MotoAmerica previews the fourth round of the 2024 Superbike Championship, which is headed to Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota, on June 14-16.
This is a press release from MotoAmerica…
Irvine, CA (June 12, 2024) – The only thing predictable about the 2024 MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike Championship is its unpredictability as the series embarks on its fourth round at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota, June 14-16.
Case in point #1: Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier appeared to be teetering on the verge of dominating this year’s championship after winning three of the first five races. Now Beaubier is out of action for a while after breaking his heel in his race-one crash at Road America in a rainstorm.
Case in point #2: Attack Performance/Progressive/Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne leads the title chase but has only won a single race. He also has unheard-of results for the three-time champion of eighth, seventh and fifth on his scorecard after early-season struggles with arm pump. He is, however, only one of two riders in the top 10 to have scored points in all seven races.
Case in point #3: There have been four different winners in the Superbike class in the first seven races. Last year, there were four different winners in the entire 19-race series.
So, if you add all that up, it’s easy to see the unpredictability of the current season. And there’s plenty more to come. Next up: Brainerd International Raceway.
So, what does it all mean?
Gagne with his lone victory (in race two at Road Atlanta) and four total podiums leads the way into the “Land Of 10,000 Lakes” with 113 points. That puts him 18 points clear of the absent Beaubier, who will be watching from his California home and not sure of when his return will be as he may be out of action until his home round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Gagne’s arm-pump is something we must keep an eye on. One thing we know for certain, if Gagne isn’t winning races and is not a consistent podium finisher, there’s still a problem. Only time will tell, and Brainerd will provide a good test as to the health of those forearms.
Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong is having his best Superbike season since his three-win season in 2020 on the M4 Suzuki that placed him third at season’s end in the championship. Fong’s ride to second place in race two at Road America almost two weeks ago was heroic and more than made up for his struggles in the wet race one where he soldiered on to finish eighth.
Fong, who is the only rider other than Gagne to score points in all seven races, is 25 points behind the three-time series champ and just seven behind Beaubier, who will surely lose that second ranking this coming weekend.
Several riders are giving chase to Gagne, and third to seventh in the championship is tight with 16 points covering the five riders.
Gagne’s teammate Cameron Petersen has two victories on his scorecard, which already matches his career-high of two wins in 2022. Petersen was robbed of more points when his Yamaha failed him in race two at Road America the day after his second win of the season.
TopPro Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly’s run of consistent top-level results ended with his scary crash while leading in the quagmire of race one at Road America. Kelly then ran into a mechanical issue on the final lap while dicing for second in race two. He was able to salvage a sixth-place finish that left him in a tie with Petersen for fourth in the standings. A little better luck and he would have left Wisconsin third in the championship.
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin turned his season around with his first victory of the season in race two at Road America. Herrin’s Sunday victory moved him to sixth in the championship, four points behind Petersen and Kelly and 34 points in arrears of Gagne.
Herrin’s teammate Loris Baz was hoping for a bit more from Road America, but he still came away with his first podium of the season with his third in race one and a fourth in race two. The Frenchman is seven points behind his teammate.
JD Beach came out of the three-race weekend at Barber Motorsports Park in a miserable state as he scored just nine points. What a difference a weekend makes. Beach was actually smiling on Sunday afternoon in Wisconsin after putting his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000 RR on the podium for the first time. A day earlier, Beach raced the bike to fourth, so he went from scoring nine points in three races in Alabama to 29 points in two races in Wisconsin.
Real Steel Motorsports’ Hayden Gillim is ninth in the Superbike standings after sitting out the Road America round, just one point ahead of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch, who had his best weekend of the season thus far at Road America with fifth and seventh-place finishes.
Beach will be joined this weekend on the second Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000 RR by Mission King Of The Baggers Championship points leader Troy Herfoss with the three-time Australian Superbike Champion set to fill-in for the injured Beaubier on the team. Herfoss will do double duty on his S&S Indian Challenger in the Baggers race and in Steel Commander Superbike on a racetrack he’s never seen before.
Pre-Race Brainerd Notes…
PJ Jacobsen won the first MotoAmerica Superbike race of his career last year in Sunday’s race two at Brainerd International Raceway, and he did it the right way—by holding off Jake Gagne in a straight fight. Gagne, who won Saturday’s race one, finished second with Mathew Scholtz third. Jacobsen had finished second to Gagne in the first race with Josh Herrin taking the final podium spot.
Two of the names from last year’s Superbike podiums are now racing in the Supersport Championship. PJ Jacobsen leads the series point standings on his Rahal Ducati Moto Panigale V2 with Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz giving chase in second on his Yamaha YZF-R6. Those two have won all six of the Supersport races this year and Jacobsen leads Scholtz by 12 points, 131-119.
Pole position for last year’s race went to Cameron Beaubier with his 1:30.688. The five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion was the only rider to break into the 1:30s during qualifying. He was joined on the front row by PJ Jacobsen and Jake Gagne.
Jake Gagne’s lap of 1:29.922 from 2021 is still the Superbike lap record and Gagne also has the race record of 1:29.922 from race two in 2021.
Beaubier, a three-time winner thus far in 2024, has been ruled out of racing this year at Brainerd as he recovers from heel surgery after crashing out of race one at Road America nearly two weeks ago.
This year’s round at Brainerd International Raceway is the fourth straight visit to the Minnesotan racetrack since the series ended a 17-year hiatus in 2021.
Of the six Superbike races held at Brainerd in the MotoAmerica era, Jake Gagne has won four of them. The other two went to Italian Danilo Petrucci in 2022 and PJ Jacobsen in 2023.
MotoAmerica Support Classes
Three Title Battles Are Separated By Just Nine Points, Two Others Less Than 15 Points Apart As Series Heads To Minnesota
All five of the MotoAmerica support classes that will be on display at Brainerd International Raceway, June 14-16, feature tight championship battles with the top two in all five separated by less than 15 points.
The biggest margin is 14 points in the Stock 1000 Championship with Hayden Gillim leading Bryce Prince by two touchdowns. The Supersport series is led by PJ Jacobsen by 12 over Mathew Scholtz and the remaining three classes racing at Brainerd all feature just nine-point margins with Rocco Landers leading Alessandro Di Mario by nine in BellissiMoto Twins Cup, Mathew Chapin ahead of Logan Cunnison by nine in Junior Cup and Troy Herfoss arrives in Minnesota with slim nine-point cushion over Kyle Wyman.
Mission King Of The Baggers – Herfoss vs. Wyman
Two riders have won the eight Mission King Of The Baggers races so far in 2024 and those two are well clear of the rest as the championship chase looks to be a mano a mano fight between S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Troy Herfoss and Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman.
Herfoss leads by nine points heading into the two races at Brainerd with the series stopping again at a racetrack that the Australian has never seen. So far, however, it hasn’t been a problem as the three-time Australian Superbike Champion has proven to be a quick study with four wins and four second-place finishes to start his rookie season. Herfoss will be doing double duty this weekend at Brainerd as he will ride a Tylers Cycle Racing BMW in the Steel Commander Superbike races as a fill-in rider for the injured Cameron Beaubier.
Wyman, on the other hand, has three top-five finishes in the three previous races held at BIR, including a runner-up finish in 2022.
Herfoss’ teammate Tyler O’Hara is third in the 2024 championship but sits 69 points behind the points leader. Wyman’s teammate James Rispoli is fourth, a further 19 points behind, and RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson’s defending King Of The Baggers Champion Hayden Gillim is fifth and seven points behind Rispoli.
BellissiMoto Twins Cup – Landers On Top
RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki’s Rocco Landers had every reason to leave Road America a happy young man. Landers not only won the second of two BellissiMoto Twins Cup races, but he also showed that he can race in the rain after finishing second in the downpour that was race one.
Oh, yes, and he’s also now leading the championship point standings over the up-and-coming Alessandro Di Mario and his Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering Aprilia RS 660 by nine points, 135-126.
Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing’s Dominic Doyle, one of five riders to win a race so far in 2024, is third in the title chase, 25 points behind Landers.
Di Mario’s teammate Gus Rodio got off to a flying start in the 2024 championship with two wins, a second and a third to start the season. Since then, it’s gone a bit south for the New Jersian with two non-finishes at Road America pushing him back to fourth in the championship and 26 points behind Landers. Rodio will be looking to rebound at Brainerd.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Rossi Moor had his best weekend of the season at Road America, and it moved him to fifth in the championship. He’s just two points ahead of TopPro Racing’s Avery Dreher, who like Landers, Di Mario, Doyle and Rodio is a 2024 race winner.
Junior Cup – Chapin By Nine
The third championship that features just a nine-point gap from first to second is Junior Cup where Matthew Chapin leads Logan Cunnison by nine points after six races.
Speed Demon Racing’s Chapin has won three of the six races so far and that has him nine points ahead of Bartcon Racing’s Cunnison, who has two race wins to his credit. The difference between the two goes back to Road Atlanta when Chapin splashed his way to seventh in the rain while Cunnison was a non-finisher.
New York Safety Track Racing Yandel Medina was sailing along nicely and led the championship heading into Road America, but he struggled to 10th and ninth-place finishes in the two races and it’s dropped him to third in the title chase and 15 points behind Chapin.
Bartcon Racing’s Eli Block has two podium finishes and sits fourth in the championship, four points ahead of BPM’s Isaac Woodworth.
Supersport – A Superbike Battle In Supersport
PJ Jacobsen and Mathew Scholtz have both won MotoAmerica Superbike races and both consider themselves Superbike racers. As they should. But the fact that they are now doing battle at the front of the Supersport Championship is a bonus for the class and for the younger, like Blake Davis and Tyler Scott, who have the opportunity to learn from two of the best.
Separated by just 12 points, it seems inevitable that Jacobsen and Scholtz will take the championship battle to the bitter end. The question is if those behind them in the title chase can start to gain ground and make it more than a two-rider battle.
Between them, Jacobsen & Scholtz (sounds like a law firm) have won five of the six races and the closest to them is N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s Blake Davis, the youngster with a runner-up finish to Jacobsen in the series opener at Road Atlanta as his early season highlight. Davis is 65 points behind Jacobsen.
Veteran Jake Lewis is fourth heading to Brainerd with the Kentuckian landing on the podium twice so far in 2024. Lewis is tied for fourth with TopPro Racing’s Maxi Gerardo and is just one point ahead of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott.
Scott is hot off his first victory of the year at Road America when he beat out Scholtz and Jacobsen in a photo finish. Scott is 61 points behind with two big crashes putting him out of two point-scoring opportunities.
Stock 1000 – 39 Is Fine
Thirty-nine riders will attempt to qualify for the two Stock 1000 races at Brainerd International Raceway and Real Steel Motorsports Hayden Gillim is atop the championship with two wins in two starts in 2024.
Gillim was picture-perfect in the late-starting Stock 1000 Championship opener at Barber Motorsports Park with two runaway victories on his Honda CBR1000RR-R SP. Those two wins put him 14 points clear of BPR Racing’s Bryce Prince, with the Californian returning to a full season and beginning his year with two podium finishes on his Yamaha YZF-R1M.
Third in the title chase heading to Brainerd is AMD Motorsport RK Racing’s Richard Kerr with the Irishman eighth and fourth in the two races in Alabama. Kerr is tied with Orange Cat Racing’s Jayson Uribe, another returning to run a full season of Stock 1000 racing.
Just a point behind Kerr and Uribe is GMR/Jones Honda’s Gabriel Da Silva who was second to Gillim in race one at Barber, but suffered a mechanical that took him out of race two. He is 30 points adrift of Gillim, the defending class champion.
Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates, BPR Racing’s Wyatt Farris and FLO4LAW Racing’s Benjamin Smith are covered by just four points with three riders tied for ninth – Visit Indiana/Tom Wood Powersports’ Nolan Lamkin, Orange Cat Racing’s Travis Wyman and BPR Racing’s Deion Campbell.
Pre-Race Brainerd Support Notes…
Hayden Gillim and Bobby Fong won the two Mission King Of The Baggers races last year at Brainerd International Raceway. Gillim beat Fong to win race one with Fong reversing the order in race two. James Rispoli was third in race one with Tyler O’Hara filling the podium in race two.
In Supersport action a year ago, Josh Hayes and Tyler Scott split wins with Hayes topping Rocco Landers and Scott in race one with Scott winning a day later over Hayes and Landers.
Hayden Gillim did the double in 2023 in the Stock 1000 class at BIR with the Kentuckian winning both races over Minnesota native Kaleb De Keyrel. Travis Wyman was third in race one with Benjamin Smith taking that spot in race two.
The two wins in the Junior Cup class a season ago at BIR went to Rossi Moor and Levi Badie with those two flipping the order in race two with Badie first and Moor second. Hayden Bicknese and Jayden Fernandez rounded out the podium in the two races.
The BellissiMoto Twins Cup didn’t compete at Brainerd International Raceway last year, but the twins will run two races this weekend.
With his first career Supersport win coming in race one at Barber Motorsports Park, Mathew Scholtz became the 20th rider to win a MotoAmerica Supersport race. The all-time MotoAmerica Supersport win leader is JD Beach with 32 career victories in the class. Two riders, Garrett Gerloff and Sean Dylan Kelly, are tied for second with 19 career wins in the class.
With every victory he scores in the BellissiMoto Twins Cup class, Rocco Landers pulls farther way on the all-time win list for the class. Landers has won 17 Twins Cup races—seven more than Kaleb De Keyrel.
With his two wins to open the Stock 1000 season at Barber Motorsports Park, Hayden Gillim took over as the all-time win leader in the class with 13 victories. He passed Corey Alexander, who sits on 12 wins but now races in the Supersport class.
How To Watch MotoAmerica Superbikes at Brainerd
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