Superbike Race One
In one of the closest qualifying sessions in recent memory, Benjamin Smith claimed the pole position for Saturday’s Quad Lock Superbike Race 1 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where he piloted his Warhorse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law machine to a blistering 1:24.070 lap around the 2.4-mile circuit to secure the top spot, followed by 11 class riders that registered laps within the 1:24s.
Like much of the 2026 season, nothing was guaranteed and from the early stages Saturday’s race appeared to promise rain, and lap times suggested it could have been anyone’s race, as class leaders bounced between the front of the field to beyond the top 10 from Friday to Saturday.
When the lights went out, what unraveled was a race that featured three different leaders and razor-thin margins, and ended with Sean Dylan Kelly piloting his OrangeCat Racing BMW to a hard-fought third win, and ninth podium of the 2026 season.
The race began with a front row led by Smith, who had grabbed pole by a mere .005 of a second over SDK, and that qualifying intensity carried directly into the race as the lights went out. SDK grabbed the early advantage, leading the first two laps before pole-sitter Smith surged ahead on lap three. Smith held the lead through lap seven, fending off a charging pack that refused to let him escape.
The momentum shifted on lap eight when Bobby Fong, riding for Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing, took over at the front. Fong appeared to be the man to beat, setting the fastest lap of the race—a 1:24.770—while leading the field through the middle stages. However, SDK remained within striking distance, eventually reclaiming the lead on Lap 14 and holding firm until the checkered flag.
Fong secured second place, while his teammate JD Beach completed a strong day for the Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing squad by finishing third. Smith, after leading early, eventually crossed the line in fourth, followed closely by his Warhorse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law teammate, Loris Baz, in fifth.
Further down the order, Mathew Scholtz (Strack Racing) took sixth, while Hayden Gillim (Real Steel Honda) and Richie Escalante (M4 ECSTAR Suzuki) finished seventh and eighth respectively. Jayson Uribe (OrangeCat Racing) and PJ Jacobsen (Rahal Ducati Moto with XPEL) rounded out the top 10 in a field that saw high-paced action from start to finish.
SDK adds nine points to his championship lead (197) over Beach (177), as Scholtz falls further back (168) after today’s result. The three riders each have three wins this season as they enter Race 2 tomorrow at Mid-Ohio.
Superbike Cup Race One
In the Superbike Cup, Andrew Lee took top honors with a 13th-place overall finish on his Real Steel Honda. Following Lee was Kaleb DeKeyrel, who secured second in the category and 15th overall aboard his Orange Cat Racing BMW in his 2026 Superbike Cup debut. Deion Campbell rounded out the Superbike Cup top three, finishing 16th overall on the BPR Racing Yamaha. Lee increased his lead to a commanding 87 points over Carl Soltisz (Super Carl Racing 57 Rider Development).
Quad Lock Superbike Race 1
1. Sean Dylan Kelly (BMW)
2. Bobby Fong (Yamaha)
3. JD Beach (Yamaha)
4. Benjamin Smith (Ducati)
5. Loris Baz (Ducati)
6. Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)
7. Hayden Gillim (Honda)
8. Richie Escalante (Suzuki)
9. Jayson Uribe (BMW)
10. PJ Jacobsen (Ducati)
Superbike Cup
- Andrew Lee (Honda)
- Kaleb DeKeyrel (BMW)
- Deion Campbell (Yamaha)
Supersport Race One
The rain held off Saturday morning, giving Supersport riders a dry Q2 session to improve their lap time and Josh Herrin made the most of it, stealing pole position away from Friday’s fastest qualifier, Josh Hayes. Herrin took the top spot with Kayla Yaakov slotting into second ahead of Hayes, pushing the four-time Superbike champion back to third on the grid to round out the front row.
Points leader Darryn Binder qualified fourth.
In Race 1 Herrin took the lead immediately from pole, and Binder moved up to second by Lap 2. At Lap 3, the pair had built a one-second gap over Hayes in third, with Yaakov running fourth early while nursing a stitched middle finger on her left hand.
On Lap 4, Binder passed Herrin, and the Supersport pole-sitter passed him back through the esses — but the jockeying for position allowed the four-time Superbike champion to close on the leaders and settle into a rhythm of low 1-minute-27-second lap times.
As the points leader led the pack into Turn 6, Herrin passed him on the inside, pushing Binder slightly off his line before the esses. That opened a brief opportunity for Hayes to pass for second, but Binder reclaimed the spot a few corners later, and the top three separated by about a second from one another. With three laps to go, Binder and Herrin pulled away again, leaving the veteran to settle for third.
On the final lap, Herrin led until Turn 6, Binder beat him to the inside under braking and took the lead for good. Herrin made one last attempt exiting the final corner, nearly drawing even, but the points leader held on for his sixth win of the season by just 0.05 seconds, extending his points advantage to 14 above Herrin. BPR Racing Yamaha’s Josh Hayes rounded out the podium, 12.236 seconds behind the leader. Kayla Yaakov finished P4 and retains third in points, 93 marks adrift.
Mission King Of The Baggers Challenge and Race One
The Bagger class completed Q2, setting the starting grid for the subsequent Bagger Challenge and Race 1. The front row was formed by J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Factory Indian teammates Hayden Gillim, capturing the pole, and Troy Herfoss in second. Two-time and defending Bagger champion Kyle Wyman, of Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing, rounded out the front row.
In the Bagger Challenge, riders lined up for a two-lap sprint for a chance at $5,000 courtesy of series sponsor Mission Foods. Australian rider Herfoss took the win, followed by the defending champion in second and Gillim rounding out the challenge podium.
As Race 1 began, New York native Wyman jumped out to the early lead with Herfoss and Gillim in tow. The advantage was short-lived: just two laps in, while leading, the defending champion swapped into a tank-slapper exiting Turn 13, bringing out the red flag. The misfortune for the factory Harley-Davidson squad didn’t end there — on the ensuing sighting lap, Wyman’s teammate Bradley Smith also crashed his Factory H-D Road Glide, requiring a second red-flag stoppage to clear oil from the track and repair the airfence. Both riders posted a DNF in Race 1.
After a lengthy delay, Bagger riders returned to the grid for a third time, now for a five-lap sprint race. The Australian Herfoss jumped out to the early lead ahead of Gillim and the rest of the field. Gillim made quick work of his Indian stablemate, and the two broke away into their own race. Behind them, a three-way battle developed for the final podium spot between Big Diehl x Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s James Rispoli, SDI Racing’s Tyler O’Hara and another J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Factory Indian machine, with Rocco Landers at the controls.
By the end of the shortened race, Gillim had built a 3.3-second gap over Herfoss to take the Race 1 victory and extend his points lead to. Rispoli finished third after holding off a charging Landers in fourth, with O’Hara rounding out the top five.
Twins Cup Race One
The “two-banger” class continued their first ever weekend at Mid-Ohio with Q2 and Race 1. After Q2, times were combined to set the final starting order, trimming the 44 total entries from Friday to the fastest 36. Robem Engineering’s Hank Vossberg’s lap-record time from Friday held up for the pole, with M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Mathew Chapin and Yamaha BLU CRU Estenson Racing’s Sam Drane rounding out the front row.
Twins Cup Race 1 faced the greatest threat of rain all day. Even with a few sprinkles on camera lenses during the sighting lap and light rain falling in parts of the track, riders started the race on Dunlop slicks. As the field appeared to tiptoe around the course on the first lap — many riders seemingly limiting lean angle to feel out the grip level — M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Bodie Paige felt confident enough to drop the hammer at the final corner, passing Vossberg and jumping out to a lead of more than four seconds by Lap 2. Behind him, a five-rider group fought for the final podium spots over the closing laps: Chapin, Vossberg, Karns/TST Industries Racing’s Isaac Woodworth and Drane picked up the pace as the track began to offer more grip.
The chase group closed a gap of more than six seconds on the leader, and by the final lap, Vossberg and Chapin had pulled within half a second of Paige — but ran out of time. Paige took the win over his teammate, with points leader Vossberg rounding out the podium.
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship Race One
BPR Racing Yamaha teammates Bryce Kornbau and Andy DiBrino locked out the front row for the second straight round, separated by just seven-tenths of a second. Rodio Racing’s Gus Rodio completed the front row as the last rider to register a time in the 1-minute-28-second range.
In Race 1, the front-row trio immediately established themselves as the lead pack, with Kornbau out front, DiBrino in second and Rodio in third. The pair of Yamaha’s and the single Ducati rider built a two-second gap over the chasing pack within the first two laps. ARCH Motorcycle Racing’s Corey Alexander pursued the leaders from fourth, with a four-rider train challenging him for the position.
By the halfway point, Kornbau had set a new race lap record of 1:28.203 and consistently turned laps in the 1-minute-28-second range while the rest of the field ran in the minute-29s or slower. He led every lap to take the win by 1.4 seconds over his teammate, with Rodio rounding out the podium, 1.6 seconds behind the leader.
Kornbau and DiBrino are now tied atop the points standings with 143 points apiece. Rodio sits 10 points behind them in third.
Royal Enfield Build.Train.Race. Race One
Jasmine Noelle took the Race 1 victory in Build.Train.Race. action at Mid-Ohio, clinching the 2026 class championship in the process. The 24-year-old polesitter withstood a race-long challenge from Brianna Cutler, who trailed her for the entire eight-lap race. Cutler briefly took the lead in the closing laps after a mistake from the points leader, but with two laps remaining, Noelle worked her way back past Cutler with a smooth move for the lead at Turn 6 and held on to win by 0.7 seconds.
The win gives the New Mexico native a 39-point lead over Tati Paze in the championship standings — Paze finished fourth in Race 1 — with only one race remaining in the season. Brianna Everitt rounded out the podium, crossing the line six seconds behind the leader.
With a maximum of 25 points available in Sunday’s finale, that cushion cements Jasmine Noelle as the 2026 Royal Enfield Build.Train.Race champion.
Friday Superbike
The Quad Lock Superbike class finished day one at Mid-Ohio with Sean Dylan Kelly’s OrangeCat Racing BMW M 1000 RR at the front.
Kelly had to work for the top time, capturing the fastest lap by the narrowest margins in Timed Practice. The points leader ended the session just four-hundredths of a second ahead of Rahal Ducati Moto with XPEL rider PJ Jacobsen, who looked comfortable aboard the 2026 Ducati Panigale V4R.
Warhorse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law rider Loris Baz rounded out the top three.
Baz’s teammate Benjamin Smith and Wrench Motorcycles’ Cameron Petersen, aboard the 2025 model Ducati Panigale V4 R registered matching times of 1:25.130 to slot in 0.387 seconds behind the top time.
The field at Mid-Ohio looks extremely tight based on today’s lap times. Looking all the way back to 10th, there is just over one second between the top nine riders. OrangeCat Racing’s Jayson Uribe finished day one in fifth, ahead of M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante in sixth aboard the GSX-R1000R and Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s JD Beach in seventh on the YZF-R1.
Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz clicked off a 1:25.500 for eighth fastest. The South African, however, has missed track time in each session of the day. In the first practice session, he discovered smoke coming from his Yamaha YZF-R1 during the morning’s Free Practice, cutting that session short. Later, in the timed session, Scholtz missed more valuable track time as the team sorted out the problem further before turning only eight laps.
Rounding out the top riders within a second of the leader’s pace was Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim aboard the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP. Gillim, like Scholtz, will head into tomorrow’s Final Practice with less track time after crashing following his fifth lap, destroying the bike and ending his session early.
In Superbike Cup, Real Steel Honda’s Andrew Lee was once again fastest in the first sessions here in Ohio. The California native set a time of 1:26.621 to take the fastest Cup lap.
Friday Supersport
Supersport Q1 was topped by BPR Racing Yamaha’s Josh Hayes aboard the Yamaha YZF-R9. The 51-year-old, four-time Superbike champion clicked off a blistering 1:27.521, shaving six-tenths off his morning practice time and edging out Rahal Ducati Moto with Desnuda Organic Tequila rider Josh Herrin and his Ducati Panigale V2 by a tenth of a second for provisional pole.
The top three was completed by Kayla Yaakov aboard the Rahal Ducati Moto with Droplight Ducati Panigale V2, four-tenths of a second behind the leader, and the final rider in the minute-27s.
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott finished the first qualifier in fourth, followed by Celtic/Economy Lube + Tire/Warhorse Ducati points leader Darryn Binder in fifth. Strack Racing Yamaha’s Blake Davis sat sixth, with 3D Motorsports’ Aiden Sneed closing out the one-second gap to the leader in seventh.
Friday Mission King Of The Baggers
Mission King Of The Baggers Q1 is in the books, and Hayden Gillim smashed the previous lap record to set provisional pole with a 1:27.245 around the 2.4-mile Ohio circuit. Gillim, from neighboring Kentucky, crashed in the morning practice session, but his J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Factory Indian team got the bike back together in time for Q1. Teammate Troy Herfoss finished four-tenths back in second place.
Behind the leading Factory Indians came Kyle Wyman in third aboard the Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing entry. The two-time King Of The Baggers champion found himself 1.1 seconds off the pace when the red flag came out for Saddlemen Race Development’s Cory West, who crashed entering Turn 2, struck the leading edge of the concrete curbing and sent the bike across the chicane into the path of Turn 3. West would exit the course holding his right wrist. During the stoppage, Wyman’s team went to work making gearing changes to his Factory Harley-Davidson Road Glide.
The two-time and defending Bagger champion pushed to make up time on the leading duo, but the order at the top held. J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Factory Indian’s Rocco Landers and Big Diehl x Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s James Rispoli rounded out the top five heading into Q2.
Friday Twins Cup
The Twins Cup class is making its first-ever appearance at Mid-Ohio this weekend, and the entry list swelled to 44 riders in the welterweight class. With the inaugural trip, current points leader Hank Vossberg wasted no time setting the tone with a 1:29.809 for a new Twins Cup Lap Record aboard his Robem Engineering Aprilia RS 660. The Wisconsin native was followed closely by M4 ECSTAR Suzuki teammates Matthew Chapin and Bodie Paige aboard their Suzuki GSX-8Rs. Chapin closed to within four-tenths of Vossberg by the end of the session, with Paige just over a second off the leader’s pace.
Behind the leaders, Karns/TST Industries Racing rider Isaac Woodworth continued his solid results aboard his Suzuki GSX-8R, claiming fourth ahead of tomorrow’s Q2 session and sitting just over a second off the pace. Yamaha BLU CRU Estenson Racing’s Sam Drane completed the top five aboard his Yamaha YZF-R7, 1.3 seconds back.
Friday Mission Super Hooligan National Championship
The BPR Racing Yamaha MT-09 SPs of teammates Bryce Kornbau and Andy DiBrino took provisional pole and P2, respectively, in this morning’s Q1 session. The duo picked up right where they left off at Laguna and brought Rodio Racing’s Gus Rodio along for the ride to the provisional front row aboard his Ducati Streetfighter V2. Kornbau set a new lap record in the session with a 1:28.187 on his eighth lap.
Behind the front row, rounding out the top five in the first qualifier, were Saddlemen Race Development teammates Jake Lewis (+0.8 seconds) and James Rispoli (+1.1 seconds) aboard their Harley-Davidson Pan America.
Friday Royal Enfield Build.Train.Race.
Jasmine Noelle opened her final weekend of the season with a strong bid for the championship title by taking the top spot in Q1. If the New Mexico native wins B.T.R. Race 1 tomorrow, she will officially clinch the 2026 Royal Enfield Build.Train.Race. championship.
Noelle ripped off a 1:53.038 lap time, three-tenths ahead of second-place Brianna Cutler. The two were the only riders in the minute-53s, and third in points, Bryanna Everitt, rounded out the top three from day one. Fourth fastest was Tati Paze, second in B.T.R. points, who needs to win tomorrow to keep her championship hopes alive into Sunday’s Race 2.
