MotoAmerica Support: Binder Extends Supersport Points Lead With Flawless Laguna Seca Debut
MotoAmerica Support Classes: Smith Grabs First Baggers Win, Dramatic Final-Lap Crashes Shake Up Talent Cup And Super Hooligan Title Fights
In Supersport Q2, Celtic/Economy Lube + Tire/Warhorse rider Darryn Binder put his Ducati Panigale V2 on the pole with a 1:26.585, marginally faster than Friday’s Q1 times. Rahal Ducati Moto w/ Desnuda Organic Tequila’s Josh Herrin shadowed the South African by just 0.080 seconds. Rahal Ducati Moto w/ Droplight rider Kayla Yaakov clocked a 1:26.968 to round out the front row.
In Race 1, Binder jumped to an early lead with Herrin in tow. M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott held third aboard his GSX-R750 until running wide at the Andretti Hairpin. The mistake allowed the 19-year-old female flyer, Yaakov, to drop Scott to fourth, just ahead of BPR Racing Yamaha’s Josh Hayes in fifth on a Yamaha YZF-R9. On lap eight, the Pennsylvanian Scott crashed his Suzuki in Turn 2, exiting contention and promoting Hayes to fourth.
The lead duo of Binder and Herrin broke away, gapping Yaakov by over five seconds. The South African and Californian ran nose-to-tail until six laps to go when Herrin dropped off the leader’s pace. Binder stretched a 2.3-second lead by the checkers to secure his fifth win of the season and extend his points lead to 29 over his veteran rival.
Yaakov claimed the final podium spot after a spirited battle with Hayes. The four-time AMA Superbike champion passed the teenager briefly, but she retaliated into Turn 1 to retake third before the checkers.
The following quote is from Supersport Race 1 winner Darryn Binder: “I think the biggest difference today was I finally got off the line without getting passed. I got into the first corner in first and just tried to set my own pace. I was waiting, watching the gap the whole time. I knew Josh was chilling there for a while and eventually I saw 0.2, 0.4. I just tried to keep it as clean as I could and I started to open it up there a little bit at the end. I can’t thank the whole Celtic, Economy Lube, HSBK Warhorse team. Thank you guys so much for giving me such a weapon. Looking forward to tomorrow.”
Englishman Bradley Smith dominated KOTB Race 1. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Mission King Of The Baggers
A red flag for oil in the Corkscrew halted the Mission King Of The Baggers Q2 session before riders could log a scored lap. Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing rider Kyle Wyman’s factory Road Glide deposited the fluid, forcing a lengthy cleanup that canceled the session. Grid positions defaulted to Friday’s Q1 times.
In Race 1, J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines rider Troy Herfoss grabbed the early lead, but he could not shake the chasing Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing Road Glide of Bradley Smith. The Englishman rocketed past the Australian to check out to a three-second lead.
Behind the breakaway leader, a trio of riders fought for the remaining podium spots over the final five laps. Herfoss settled into second, ahead of a charging Tyler O’Hara aboard his SDI Racing Indian Challenger. Points leader Hayden Gillim rounded out the group until the final lap, when defending class champion Wyman slashed a two-second deficit to join the four-way podium brawl.
Smith took a dominant maiden Mission King Of The Baggers victory by more than four seconds. At the Corkscrew on the final lap, California native O’Hara made a diving inside pass attempt on Herfoss for second. O’Hara ran wide at the exit, cutting over the inside downhill berm and dropping to fourth. The error shuffled J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Factory Indian teammates Herfoss and Gillim into second and third, respectively.
The following quote is from Mission King Of The Baggers Race 1 winner Bradley Smith: “Yeah, I’ve been an absolute terror to the Harley-Davidson team, asking them for absolutely everything that they can give me, from 8:00 in the morning until 6:00 at night test days. I’m a nuisance, let’s say. I’m glad that I was able to put it all together. There was a lot of blind faith at certain times from all the members inside the team. Just like to show that when we can put it all together, we can do things like today. Very proud of everybody that’s part of this. Glad to finally put an end to our winning streak on the other boys and gain some points back finally in the championship.”
Talent Cup
The Talent Cup Q2 pace lagged behind Q1, but Nathan Gouker bucked the trend to set the Talent Cup lap record in Q2. The Quarterley Racing rider set a 1:35.954 benchmark and was the only competitor under the 1:35 mark to secure pole for the weekend’s doubleheader. Team Hammer’s Jake Paige shaved 2.319 seconds off his Friday time to post a 1:36.086 for second with Team Roberts rider Kensei Matsudaira completing the front row.
At the Race 1 start, Paige swept in from the far outside to lead through Turn 2 and the infield. By the end of lap one, a clear top four broke out to a one-second lead.
Matsudaira took the point on lap two, leading a breakaway quartet of the American Paige, Quarterley Racing’s Gouker, and Yamaha BLU CRU Estenson Racing’s Sam Drane. The four isolated themselves from the field.
By the halfway mark, Gouker led after a smooth pass on the pole-sitter at the Corkscrew entrance. Australians Paige and Drane remained in contention as the white flag waved. Gouker then crashed heavily while leading in Turn 6, taking a moment to recover.
Matsudaira inherited the lead and secured the victory under a final-lap red flag, reclaiming the points lead and setting a new race lap record of 1:36.009. The Aussie Paige finished second, with countryman Drane rounding out the podium.
The following quote is from Talent Cup Race 1 Winner Kensei Matsudaira: ”Throughout the weekend, the team did such a great job setting up the bike. The race was great. It was a close battle. We made a gap, me and Nathan, but then the boys caught up. It was a nice four-way group. I didn’t see Nathan’s crash, but I hope he’s all right. I can’t thank HJC Helmets, Dave Designs, Alpinestars, MotoAmerica, Dunlop, Arnie, Amy, Fujico Brakes, Kenny who is in Great Britain right now at Goodwood. Iconic Motorbikes, Kevin Fox, and everybody else. Thank you, guys.”
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship
ARCH Racing’s Corey Alexander topped the final Q2 session at 1:28.698, though no one outpaced the BPR Racing Yamaha duo of Bryce Kornbau and Andy DiBrino from Q1. Combined times allowed Alexander to improve his starting spot to third.
Rodio Racing teammates Gus Rodio and Ben Gloddy qualified their Ducati Streetfighter V2s fourth and fifth, with Saddlemen Racing Development’s James Rispoli rounding out row two. OrangeCat Racing riders Josh Herrin and Kaileb De Keyrel returned for Q2 on electric Lightfighter V3-RH machinery, but the team withdrew from the remaining races to further evaluate Friday’s thermal incident.
Race 1 began with a wave of naked bikes fighting three and four abreast into the Turn 2 hairpin. DiBrino led aboard his MT-09 SP, followed by Rispoli’s Saddlemen Harley-Davidson Pan America and BPR teammate Kornbau. The trio built an early breakaway that included Alexander’s ARCH 2s-R and Rodio’s Ducati in fifth.
On the opening lap, Rispoli dove under DiBrino but ran wide exiting Turn 8. The drop into the Corkscrew forced Rispoli to alter his line, shuffling him to third. The leaders settled into a rhythm until Rispoli low-sided in Turn 11, forcing Alexander into evasive action. The incident cost Alexander time to the leading Yamahas of Kornbau and DiBrino.
The Bakersfield, California native Kornbau held off his teammate by just a tenth of a second at the line for his first win of the season. Alexander brought the ARCH home in third for his third consecutive podium.
The BPR teammates are now tied for second in the standings, eight points back from leader Rodio. Rispoli drops to fourth.
The following is a quote from Mission Super Hooligan National Championship Race 1 winner Bryce Kornbau: “What a race, man. That was crazy. I knew it was going to be tough. Corey and Rispoli kind of sent it off under me on the first lap. I just parked it back under them. For a brief moment I thought this was going to be a repeat of the Ridge and Andy was going to get a gap on us, just because we kept going back and forth and back and forth. Finally I’m like, I got to get through here. I got to get through here. If not, I could see Andy was starting to just chip away at that gap. I knew Andy was riding good. I felt like I had a little pace to where I could get back up to him. He was still close enough. Just hats off to all my BPR racing team, all my family, my mom, my wife, Savannah. Just everybody that has been a part of this that came out here, all of our friends and family that came here from Florida and everywhere else. It’s awesome to do it at my home race. I’m just super excited.”
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