2024 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship
Road Atlanta – Sunday
Superbike Race Two
Attack Performance Yamaha’s Jake Gagne turned the tables on the Steel Commander Superbike field on Sunday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with the three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion withstanding the constant pressure applied by the Tytlers Cycle Racing duo of Cameron Beaubier and JD Beach to take his first win of the season.
On Saturday, it was Beaubier winning the first race of the new season at Road Atlanta with Gagne right on his tail. On Sunday, the positions changed with Beaubier unable to find a way past the Yamaha on the final lap. Gagne’s margin of victory over Beaubier was just .119 of a second.
For Gagne the win was the 41st AMA Superbike win of his career, and it came in dicey conditions with the entire field on full rain tires after wet weather lashed down on the track in Braselton for most of the day.
Third place went to an emotional Cameron Petersen with the South African getting on the podium after a difficult off-season rehabbing from surgery on his badly broken right wrist. There were times when Petersen wasn’t certain that his career would continue so the emotion of racing again and finishing on the podium was overwhelming.
Beach ended up fourth after reeling in Gagne and then battling with and leading the defending champion prior to a high-speed crash and slide through the wet grass in Road Atlanta’s iconic esses. Beach was quickly on his feet and running to his bike, which was on the other side of the track. He got the bike restarted and turned in the right direction and was back on the attack, eventually working his way up to fourth place.
Fifth went to Superbike class rookie Sean Dylan Kelly, giving the Floridian fourth- and fifth-place finishes in his debut in MotoAmerica’s premier class on the TopPro Racing BMW.
Real Steel Motorsports’ Hayden Gillim recovered from an off-track excursion to finish sixth, some 10 seconds behind Kelly and ahead of Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Loris Baz with the Frenchman still hurting from his Saturday crash.
Visit Indiana/Tom Wood Powersports’ Nolan Lamkin, Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin and Wrench Motorcycles Bobby Fong rounded out the top 10.
After the opening two races in the championship, Gagne and Beaubier are tied with 45 points apiece. Kelly is third with 24 points, two ahead of Fong and Beach who are tied on 22 points.
Jake Gagne – P1
“Like these guys said, this morning’s warmup was crazy. It was almost at the point where there was a lot of standing water. So, I was able to get some good laps, but I think all of us had a little bit of a sketchy feeling. I think we knew going into the race here, it was nicely wet and no big puddles to worry about hydroplaning and all that. So, that was good. Got off to a really good start. I don’t remember when I got in the lead, but I think pretty early on. Then I felt really comfortable right away. I think I had a little gap for a couple laps, or five laps or something. Then I started getting reeled in. I could see pit boards flying. I could see Cam’s (Beaubier) and JD’s (Beach) pit boards, so I knew it was those guys coming at that point. Like Cam said, it was a fine line. I was going back and forth between pushing when I could but also no matter what, the most important thing was to get on the podium even if these guys wanted to push harder than me. I got lucky. Really lucky there when JD was in the lead. He was ready to take off. That’s when I had to push my hardest. Then he got screwed by that lapper. I went up the inside. So, it was a bummer for him because JD was riding really, really good. From then on, I think I was in the lead, and I knew Cam was right there. I didn’t know if it was Cam or JD, actually. Just tried to be smart on the last lap. I was kind of parking it in some of those turns. Going down into 10A I was really tight and kind of ran wide. I knew Cam was going to try to maybe square me up, but I just parked it in that second-to-last turn and kind of squared it up. So, he would have had to go around the outside if anything. But it’s good. Like I said, it was a really mentally tough race because we all wanted to push, but at the same time it was going to be really easy to throw it away. A podium would have been the most important, but we got a win so it’s awesome.
Cameron Beaubier – P2
“To be honest, I was pretty timid the first couple laps. I was pretty nervous going into that race just with the conditions. That was only my second time out on the BMW in the wet. I didn’t have the best feeling this morning. JD (Beach) came around me like I was standing still in the first section. He was ripping this morning. Made a couple TC changes just as the track was drying up a little bit. I really felt good. I felt so good there in the middle of the race when I was making my charge back. I was definitely taking some chances. I was kind of going back and forth in my head. I was like, ‘man, I feel good, like I’m catching these guys.’ But I was having a couple moments here and there. It seemed like once I caught up to JD and Jake (Gagne), it seemed like they started going faster. Especially when we got tangled up with those lappers a little bit. Jake got a little bit of a gap, and he was going. It seemed like that was the fastest part of his race. Towards the end, I would have really had to take a big risk to try to get him somewhere on the brakes. He did a super good job in the last section holding his line or blocking his line. He brought it home today. I’m stoked to have a 1-2 finish this weekend and start the season off strong. Looking forward to Barber.”
Cameron Petersen – P3
“Not a lot of people really know what I’ve gone through the last nine months. Even a month ago, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to make it through a race. It just feels really good to be back up here. Made the right decision with the surgery. Obviously, the people in my corner just really put the work in and made sure I was here, and in the right way. Tough day yesterday. First race back, after everything I’ve been through to come back and do that. But there was a lot of positives to take away from yesterday. I was kind of able to run the pace, and when I dropped back, I was able to close back into the front guys. It was unfortunate with the yellow flag. I don’t think one of us up here actually saw the yellow flag. It was just in a really shi**y position. So, when I had to drop back the two spots, it put me behind (Loris) Baz. I almost ran into the back of him going into turn two there. Today, great to get a podium. I had such a bad feeling this morning in the wet. The first three, four laps out there, I was dog slow. Then I kind of started to get into my rhythm and feel things out. Got a little bit lucky with some guys going down, but I’ll take it.”
Superbike Race Two Top Ten
- Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
- Cameron Beaubier (BMW) +0.119s
- Cameron Petersen (Yamaha) +28.580s
- JD Beach (BMW) +36.068s
- Sean Dylan Kelly (BMW) +36.594s
- Hayden Gillim (Honda) +46.939s
- Loris Baz (Ducati) +50.684s
- Nolan Lamkin (BMW) +56.624s
- Josh Herrin (Ducati) +70.449s
- Bobby Fong (Yamaha) +90.785s
Superbike Points
- Jake Gagne 45
- Cam Beaubier 45
- Sean Dylan Kelly 24
- Bobby Fong 22
- JD Beach 22
- Loris Baz 19
- Josh Herrin 18
- Cameron Petersen 17
- Hayden Gillim 17
- Nolan Lamkin 11
Mission King Of The Baggers Race Two
If those racing for the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship weren’t already worried about Troy Herfoss prior to the Road Atlanta round, they most definitely are now.
Herfoss rode his S&S/Indian Motorcycles Challenger to a runaway victory in Sunday’s race held on a wet but slowly drying track, beating his team-mate Tyler O’Hara by 13.887 seconds.
The two factory Indian riders’ choice of using slick tyres instead of full wets pretty much sealed the victory for Herfoss. The Australian took off from the start and motored away from the field, with O’Hara taking a bit more time to work his way to the runner-up spot.
Third place, and the first rider home using wets, was the ever-popular Max Flinders on his Mad Monkey Motorsports Indian Challenger. The New Hampshire resident putting in maximum effort to keep RevZilla/Motul/Harley-Davidson’s Hayden Gillim behind him to score the final podium spot.
“I was very confident it would be slicks, but I was unsure of the ruling whether I could start from pit lane,” Herfoss said. “We’ve got two bikes in Australia. I haven’t had a one-bike rule… Or one bike only. I don’t know if it’s a rule or not, but we’ve got one bike. So, that made me a little bit more cautious. But once we established we had a lot of time to change the tyres on the grid; I figured I was definitely going to go slicks but roll out in the wets. Take a nice slow lap, look at the track, get a bit of an idea of the guys going around pit lane. You can usually see what the confidence levels are like. It was slicks all the way. The only problem came with two laps to go there was a couple of specks of rain. So, if the skies would have opened one to go, a big gap can come down. It was a weird race for me. I got a really big gap in the first two laps. The first lap especially, three-seconds. Then it said five after lap two. I had already slowed down in my mind, and I assumed that everyone was on wets. Dane took the pit board down after the gap went out and just had the lap count. So, I was like, ‘Okay, the gap is going out a long way.’ Then when I hear Tyler’s (O’Hara) on slicks, I’m like, ‘Wow. I was way too cautious. He could have been coming fast.’ That’s what it was like. I’ve never been in that situation where I’ve literally gone off the start and in my mind, it was like, ‘Okay, I’ve won the race. Just don’t mess up.’ You’ve got no idea how nerve-racking that is when you’re in that position. How good is this? Indian one, two, and three. It’s a perfect weekend for me. I never would have dreamed that. A perfect weekend in this championship at all, let alone third weekend in the championship. So, it’s a real credit to the team that they can give me a bike that I can just concentrate on racing on and learning tracks. That’s the reason I’m able to be so competitive. So, I want to say thank you to them.“
The battle for the championship firmly looks like a Herfoss versus Kyle Wyman affair but the Australian’s dominance in the wet has given him a handy nine-point buffer over his primary rival. Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman was fifth in this contest but will be hungry to claw that ground back when KOTB reconvenes at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama on the weekend of May 19.
Troy Herfoss is now winging his way back to Australia to compete in this weekend’s third round of the Australian Superbike Championship at Queensland Raceway with DesmoSport Ducati.
Mission King Of The Baggers Race Two
- Troy Herfoss – Indian
- Tyler O’Hara – Indian +13.887s
- Max Flinders – Indian +28.052s
- Hayden Gillim – HD +29.884s
- Kyle Wyman – HD +40.011s
- Cory West – HD +58.624s
- Jake Lewis – HD +61.294s
- Travis Wyman – HD +65.753s
- James Rispoli – HD +67.433s
- Rocco Landers – HD +88.212s
Mission King Of The Baggers Championship Points
- Troy Herfoss 135
- Kyle Wyman 126
- Tyler O’Hara 79
- James Rispoli 79
- Hayden Gillim 74
- Max Flinders 51
- Bobby Fong 44
- Rocco Landers 42
- Cory West 41
- Kyle Ohnsorg 35
Supersport Race Two
It was a breakthrough weekend for Rahal Ducati Moto. The brand-new Supersport team had some teething pains at Daytona, but it all came together for them at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
First, it was Corey Alexander who earned provisional pole in Friday’s first qualifying. Then, on Saturday, PJ Jacobsen got the team’s first victory of the season aboard his bright-yellow Ducati Panigale V2.
In Sunday’s Supersport race two, the riders faced an additional challenge of a fully rain-soaked racetrack. Jacobsen handled the conditions well, and in fact, the New Yorker led all 15 laps to get the double win. Alexander, who finished just off the podium in fourth on Saturday, was second for a one-two Ducati Rahal Moto finish. Altus Motorsports Suzuki rider Jake Lewis completed the podium in third.
“I feel like it was a very fast race,” Jacobsen said. “Between the three of us, I think our pace was super-fast, to be honest. I kept looking down at my lap timer, and I’m being caught instead of opening a gap, which is not a good sign. Then Corey (Alexander) has Jake (Lewis) doing the same behind him, so that’s not a good sign. So, you just keep pushing and pushing. I feel like our lap times were really fast. I felt like near the limit. I don’t know how they felt. But they were pushing me and kept pushing me. It was a really good race. If we were going out in superbike right now, we’d be out there doing the same thing, all three of us. I got the W again today so it’s really good to have it in the dry and in the wet. It’s kind of a perfect weekend. You don’t really get these. I guess I’m on a high right now. I’m just going to wait for the low weekend, but I’ll just keep on riding this out right now. The team has done a great job, the whole Rahal Ducati team. We have great sponsors, XPEL and Roller Die. It’s been great, and then having Richie come on board and also getting help from Bobby and Simone at Ducati Corse. So, it’s been a huge thing for the whole entire team. I think that we made a huge step with the right people behind us and getting everything organized and in the right direction. So, it’s been a really positive weekend for us over there.”
Supersport Race Two Top Ten
- PJ Jacobsen – Ducati
- Corey Alexander – Ducati +2.729s
- Jake Lewis – Suzuki +3.775s
- Mathew Scholtz – Yamaha +9l946s
- Alfonso Linares – Ducati +19.755s
- Tyler Scott – Suzuki +34.732s
- Maxi Gerardo – Suzuki +41.096s
- David Anthony – Suzuki +45.250s
- Alexander Enriquez – Suzuki +49.403s
- Teagg Hobbs – Suzuki +70.888
Supersport Championship Points
- PJ Jacobsen 50
- Corey Alexander 33
- Mathew Scholtz 29
- Jake Lewis 26
- Blake Davis 20
- Maxi Gerardo 20
- Alfonso Linares 15
- Roberto Tamburini 14
- David Anthony 13
- Teagg Hobbs 12
Junior Cup Race Two
Sunday dawned with rain in the forecast, and the riders in Junior Cup were first up with their feature race, which was shortened by two laps due to the prodigious precipitation. Yandel Medina, who was third in Saturday’s race one, was hoping for a wet race, and that’s exactly what he got. And, he made the best of it, as the New York Safety Track Racing rider notched the first win of his MotoAmerica career. Meanwhile, Ryan Wolfe followed up his runner-up result on Saturday with another second-place finish in Sunday’s race two. BARTCON Racing’s Eli Block, who won both Junior Cup races in the rain at New Jersey Motorsports Park last year, rounded out the podium in third.
“You were just holding your breath for the whole race, especially being in the front,” Medina said. “I didn’t get passed the whole race. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, nobody is passing me.’ I would just hear bikes right there in the end of 10A. I’m like, ‘Oh, they’re coming.’ I was thinking about yesterday when everybody just swooped in with the draft. But other than that, it was just keep your head down and go. I didn’t know what was going on. I tried to communicate, but my team didn’t understand what I was trying to say. But it all went well. I’m happy. Finally got first place. Everything went well. I’m happy with the results.”
Junior Cup Race Two Top Ten
- Yandel Medina
- Ryan Wolfe +1.779s
- Eli Block +2.489s
- Isaac Woodworth +3.268s
- Jayden Fernandez +4.350s
- Avery Dreher +11.294s
- Juliana Fernandez +24.517s
- Matthew Chapin +24.755s
- Solly Mervis +30.424s
- Ryan Barbour +30.951s
BellissiMoto Twins Cup Race Two
South African Dominic Doyle has paid his dues in the BellissiMoto Twins Cup Championship. Doyle, who raced for a different team last year and finished fourth in the 2023 Twins Cup Championship, got the win in Sunday’s race two aboard his Giaccmoto Racing Yamaha YZF-R7.
British rider, by way of Canada, Jack Roach powered his Wrench Motorcycles Yamaha to second place, albeit a little over three seconds behind Doyle. Twins Cup Championship leader Gus Rodio completed the podium in third after finishing second on Saturday aboard his Rodio Racing – Powered By Robem Engineering Aprilia.
“I got an okay start,” Doyle said. “Jack (Roach) came around me. I just tried to see what kind of pace the other guys had. I felt like I could roll up on them a little bit. So, I made the move in the last turn and kind of just put my head down and tried to ride my own race and click off the same laps I was doing in warmup, like 50, 51. I could kind of stay in that range. I saw my pit board. Got up to about sixth. I came down to three, so I just tried to stay on the same pace. It went back up to four and I had two laps to go. So, I just kind of cruised around and rode my own race. No real problems. Had one little problem in turn one going up the hill. Lost the rear a little bit. But pretty smooth race other than that.”
BellissiMoto Twins Cup Race Two Top Ten
- Dominic Doyle – Yamaha
- Jack Roach – Yamaha +3.215s
- Gus Rodio – Aprilia +6.957s
- Avery Dreher – Aprilia +7.171s
- Romeo Chiavini – Aprilia +12.953s
- Sean Ungvarsky – Yamaha +12.972s
- Rossi Moor – Suzuki +14.640s
- Rocco Landers – Suzuki +27.353s
- Alessandro Di Mario – Aprilia +50.813s
- Giacomo Manera – Aprilia 52.375s
