Cycle News Staff | 17 August 2024
Friday Superbike
Ben Spies’ 16-year-old Superbike lap record at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course will stand for at least one more day, as Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier flirted with the mark but didn’t quite make it on a sunny and windy day at the legendary racing facility.
After 40 minutes of Superbike Q1, the times at the front were close together and oh, so close to the lap record, with Beaubier taking the lead with a 1:23.904 – just 0.265 off Spies’ best time from 2008.
Beaubier, who won a race here at the last Mid-Ohio Superbike race in 2014, wasn’t the only one looking to break Spies’ record. Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Loris Baz was hot on his heels, just 0.122 seconds slower than the five-time MotoAmerica Superbike champion. Beaubier, however, was the only rider to go under 1:23.
Next came Sean Dylan Kelly of EasyHealthPlans.com/Top Pro Racing, just 0.153 seconds behind Baz and just 0.062 seconds ahead of Baz’s teammate Josh Herrin, the 2024 Steel Commander Superbike points leader heading into the first of two races at Mid-Ohio tomorrow.
Jake Gagne of Attack Performance/Progressive/Yamaha Racing finished fifth and was the last rider on the same second as Beaubier with his time of 1:24.852.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch finished Friday’s race in sixth place, with Tytlers Cycle Racing’s JD Beach in seventh, closely followed by Gagne’s injured teammate Cameron Petersen. The South African rode bravely to eighth place in Q1 after sustaining a right ankle injury during the official Dunlop test yesterday.
Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong and Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates completed the top 10 ahead of Q2 tomorrow morning.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante finished the session in 12th place on his comeback to racing after suffering serious injuries in the opening round at Road Atlanta.
Supersport – Jacobsen strikes first
Rahal Ducati Moto’s PJ Jacobsen was third in Supersport Q1 with 11 minutes to go in the session when he passed title rival Mathew Scholtz on his Strack Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 and Altus Racing’s Jake Lewis to top the timesheets with a 1:27.427, a new intermediate class lap record at Mid-Ohio.
The time stood and Jacobsen finished the session just 0.163 seconds ahead of Scholtz. Lewis finished in third place with a time of 1:27.885.
Blake Davis of N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto and Maxi Gerardo of EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing were half a second off Jacobsen’s best time and were the last riders to be within a second of the New Yorker.
Jacobsen’s teammate Kayla Yaakov, Tyler Scott of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki, Gerardo’s teammate Larry Pegram, Stefano Mesa of Tytlers Cycle Racing and Max Van of SportbikeTrackGear.com completed the top 10 for the time being.
Mission King Of The Baggers – Wyman, Barely
Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman led Mission King Of The Baggers Q1 at Mid-Ohio on Friday and was the championship leader by just 0.121 seconds over his title rival S&S Cycle/Indian Motorcycle’s Troy Herfoss. Wyman’s best lap was a 1:27.872 to Herfoss’ 1:27.993.
The top five were all within a second of Wyman. RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson teammates Hayden Gillim and Rocco Landers finished the session third and fourth, respectively. Herfoss’ teammate Tyler O’Hara rounded out the top five in Q1.
Tomorrow morning, the big baggers return to the track for Q2. The top six finishers will then move on to the Mission King Of The Baggers Challenge race, which offers a $5,000 prize purse. The race will take place at 12:05pm, with the first of two championship races taking place at 4:05pm.
Junior Cup – Back to business
The racers in the Junior Cup class could be forgiven for being a little rusty after not racing since the Brainerd International Raceway race in June, but that wasn’t the case as the series’ youngest racers were quickly back up to speed when Q1 rolled around on Friday afternoon.
BARTCON Racing’s Matthew Chapin picked up right where he left off in Q1 and was the championship leader with a 1:36.52, although he said his best lap contained a mistake. Chapin finished Friday afternoon’s session with the only sub-1:36 lap, which he set at 1:36.652.
Fernandez Racing’s Jayden Fernandez finished second, 0.755 seconds behind Chapin but ahead of New York Safety Track Racing’s Yandel Medina. Royalty Racing’s Carson King and BARTCON Racing’s Eli Block rounded out the top five.
Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. – Moore Again
Mikayla Moore was Mikayla Moore on Friday at Mid-Ohio. The Maryland racer secured the provisional pole position for this weekend’s two Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. races. If Moore stays in the lead in tomorrow’s Q2, she will continue her streak of being on pole at every race for the past year and a half.
Moore set a best lap time of 1:47.186, putting her 2.253 seconds ahead of Kira Knebel. Emma Betters completed the provisional first row with her time of 1:40.257.
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship – Herfoss’ First
S&S Cycle/Indian Motorcycles’ Troy Herfoss has yet to score a pole in his rookie season at the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship, but he earned his first provisional pole on Friday at Mid-Ohio.
Herfoss was faster than teammate Tyler O’Hara on Friday afternoon with a time of 1:29.801, putting him 0.123 seconds ahead. The top eight drivers had the same time as the Australian.
Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson teammates Travis Wyman and Cory West finished third and fourth respectively, while KTM Development Team’s Chris Fillmore completed the top five ahead of tomorrow’s Q2 session.
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