2024 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship
Laguna Seca
Superbike Race One
If you thought the points race in the 2024 MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike Championship was close coming into the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca round, turns out you were wrong. After Saturday’s opening bout of the weekend it was proper close. How does three points separating the top three sound? That’s what we have with Josh Herrin atop the championship after Saturday by one point over Jake Gagne, who in turn is just one point ahead of his team-mate Cameron Petersen.
So, who among those three won Saturday’s first of two Steel Commander Superbike races at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca? None of them.
The win went to five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier, the rider who is trying to claw back the most points on the lead group in the championship after missing several rounds with a broken heel.
On Saturday, Beaubier was dominant and claw back he did. Going into today’s race, Beaubier trailed Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong by 55 points. Following his fourth win of the season today, Beaubier now trails Herrin by 41 points.
Beaubier beat Herrin to the line by 1.1 seconds, though the margin was much bigger before the slow down and celebration in the final few corners.
Herrin had his hands full with Petersen for most of the race, but the South African had jumped the start and incurred a five-second penalty. Thus, Herrin was never in any real danger of losing the spot. The second place was Herrin’s sixth podium of the season, and it moved him into the points lead, albeit by just a point.
Petersen rode hard and it was enough to give him third place, despite the five-second penalty. At the finish he was seven seconds behind Herrin and some three seconds clear of EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly with the Floridian also fighting through after incurring a five-second jump start penalty.
1. Cameron Beaubier – BMW
2. Josh Herrin – Ducati +1.157s
3. Cameron Petersen – Yamaha +7.079s
Somehow Gagne and his arm-pump issues managed a top-five finish as the three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion continues to garner points despite his physical condition. He is planning on getting surgery following the Laguna Seca weekend. Through all of this, Gagne is just a point behind Herrin in the title battle.
Herrin’s team-mate Loris Baz was sixth, less than a second behind Gagne and well clear of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Xavi Forés, who barely beat his teammate Brandon Paasch to the finish line.
Team Brazil’s Danilo Lewis was ninth and the winner of the Superbike Cup, a class within a class for Stock 1000 spec bikes. Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates rounded out the top 10 and was second in the Superbike Cup.
Notables not finishing the race were Tytlers Cycle Racing’s JD Beach and Wrench Motorcycles’ Fong with both riders crashing out in separate incidents. Fong suffered the most as he lost the lead in the championship and now trails Herrin by 11 points.
Earlier in the day, Beaubier earned pole position with a new lap record in Q2 of 1:22.556 to break Herrin’s record from 2018.
Superbike Race One Top Ten Results
- Cameron Beaubier – BMW
- Josh Herrin – Ducati +1.157s
- Cameron Petersen – Yamaha +7.079s
- Sean Dylan Kelly – BMW +10.632s
- Jake Gagne – Yamaha +13.834s
- Loris Baz – Ducati +14.292s
- Xavi Fores – Suzuki +27.035s
- Brandon Paasch – Suzuki +27.279
- Danilo Lewis – BMW +40.683
- Ashton Yates – Honda +41.069s
Superbike Race Two
A day after Ducati North America inked a five-year extension with the Warhorse HSBK Ducati Racing team to continue as its factory-supported team in the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship, Josh Herrin further enforced that they made the right decision with a victory at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Herrin and his Ducati Panigale V4 R withstood 20 laps of pressure from five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier and EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly to win his third Steel Commander Superbike race of the season at the perfect time as it gives Herrin a 15-point lead heading into the break before the series resumes at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August.
Herrin took over the lead from Beaubier on the third lap and he led every lap after that, defending all of Beaubier’s probes. Kelly also had a go at Herrin, but that didn’t stick, either.
At the finish line the margin of victory was .244 of a second with Beaubier on Herrin’s rear wheel and just ahead of Kelly, who unsuccessfully tried a late-braking move on Beaubier in the final corner.
Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong was also in the mix, finishing fourth and less than a second behind Herrin.
Attack Performance/Progressive/Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne was fifth with a slight improvement in his arm-pump problem. The three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion was some seven seconds behind Fong and some two seconds ahead of Herrin’s Warhorse HSBK Ducati teammate Loris Baz.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Xavi Forés barely beat Tytlers Cycle Racing’s JD Beach to the finish line for seventh with Superbike Cup winner Danilo Lewis ninth on the Team Brazil BMW M 1000 RR. FLO4LAW’s Benjamin Smith rounded out the top 10.
Notable non-finishers included Attack Performance/Progressive/Yamaha Racing’s Cameron Petersen who suffered another mechanical failure just when he’d clawed himself back into the championship fight. Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch also failed to finish after crashing out of the race early.
Superbike Race Two Top Ten Results
- Josh Herrin – Ducati
- Cameron Beaubier – BMW +0.244s
- Sean Dylan Kelly – BMW +0.627s
- Bobby Fong – Yamaha +0.933s
- Jake Gagne – Yamaha +7.458s
- Loris Baz – Ducati +9.002s
- Xavi Fores – Suzuki +23.067s
- JD Beach – BMW +23.177s
- Danilo Lewis – BMW +42.157s
- Benjamin Smith – Yamaha +43.817s
Superbike Championship Standings
- Josh Herrin 194
- Jake Gagne 179
- Bobby Fong 171
- Cameron Petersen 167
- Cameron Beaubier 148
- Loris Baz 142
- Sean Dylan Kelly 136
- JD Beach 98
- Brandon Paasch 86
- Xavi Fores 71
Superbike Quotes
Josh Herrin – Winner
“Yeah, super stressful. Who knows how it would have ended up, but with Sean (Dylan Kelly) being there it kind of helped me a little bit because it got Cam a little bit distracted, or probably got his heart rate racing a little bit. He couldn’t just calm down and think about where he wanted to get me because he has to think about who’s behind him also. So, it probably helped me a little bit. I could hear him every lap kind of just testing – I would assume testing where he was going to be able to get me. I tried my hardest on the last lap to protect the lines but also not make the mistake of overprotecting and losing drives. I obviously don’t know what happened behind me, but obviously it worked out. I’m just super happy to get this because it’s huge for the championship. We’ve clawed our way back from a long ways. The team really deserves this. We talked about it yesterday. It’s been 30 years since Ducati has won a championship. That just got me super motivated, especially because (Eraldo) Ferracci is here. I don’t even know how that guy is still going as strong as he is. It’s insane. It’s a huge motivation for me to try to get this win this year for him. Yesterday was like a reset. Like I just got this championship reset. We’re back at square one and I just got to take advantage of it. We have three rounds to go, which seems insane. Just a huge thank you to the entire team. It was just an amazing weekend. I’m really happy.”
Cameron Beaubier – Second Place
“I didn’t quite have the pace I did yesterday at the beginning. We went with the five front today because the three yesterday was moving around a little bit. I felt like that was the better option today. I didn’t quite have the bite I wanted to on the edge of the tire. Regardless, I had a good bike. I just couldn’t pass this guy (Josh Herrin) anywhere. He was super good on the brakes. He was getting out of the last corner really good. One spot I felt really good was going down into two, but I was never close enough to do anything. So, there for a little bit, I was biding my time thinking of where I could get him as the laps went down. He was setting a good pace at the front. Then Sean came by me, and then I had to try to figure out a way around him. Once I got back on Herrin’s wheel, I couldn’t do anything without taking a big lunge and maybe taking us both out. I’m stoked, even though the win was right there. I’m stoked with how I rode this weekend, how my heel felt. I definitely need to go get my butt back in shape. But congrats to these guys. Sean (Dylan Kelly) was riding incredible. Josh was riding incredible all weekend, setting the pace. It’s going to be a tight fight the rest of the year.”
Sean Dylan Kelly – Third Place
“Much better day. I was pretty frustrated with myself after that jump start yesterday. First time I’ve ever jumped a start. I just got eaten up at the start. First lap was really far back. It was a really good day yesterday. Just understanding that I do have the pace to be up front, but you still got to make it happen. I was really focused today on just hitting the marks and getting everything together. I made not the best start, but I made some passes up really early on. Just wanted to be there. I didn’t really want to get stuck with the problems here and there with how I was feeling. I just wanted to be there. I’m really pumped with how I felt on the bike. Finally feel like I’m starting to connect truly how I want to with this BMW. Obviously still so much to learn, but I’m just super pumped, first of all, that I’m up here on the podium with these two guys who obviously have so much experience. I’ve been looking up to these guys for a long time, so to be up here is definitely a dream come true, especially at Laguna. I think it’s obviously just the beginning for me, so I want to keep on building on this. Just thank my whole TopPro Racing team. Thank my sponsors, Only Fans, Palm Beach Police and Fire Foundation. Just my whole crew, my family, everyone that’s out here. I’m super pumped to bring this podium to them.”
King of the Baggers Race One
The Mission King Of The Baggers Championship returned to the track where the hugely popular race series began in 2021: WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Saturday’s final qualifying and three-lap Challenge portended things to come as Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman earned the pole with a record lap and won the $5000 in the winner-take-all dash for cash. Wyman was having a good day. Then, it got even better. The New Yorker notched his fifth win of the year and his 25th all-time AMA/MotoAmerica victory of his career with a dominant start-to-finish performance where he was never headed.
Wyman’s win enabled him to leap-frog over championship leader Troy Herfoss and take the points lead. Herfoss crashed his S&S/Indian Motorcycle and, while he managed to get back in the race, he finished 11th.
Rounding out the podium were RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines teammates Rocco Landers and Hayden Gillim with young upstart Landers taking advantage of a late-race bobble by veteran Gillim to overtake him and finish second to Gillim’s third-place result.
“We’ve done a really nice job this week,” Wyman said. “The whole team has worked super hard to get me comfortable and keep chipping away at it. Try to start fast and continue from there. It’s been really good. I haven’t had a race like this this year, where I could get out front and control the pace like I have in years past. So, it feels really, really good to get that kind of up my sleeve for 2024. It’s definitely confidence-inspiring to go wire to wire. That’s the kind of momentum I want to carry on throughout the rest of the season and just be smart about it and have a plan and be patient. That’s where my approach is, at the moment.”
King of the Baggers Race One
- Kyle Wyman – HD
- Rocco Landers – HD +2.666s
- Hayden Gillim – HD +3.426s
- Bobby Fong – Indian +7.727s
- James Rispoli – HD +14.775s
- Max Flinders – Indian +20.292s
- Tyler O’Hara – Indian +20.601s
- Jake Lewis – HD +28.491s
- Travis Wyman – HD +39.128s
- Ruben Xaus – HD +50.600s
- Troy Herfoss – Indian +73.623s
- Danny Spina – HD +1 lap
King of the Baggers Race Two
Sunday’s race two winner was defending Mission King Of The Baggers Champion Hayden Gillim who battled it out with polesitter and current points leader Kyle Wyman, who got the holeshot and led the first two laps until Gillim overtook him on lap three. Wyman retook the lead again on lap six, but Gillim once again got by Wyman and held the position to the finish line.
Gillim’s team-mate and King Of The Baggers rookie Rocco Landers made another charge to the front like he did on Saturday. Starting back in seventh on the grid, he methodically passed riders as the laps wound down and overtook S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Troy Herfoss on the final lap to complete the podium and notch a 1-3 finish for RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson.
“Whenever we get on any bike, it’s all or nothing,” said Gillim. “That’s why we’re on these things. That’s why we’re on the teams that we’re on. Nobody is coming out here to just show up. Everybody is coming out here to win. That’s how we are, too. That’s why not winning or not even being able to really fight for the win yesterday was so frustrating for me. Now we’re getting back to where we should have been at the beginning of the season. I’m able to actually fight and be there with these guys. It’s been challenging. We’ve had some ups and downs. It’s good. This is the first time I’ve had to fight for the win. I’m really happy about it. This is the first time I’ve had to battle and actually take a win from somebody. At Brainerd, I was feeling really good and was able to kind of get away. It’s nice to have those wins, but these are a lot of fun. I’m really happy. The whole team is just working their butts off trying everything they can possibly do on the off weekends. I’m really grateful to be here and to be able to ride multiple classes and to be at the front in most of the classes I’m in. It’s going really good. I got some sleep last night, so I’m a little happier today.”
King of the Baggers Race Two Results
- Hayden Gillim – HD
- Kyle Wyman – HD +0.118s
- Rocco Landers – HD +6.392s
- Troy Herfoss – Indian +6.629s
- James Rispoli – HD +6.927s
- Tyler O’Hara – Indian +10.332s
- Travis Wyman – HD +27.508s
- Jake Lewis – HD +34.068s
- Danny Spina – HD +1 lap
King of the Baggers Challenge
- Kyle Wyman – HD
- Rocco Landers – HD +1.477s
- Troy Herfoss – Indian +4.758s
DNF – Hayden Gillim
DNF – James Rispoli
DNF – Bobby Fong
King of the Baggers Championship Points
- Kyle Wyman 237
- Troy Herfoss 223
- Hayden Gillim 176
- Tyler O’Hara 161
- James Rispoli 130
- Rocco Landers 106
- Max Flinders 99
- Jake Lewis 84
- Cory West 81
- Bobby Fong 66
Super Hooligans Race One
Although it’s somewhat hard to believe, defending Mission Super Hooligan National Championship Champion Tyler O’Hara had yet to win a race in 2024 when the series rolled on to the Monterey Peninsula. But that streak was snapped on Saturday with his first victory of the season coming at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
The race was wild and somewhat sloppy with five riders battling for victory with that win ultimately going to O’Hara and his S&S/Indian FTR by .206 of a second over Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson’s Cory West after a ferocious last-lap battle.
KWR Harley-Davidson’s Hayden Schultz earned his second podium of the season with his third-place finish on his Pan America. Schultz had put a hard pass on O’Hara’s teammate Troy Herfoss in the final corner that also allowed Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson’s Jake Lewis to beat the Australian to the flag.
“These short races, they kept getting shorter and shorter,” O’Hara said. “We kept going. We kept doing restarts and red flag. Trying to take care of my clutch and not fire the clutch. Just get out there and get out front and control the pace. Having a plan in these races doesn’t work. You got to just use your instinct and go for it. We got our strengths. To be honest, I feel like the bike is running awesome. It can turn on a dime. I can put it anywhere I want. I got a string of podiums. I’m scoring points. I got a lot of momentum right now. I’m really enjoying riding. I’m working with my passion and I’m enjoying it. I’ve also been working my ass off, too. My team has been working really hard as well, and they deserve this. I think we put in the effort. This one is my team. Shout out to my dad. It’s his birthday. He’s been battling the flu and some stuff, so he couldn’t make it. He’s my biggest fan. He has always believed in me and supports me. That’s a big part of racing is the support system away from the track. It’s been a while since I won. I’ve had to dig deep and work for this. These guys made a big step this year. It’s a lot of fun. Cory (West) is an awesome guy to race with. We race each other hard. We race each other clean. We’re rubbing, but rubbing is racing. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I enjoy it. To get the trophy from Scott Parker (multi-time AMA Grand National Champion) is special. I named my first son after Scott Parker – Parker O’Hara. So that was the icing on the cake. Get a picture with Wayne. My whole SNS Cycle, Indian Motorcycle team, Mission Foods, everybody that supports us. Paul Langley, thank you for believing in me and giving me the opportunity five years ago when we came here on the King of the Baggers and prolonged my career. I’m really enjoying it. I’m really hungry. We had a lot of adversity this weekend in the other class. We’re just going to keep fighting. We never give up. It’s a long season. I think he was having some issues with his bike off the start. I don’t know what was going on. I saw him working on it during the red flag. His bike kind of intermittent was missing shifts or something. I kind of didn’t want to follow him really because it was intermittent. But they made a big step, and it makes it fun. Two manufacturers, three, four manufacturers going for it. The depth is there. But I think we’ve worked really hard for this, and I think we deserve it.”
Super Hooligans Race One Top Ten
- Tyler O’Hara – Indian
- Cory West – HD +0.206s
- Hayden Schultz – HD +0.591s
- Jake Lewis – HD +0.717s
- Troy Herfoss – Indian +1.579s
- Travis Wyman – HD +6.628s
- Cody Wyman – HD +7.011s
- Stefano Mesa – ENE +12.423s
- Hawk Mazzotta – Indian +23.637s
- Kole King – Triumph +33.461s
Super Hooligans Race Two
The MotoAmerica Superbike Speedfest concluded with race two of the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship, and it was a fitting way to wrap up an exciting weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Super Hooligan is an eclectic race class with 10 different makes of motorcycles making up the grid. However, like the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship, Super Hooligan has evolved into an epic battle between Indian Motorcycle and Harley-Davidson.
On Sunday, it was The Motor Company that prevailed with Saddlemen/ Harley-Davidson rider Cory West getting the victory that eluded him in Saturday’s race. The win was a dominant one for West, who started from the pole and led every one of the eight laps to take the checkered flag.
The second step on the podium was occupied by West’s teammate Jake Lewis. For West and Lewis, they were joyous about giving their Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson team a one-two finish. Third place went to Saturday’s winner Tyler O’Hara, with the S&S/Indian Motorcycle rider coming into Laguna, and also leaving Laguna, with the points lead.
“Yesterday getting second, that one stung,” West said. “It was a little bit of a mistake on my part coming out of the front straightaway. We made a little change to the bike this morning that made it feel a lot better. This is my first time ever starting on pole position, and I just wanted to make the most of it. Put my head down, got a good start, and just had clear track and tried to get into a rhythm. I have a tendency to look back a lot, and I just told myself, just don’t look back. Hammered out a few laps. Looked at my lap timer once and saw 28.9 and was just like, ‘Hell yeah, let’s just keep this going.’ Was clicking off low 29’s consistent. Couldn’t help myself. About four or five laps in, I took a little peek back out of turn four and there was nobody there. I about crapped myself. I was like, ‘Okay, here we go!’ Just tried to stay consistent. Was starting to get a little bit of front-end movement down into two. Was just trying to keep the rhythm, keep going, try not to worry. The white flag was flying, and I got down into two, and I totally tucked the front and chattered it real hard and saved it. I was just like, ‘If you crash this thing on the last lap, you’re an idiot.’ I just hit my marks. I was already into traffic. So, I just wanted to be the first one to them. Got through it all right. Came out onto the front straightaway, and it was smooth sailing. Big shout out to the Saddlemen guys. Those dudes have really, really long days when they’re here at the racetrack. They put together some great bikes. We’ve got a bunch of good sponsors on board this year. It’s just awesome to get another win.”
Super Hooligans Race Two Top Ten
- Cory West – HD
- Jake Lewis – HD +1.137s
- Tyler O’Hara – Indian +1.396s
- Cody Wyman – HD +1.717s
- Troy Herfoss – Indian +2.656s
- Hayden Schultz – HD +3.246s
- Travis Wyman – HD +15.796s
- Hawk Mazzotta – Indian +30.350s
- Kole King – Triumph +43.082s
- AJ Peaslee – KTM +47.606s
Super Hooligans Championship Standings
- Tyler O’Hara 110
- Cory West 102
- Cody Wyman 86
- Jake Lewis 78
- Troy Herfoss 71
- Hayden Schultz 65
- Hawk Mazzotta 56
- Travis Wyman 49
- Stefano Mesa 29
- Jordan Eubanks 29
Supersport Race One
For the majority of Saturday’s Supersport race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, it appeared as though Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz was closing in on his seventh race win of the season. But Rahal Ducati Moto’s PJ Jacobsen had other ideas.
With just a few laps to go in the race, Scholtz was circulating about as comfortably as you can with a lead that was always just a bit under a second. But things changed in the Corkscrew when the South African encountered a lapped rider right in the middle of the track. Scholtz made his way through, but Jacobsen was suddenly locked in on his rear wheel.
On the next lap, Jacobsen made an unexpected move in turn six, a corner not known as a passing spot. From there he put his head down and gapped Scholtz, who started making mistakes while trying to close back in on the New Yorker.
N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s Blake Davis made a return to the podium with his third-place finish, his first since the Barber Motorsports round back in May.
Altus Motorsports’ Jake Lewis ended up forth, just a second clear of TopPro Racing’s Maxi Gerardo.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott’s miserable season continued as a mechanical problem knocked him out of the race before it even started. Scott is the only rider other than Scholtz and Jacobsen to win a Supersport race in 2024.
“I was sitting behind him for most of the race,” Jacobsen said. “I felt quite comfortable, but our pace I thought was very good. We were consistently doing 27.0 to 26.8. It was always one, two tenths. You’re going around Laguna, one or two tenths every lap is a lot. So, to make a small mistake or if you get backing in, or a small movement from the rear coming off the corner, let the other guy get away quickly. So, I feel like it kind of shows here a bit more at Laguna when you make a mistake because we’re so close in the lap times. So, it’s very difficult. We’re on the edge and the lap time is just consistently the same. But when that guy went down the Corkscrew, he kind of backed up (Mathew) Scholtz back to me. I feel like I was there, but then it seemed like I don’t know if he slowed down at that point because of grip issues or what, or if I went faster. I’m not really sure, but it seemed like I was able to then latch onto him again. Then I saw the whole race at turn six that he was struggling quite a bit. Now he knows for tomorrow. But it was a great overtake. The last two laps when I passed him, I felt like I just had to push. But I didn’t have too much grip, either. I feel like he was really killing me off of that turn two. So, we have to work on that as a team tonight, and also the last corner as well. Just too much spin off the bike. So, we need to go back and do our homework. They’ll do their homework. I’m sure the race pace will be even a bit faster tomorrow and even another crazy race.”
Supersport Race One Top Ten
- PJ Jacobsen – Ducati
- Mathew Scholtz – Yamaha +0.772s
- Blake Davis – Yamaha +17.495s
- Jake Lewis – Suzuki +20.036s
- Maxi Gerardo – Suzuki +21.313s
- Corey Alexander – Ducati +22.355s
- Stefano Mesa – Kawasaki +22.392s
- Kayla Yaakov – Ducati +28.675s
- David Anthony – Suzuki +29.082s
- Roberto Tamburini – MV +38.162s
Supersport Race Two
Sunday’s Supersport race was a near carbon copy of Saturday’s race with PJ Jacobsen hounding Mathew Scholtz for nearly the duration only to find a way past the championship leader and win for the second straight day.
For the second straight day, Jacobsen’s pass for the victory came in a place not known for passing. On Saturday it was in turn six. On Sunday, it was in turn 10 on the final lap and it caught Scholtz by surprise as Jacobsen shot up the inside after a great drive out of Rainey Curve. By then it was over.
Jacobsen’s two wins pulled him closer to Scholtz in the championship with a gain of 10 points. He now trails Scholtz by 18 points.
For the second straight day, Blake Davis finished third on his N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha YZF-R6. Rahal Ducati Moto’s Corey Alexander was fourth with Stefano Mesa finishing fifth on his Tytlers Cycle Racing Kawasaki ZX6R.
“This racing thing, when two riders have the pace and they’re so similar with each other, you got to find a lot of spots that that person, you can overtake them,” Jacobsen said. “So yesterday when I overtook him in turn six, I felt like that was a good pass and that was a weak point for him. I feel like when you sit behind somebody for so long, you end up studying them. You sit there and study, and study, and study. No offense to (Mathew) Scholtz, but last year he had a massive highside in that corner and he almost lost it again this year. So, I kind of knew that he was a bit weak there. Going over that rise, I just knew I had more pace sitting behind him and it was going to allow me to go into (turn) 10 with a more aggressive move. So, that’s what I ended up doing after studying like that. So, I’m not dumb. I feel like I made the pass in the right section that I had to, after watching him the whole race.”
Supersport Race Two Top Ten
- PJ Jacobsen – Ducati
- Mathew Scholtz – Yamaha +0.711s
- Blake Davis – Yamaha +7.140s
- Corey Alexander – Ducati +13.471s
- Stefano Mesa – Kawasaki +17.478s
- Kayla Yaakov – Ducati +20.389s
- Jake Lewis – Suzuki +21.700s
- Roberto Tamburini – MV +22.287s
- Tyler Scott – Suzuki +22.493s
- Torin Collins – Suzuki +44.065s
Supersport Championship Points
- Mathew Scholtz 259
- PJ Jacobsen 241
- Jake Lewis 128
- Blake Davis 127
- Corey Alexander 111
- Kayla Yaakov 108
- Tyler Scott 105
- Stefano Mesa 101
- Maxi Gerardo 92
- Teagg Hobbs 87
Stock 1000 Race One
Real Steel Motorsports’ Hayden Gillim didn’t get the start he was hoping for, but he certainly got the finish he wanted as he bounced back from a fourth-place start to take his fifth win of the Stock 1000 season.
Starting second on the grid, Gillim was fourth into turn one and he had work to do. He was helped a bit by OrangeCat Racing’s Jayson Uribe when the polesitter ran wide in turn two on the third lap. Gillim wasted little time in keeping the hammer down and he took the lead from Motorsport Exotica’s Andrew Lee shortly thereafter. From there he never looked back.
Gillim’s championship rival Uribe managed to finish second after fending off what ended up being a four-rider battle for third place early on, but it allowed Gillim to gain five more points in the title chase. The Kentuckian now leads Uribe by 11 points heading into the season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park in September.
Third ended up going to BPR Racing’s Bryce Prince with his third podium of the season ending a four-race streak without finishing in the top three. Prince had struggled at the past two rounds at Brainerd International Raceway and Ridge Motorsports Park, two tracks he’d never seen, and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca was a welcome sight for the Californian. He was able to pass Lee late in the race to take the spot.
With Lee fourth, FLO4LAW Racing’s Benjamin Smith rounded out the top five.
“I definitely didn’t,” Gillim said of not getting the start he wanted. “This year has been great with starts. I’ve been getting really great starts. I holeshotted a few. I think I was just too antsy and wanted to try and get a good start and try and get to the front if I could. There was a little bit longer light than I was expecting it to be, so then by the time the lights started going off, I had kind of blown my wad a little bit. Gave ourselves a little bit of work. It was good. The bike, we made some changes from this morning. The bike is a lot different from what it was at the Ridge. We’re kind of back to where we were at Brainerd, setup-wise. We’ve just been chasing some chatter and haven’t been able to get away from it. It got better in the race, but we’re trying everything. Then I’m struggling with rear grip coming out of turn two, three, four. Just spinning the thing up. Struggling on dries a little bit. So, it was tough to make the passes. Luckily for me, Jayson (Uribe) ran wide the one lap into turn two and I was able to get by him. Then that lap, I got a good run out of six on Andrew and made the pass into the Corkscrew. It took them a little bit to get by Andrew and I was able to get a little bit of a gap. Then the last five laps or so, that gap came down pretty quick from me to Jayson. He made me push a lot harder than I wanted to at the end of the race, especially with having crashed a few of the last races.”
Stock 1000 Race One Top Ten
- Hayden Gillim – Honda
- Jayson Uribe – BMW +2.635s
- Bryce Prince – Yamaha +8.083s
- Andrew Lee – BMW +9.013s
- Benjamin Smith – Yamaha +10.026s
- Danilo Lewis – BMW +10.143s
- Deion Campbell – Yamaha +19.579s
- Travis Wyman – BMW +19.654s
- Richard Kerr – Honda +30.511s
- Alex Arango – BMW +40.497s
Stock 1000 Race Two
A happy Ashton Yates won his first career Stock 1000 race on Sunday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and the young Georgian definitely earned it with a near-perfect race on his Jones Honda CBR1000RR-R SP.
Yates grabbed the lead on the second lap from pole-sitter Jayson Uribe and his OrangeCat Racing BMW M 1000 RR and he led the rest of the race, though with constant pressure from Uribe. At the finish line it was Yates by .354 of a second over Uribe, who thought he had one more lap and was surprised by the checkered flag.
Real Steel Motorsports’ Hayden Gillim ended up third, despite dropping back as far as seventh after getting into turn two in second place on the opening lap. Gillim fought back, however, and worked his way up to third two laps from the end.
A close fourth for the second day in a row went to Motorsport Exotica’s Andrew Lee with the Californian having his best race weekend thus far in 2024.
Team Brazil’s Danilo Lewis rounded out the top five.
With just two races left to run in the series finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park, Gillim leads Uribe by seven points.
Stock 1000 Race Two Results
- Ashton Yates – Honda
- Jayson Uribe – BMW +0.354s
- Hayden Gillim – Honda +3.345s
- Andrew Lee – BMW +3.974s
- Danilo Lewis – BMW +4.242s
- Benjamin Smith – Yamaha +7.247s
- Deion Campbell – Yamaha +12.255s
- Bryce Prince – Yamaha +12.745s
- Nolan Lamkin – BMW +12.981s
- Travis Wyman – BMW +17.778s
Stock 1000 Championship Points
- Hayden Gillim 151
- Jayson Uribe 144
- Ashton Yates 112
- Benjamin Smith 104
- Bryce Prince 98
- Richard Kerr 71
- Danilo Lewis 67
- Travis Wyman 57
- Nolan Lamkin 56
- Deion Campbell 55
