Herrin Leads Close Title Chase As Superbike Racing Returns To Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Ten Years Later And MotoAmerica’s Steel Commander Superbike Series Headlines A Return to Mid-Ohio.
The last time the AMA Superbike Championship raced at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, a baby-faced, 24-year-old named Josh Herrin was struggling his way through a miserable Moto2 World Championship campaign and wishing he was at Mid-Ohio. That was 2014. This is now. And Herrin arrives at Mid-Ohio as the leader of the 2024 MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike Championship in the series’ return to the Buckeye State after a 10-year hiatus.
Everyone is champing at the bit to get back to racing in the Permco MotoAmerica Superbikes at Mid-Ohio event after a nearly one-month summer break since round six at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The time is now for championship wannabes to step up as the series reaches its boiling point with rounds at Circuit of The Americas and New Jersey Motorsports Park hot on the heels of the much-anticipated seventh round at Mid-Ohio.
Herrin, the 2013 AMA Superbike Champion, is atop the standings but this championship is far from over as he has several rivals nipping at his heels. There are 46 points separating the top five in the point standings with three rounds and seven races left to run in the fight for the title.
With three wins and four additional podium finishes, Herrin and his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R lead the Steel Commander Superbike Championship by 15 points over Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne with the three-time and defending champion somehow managing to contend for the title despite near-season-long arm-pump issues.
Gagne has just a single race win but he has scored points in each and every round, including four additional podium finishes to go with his lone victory.
Just eight points behind Gagne and 23 behind Herrin is Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong. The 2019 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion’s double win at Brainerd International Raceway put him atop the standings heading into the Ridge Motorsports Park round. It was there, however, that Fong faltered in race one when he chose to use slicks when he needed rain tires, and that miscue was followed by a crash in race one at Laguna Seca. Still, the Californian is having his best Superbike season yet and is still very much in the hunt for the 2024 title.
Gagne’s teammate Cameron Petersen is also in the midst of his finest Superbike season as he sits fourth and just four points behind Fong with three victories. The South African’s scorecard, however, has been marred by a crash in race three at Barber Motorsports Park, and mechanical failures at both Road America and Laguna Seca.
Fifth in the championship is Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier, the winningest Superbike rider thus far in 2023. Five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Beaubier is 46 points behind Herrin after not scoring points in five races. The Californian won three of the first five races before suffering an injury that kept him on the sidelines for three races. Beaubier got back to his winning ways at Laguna Seca with a victory and a close second to Herrin in race two.
Herrin’s Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati teammate Loris Baz and EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly are separated by six points with Baz sixth and Kelly seventh. Kelly is coming off a solid weekend at Laguna Seca where he finished fourth in race one and battled for victory before getting a close third (behind Herrin and Beaubier) in race two. Baz, however, was disappointed with his two sixth-place finishes at Laguna, a track he calls one of his favorites.
Beaubier’s teammate JD Beach sits eighth in the championship and arrives in Ohio hot off his two victories in the American Flat Track (AFT) races in South Dakota – the Black Hills Half-Mile and the Sturgis TT.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch and his fill-in teammate Xavi Forés are ninth and 10th in the title chase, respectively, but Forés will be handing the team’s Suzuki GSX-R1000R back to team regular Richie Escalante, who was injured in the opening round at Road Atlanta and will make his return to racing at Mid-Ohio.
Team Brazil’s Danilo Lewis sits 12th overall and leads the MotoAmerica Superbike Cup Championship over Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates.
The two Superbike races will get the green light at 3:10 p.m. (Eastern) on both Saturday and Sunday.
Pre-Race Mid-Ohio Notes…
Australian Mat Mladin has more AMA Superbike wins at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course than any other racer. Mladin won 10 Superbike Nationals on the 2.4-mile road course with his first victory coming in 2001 and his last coming in 2008. Mladin leads Josh Hayes in Superbike wins at the iconic track, 10-7.
The very first AMA Superbike race was held at Mid-Ohio in 1983 with motocrosser-turned-road racer Steve Wise taking the win in the circuit’s debut.
Twenty-three riders who competed at Mid-Ohio in 2014 are slated to return and race at the legendary road course again in 2024: Corey Alexander, David Anthony, JD Beach, Cameron Beaubier, Chris Fillmore, Max Flinders, Bobby Fong, Jake Gagne, Josh Gallusser, Hayden Gillim, CJ LaRoche, Jake Lewis, Stefano Mesa, Brian Mullins, Tyler O’Hara, Larry Pegram, James Rispoli, Hayden Schultz, Carl Soltisz, Cory West, Cody Wyman, Kyle Wyman, and Travis Wyman.
Cameron Beaubier and Josh Hayes split wins in the last two AMA Superbike races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2014. Among active racers, Beaubier (2014) and Josh Herrin (2013) are the only two who have won a Superbike race at Mid-Ohio.
Suzuki holds the record for most victories at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with 20, followed by Yamaha (11), Honda (10) and Kawasaki (5). Yamaha, however, has dominated since 2012, winning all six Superbike races through 2014, when the series last came to Mid-Ohio.
The Superbike lap record for Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course dates way back to 2008 when Ben Spies lapped the iconic 2.4 road course in 1:23.639 at an average speed of 103.301 mph. Spies will be on hand this weekend at Mid-Ohio as he’s the team principal for the Rahal Ducati Moto squad.
Cameron Beaubier’s race-one victory at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca a month ago was the five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion’s 63rd AMA Superbike win, a mark that puts him second to Australian Mat Mladin on the all-time AMA Superbike win list.
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