MotoAmerica: Bobby Fong Wins Both Superbike Races On Sunday In Monterey
Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Bobby Fong had a perfect Sunday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, with the Northern California native sweeping the pair of MotoAmerica Superbike races and firmly establishing himself as someone not to be taken lightly as the season heads into the dog days of summer.
A day after finishing second in race one on Saturday, Fong didn’t put a wheel wrong on Sunday as he came from behind to beat championship points leader Josh Herrin and his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati in both races.
Although Herrin lost both races on Sunday after winning on Saturday, he was a big winner as far as the championship goes. With title rival Cameron Beaubier crashing the Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000 RR out of the lead in race one and finishing third in both Sunday races, Herrin leaves Monterey with a 31-point lead after five rounds and 11 races. The defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion started the weekend at Laguna Seca with an eight-point lead in the title chase.
Fong’s two wins were the sixth and seventh of his MotoAmerica Superbike career, and the first and second wins of the 2025 season. It also moved him to within six points of Beaubier in the championship standings, and 37 behind Herrin.
Fong’s teammate Jake Gagne had a productive weekend as he continues to get the strength in his arms back. Gagne was third on Saturday and fifth and fourth in the two races on Sunday.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante was sixth and fifth on Sunday despite racing a bit banged up after two crashes in practice/qualifying.
Escalante’s teammate Sean Dylan Kelly finished fourth in race two on Sunday but suffered a DNF in race three when his chain broke.
The surprise of the weekend was Real Steel Honda’s JD Beach and his Stock 1000-spec Honda CBR1000RR-R SP, with the Kentuckian finishing sixth and seventh in Sunday’s two races after carding a fourth on Saturday.
Superbike Race 2
Herrin wasted little time slotting the Ducati into the lead of the first of Sunday’s two races as he led the field over the hill and into turn two. He then wasted little time in eking out a lead on the chasing pack, led by Fong and Beaubier.
When push came to shove, it was Fong who applied the most pressure as he started to close the gap to Herrin, getting the lead to 1.2 seconds on the ninth lap. Beaubier, meanwhile, was struggling to keep the pace and was over three seconds behind after nine of 20 laps.
It was setting up nicely to be a two-rider battle to the flag as Fong looked to be getting stronger while Herrin seemed to be tiring. Beaubier was still in no-man’s land but was well clear of the Kelly/Gagne battle for fourth.
On the 14th lap, Fong made his move, passing Herrin in turn 11 and holding it to the finish as everyone started to struggle with a lack of grip in the hot conditions. Fong crossed the line 1.6 seconds clear of Herrin.
Beaubier also found some second life as he started to pull back the gap to the lead duo and got that to under two seconds. He finally had to give up the chase, however, and cruised in to finish third, 6.5 seconds behind Fong.
Kelly made up for yesterday’s disappointment by holding off Gagne by a bit over half a second at the finish line in the race for fourth. Those two were less than a second ahead of Escalante, who crossed the line in sixth.
Beach won the intrateam battle with Hayden Gillim for seventh, taking the Superbike Cup win in the process. FLO4LAW/SBU Racing’s Benjamin Smith and BPR Racing’s Bryce Kornbau rounded out the top 10.
Superbike Race 3
The third and final MotoAmerica Superbike race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca was a virtual replay of race two. Beaubier led the first three laps before giving way to Herrin, who put his head down and pulled a gap to Fong after the Yamaha rider had also found a way around Beaubier.
By the fourth lap, Kelly was knocked out of the battle with Gagne when his Suzuki tossed its chain and the battle at the top settled down with Herrin leading Fong and Beaubier. Gagne was a lonely fourth and turning lap times close to those being done by the top three.
Nothing much changed until the 14th of 20 laps when Fong made his move on Herrin in turn 11. From there, the Yamaha man steadily pulled away while Herrin turned his attention to keeping Beaubier at bay.
The two were close for a handful of laps until Beaubier threw in the towel with the BMW struggling to find traction. He ended up a few seconds adrift of Herrin, who was .991 of a second behind a celebrating Fong.
Gagne was alone in fourth, well clear of Escalante, who was some three seconds ahead of Beach. Gillim ended up seventh with Smith, Lewis, and Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates rounding out the top 10.
After five of nine rounds, Herrin leads Beaubier by 31 points, 224-193, with Fong closing the gap in third with 187 points. Gagne sits fourth with 165 points, 52 points ahead of fifth-placed Escalante.
Superbike Race 2
- Bobby Fong (Yamaha)
- Josh Herrin (Ducati)
- Cameron Beaubier (BMW)
- Sean Dylan Kelly (Suzuki)
- Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
- Richie Escalante (Suzuki)
- JD Beach (Honda)
- Hayden Gillim (Honda)
- Benjamin Smith (Yamaha)
- Bryce Kornbau (Yamaha)
Superbike Race 3
- Bobby Fong (Yamaha)
- Josh Herrin (Ducati)
- Cameron Beaubier (BMW)
- Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
- Richie Escalante (Suzuki)
- JD Beach (Honda)
- Hayden Gillim (Honda)
- Benjamin Smith (Yamaha)
- Danilo Lewis (BMW)
- Ashton Yates (Honda)
Quotes – Race Two
Cameron Beaubier – Third Place
“I’d say a little bit,” Beaubier said about gaining back his confidence after Saturday’s crash. “I was just stuck in those low, mid 1:24s and that’s all I could do. I couldn’t go any faster than that. I’m just struggling in mid and exit right now. Trying to find some grip to keep up with these guys. We’re in a little bit of a tough spot right now, but we’re just going to keep working hard and see what we can come back with for race three.”
Josh Herrin – Second Place
“The beginning of the race, I really wanted to get the holeshot and just run my pace. I felt like I was going really slow and those guys were right behind me. I just started clicking away 23.7, 23.7. It felt super easy, and then all of a sudden, I just started sliding everywhere, reduced the TC so it would not hold me back as much. I was just sliding around like a grease monkey. I was hearing the thing just howling and howling. Like just initial touch of the throttle the bike would kick sideways, and it was howling like I was backing it in, putting a bunch of weight on the tires. It was pretty nuts because it would kick sideways and then just start spinning. My hand went super numb trying to fight it, so I just had nothing for Bob (Fong). He came by me. I tried my hardest. I dropped like a half second once he got by me and kind of latched on, but he had two tenths on me every lap. So, at that point I just wanted to make sure that Cam (Beaubier) behind me was staying there and just tried to fight him off so we can keep the points lead growing a little bit. Pumped to go into race three and happy that I’m feeling as good as I am after the get-off on Friday.”
Bobby Fong – Winner
“It’s always you look back on races and you’re like, ‘I should have done this, I should have done this.’ But I done everything I could yesterday. No regrets. Josh (Herrin) rode a good race. He was better than me yesterday. He was right. Today’s race was… It was slippery yesterday too, but it was so slippery out there and this Yamaha likes to roll, so that’s kind of using that in our advantage a little bit. This next one I’m sure it’s going to even be a little bit more slippery with the temperatures going up. So, it’s definitely going to be who has a better tire. Not managing the tire, but just who can deal with the sliding the least amount out there. We got another one to do it. Like to end the weekend on a high, but I’m happy to be up here and just continuing the
forward progress and fighting with these two world-class guys. They’re fast, and it’s always a pleasure to be up here with them.”
Quotes – Race Three
Cameron Beaubier – Third Place
“Coming into this track, this track has always treated me pretty well. I’ve had some good wins here in the past. Had a lot of success. It’s one of my favorite tracks in the world. So, coming here and getting my butt kicked like we did, it sucks. Especially after the speed we showed on Saturday morning in qualifying. But I can do a couple good laps when the tire is fresh, but as soon as it drops, I was really struggling to hold my line and roll through the track with these guys. I kind of resorted to just trying to make it up on the brakes. It gets pretty risky out there when you’re relying on that. We got some work to do. I tried to do everything I could to hang onto him today. I’m honestly pretty stoked with how I rode, because I left it all out there. I did everything I could, and it just wasn’t enough. Going to go back, figure out how we can be better. Like I said out there on the podium, hats off to Bob (Fong). Awesome weekend with two wins. Same with Josh (Herrin). They’re both riding really good right now. The level of the Superbike class is pretty gnarly at the top right now.”
Josh Herrin – Second Place
“I feel like today with the crash on Friday, yesterday it took a lot out of me. The second day was a little bit more sore than I thought I’d be, but also once I got going, I felt better than I thought I would based on how I felt. Today going into the first race, it was let’s see what happens. The second race, I just told myself, we got a first and a second. If I can just get a third right now, we’ve got a good points haul for the weekend. Just take it. Be happy. Then my mind just kind of switched. I got into the mode that I was in and just wanted to battle it up and see what happened. Bobby (Fong) had super good pace. I just wanted to play a little bit of chess this weekend, to be honest. I knew what I needed to do coming out of here, if I could get a good points haul. If I could get Bobby to win, if I couldn’t win and then be ahead of Cam (Beaubier). That was the next goal if I couldn’t win the race. So, I’m super happy that we were able to do that. I exceeded my expectations for today because Like I said, I was totally content with third. To be able to battle like we did up to then I was happy with it. To be leaving here with a 31-point lead when we came in with eight or nine or something like that is huge. None of us have been to VIR in a while. It’s a track that I’ve had a lot of success at, and I know both these guys have too. I’m excited to go there. I think everybody is. Then Mid-Ohio we did last year, so it’s really just kind of see how VIR goes and then pumped to go to Mid-Ohio. Hats off to my whole team for all the hard work.”
Bobby Fong – Winner
“Honestly in the first few laps, I thought it was going to be a long race. I had a few moments in the first few laps, and then battling with these guys I thought we were just going to scrap the whole race. It was fun for a little bit. SDK (Sean Dylan Kelly) got his nose in there, so it was good. Then I saw that (Josh) Herrin kind of caught on to some of the strong sections of the track that I was doing, so he kind of learned and picked it up and gathered a few tenths in some of those sectors. So, I thought it was really going to be a long race because you could pull a little gap, and it was kind of the yo-yo effect. Then Cam was in there. Honestly, I just needed to keep my head down and just do my laps. I didn’t think we were going to get the W for how I felt in the first few laps out there. The thing would just break loose out of nowhere. Right in the middle of the turn you would just tip in, and the thing would just let go. Worse in the second race, but the temperatures got up so we kind of managed and just kept our roll speed. I knew these guys behind me for a little bit would be fighting it out and maybe slowing the pace up. I’m not sure what was going on. I’m happy to get out of here with two wins and just to continue our progression.”
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