2024 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship
COTA
Superbike Race One
Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier kept his slender championship hopes alive with a win in the first of three Steel Commander Superbike races at Circuit of The Americas on Saturday, with the five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion catching and passing runaway championship leader Josh Herrin in the closing laps of the 12-lap race on a brutally hot Saturday in Austin.
The win was the fifth of the season for Beaubier and the 64th of his Superbike career, and it moved him into second in the 2024 Steel Commander Superbike Championship – 55 points behind Herrin with four races left in the series (two tomorrow at COTA and the final two in a few weeks at New Jersey Motorsports Park).
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Herrin did most of the leading, putting his Fast By Ferracci liveried Panigale V4 R out front for 10 of the 12 laps, but it was Beaubier leading the two that counted most to take five points away from Herrin.
In the early going, it looked to be fairly smooth sailing for Herrin as he led EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly and Beaubier. It got a bit easier when Beaubier nearly ran into the back of Kelly.
Beaubier was right behind Kelly when the Floridian’s BMW gave up the ghost and the Californian was fortunate to not rear-end him. That gave Herrin a bit of a gap that Beaubier was able to whittle away at. He was helped by Herrin losing the front and almost crashing, a moment that caused Herrin to re-think things and ease up, if only by a little.
Beaubier crossed the line 1.8 seconds ahead of Herrin, who in turn was 4.3 seconds ahead of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante with the Mexican fighting back from a poor start. Escalante was in just his second race back from the serious injuries he suffered in the season opener at Road Atlanta.
Fourth place went to Herrin’s teammate Loris Baz, the Frenchman also recovering from a bad start. He was some 10 seconds behind Escalante and 1.3 seconds ahead of Beaubier’s teammate JD Beach, who rounded out the top five.
Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong was sixth, well clear of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch with Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates, Team Brazil’s Danilo Lewis and FLO4LAW Racing’s Benjamin Smith filling the top 10.
Notable non-finishers included Kelly (mechanical), and crasher Xavi Forés.
Superbike Race One Top Ten Results
- Cameron Beaubier (BMW)
- Josh Herrin (Ducati) +1.83s
- Richie Escalante (Suzuki) +6.186s
- Loris Baz (Ducati) +16.136s
- JD Beach (BMW) +17.503s
- Bobby Fong (Yamaha) +21.212s
- Brandon Paasch (Suzuki) +32.018s
- Ashton Yates (Honda) +35.296s
- Danilo Lewis (BMW) +43.530s
- Benjamin Smith (Yamaha) +46.684s
Superbike Race Two
Despite all the back and forth at the front, Kelly somehow managed to lead all 12 laps at the stripe, but he lost the lead on the final lap when Beaubier stuffed his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000R under the similar BMW of Kelly at the end of the backstraight. At this point, it looked like Beaubier had control with just a handful of corners left, but Kelly was determined, and he returned the favor on his former Moto2 teammate with a lunge up the inside in the final corner. From there he was able to get to the finish line first to earn that first-ever Superbike in a race to remember.
All of this played into the hands of Herrin, who dropped off the lead duo and hoped that Kelly could somehow beat Beaubier to help him in his championship quest. With Kelly doing just that, Beaubier only pulled back four points on Herrin and not the nine he would have gained if he’d won with Kelly between them. Herrin was just a tick under five seconds adrift of the lead duo.
Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Kelly’s margin of victory over Beaubier was .177 of a second and it made him the sixth different winner of a MotoAmerica Superbike race in 2024 – joining Herrin, Beaubier, Jake Gagne, Bobby Fong, and Cameron Petersen.
In winning the first race of his career as a rookie on a first-year team, EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing’s Kelly became the 66th rider to win an AMA Superbike National.
Herrin’s teammate Baz improved his pace dramatically from Saturday’s race one to finish fourth, some eight seconds off the leader after slowing in the final laps.
Another to improve from Saturday’s race one was Wrench Motorcycle’s Bobby Fong with the Californian racing to fifth – one spot better than in race one.
Sixth place went to Paasch, with the youngster finding something in morning warmup to increase his pace.
Petersen, Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Xavi Forés, Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Beach and Yates rounded out the top 10.
Escalante stood on the podium in race one on Saturday, but he suffered a crash in race two that resulted in a DNF.
Superbike Race Two Top Ten Results
- Sean Dylan Kelly (BMW)
- Cameron Beaubier (BMW) +0.177s
- Josh Herrin (Ducati) +4.853s
- Loris Baz (Ducati) +8.159s
- Bobby Fong (Yamaha) +11.928s
- Brandon Paasch (Suzuki) +24.719s
- Cameron Petersen (Yamaha) +24.937s
- Xavi Forés (Yamaha) +25.744s
- JD Beach (BMW) +26.615s
- Ashton Yates (Honda) +34.874s
Superbike Race Three
With a track temperature of 120 degrees, the third and final Superbike race got started with another Josh Herrin holeshot. This time, Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Beaubier didn’t waste much time in moving past his championship rival. But it didn’t last as Ezra Beaubier’s (his younger brother) BMW blew up and dumped oil on the track, bringing out a red flag.
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Herrin got the jump on the field on the restart, but this time there was jostling at the top for the duration with Herrin leading five laps and Beaubier holding the spot across the line on five occasions, including the final four.
At the finish it was Beaubier holding off Herrin by .970 of a second after an absolute thrillfest of a Superbike race. Kelly was also in the fray until backing off near the end of the race to finishing 2.9 seconds behind in third.
When all was said and done, Beaubier had won two of the three Steel Commander Superbike races to pull back valuable points on Herrin. Going into the series finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park in two weeks, Beaubier trails Herrin by 46 points, 300-254.
“So, you’re telling me there’s a chance,” might be a bit optimistic, but Beaubier’s win-second-win weekend has breathed a bit of life into his championship aspirations.
The top three in race three were the same as in race two, but not in the same order. It was Beaubier, Herrin, Kelly in race three; Kelly, Beaubier, Herrin in race two.
Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Fourth place in the final race of the weekend went to Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante, almost five seconds ahead of Herrin’s teammate Loris Baz with Escalante’s teammate Brandon Paasch finishing for the second time on the day.
Seventh place in race three went to Beaubier’s team-mate JD Beach, who was well clear of Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates.
FLO4LAW Racing’s Benjamin Smith and Attack Performance/Progressive/Yamaha Racing’s Cameron Petersen rounded out the top 10.
Superbike Race Three Top Ten Results
- Cameron Beaubier (BMW)
- Josh Herrin (Ducati) +0.970s
- Sean Dylan Kelly (BMW) +2.973s
- Richie Escalante (Suzuki) +6.255s
- Loris Baz (Ducati) +10.078s
- Brandon Paasch (Suzuki) +14.782s
- JD Beach (BMW) +19.783s
- Ashton Yates (Honda) +35.613s
- Benjamin Smith (Yamaha) +37.773s
- Cameron Petersen (Yamaha) +50.114s
Superbike Championship Standings
- Josh Herrin 300
- Cameron Beaubier 254
- Bobby Fong 213
- Sean Dylan Kelly 208
- Cameron Petersen 195
- Jake Gagne 192
- Loris Baz 192
- JD Beach 151
- Brandon Paasch 115
- Ashton Yates 86
Superbike Sunday Quotes
Sean Dylan Kelly – First/Third
“Yeah, this one is definitely up there. It was unreal to get that first superbike win, as you guys can imagine. I’ve been working really, really hard for it. From the beginning of the season, just being close in a handful of races. I crashed out of the lead in Road America. I had a couple more chances here and there. Didn’t just come true, but this race two earlier today was absolutely incredible. It was pretty cool to be battling with these guys and even cooler to be honest to be able to do that pass in the last corner for the win. That was insane. Brought me a little flashback from Supersport days with Richie (Escalante), doing all those last-lap scraps. It was also a little bit of a fairytale first win with that special livery that we did ten days ago with all the kids from the Children’s Hospital. Obviously, it was a dream to be able to make it happen. Dreaming and doing are two different things, and that was amazing. Just feeling on top of the moon with what we did today.”
Josh Herrin – Third/Second
“I was feeling extra motivated. We’ve got the DRE (Ducati ride day) tomorrow. I like going to those things with a win. It’s not fun going if you don’t win. Everybody is not as pumped. We had the Ferracci stuff on. I wanted to get it for him. I’m bummed that we didn’t get it with that on. But it was kind of like one of those days where it was so hot that if you don’t just give it your all, then you’re going to be a lot weaker, in my mind. You can think, I’m going to go out and just relax, but then you do worse because you just let the heat get to you. Where if you just put your head down and go for it, then it makes it a lot easier. It was hot behind Cam’s (Beaubier) bike, so I didn’t want to sit behind him the whole race. Probably took one too many risks. I just talked to Hayes on the way in. He said those are the rides that make your crew happy to be working for you. So, I just wanted to go out and do good for them, do good for my family. I wanted to go hang out. I don’t want to win by just riding around and cruising. I want to win by riding like Beaubier or (Josh) Hayes or (Mat) Mladin did. I don’t want to just ride around. That was a super difficult weekend. I’m happy to come out of here. It’s crazy how many points you can lose even when you’re riding that good. We lost I think 14 points or something. I got really lucky in race two because I didn’t think I was going to be able to battle for the win, and when I saw Sean (Dylan Kelly) go and I know how motivated he is to win, I just wanted to leave a little bit of a gap, or try to create a bigger gap to him and Beaubier because I knew Beaubier was going to be strong at the end, and I just was adding up during the race. If I can make myself lose four points instead of five points, it puts me in a better position. I can then beat him in the third race and have one point on top, because I know he’s got more race wins than me. So, I needed to beat him in the last one. Just probably way too much thinking going on this weekend. That last race, I just I didn’t want to think. I just wanted to go. Hats off to the boys for making such a good bike. Congrats to Sean on his win. It’s not just cool seeing him win because he’s getting his first win, but we’re OnlyFans teammates. He’s been racing at my house since he was a little kid, so it’s cool battling and just getting beat by somebody that got raised at my house racing. That’s a cool feeling. Hats off to them. Good job, Beaubier. Get to hopefully wrap it up at our home race in Jersey.”
Cameron Beaubier – Second/First
“Those last couple laps, I just put everything I had into trying to open up just enough of a gap to where I could keep the track open and get to the line first. Josh (Herrin) and I were stuffing each other left and right, pretty much all day. It was a pretty fun race this afternoon, honestly. I think to go out and push as hard as you can this afternoon was going to be pretty tough, so I felt like the way we were racing each other, it kind of kept it light and kept us on our toes and not just drilling the pace lap after lap after lap. I felt like that was honestly pretty fun. It was a good fight. I was pretty surprised he was fighting me that hard with as much as he has to lose. I definitely wouldn’t have been doing that. Didn’t do that in the past, but credit to him. He was riding hard. It was good. I haven’t had a tough day like that in a long time. That was a pretty hard day with those two superbike races on Sunday in 100-plus heat out at this track. I’d say this track is probably one of the most physical tracks we have on the schedule. Happy with being able to just come back after my foot injury with some fitness. The last month break was really good for me just to try to get some fitness back. We’re keeping it alive going into Jersey, but to be honest with you, it’s pretty much done. I did everything I could for the boys to just give us a fighting chance.”
Supersport Race One
With everything on the line for Supersport Championship leader Mathew Scholtz and his closest challenger PJ Jacobsen, it was all change in the results of Saturday’s race one at Circuit of The Americas as neither of the two combatants finished on the podium.
The action was hot and heavy from the start as the field of 30 riders funneled into the tricky turn one hairpin. Jacobsen’s Rahal Ducati Moto Panigale V2 got a little too up-close and personal with Scholtz’s Strack Racing Yamaha YZF-R6, which resulted in Scholtz and EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing’s Martin Cardenas coming together and causing both Scholtz and Cardenas to crash. Cardenas was unable to continue, but Scholtz remounted his bike in 30th place and spent the remainder of the 11-lap race trying to move into a points-paying position, which he just missed out on by one position at the checkers.
Meanwhile, at the front, Altus Motorsports Suzuki’s Jake Lewis took the lead and held it all the way to the finish line where he notched his first-ever MotoAmerica-era Supersport race win by nearly three seconds over N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha rider Blake Davis in second place. Third place went to Jacobsen’s Rahal Ducati Moto teammate Corey Alexander, who overcame a problem with his bike’s gearshift to complete the podium.
Speaking of Jacobsen, he finished fifth, which enabled him to reduce Scholtz’s Championship lead from 25 points to just 14 with three races left in the season.
Supersport Race One Top Ten
- Jake Lewis SUZ
- Blake Davis YAM +2.821s
- Corey Alexander DUC +3.019s
- Tyler Scott SUZ +3.230s
- PJ Jacobsen DUC +3.702s
- Filippo Fuligni DUC +4.027s
- Stefano Mesa KAW +7.524s
- David Anthony SUZ +7.742s
- Torin Collins SUZ +18.320s
- Max VanDenBrouck SUZ +18.674s
Supersport Race Two
The 2024 Supersport Championship will go down to the final round of the season after a drama-filled weekend that began with a 25-point lead for Strack Racing Yamaha’s Mathew Scholtz over Rahal Ducati Moto’s PJ Jacobsen and ended with Scholtz now taking a 39-point lead to New Jersey Motorsports Park for the final two races of the championship.
Scholtz survived some intense challenges from the other riders and a near-get-off from his Yamaha to take the checkered flag by a little over two seconds ahead of Vision Wheel ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott. Third place went to N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha’s Blake Davis.
But, what about Jacobsen? Well, the title contender led the race, was shuffled back in the lead pack, and ultimately looked like he’d finish on the podium until the penultimate corner on the final lap when he inexplicably went down and slid out of the race, which cost him most of the valuable points that he had gained from the results of Saturday’s race one.
“I knew I had the pace to do (fast laps) consistently, and I knew that I should be able to win,” Scholtz said. “It sucks that PJ crashed, but it really, really helps me in the championship. So, now, we go to New Jersey for the final round. Two more races, and we have the advantage. We’ll be ready.”
Supersport Race Two Top Ten
- Mathew Scholtz YAM
- Tyler Scott SUZ +2.021s
- Blake Davis YAM +2.495s
- Corey Alexander DUC +13.581s
- Jake Lewis SUZ +13.675s
- Maxi Gerardo SUZ +19.256s
- Kayla Yaakov DUC +24.720s
- Stefano Mesa KAW +24.746s
- Torin Collins SUZ +24.959s
- Max VanDenBrouck SUZ +28.155s
Supersport Championship Points
- Mathew Scholtz 329
- PJ Jacobsen 290
- Jake Lewis 188
- Blake Davis 176
- Tyler Scott 168
- Corey Alexander 140
- Stefano Mesa 137
- Kayla Yaakov 134
- Maxi Gerardo 130
- Teagg Hobbs 100
Twins Cup Race One
Roughly 30 minutes after taking his first-career Mission King Of The Baggers victory, it all went horribly wrong for Rocco Landers when he crashed out of the BellissiMoto Twins Cup race twice – one he could remount from, the other terminal. And, just like that, his 19-point lead had turned into a six-point deficit with only tomorrow’s final round at Circuit of The Americas left in the Twins Cup season.
The high drama started right away when championship points leader Landers crashed his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki on the second lap while giving chase to Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering’s Alessandro Di Mario. Fortunately, Landers was able to remount and knife his way through the pack to climb to 13th after three laps. Then came the ultimate reprieve as Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Rossi Moor crashed out in a vicious highside that brought out the red flag, thus gifting Landers another crack at it.
But it was more of the same in the five-lap restart as Di Mario took off out front, leading Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing’s Dominic Doyle and Landers in the five-lap restart. Then it all went wrong for Landers – again – as he crashed out of third with three laps to go.
The win was 15-year-old Di Mario’s second victory of the year, and his sixth consecutive podium finish… and he’s now in the catbird seat heading into tomorrow’s season-ender for the Twins class.
Twins Cup Race One Results
- Alessandro Di Mario APR
- Dominic Doyle YAM +6.969s
- Gus Rodio APR +12.478s
- Matthew Chapin SUZ +16.132s
- Sean Ungvarsky YAM +18.902s
- Chris Parrish APR +37.883s
- Romeo Chiavini APR +38.291s
- Tyler Duffy APR +50.552s
- Bryce DeBoer YAM +51.127s
- Sonya Lloyd YAM +51.537s
Twins Cup Race Two
The BellissiMoto Twins Cup Championship came down to the final race of the season, and at the start, it looked like we were going to get the epic showdown was expected between title contenders Alessandro Di Mario and Rocco Landers, who were only separated by six points after Saturday’s race one.
Landers got the holeshot coming out of turn one on the first lap, but 15-year-old phenom Di Mario took the lead before the opening lap had been completed, and he pressed his advantage all the way to the checkered flag.
The Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering rider led every lap of the race and took the checkered flag by more than six and a half seconds.
Meanwhile, after challenging on the opening lap, Landers had a mechanical problem, which put him out of the race and unfortunately out of the championship.
For Di Mario, who is only in his second year of MotoAmerica racing and is a Twins Cup rookie, he notched his first of what may be many MotoAmerica class championships to come.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Rossi Moor, who celebrated his 17th birthday on Friday, finished second for his best result of the season, while Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing’s Dominic Doyle came home third, which was his sixth podium finish in the 2024 BellissiMoto Twins Cup Championship.
Di Mario, whose cool, calm demeanor belies his young age, was asked if he felt the pressure of being in contention for his first MotoAmerica Championship.
“It was hard. It wasn’t easy at all,” Di Mario said. “Rocco (Landers) was fast all year. I came into this weekend, and I was really confident. I like the track. It was really hot, but it was a little better than yesterday. Yesterday felt a lot worse. I just went out and I knew what I could do. I just tried to do as many fast laps as possible at the start, tried to pull a little gap. When I saw the pit board with the gap, I started to manage it until the last lap. My last lap was super slow. I didn’t want to make any mistakes. I left off quite a bit. I just want to thank everybody, my whole team, Mike, Chad, Kevin, Freddy from home, Sara for the pictures. I love you. My teammate, Gus (Rodio). He’s been a great teammate all year. I just want to thank all my sponsors. Also, my brother. He’s in the Marine Corps. I think he’s watching from home. I love you. I just want to thank everybody. Dainese, HJC, all my sponsors. Thank you so much.”
Twins Cup Race Two Results
- Alessandro Di Mario APR
- Rossi Moor SUZ +6.550s
- Dominic Doyle YAM +7.558s
- Gus Rodio APR +10.441s
- Matthew Chapin SUZ +29.520s
- Sean Ungvarsky YAM +32.793s
- Avery Dreher APR +46.033s
- Tyler Duffy APR +58.868s
- Bryce DeBoer YAM +59.467s
- Chris Parrish APR +59.584s
Twins Cup Points
- Alessandro Di Mario 216
- Rocco Landers 185
- Dominic Doyle 167
- Gus Rodio 164
- Rossi Moor 136
- Sean Ungvarsky 103
- Avery Dreher 102
- Jack Roach 74
- Romeo Chiavini 59
- Chris Parrish 46
