Sunday 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.
Herrin (2) held on for a thrilling victory in race two.
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 2
- Josh Herrin (Ducati)
- Cameron Beaubier (BMW)
- Sean Dylan Kelly (BMW)
- Bobby Fong (Yamaha)
- Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
- Loris Baz (Ducati)
- Xavi Forés (Suzuki)
- JD Beach (BMW)
- Danilo Lewis (BMW)
- Benjamin Smith (Yamaha)
Sunday King of The Baggers Race Two
Mission King Of The Baggers is a uniquely American race class pitting teams riding Harley-Davidson Road Glides against teams riding Indian Motorcycle Challengers. At WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, The Motor Company claimed full bragging rights by sweeping the podium in both of the weekend’s two feature races. Not only that, but the same three riders and same two teams finished in the top three on both days.
Sunday’s race two winner was defending Mission King Of The Baggers Champion Hayden Gillim who took the checkered flag aboard his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson. Gillim 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 teammate 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.
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.
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.
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship
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.
Saturday 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.
Saturday 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.
Saturday Mission 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.
Saturday Mission Super Hooligan National Championship 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.
Saturday Steel Commander 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. Now it’s close.
How does three points separating the top three sound? That’s what we have with Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin now atop the championship by one point over Attack Performance/Progressive/Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne, who in turn is just one point ahead of his teammate 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.
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 teammate 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.
Herrin leads the title chase with 169, followed by Gagne with 168 and Petersen with 167 points. Fong is fourth with 158, 26 more than Baz. Beaubier is sixth with 128 points, eight ahead of Kelly.
Superbike Race 1
- Cameron Beaubier (BMW)
- Josh Herrin (Ducati)
- Cameron Petersen (Yamaha)
- Sean Dylan Kelly (BMW)
- Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
- Loris Baz (Ducati)
- Xavi Forés (Suzuki)
- Brandon Paasch (Suzuki)
- Danilo Lewis (BMW)
- Ashton Yates (Honda)
Friday Superbike
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin continued with the hot hand in the MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike series as he stormed to provisional pole position on Friday afternoon at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Herrin, the lap record holder at the 2.238-mile course in the hills east of Monterey, lapped at 1:23.827 to better Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier’s best by just .058 of a second. Herrin, who won the second of two races at Ridge Motorsports Park two weeks ago, said his lap record of 1:22.908 will be difficult to top as the track is bumpier than when that record was set in 2018.
TopPro Racing’s Superbike rookie Sean Dylan Kelly continues to impress as he ended the opening day third fastest and just .280 of a second off Herrin’s session leader.
Fourth fastest on Friday was Attack Performance/Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne with the three-time and defending series champion turning in a best of 1:24.168 to finish slightly faster than his teammate Cameron Petersen.
Steel Commander Superbike Championship points leader Bobby Fong was sixth fastest on his Wrench Motorcycles Yamaha YZF-R1 and less than half a second from Herrin.
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Loris Baz was seventh and .552 of a second from his teammate. Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch, Tytlers Cycle Racing’s JD Beach and Paasch’s teammate Xavi Forés rounded out the top 10.
Stock 1000 – Uribe On Top
OrangeCat Racing’s Jayson Uribe used all of his home-track knowledge to lead the way in the first of two Stock 1000 qualifying sessions, besting his championship rival Hayden Gillim by .306 of a second.
Uribe lapped at 1:25.733 with Gillim turning in a 1:26.049 with the Californian getting the best of the Kentuckian for the first time in a qualifying session.
Another Californian was third quickest with Motorsport Exotica’s Andrew Lee ending up third on his BMW M 1000 RR. Two more racers were within a second of Uribe with FLO4LAW Racing’s Benjamin Smith fourth and OrangeCat Racing’s Travis Wyman fifth.
Mission King Of The Baggers – Wyman Down And Up
Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman didn’t let a little crash slow him down as he bounced back from an early-session tipover in turn 11 to earn provisional pole position for the two Mission King Of The Baggers races.
Wyman’s fast lap came late in the session and his 1:28.705 topped RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson’s Rocco Landers by just .122 of a second. Yes, you read that right – Rocco Landers.
Landers continued to gain momentum in his rookie season of Baggers racing and he put that all together to hold the top spot until getting knocked down a peg by Wyman in the closing stages of the session.
Landers’ teammate Hayden Gillim was third fastest, the defending class champion only .190 of a second behind Wyman.
Laguna first-timer Troy Herfoss was fourth fastest on the S&S Cycle/Indian Motorcycle Challenger, a second slower than Wyman and .2 faster than Wyman’s teammate James Rispoli.
Supersport – Jacobsen Strikes First
The season-long Supersport battle between Rahal Ducati Moto’s PJ Jacobsen and Mathew Scholtz resumed at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with Jacobsen striking first in Q1 on Friday afternoon.
But, like all the races held thus far in 2024, the pair weren’t separated by very much.
Jacobsen ripped off a 1:27.031 lap to lead the way over Scholtz, with the South African just .032 of a second adrift of the New Yorker with his 1:27.063. But those two were by no means alone at the top.
N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s Blake Davis was next best, and he was closer to the front than he’s been all year, trailing Jacobsen by just .217 of a second.
TopPro Racing’s Maxi Gerardo ended up fourth quickest with Jacobsen’s teammate Corey Alexander rounding out the top five.
The top nine were all within a second of Jacobsen with Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott, the only rider other than Scholtz or Jacobsen to win a race in 2024, ninth and .990 of a second from the top.
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship – West Goes West
Saddlemen Racing/Harley-Davidson’s Cory West saved his best for last in stealing provisional pole position for the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship in the waning moments of the final session of the day at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
West and his Harley-Davidson Pan America lapped at 1:29.624 to snatch pole from his teammate Jake Lewis by .153 of a second.
S&S Cycle/Indian Motorcycle’s Tyler O’Hara ended the day third fastest with KWR Harley-Davidson’s Cody Wyman and his teammate Hayden Schultz rounding out the top five.
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