.
Friday
Mission King Of The Baggers Race One
Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman won a game of cat and mouse with S&S Cycle/Indian Motorcycle’s Troy Herfoss in Friday’s Mission King Of The Baggers battle at Daytona International Speedway with Wyman crossing the finish line just .018 of a second ahead of the Daytona first timer.
The win was the 13th of Wyman’s Mission King Of The Baggers career, which extended his mark as the winningest rider in the class.
Herfoss, meanwhile, finished second not long after earning his first MotoAmerica victory in the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship race earlier in the day. In that one, Herfoss successfully broke away from the pursuing pack in the infield and held on to the finish line. In the Baggers race, Herfoss couldn’t get away and he led going into the chicane. At that point, Herfoss slowed his pace dramatically, forcing Wyman and his teammate James Rispoli to check up. The move almost worked with Wyman just managing to draft past the Aussie and his Indian.
Rispoli looked to have lost the draft to the first two in the closing stages, but a quick last lap brought him back to the draft. He was slowed a little on that final lap when Herfoss’s S&S Cycle/Indian Motorcycle teammate Tyler O’Hara crashed in front of him. Still, Rispoli was able to work himself into the draft on the backstraight and into the chicane where the Herfoss/Wyman battle baulked in front of him.
Rispoli was just .137 behind his teammate Wyman as the three crossed the finish line in formation. Fourth place, and less than a second behind, was RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson’s Hayden Gillim, the defending series champion blowing turn one late in the race to lose the draft of the top three.
Fifth place went to Gillim’s new teammate Rocco Landers with the 19-year-old making his King Of The Baggers debut.
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship – Rookie Herfoss Gets It Done
Three-time Australian Superbike Champion Troy Herfoss wasted no time getting down to business in his very first visit to Daytona International Speedway. The S&S/Indian rider beat his teammate Tyler O’Hara in Mission Super Hooligan National Championship race one to record the first MotoAmerica road racing victory of his career.
O’Hara, who started from the pole, crossed the finish line just under half a second after Herfoss, with Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson’s Cory West rounding out the podium in third.
BellissiMoto Twins Cup – Rodio Dominates
In the season-opening BellissiMoto Twins Cup race, Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering, Aprilia rider Gus Rodio put in a dominating performance. Rodio, who also won the first Twins Cup race at Daytona last year and was runner-up in last year’s Twins Cup final standings, took the checkered flag on Friday at Daytona with a gap of nearly 12 seconds over second-place finisher Dominic Doyle.
Doyle put in an heroic performance just to make the start of the race let alone finish on the podium. The Giaccmoto Racing Yamaha rider crashed in Mission Super Hooligan National Championship race one just prior to Twins Cup race one and dislocated his shoulder. But he recovered and was declared fit to race just in time to make the Twins Cup start.
Third place went to TopPro Racing Aprilia rider Avery Dreher, who made his 2024 debut in BellissiMoto Twins Cup at Daytona after winning last year’s Junior Cup Championship.
Daytona 200 Time Attack – Great Scott
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott will start Saturday’s Daytona 200 from pole position with the 18-year-old lapping at 1:48.047 during Friday afternoon’s Supersport Time Attack.
Scott showed little effects of his high-speed crash from Thursday in the chicane to not only lap faster than anyone else, but do so alone and without the aid of another rider’s draft.
Boulder Motor Sports’ Stefano Mesa will start the 200 from the middle of the front row after lapping at 1:48.147 with Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong set to start the race from the outside of row one.
Row two will consist of Vesrah Racing’s Hayden Gillim; Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin, the defending race champion; and Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Xavi Forés will make up row two
Thursday—Daytona 200
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante took a big step towards making up for last year’s crash from the lead in the Daytona 200 by earning provisional pole position on a sunny Thursday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway.
Escalante’s lap of 1:47.833 is a new record and he was the only rider in the 68-rider strong field to lap in the 1:47s. The Tizayuca, Hidalgo, Mexico resident did his best time at the very end and modestly gave credit for the lap to a two-rider draft. Escalante, however, had earlier done a 1:48 lap by himself so his quick pace is obvious.
Escalante hasn’t forgotten last year when he was in a battle with Josh Herrin when the two came together in turn one and Escalante crashed. He’s hopeful of this being a redemption race and he’s determined to make that happen.
“For sure I’m really happy to be back,” Escalante said. “I feel great and the first day was amazing – P1. I made an amazing lap and I’m happy again to be racing in the 200. After last year I really want to come back and battle for the win again. Now I will keep working for the race. So, thanks to my team, Vision Wheel M4 Suzuki, and to all the fans.”
Escalante’s teammate Tyler Scott, meanwhile, ended up second, just .212 behind Escalante, but his session came to a painful conclusion with a crash in the chicane on his final lap. Scott was in the low 1:48s, with a 1:48.045.
Vesrah Racing’s Hayden Gillim gave the Suzuki GSX-R750 a sweep of the provisional front row with Gillim and his 1:49.301 the third fastest time of the session.
Defending Daytona 200 Champion Josh Herrin was fourth fastest on the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale V2 and just .001 of a second from the front row.
Next up was Wrench Motorcycle’s Bobby Fong in fifth, followed by Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Xavi Forés, Brit Richard Cooper, two-time Daytona 200 winner Brandon Paasch (on another Vision M4 ECSTAR Suzuki), Boulder Motor Sports’ Stefano Mesa and four-time Daytona winner Danny Eslick rounding out the top 10 on the TOBC Triumph.
Mission King Of The Baggers – A Quick Study
Just a session after his first go at Daytona International Speedway, Australian Troy Herfoss went from “I’ve never been more scared in my entire life” to an impressive effort in the first qualifying session to earn provisional pole position.
Herfoss and his S&S/Indian Motorcycle-backed Challenger not only earned provisional pole, but he also set a new Mission King Of The Baggers lap record at Daytona International Speedway with his 1:50.017 besting Kyle Wyman’s lap of 1:50.563 from a year ago.
Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman ended up second after leading most of the session, just .180 of a second off Herfoss’s lap. Herfoss’s teammate Tyler O’Hara completed the provisional front row and was the last rider to lap in the 1:50s with his 1:50.599 also under the lap record.
Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s James Rispoli, RydFast Racing’s Kyle Ohnsorg and Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson’s Travis Wyman rounded out the top 10 on Wednesday.
BellissiMoto Twins Cup – Rodio All Day
Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering’s Gus Rodio picked up where he left off from his three-win 2023 Twins Cup season that netted him second place in the championship behind Blake Davis on day one at Daytona, with the New Jerseyan earning provisional pole.
Rodio did a fastest lap of 1:56.257 to best Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing’s Dominic Doyle with the South African .342 of a second behind Rodio and .256 ahead of 2023 Junior Cup Champion Avery Dreher and his TopPro Racing Team.
RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki’s Rocco Landers ended up fourth on the day in his debut on the new GSX-8R. S.E. Composites Racing’s Ed Sullivan rounded out the top five, the crew chief for former Westby Racing Superbike rider Mathew Scholtz.
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship – The Champ’s Day
Last year, Tyler O’Hara won five of eight races en route to the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship and he looks like he’s ready to double down on that. O’Hara and his S&S/Indian Motorcycle FTR1200 was over a second quicker than his closest competition while earning provisional pole position on Friday afternoon at the Speedway.
O’Hara’s 1:52.781 put him over a second ahead of the Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson Pan America ridden by Cory West with O’Hara’s new teammate Troy Herfoss ending up third on his first day at Daytona International Speedway. West’s two teammates, Travis Wyman and Jake Lewis, were fourth and fifth, respectively.
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