Cycle News Staff | May 19, 2024
Sunday Superbike
After crashing out of the lead on the third lap of Saturday’s Steel Commander Superbike race one at Barber Motorsports Park, things didn’t look so good for Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier. But what a difference a day makes.
On Sunday, Beaubier doubled down, winning both Steel Commander Superbike races in the tripleheader weekend to somehow take over the lead in the championship a day after he ended it trailing Jake Gagne by 20 points.
Beaubier dominated both races with consistently fast laps that led to him winning the two races by 3.099 and 4.648 seconds, respectively.
Beaubier (6) made sure he didn’t make any mistakes on the way to two dominant victories.
The five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion also capitalized on his championship rival’s misfortune with Attack Racing/Progressive/Yamaha’s Jake Gagne suffering with arm-pump issues in both of Sunday’s races that left him frustrated and out of the points lead. The three-time defending champion persevered through both races on Sunday, finishing eighth and seventh in the two races after finishing second on Saturday.
With two rounds and five races completed, Beaubier now leads Gagne by 13 points, 95-82, with the series heading to Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, in two weeks.
Beaubier’s first win on Sunday morning was the 61st of his AMA Superbike career and it put him in a tie with Josh Hayes for second on the all-time list. His win on Sunday afternoon was the 62nd of his career and it moved him out of that tie and into second place all alone. Australian Mat Mladin is the all-time leader in AMA Superbike wins with 82.
TopPro Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly had himself a day, earning the first two Superbike podiums of his rookie season in the class. The Floridian was fast all weekend with Sunday’s second- and third-place finishes on Sunday bettering his fourth-place finish from Saturday.
Attack Performance/Progressive/Yamaha’s Cameron Petersen was barely beaten to the finish line in race two by Kelly for second and ended up third, a day after his win in race one. In race three on Sunday, Petersen crashed out of second while keeping pace with Beaubier. The South African remounted but his YZF-R1 had a broken foot peg that forced him out of the race.
Sean Dylan Kelly (40) is really getting the hang on the superbike with two Sunday podiums.
Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong had a good Sunday with fifth- and second-place finishes in the two races.
The two Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati riders had up-and-down Sundays, literally. Josh Herrin crashed out of race two in the morning but bounced back to finish fourth in race three. Loris Baz, meanwhile, was fourth in race two, but crashed out of race three when he was struck from behind by Manny Segura.
Real Steel Motorsports’ Hayden Gillim was seventh and fifth in Sunday’s two races on what is basically a Stock 1000-spec Honda CBR1000RR-R SP.
Beaubier’s teammate JD Beach had a rotten Sunday. The Kentuckian crashed in race two and pulled out of race three, suffering from the effects of his Q2 near crash and his Sunday morning race-two crash.
Xavi Forés’s debut on the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki was also up and down. After finishing sixth in Saturday’s race one, the Spaniard crashed in race two and then finished sixth again in race three. His teammate Brandon Paasch was sixth and eighth, respectively, in the two races on Sunday.
With Beaubier leading the title chase by 13 over Gagne, Kelly sits third and 22 points behind Beaubier and nine behind Gagne. Fong is fourth, a further 13 behind Kelly with Petersen fifth, just two points behind Fong.
Superbike Race 2
- Cameron Beaubier (BMW)
- Sean Dylan Kelly (BMW)
- Cameron Petersen (Yamaha)
- Loris Baz (Ducati)
- Bobby Fong (Yamaha)
- Brandon Paasch (Suzuki)
- Hayden Gillim (Honda)
- Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
- Benjamin Smith (Yamaha)
- Max Flinders (Yamaha)
Superbike Race 3
- Cameron Beaubier (BMW)
- Bobby Fong (Yamaha)
- Sean Dylan Kelly (BMW)
- Josh Herrin (Ducati)
- Hayden Gillim (Honda)
- Xavi Forés (Suzuki)
- Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
- Brandon Paasch (Suzuki)
- Bryce Prince (Yamaha)
- Max Flinders (Yamaha)
Sunday Supersport
For the second straight day, Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz emerged victorious from the battle at the front of the Supersport pack and the two wins have propelled the South African into serious championship contention after two rounds and four races.
Scholtz (11) made it two from two in Supersport.
Scholtz got a better start on Sunday and was in the pack giving chase to the fast-starting Tyler Scott. Scott, however, suffered a high-speed crash on the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki that left the young phenom bruised and battered. It also brought out the red flag.
On the restart, Scholtz was second behind Rahal Ducati Moto’s PJ Jacobsen, but he was soon in the lead. Jacobsen stayed close but it was Scholtz taking his second win in a row, this one by .924 of a second. Third place went to N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s Blake Davis after finishing fifth on Saturday. It was Davis’s second podium finish of the year.
Jacobsen’s runner-up finish was his fourth straight podium to start the season and it puts him 16 points ahead of Scholtz, 70-54.
Sunday Stock 1000
The second of two Stock 1000 races at Barber Motorsports Park featured a slugfest that went the full 14 laps. But that battle was for second place. Out front by a country mile for the second straight day was defending Stock 1000 Champion Hayden Gillim and his Real Steel Motorsports Honda CBR1000RR-R SP, with Hayden showing that if someone wants to take his title, they are going to have to step up their game.
Gillim made it look easy in Stock 1000.
Second place went to BPR Racing’s Bryce Prince, a day after his third-place finish in day one. Prince came out on top of his battle with FLO4LAW’s Benjamin Smith, a day after the two came together with Smith crashing out of race one.
To stay in championship contention both Yamaha YZF-R1-mounted podium finishers know there is work to be done to keep pace with Gillim and his Honda. But, as Prince rightfully pointed out, he was 14.5 seconds behind Gillim in race one and 10.5 seconds in race two so there was a gain.
Fourth place on Sunday went to AMD Motorsport RK Racing’s Richard Kerr, a big improvement over his eighth-place finish in race one. Kerr was some five seconds behind Smith and just .162 of a second ahead of OrangeCat Racing’s Jayson Uribe, who was a spot higher in the results than in race one. Uribe’s teammate Travis Wyman was sixth with BPR Racing’s Wyatt Farris seventh.
Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates, BPR Racing’s Deion Campbell, and Team Brazil’s Danilo Lewis rounded out the top 10.
With his win, Gillim became the winningest Stock 1000 racer in MotoAmerica history with his 13th victory moving him out of a tie with Andrew Lee and Corey Alexander. It also further padded his wallet with Honda contingency money.
Sunday Twins Cup
It was a weekend of firsts for many riders competing at Barber Motorsports Park, and 15-year-old Alessandro Di Mario was one of them. The Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering Aprilia rider notched the first MotoAmerica race victory of his career in Sunday’s BellissiMoto Twins Cup Championship race two. Di Mario bounced back after crashing out of the lead during Saturday’s rain-soaked race one and took the checkers by .768 of a second over hard-charging Rocco Landers, who finished second aboard his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki. Current points leader and Di Mario’s teammate Gus Rodio finished third.
Alessandro Di Mario came through for a first pro-level win at 15-years-of age.
Di Mario started from the pole, but Rodio overtook him for the lead until lap five of the 14-lap race when Di Mario solidified his position at the front and crossed the finish line for his breakthrough win. Meanwhile, Landers battled with Rodio and Dominic Doyle for third, and ultimately overtook Rodio on the final lap to finish as runner-up with Rodio completing the podium.
Sunday Royal Enfield Build Train Race
The 13 women who were selected to participate in the 2024 Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. (BTR) program started their season at Barber Motorsports Park with two races on the schedule. Due to the heavy rain that on Saturday, race one was postponed until Sunday, which meant that the riders competed in race one on Sunday morning and race two on Sunday afternoon.
Happy days for Mikayla Moore with two wins to open her 2024 account.
Defending BTR Champion Mikayla Moore extended her winning streak, with victories in both races bringing her unbeaten total to nine races in a row. The Maryland-based Moore won race one by nearly nine seconds over runner-up Camille Conrad and more than nine seconds over third-place finisher Emma Betters. In race two, the same three racers finished on the podium again, with Moore claiming her second victory of the day. Conrad and Betters swapped finishing positions in race two with Betters taking her turn as runner-up and Conrad getting third.
The most notable thing about race two was that, while Betters finished a second ahead of Conrad, Moore managed to stretch out an absolutely eye-popping lead of nearly 22 seconds during the short, six-lap race.
Sunday Junior Cup
Speed Demon Racing’s Logan Gunnison liked winning Saturday’s Junior Cup race so much he opted to do it again on Sunday.
While he had a little cushion in winning on Saturday, he had no cushion on Sunday as he beat Karns Performance’s Levi Badie by just .045 of a second.
Sunday’s Junior Cup race at Barber was this close with Logan Cunnison (58) beating Levi Badie (71) by just .045 of a second.
Sunday’s race featured the same podium as Saturday with second and third flipping spots. While it was New York Safety Track Racing’s Yandel Medina second on Saturday it was Badie taking the runner up on Sunday.
Seven riders battled for the lead in Sunday’s race with the top six finishers covered by less than a second.
Fourth place went to BARTCON Racing’s Eli Block with Elia Dreher, the younger sister of defending Junior Cup Champion Avery Dreher, finishing a career best fifth.
Saturday Superbike
Leading 17 laps of a MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike race is tough enough. Leading 17 laps with three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Jake Gagne breathing down your neck is flat out daunting. But Attack Performance/Progressive/Yamaha’s Cameron Petersen was able to focus on what was ahead and not what was behind to win Saturday’s first of three Superbike races at Barber Motorsports Park.
And in doing so, the South African never put a wheel wrong to top his teammate Gagne by .438 of a second after 20 laps. Since 20 minus 17 is three, who led those opening three laps? That would be Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier on his BMW M 1000 RR, but it didn’t last. Just when it was starting to look like the five-time series champion was going to romp away to victory, it all went horribly wrong on the fourth lap when Beaubier crashed out of the lead.
Petersen came through in the clutch for one of the finest wins in his MotoAmerica career in race one.
That left Petersen vs. Gagne with Petersen leading and Gagne giving chase, piling on the pressure to see if Petersen would falter. He didn’t. Instead, he was mostly perfect in earning his fourth MotoAmerica Superbike victory with three of those coming at Barber Motorsports Park.
Gagne ended up second, happy for his teammate while also knowing that he’d extended his championship points lead to 20 points over his title rival Beaubier, 65-45, after the first three races of the season.
Both Petersen and Gagne acknowledged that things would have been different if Beaubier hadn’t crashed.
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin came out on top of a three-rider scrap for the final podium spot. After moving past his teammate Loris Baz, Herrin disposed of impressive rookie Sean Dylan Kelly on the final lap to finish third.
TopPro Racing’s Kelly ended up .476-of-a-second behind Herrin and .502-of-a-second ahead of Baz. It was Kelly’s third top-five finish to start his rookie season of Superbike racing.
Beaubier’s pace (6) was so fast even he couldn’t sustain it.
Spaniard Xavi Forés was sixth in his debut on the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki, riding in place of the injured Richie Escalante. Forés was well back from Baz and .8 seconds ahead of seventh-placed JD Beach and his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000 RR.
Real Steel Motorsports’ Hayden Gillim was eighth with Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong and Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch rounding out the top 10 finishers.
With three races in the books, Gagne leads Beaubier in the title chase, 65-45, with Petersen jumping up to third in the standings with 42 points. Kelly is fourth with 37 points, three clear of fifth-placed Herrin.
Sunday will be a busy day for the Steel Commander Superbike men with two races on the schedule.
Superbike Race One
- Cameron Petersen (Yamaha)
- Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
- Josh Herrin (Ducati)
- Sean Dylan Kelly (BMW)
- Loris Baz (Ducati)
- Xavi Forés (Suzuki)
- JD Beach (BMW)
- Hayden Gillim (Honda)
- Bobby Fong (Yamaha)
- Brandon Paasch (Suzuki)
Stock 1000 – Gillim Gets It Done
The Stock 1000 Championship finally got started with its opening round at Barber Motorsports Park and while many were thinking the race would be a thriller, it wasn’t part of Hayden Gillim’s plan.
Real Steel Motorsports Honda’s Gillim ran away and hid from the 36-rider field to win the opening round in the defense of his 2023 Stock 1000 Championship by some 11 seconds. The win was the 12th of Gillim’s Stock 1000 career, and it moved him into a tie with Andrew Lee and Corey Alexander as the winningest rider in the history of the class.
Gabriel Da Silva (74) leads Hayden Gillim (1), Benjamin Smith (78) and Bryce Prince (17) battle for Stock 1000 glory. Gillim ended up taking the win.
Gillim’s start wasn’t a good one and he had to fight his way to second place early before moving into the lead for good on the third lap after getting ahead of GMR/Jones Honda’s Gabriel Da Silva. Once in front, Gillim put his head down and left the others in his wake as he rode his Honda CBR1000RR-R SP to victory to give Honda its first win in the MotoAmerica Stock 1000 class.
Da Silva was a rather lonely runner-up, some four seconds ahead of BPR’s Bryce Prince with the Californian taking a weekend off work to try his hand at the Stock 1000 class. Bryce was in a battle with Benjamin Smith early on, but there was contact between the two with Smith coming out the worst of it as he crashed his FLO4LAW Racing Yamaha YZF-R1.
Visit Indiana/Tom Wood Powersports’ Nolan Lamkin finished fourth on his BMW M 1000 RR with Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates fifth, giving Honda three CBRs in the top five.
Gillim leads the championship point standings by five over Da Silva and nine over Prince.
Supersport – Scholtz Gets His First
Rahal Ducati Moto’s PJ Jacobsen was content to sit on the rear of TopPro Racing’s Maxi Gerardo. Lap after lap after lap. But with four to go, the New Yorker took the lead, and it seemed like it would be smooth sailing to victory for the championship points leader.
Enter Mathew Scholtz and his Strack Racing Yamaha YZF-R6.
After a horrible start from the inside of row one. Scholtz was able to make some moves to end the lap in a battle for fifth. On the ninth of 18 laps, Scholtz was free and started to move forward. On the 10th lap, he went past Blake Davis to take over fourth, but he didn’t stop there.
Mathew Scholtz (11) beat PJ Jacobsen (15) to the finish line to win his first MotoAmerica Supersport race.
Meanwhile, up front, Jacobsen decided to go to the lead with four laps to go. Little did he know there was more racing in store for him as Scholtz was past Gerardo and into second. And the South African wasn’t content to finish there. On the last lap, Scholtz made his move and held it to the flag, winning his first MotoAmerica Supersport race by .269 of a second over Jacobsen with Gerardo just a tick over a second behind.
Scott rode the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki to fourth, some eight seconds behind Scholtz and just .5 of a second ahead of Davis and his N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha YZF-R6.
Equitea MV Agusta by MP13 Racing’s Roberto Tamburini was sixth, less than a second ahead of Wrench Motorcycles’ David Anthony. Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Stefano Mesa, Altus Motorsports’ Jake Lewis and Rahal Ducati Moto’s Corey Alexander rounded out the top 10 finishers.
After three races, Jacobson leads the championship by 16 points over Scholtz and 31 ahead of his teammate Alexander.
Junior Cup – Cunnison’s First
Speed Demon Racing’s Logan Cunnison became the third first-time winner in the first three Junior Cup races of the season on Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park as he topped championship points leader Yandel Medina by two seconds in the 11-lap race.
Logan Cunnison (58) won his first career MotoAmerica race when he topped the Junior Cup class on Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park.
Medina came out on top of a five-rider pack contesting third, the New York Safety Track Racing-backed New Yorker beating Karns Performance’s Levi Badie by .251 of a second. Wolfe Racing’s Ryan Wolfe and BARTCON Racing’s Matthew Chapin rounded out the top five.
The 2024 season marks Cunnison’s second go in the MotoAmerica Junior Cup Championship.
BellissiMoto Twins Cup – Dreher Reigns In The Rain
Floridian Avery Dreher is racing in two classes this season. He’s defending his 2023 Junior Cup Championship while also competing in the BellissiMoto Twins Cup Championship aboard a TopPro Racing Aprilia. Despite a thoroughly wet track from a cloudburst over Barber Motorsports, Dreher rode a masterful race in the tricky conditions and got his first victory in MotoAmerica’s two-cylinder, middleweight race class.
The BellissiMoto Twins Cup race was held in the rain on Saturday afternoon at Barber. Alessandro Di Mario (27) led until crashing out and Avery Dreher (99) was there to score his first Twins Cup victory.
Second-place went to Cassidy Heiser, the Chiefs Racing Team Yamaha rider recording his first-ever podium finish in MotoAmerica competition. Completing the podium was Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing’s Dominic Doyle, whose third-place result was his third podium in the past three races.
Despite a ninth-place finish, Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering’s Gus Rodio continues to lead the championship by 19 points over the tied duo of RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki’s Rocco Landers, sixth today, and Doyle.
Friday Superbike
Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier ended the opening day of Steel Commander Superbike action at Barber Motorsports Park with the five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion on top of the timesheets at the conclusion of Q1.
Beaubier’s best lap in the 40-minute session was a 1:22.468 on his 18th go-around and it put him .855 of a second ahead of Warhorse HSBK Ducati Racing’s Loris Baz with the Frenchman lapping at 1:23.323 on his 15th lap.
Beaubier was flying, finishing nearly a second clear of the field.
TopPro Racing Team’s Sean Dylan Kelly continued his fast start to his rookie season of Superbike racing by clocking the third fastest time on his BMW M 1000 RR.
Fourth fastest and the last rider on the same second as Beaubier was Baz’s teammate Josh Herrin.
Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s defending three-time series champion Jake Gagne rounded out the top five on opening day and was just a tick over a second slower than his championship rival Beaubier.
Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong ended up sixth with Gagne’s teammate Cameron Petersen seventh. Eighth fastest was the first of the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s in the hands of Spaniard Xavi Forés, who was making his debut on the team as a replacement for the injured Richie Escalante.
Gagne’s teammate JD Beach and Real Steel Motorsports’ Hayden Gillim rounded out the top 10.
Supersport – Scott On Top
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott earned provisional pole position in Supersport on Friday afternoon by just .096 of a second over Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz in what was an ultra-close Q1 session. How close? The top 10 are all within a second of Scott’s best time of 1:26.607.
Scott nabbed the fastest Supersport time by less than a tenth of a second.
TopPro Racing Team’s Maximiliano Gerardo put in his best effort to date on the new team’s Suzuki GSX-R750 to earn a spot on the provisional front row leading into tomorrow’s Q2 session. Kayla Yaakov was the fastest of the three Rahal Ducati Moto teamsters with her best lap putting her fourth and just half a second off Scott’s pace. Her teammates, Corey Alexander and PJ Jacobsen, were 11th and 12th, respectively, with Road Atlanta doubleheader winner Jacobsen crashing out of the session early.
Wrench Motorcycles’ David Anthony ended the session fifth fastest.
Junior Cup – Cunnison Over Medina
Speed Demon Racing’s Logan Cunnison emerged from the pack of Junior Cup racers to take provisional pole for the two races at Barber Motorsports Park. Cunnison lapped at 1:37.417 to best championship points leader Yandel Medina by .571 of a second. Wolfe Racing’s Ryan Wolfe, who finished on the podium in both races at the opener at Road Atlanta, was third fastest.
Eli Block was fourth and the last rider on the same second as Cunnison on his BARTCON Racing Kawasaki Ninja 400.
BellissiMoto Twins Cup – Di Mario Leads The Way
Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering’s Alessandro Di Mario and his Aprilia RS 660 were in a class of their own in BellissiMoto Twins Cup Q1 on Friday with the Italian 1.9 seconds clear of second-placed Rocco Landers on the RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki GSX-8R.
Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing’s Dominic Doyle was third fastest, but 2.7 seconds behind Di Mario and some .370 of a second clear of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Rossi Moor. NNG Capital Fund/Eleven Motorsports’ Ryan Max Johnson rounded out the top five heading into tomorrow’s Q2 session.
Stock 1000 – Gillim, Barely
Real Steel Motorsports’ Hayden Gillim got his title defense off to a good start at Barber on Friday with the 2023 Stock 1000 Champion leading the way in Q1 on Friday. Gillim lapped at 1:24.760 on his Honda CBR1000RR-R SP to lead Gabriel Da Silva and his GMR/Jones Honda by just .189 of a second.
The first of the non-Hondas was Benjamin Smith’s FLO4LAW Racing Yamaha YZF-R1. Smith was .638 behind Gillim, but almost a second ahead of OrangeCat Racing’s Jayson Uribe. Motorsport Exotica BMW rider Andrew Lee completed the top five. Meanwhile, Irishman Richard Kerr was ninth fastest on his AMD Motorsport RK Racing BMW M 1000 RR in his Barber Motorsports Park debut.
Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race – Who Else But Moore
Defending Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. Champion Mikayla Moore was up to her old tricks in the first race of the season for the all-women series as she ended up 4.5 seconds faster than her nearest rival in the opening qualifying session.
Moore lapped at 1:46.507 to best Camille Conrad’s 1:51.102. Emma Betters was just .678 of a second behind Conrad.
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