Street Atlanta Preview: tenth Anniversary Season Set To Start For MotoAmerica Superbike Championship
The 2024 Metal Commander Superbike Sequence Begins In Georgia, April 19-21
IRVINE, CA (April 17, 2024) – The 2024 MotoAmerica Metal Commander Superbike Championship is about to start on April 20 – 209 days after JD Seaside gained the 2023 collection finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park and 244 days since Jake Gagne clinched a 3rd successive MotoAmerica Superbike title within the third of three races at Pittsburgh Worldwide Race Advanced.
Later this week at Michelin Raceway Street Atlanta, a full slate of 5 MotoAmerica will get the 2024 championship began in earnest with three of the lessons having their opening day (Metal Commander Superbike, Supersport and Junior Cup) whereas the opposite two (Mission King Of The Baggers and BellissiMoto Twins Cup) have already began their championships.
With the Metal Commander Superbike Championship kicking off its tenth season of racing, all eyes shall be on MotoAmerica’s premier class at Street Atlanta. And for a fourth straight season, three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Jake Gagne stays the goal for these desirous to earn the Superbike crown.
Merely put, if you wish to be the 2024 MotoAmerica Metal Commander Superbike Champion, you’re gonna must take it from Mr. Gagne.
Gagne will open protection of his title on his Assault Efficiency Yamaha YZF-R1 following an 11-win, 17-podium season that ended with him 128 factors away from second place after scoring a pleasant and tidy 400 factors on the season.
Gagne was off the rostrum 3 times and two of these have been when his bike failed him. As soon as was an engine failure at Street America and the opposite was when he was stripped of his second place in race two at Circuit of The Americas for utilizing unlawful gas. Gagne’s third off-the-podium end was when he tip-toed his method to fourth place in horrible circumstances at NJMP within the season finale.
It was Josh Herrin who got here “closest” to Gagne in 2023 as he rode his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R to second within the championship with two wins and 12 whole podiums. He’ll return to the group for a 3rd season and second on the group’s Panigale V4 R. He can even achieve this with a brand new teammate with whom to share information, Loris Baz. Final yr, was a one-man Superbike group on the Warhorse squad.
Baz returns to each the MotoAmerica Championship and the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati group after two years in World Superbike with the Bonovo Motion BMW group. Baz completed fourth within the 2021 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship, however remains to be looking for his first win within the U.S. The Frenchman ought to prosper as he’s raced on eight of the 9 tracks the collection will go to and he gained’t be alone in having to study Mid-Ohio Sports activities Automobile course as MotoAmerica provides the enduring monitor to its schedule for the primary time.
5-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier returned to the MotoAmerica collection final yr after his two years in Moto2, gained 5 races and seemed to be a severe challenger for what might have been a sixth championship. Beaubier had some unhealthy luck within the latter a part of the season and a horrific accident at Pittsburgh Worldwide Race Advanced put him out of motion for the remainder of the yr. Together with his 5 wins, together with the season opener in his Tytlers Cycle Racing debut on the group’s BMW M1000 RR at Street Atlanta, and eight whole podiums, Beaubier nonetheless managed sixth within the championship.
Beaubier spent the top of the 2023 season recuperating and has accomplished a full slate of group testing in preparation for one more go at title quantity six in 2024. Beaubier can also be simply two wins behind 61-time winner Josh Hayes for second on the all-time AMA Superbike win listing with 59 victories.
Beaubier shall be joined on the Tytlers group by JD Seaside with the Kentuckian incomes his means again right into a full-time Superbike journey with two podiums and a victory whereas filling in on the Assault Efficiency Yamaha group for the injured Cameron Petersen on the finish of final yr.
Petersen, nevertheless, shall be again on the Assault Efficiency Yamaha YZF-R1 as a teammate to Gagne after rehabilitating his damaged proper wrist. Previous to the harm, Petersen had two podium finishes, together with a second-place end at Barber Motorsports Park.
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante had an excellent season in his sophomore yr of racing within the Superbike class. Escalante earned his first MotoAmerica Superbike podium in race one at COTA and was constantly within the high 5 all season lengthy to finish up fourth within the ultimate standings.
Escalante shall be again to guide the Suzuki GSX-R750-mounted group and he shall be joined there once more by Brandon Paasch. Paasch began the season late after recovering from again surgical procedure and he was additionally spectacular with a greatest end of fourth coming at COTA.
Amongst these returning within the Superbike class are Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates, Wrench Bikes’ Bobby Fong, FlowLaw Racing’s Benjamin Smith, Workforce Brazil’s Danilo Lewis and Thrashed Bike Racing’s Max Flinders.
Hayden Gillim can also be entered within the Metal Commander Superbike class on a Actual Metal Motorsports Honda CBR1000RR-R SP. One other late entry is Ezra Beaubier with Cameron’s youthful brother set to race a BMW M 1000 RR for the Scheibe Racing group.
Loads of curiosity will fall on the return to MotoAmerica for 2021 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion Sean Dylan Kelly. Kelly left the collection for a shot within the Moto2 World Championship, however the Floridian has opted to return and can make his Superbike debut on the group’s BMW M 1000 RR at Street Atlanta. Kelly’s teammate shall be group proprietor Alex Arango.
Among the many notables lacking from the Metal Commander Superbike class are PJ Jacobsen and Mathew Scholtz. Jacobsen, who completed third in final yr’s Superbike title struggle, will race within the Supersport class on a Rahal Ducati Moto Panigale V2. Scholtz, who was fifth within the 2023 Superbike Championship, can even transfer to the Supersport class on a Strack Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 after his Westby Racing pulled the plug on its Superbike program on the finish of final season.
Pre-Street Atlanta Superbike Notes…
This yr’s MotoAmerica spherical at Michelin Raceway Street Atlanta will once more be the opening spherical for the Metal Commander Superbike, Supersport and Junior Cup Championships whereas the Mission King Of The Baggers and BellissiMoto Twins Cup have already had their collection openers. In actual fact, Mission King Of The Baggers groups arrive at Street Atlanta with 4 races underneath their belt – two at Daytona and two at Circuit of The Americas. The Twins Cup groups, in the meantime, had two races at Daytona in early March.
Whereas the highest Supersport racers (and a few from Superbike as nicely) took half within the Daytona 200, that race isn’t a points-paying race within the MotoAmerica Championship, thus Street Atlanta marks the opening spherical of the Supersport Championship.
Jake Gagne earned pole place for the 2 Superbike race at Michelin Raceway Street Atlanta together with his lap of 1:23.453 to greatest Cameron Beaubier’s 1:24.381. In a single day rain meant that the Q1 lap occasions from Friday afternoon weren’t improved upon.
Gagne’s greatest lap in Q1 wasn’t quick sufficient to beat his Street Atlanta monitor report of 1:23.407.
Race one final yr was gained by Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier by simply .340 of a second over Jake Gagne as the 2 fought out entrance at some stage in the 19-lap race. Josh Herrin was third, 1.9 seconds adrift.
Race two on Sunday at Street Atlanta shall be remembered most by Josh Herrin shedding his brakes going into the flip 10A-10B chicane and almost taking out Cameron Beaubier, who had pushed Herrin broad within the quick right-hand kink on the finish of the backstraight. One way or the other the highest 4 all made it by way of the melee with Jake Gagne beating Beaubier to the road by half a second. Mathew Scholtz was third and Herrin recovered for fourth.
Twenty-three riders have entered the 2 Metal Commander Superbike races at Street Atlanta on 5 completely different manufacturers of bikes. BMW may have probably the most entries within the race with seven of the M 1000 RRs set to compete. Subsequent up is Yamaha with six YZF-R1s. Then comes Suzuki with 4 GSX-R1000s and Ducati with three Panigale V4 Rs and a lone Honda CBR1000RR-R SP. For these of you doing math, that equals 22 bikes as Kaleb De Keyrel’s entry doesn’t but have what bike the Scheibe Racing group shall be racing.
Riders from 4 completely different nations have entered the season opener within the Metal Commander Superbike collection: USA, Mexico, France and Brazil.
Whereas Australian Mat Mladin sits atop the all-time AMA Superbike win listing together with his 82 wins, second place may come underneath hearth through the 2023 Superbike season. Presently, that spot is held by four-time AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes with 61 victories, however he’s now simply two wins forward of five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier and his 59 wins. Jake Gagne, in the meantime, has 40 profession Superbike wins and he sits fourth all-time.
About MotoAmerica
MotoAmerica is North America’s premier bike highway racing collection. Established in 2014, MotoAmerica is dwelling to the AMA Superbike Championship in addition to extra lessons together with Supersport, Inventory 1000, Twins Cup, Junior Cup, and King Of The Baggers. MotoAmerica is an affiliate of KRAVE Group LLC, a partnership together with three-time 500cc World Champion, two-time AMA Superbike Champion, and AMA Corridor of Famer Wayne Rainey; ex-racer and former supervisor of Workforce Roberts Chuck Aksland; motorsports advertising government Terry Karges; and businessman Richard Varner. For extra info, please go to www.MotoAmerica.com and observe MotoAmerica on Fb, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube. To look at all issues MotoAmerica, subscribe to MotoAmerica’s stay streaming and video on demand service, MotoAmerica Dwell+
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