MotoAmerica Superbike Championship 2024
Atlanta Road – Friday
All five MotoAmerica classes took place at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta overnight, with the event serving as the opening round for the Steel Commander Superbike, Supersport and Junior Cup categories.
Mission King Of The Baggers and BellissiMoto Twins Cup rivals kicked off their season with the Twins race at Daytona, while the Baggers had two circuits, Daytona and last weekend’s battle alongside MotoGP at COTA.
supercar
Warhorse Ducati’s Josh Herrin topped the opening qualifying session ahead of the final qualifying round on Saturday morning.
Three-time MotoAmerica Superbike champion and defending champion Jake Gagne was second fastest, just 0.096 seconds behind Herrin’s best.
Herrin’s teammate Loris Baz was third fastest ahead of Wrench Yamaha’s Bobby Fong.
Superbike rookie Sean Dylan Kelly had an impressive first day on the TopPro Racing BMW M 1000 RR, the 2021 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion finishing fifth fastest.
Gagne’s attacking performance Yamaha teammate Cameron Petersen was sixth fastest, ahead of five-time champion Cameron Beaubier, who finished the day seventh on his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000 RR. Beaubier lost a lot of time after his crash early in the session.
Beaubier’s teammate JD Beach finished eighth in the first qualifying session in the BMW.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki teammates Richie Escalante and Brandon Paasch rounded out the top 10.
Top 10 supercars Q1
- Josh Herrin – Ducati 1m24.627s
- Jake Gagne – Yamaha +0.096s
- Loris Baz – Ducati +0.160s
- Bobby Fong – Yamaha +0.371s
- Sean Kelly – BMW +0.448 seconds
- Cameron Petersen – Yamaha +0.494s
- Cameron Beaubier – BMW +0.619 seconds
- JD Beach – BMW +0.793 seconds
- Richie Escalante – Suzuki +1,092s
- Brandon Paasch – Suzuki +1,264s
Baggers King Mission
SDI/Roland Sands Racing/Indian Motorcycle’s Bobby Fong led Friday’s Mission King Of The Baggers qualifying session with a new lap record at Road Atlanta of 1:29.528. The 33-year-old will be pulling double duty this weekend as he also races the Superbike class on a Yamaha.
Second fastest on the opening day was Troy Herfoss, the S&S/Indian Motorcycle-backed Australian rider, just 0.192 seconds off Fong’s best on his first visit to Road Atlanta.
Championship points leader Kyle Wyman was third fastest on the factory Harley-Davidson, despite crashing in the 10-A class early in the session. Wyman’s best was 0.265 seconds slower than Fong’s.
Defending Mission King Of The Baggers champion Hayden Gillim was fourth fastest, several tenths faster than rookie classmate Rocco Landers. Gillim also races Superbike this weekend, while Landers also pulls double duty while taking part in the Twins Cup.
The session was a bit confusing because Kyle Wyman wasn’t the only one who failed. He was joined in the 10-A gravel meet not only by teammate James Rispoli but also by brother Travis Wyman. Tyler O’Hara was also a loser during the session.
Mission King Of The Baggers Q1 Top 10
- Bobby Fong – India 1m29.528s
- Troy Herfoss – Indian +0.192 seconds
- Kyle Wyman – HD +0.265s
- Hayden Gillim – HD +0.824s
- Rocco lander – HD +1.105s
- Tyler O’Hara – Indian +1,208s
- Max Flinders – Indian +1.641 seconds
- Kyle Ohnsorg – Indian +1,653s
- James Rispoli – HD +1,707s
- Jake Lewis – HD +3.339s
Super sporty
Of the three Supersport riders on the Rahal Ducati Moto team, Corey Alexander enters the 2024 season with the least fanfare. On Friday afternoon, Alexander let his riding do the talking as he emerged from a 43-rider field with the fastest lap to take the provisional pole position at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Alexander led with a 1:28.912, just 0.225 seconds faster than the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki Tyler Scott and 0.334 seconds faster than his teammate PJ Jacobsen, with those three occupying the provisional front row.
Top 10 Supersport Q1
- Corey Alexander – Ducati 1m28.912s
- Tyler Scott – Suzuki +0.225 seconds
- PJ Jacobsen – Ducati +0.334s
- Blake Davis – Yamaha +0.489s
- Stefano Mesa – Kawasaki +0.522 seconds
- Teagg Hobbs – Suzuki +0.635 seconds
- Max Gerardo – Suzuki +0.741 seconds
- David Anthony – Suzuki +0.787s
- Jake Lewis – Suzuki +0.868 seconds
- Roberto Tamburinin – MV +1,343s
Youth Cup
Yandel Medina showed that he is ready for the new season of Junior Cup racing with the New Yorker leading the way on Friday to claim provisional pole position on the New York Safety Track Racing Kawasaki Ninja 400.
Medina passed in 1:42.976 to lead BARTCON Racing’s Eli Block by 0.765 seconds and defending class champion Avery Dreher finished third with a lap of 1:43.768.
Top 10 Youth Cup Q1
- Yandel Medina 1m42.976
- Eli block +0.765 seconds
- Avery Dreher +0.792 seconds
- Trenton Keesee +0.983 seconds
- Logan Cunnison +1.128 seconds
- Ryan Wolfe +1,309s
- Matthew Chapin +1,498s
- Isaac Woodworth +1.756 seconds
- Jayden Fernandez +2,727s
- Ella Dreher +3.814 seconds
BellissiMoto Twin Cup
RevZilla/Vance & Hines Suzuki’s Rocco Landers put his new Suzuki GSX-8R into provisional pole position in the BellissiMoto Twins Cup class at Road Atlanta on Friday afternoon with a best of 1:33.150.
Landers, the all-time wins leader in the Twins Cup class, led Suzuki’s Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki Rossi Moor by 0.610 seconds for Suzuki by one-and-a-half.
Daytona winner and championship leader Gus Rodio was third fastest in his Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering Aprilia and was 0.665 seconds off Landers’ best.
Giaccomoto Yamaha Racing’s Dominic Doyle and Rodio’s teammate Alessandro Di Mario rounded out the top five going into Saturday’s Q2 session.
Top 10 BellissiMoto Twins Cup Q1
- Rocco Landers – Suzuki 1m33.150s
- Rossi Moor – Suzuki +0.610s
- Gus Rodio – Aprilia +0.625 seconds
- Dominic Doyle – Yamaha +1,045s
- Alessandro Di Mario – Aprilia +1,594s
- Jack Roach – Yamaha +2,737s
- Avery Dreher – Aprilia +2,970s
- Romeo Chiavini – Aprilia +4.735s
- Ray Hofman – Aprilia +4,948s
- Giacomo Manera – Aprilia +5,344s
