Supersport Race 1
Josh Hayes has come into the 2023 MotoAmerica season looking for his record breaking, 87th win. He is currently tied with the legendary Miguel Duhamel, and another win would set the new benchmark for generations to come. As the first points-paying race of the season, the Supersport class came into Road Atlanta ready for serious battle.
As race one commenced, it was the veteran Josh Hayes immediately swapping positions with newcomer Xavi Fores. Hayes was squeezing every ounce of speed from his Squid Hunter Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 down the long, fast back straightaway, but was no match to Fores’ dominating front end confidence and braking ability heading into turns ten and eleven. Even with his Warhorse WSBK Racing Panigale V2 getting unsettled occasionally, it didn’t slow him down. Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Stefano Mesa held a solid third position until three laps to go, when Tyler Scott quietly snuck past with his Vision Wheel M4 Ecstar Suzuki GSXR-750. Up front, Fores and Hayes continued testing each other, especially into turns ten and eleven.
With two laps to go, Fores made a slight mistake and Ty Scott led down the back straightaway, but Fores was late and hard on the brakes into turn ten, where he regained the lead. On the final lap, it was a tight, four rider battle. Down the back straight, Tyler Scott led Fores into the braking zone once again, but it was Xavi’s hard-pushing Ducati taking back the lead. Out of the final corner, the duo up front caught a lapped rider where Xavi had to go around and quickly touched the dirt, but held onto control long enough to finish ahead of Scott, with Hayes in third and Mesa in fourth. This was a wild race showing the close competitiveness of four different manufacturers in the Supersport class.
SuperSport Race 2
Race number two found Stefano Mesa taking the eaerly lead around the outside in turn one, while Xavi Fores, Tyler Scott & Josh Hayes shuffled for position during the first few laps. On lap three, Scott used the raw horsepower of his GSXR-750 to pass Mesa heading into turn ten.
For several laps Scott held the lead with Fores and Mesa in tow, while Hayes began to slip backwards. On lap seven, Fores made the pass on Scott for the lead, and Hayes found his pace to reel in the lead group again. Lap ten saw Scott get past Fores into turn ten, but Fores pushes back through into turn eleven. Lapped traffic began separating the group, allowing Fores to pull away.
Josh Hayes pulled through to second place with four laps to go, and continued to use his years of experience around Road Atlanta to pull closer to Fores. However, on the final lap Stefano Mesa drafted past Hayes on the back straight and to take second place. Fores took his second consecutive race win with a comfortable cushion back to Mesa in second, Hayes in third, and Scott fourth.
Medallia Superbike Race 1
There was plenty of excitement heading into the first Medallia Superbike race of the season. The class saw several entry shifts as the legendary Tony Elias returned aboard a Vision Wheel M4 Ecstar Suzuki GSXR1000, Josh Herrin moved up to the Warhorse HSBK Ducati Panigale V4 after securing the 2022 Supersport championship, and former 5-time Superbike champion Cameron Beaubier returned from multiple years in the Moto2 world championship. With Jake Gagne tightly secured to Beaubier’s prior championship-capable steed, the Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha YZF-R1, all eyes were on Cam to see if he could make the unproven Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M1000RR machine a Superbike race winner. However, the weekend started strong for Jake Gagne as he was the top qualifier and clearly looked to be the favorite for the win.
As the lights went out and race one began, Cameron Beaubier looked quick with a good launch off the line, but was out-braked by Gagne into turn one, while Josh Herrin, Matt Scholtz and Cam Petersen found themselves quickly fighting for third spot. Gagne set a new race lap record on lap two, and pulled over a one second gap ahead of Beaubier. Beaubier refused to settle in second place and began to reel in his former teammate over the next five laps, and eventually took over the lead after the back straight on lap seven. Gagne didn’t immediately fight back, but rather tucked in and followed – perhaps tactically conserving tires and thinking Cam used a bit too much rubber to catch up with him.
With five laps to go, Herrin began to close the three second gap up to Gagne and Beaubier, as he seemed to be learning his brand new bike. Out front, Beaubier looked loose and sliding, yet still very much in control and comfortable, while Gagne was showing signs of physical struggle. As the race came down to the final lap, Gagne was closely behind Beaubier as the head onto the back straightaway, but the overall power of the BMW and Beaubier’s confidence on the brakes was too much for Gagne to reel in. It was Cameron Beaubier across the line, just ahead of Jake Gagne, while Herrin held onto third position at his home event.
Medallia Superbike Race 2
It was déjà vu for the start of race two, as Gagne took the early lead once again, with Beaubier in second place and Josh Herrin following closely in third. Herrin knew he had the pace to run up front after yesterday’s race and needed to push harder early on. At the end of lap one, Jason Waters crashed into turn ten, where his BMW quickly caught fire (exploding into flames as the track marshals attempted to pick it up to be exact!) causing the red flags to come out.
A new 15 lap race was ordered, and it was Beaubier with the holeshot this time, leading Gagne, Petersen, Herrin, Scholtz into the first lap. Gagne quickly took the lead at the end of lap one heading into turn eleven. Beaubier tried to retaliate into turn one, but Gagne retained the lead. On the next lap, Cam passed Jake hard on the brakes into turn ten, but Gagne held firm and daringly retook the lead outside of the chicane exit.
Heading up the hill after turn one on lap number three, Cam Petersen’s bike burst into flames, causing him to ditch the bike in against the barriers and retire from the race.
As the pair of Beaubier and Gagne pushed HARD at the front, Josh Herrin was giving everything he had to reel them back in. Once he accomplished this, Herrin got through Gagne on lap seven and began to work on chasing down Beaubier.
At this point, Westby Racing’s Matthew Scholtz had closed the gap on the top three, giving us a four-way battle for the lead. Herrin was able to successfully shoot past Beaubier on lap nine down the back straight, with the V4 breaking over 190mph. However, one lap later Cam got back through into turn ten, as the two European machines push onward. Back and forth they fought, but Beaubier couldn’t break away from the three behind. Four riders, three of them former champions of this class.
With three laps remaining, Herrin regained the lead, but Beaubier pushed back through into first heading into the final lap. Herrin unexpectedly passed him back heading into turn six and blasted wide and fast out of turn seven. On the final run down the back straight, Beaubier and Herrin roared side by side, where Herrin ran slightly wide and Gagne slipped through to the lead. Herrin tried to brake hard heading into turn ten, but the bike was unstable and he sat up, running straight through and narrowly avoiding Beaubier’s front end.
As Herrin fought to keep his bike upright through the grass, Gagne swept down the hill into turn eleven with a safe gap between himself and Beaubier in second, Scholtz in third, and Herrin in a distant fourth after rejoining the circuit.
REVIT Twins Cup Race 1
Gus Rodio came into this weekend’s event off of a strong outing in Daytona, while Stefano Mesa stepped back aboard the WagBar MP13 Racing Yamaha YZF-R7, filling in for Yaakov and coming off of a race victory in Daytona. Rocco Landers also joined the Twins class, temporarily filling in on a Rodio Racing Aprilia RS 660 bike and broke the track record early in the weekend.
An unfortunate situation saw Hayden Shultz and Jody Barry down together on the warm up lap, forcing Barry to retire early. After a bit of delay, the race began with Jody Barry’s spot vacant on the front row. Blake Davis got away with a strong launch and led the pack on lap one, with Rodio and Landers in tow. The pair of Rodio Racing Aprilia’s showed their engine strength down the back straightaway, but Davis was very late on the brakes and continued to fight back into the lead.
At the end of lap three, Landers engine gives way and forced him to retire. Davis and Rodio broke away from Schultz and Blackmon behind them and never looked back. The duo continued to swap places and push each other to the limit, but it was Davis who held off Rodio down the back straight, smashing his brakes late into turn ten and held his lines clean all the way to the finish. Hayden Schultz redeemed himself from the pre-race crash and finished third just ahead of Blackmon.
REVIT Twins Cup Race 2
In race two, Landers returned to the grid looking for redemption after his mechanically-forced DNF the day prior, and he did just that as he took the early lead and immediately gapped the field behind him. Davis began to reel in a gap to Rodio in second, but found himself in the gravel trap at the end of lap five. He remounted and fought back to a lonely eleventh place finish, scraping as many precious points as possible. At the front, Landers ran away with the lead, while Rodio, Schultz, and Stefano Mesa fought for second position. In the end, it was Landers followed by Rodio in second and Hayden Schultz in third.
Stock 1000
This weekend in Atlanta was home to the first Stock 1000 race of the season, which also happened to be veteran contender Geoff May’s final professional event. It was bittersweet for the Geoff May Racing Honda CBR1000RR-RSP rider, as he topped the timing sheets in early weekend practice, then continued to fight for the top step of the podium in both races.
However, it was Orange Cat Racing’s Ezra Beaubier who took his first career victory in not one, but both Stock 1000 races aboard his BMW M1000 RR. This weekend’s sweep will surely be a boost of confidence to the California-based rider, as he pushes forward into the 2023 season.
