Plain and simple, Bobby Fong is starting to look a lot like a MotoAmerica Superbike Champion. On a sunny and hot day in central Ohio, Fong rode his Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing YZF-R1 to a fifth-straight victory and that victory, combined with Josh Herrin’s seventh-place finish, vaulted the Californian into the championship points lead.
The race was delayed after a red flag was thrown on the opening lap as oil had been dropped in the all-important turn six, the right-hander at the end of the backstraight. It’s important because it’s the place where many a pass is made. Not so after oil dry on the racing line was slippery when the race was restarted, forcing riders to either go inside or outside the oil dry.
The first to suffer from it was Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin. The championship points leader was demonstrative on the start line, waving his arms to try and get things stopped. The race went on, and Herrin almost crashed in the problem area on the opening lap, which led to more arm-waving as he lost several positions and fell back to the bottom third of the results. From there he would forge forward, ultimately finishing seventh to score nine points.
Turn six struck again on the final lap when Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier attempted to pass Fong and had to run off the track to avoid crashing. It took him a bit to navigate the gravel trap and by the time he’d rejoined, he’d dropped from a certain second place back to sixth.
Beaubier’s miscue slotted everyone back to Herrin up a spot with Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sean Dylan Kelly inheriting second place after fighting off the barrage of late-race attacks from Real Steel Honda’s JD Beach.
It was a magical day for Beach as he not only put his Stock 1000-spec Honda CBR1000RR-R SP on the podium, but in the process, he was the highest- finishing MotoAmerica Superbike Cup rider for the 13th time this season. Oh, and Beach also won the Stock 1000 race held earlier in the day to move into serious championship contention.
With Beaubier’s run-off, Fong crossed the finish line eight seconds ahead of Kelly with Beach, Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne, and Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim all crossing the finish line in close succession. Second to fifth were separated by just .805 of a second.
After his extended run through the gravel, a disappointed Beaubier rejoined in sixth place, some four seconds ahead of an angry Herrin.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante, FLO4LAW/SBU Racing’s Benjamin Smith and Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates rounded out the top 10.
With six races left to run, including race two at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course tomorrow, Fong now leads the title chase by 11 points over Herrin, 262-251. Beaubier is third, 26 points behind Fong and 15 behind Herrin.
Superbike Race 1
- Bobby Fong (Yamaha)
- Sean Dylan Kelly (Suzuki)
- JD Beach (Honda)
- Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
- Hayden Gillim (Honda)
- Cameron Beaubier (BMW)
- Josh Herrin (Ducati)
- Richie Escalante (Suzuki)
- Benjamin Smith (Yamaha)
- Ashton Yates (Honda)
Quotes…
JD Beach – Third Place
“Yeah, it will be nice if they just quit the weekend right now. No, it’s been amazing. I really can’t thank Hayden (Gillim) enough. He paved the way for this team. He’s worked really hard. He’s been riding great this year, and I feel like he should have been the one to get the first podium on a Honda in a long time. But if it wasn’t for him, I’d be probably watching this race at home. I was about done racing. To have my luck turn around like it has, it feels amazing. I don’t know what to say. I got on the podium. I feel like I’m riding like I did back in 2018. I feel great. When I stepped away from road racing in 2019, I wasn’t riding good. I didn’t want to end my career like that, and I came back last year and just couldn’t get going. This year, with this bike and this team, and my crew, I feel good. If I ended it tomorrow, I could sleep good tonight.”
Sean Dylan Kelly – Second Place
“I think it (turn six) became a don’t-pass spot instead of an overtaking spot. I tried to actually capitalize on it the first few laps. I put myself in fourth right away, then (Josh) Herrin made that mistake, and I found myself in third. I was really happy to be in that spot. I didn’t really believe that I had the pace for (Cameron) Beaubier and Bobby (Fong) in front of me, but I think I was picking up some pace, some time through turn six. Risking a little bit more probably than I should have. I actually was having a little bit better pace than I expected the first half of the race. Didn’t find myself that far away from these guys. I was really happy. I was obviously doing what I could. Halfway through the race, I started getting some issues, as I’m sure all of us were with some rear grip but mainly the front. I’ve been saving crashes all weekend long. Found myself really on the limit. Obviously, being in third, I had a little gap at the back behind me. I was like, let me just try holding this as long as I can. With some laps to go I looked behind me to see who was there. I saw it was JD (Beach). I didn’t really believe it, to be honest. Just kept on doing what I could. That last lap, seeing Beaubier on the gravel was kind of unexpected. I was really happy to be able to just defend. Didn’t really feel like the man the last few laps. I was just trying to defend and hold the position as much as I can. The fact that we finished on the podium, again back-to-back, is pretty unbelievable considering how long it took me to get on the podium this season. Super pumped. The whole team has been working super hard. I think that we obviously have a whole lot to work on but super pumped to be on the podium back-to-back.”
Bobby Fong – Winner
“No, I definitely didn’t think it was going to be like this. It’s a dream, honestly. It can be over tomorrow. The older I get… I try to live in the moment and try to enjoy it. Most of my life, it’s hard for me to enjoy things. I’ve got to either fight for my ride or do it again tomorrow. I’ve been slowly but surely trying to enjoy it more, being in the moment. I was always just like ‘go, go, go.’ So, you can be hero to zero before you know it, for sure. I thought Cameron (Beaubier) was going to… Well, he did actually take a few shots, but after the back straight if that oil dry wasn’t there I’m sure he would have made a lot more moves. I went over it maybe twice and tucked the front over it twice. I was like, ‘no way.’ It almost felt like there was still oil on the track, but everybody was in the same boat. I didn’t know how to go through it really because I couldn’t learn what everybody was doing. So, I was just guessing people were going around. I was just staying to the inside of it. It got a little line on the inside later on in the race, but MotoAmerica did their best. Everybody was in the same boat. I knew once the red flag came out in the beginning of the race before the start of the race, the tires were going to be greasy. It’s hot out there. I knew the heat was going to come into play for sure. It did. It was pretty slick out there. Not just because of the oil dry, but the heat and everything. But we managed pretty good. We’ll try to do it again tomorrow. The bike’s working good. I know there’s going to be a lot of guys closer tomorrow. Everybody always steps it up on Sunday for sure just from the knowledge of today’s race. So, we’re just going to try to keep working.”
