Day one in the battle for the 2025 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship went to Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Bobby Fong, with the championship points leader firing the first shot by earning provisional pole position on Friday at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Fong was fast all day and his 1:19.912 placed him as the only rider to crack into the 1:19s in Q1. That put him a tad over half-a-second faster than his teammate Jake Gagne, who may be the perfect wingman come race time for Fong. Gagne’s best was a 1:20.426, some three-tenths faster than the second of three title contenders going into this weekend’s races – Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin. Herrin’s best lap was a 1:20.715 on his 12th, go-around – .803 of a second off Fong’s best.
And what of the rider closest to Fong in the title chase, Cameron Beaubier? The five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion had a rough day with crashes in both the morning practice session and Q1. After hasty repairs were made to his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW, Beaubier ended the day 12th-fastest and needing a Beaubier-esque turnaround for tomorrow.
Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim was fourth-fastest, a tick faster than Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sean Dylan Kelly.
Jayson Uribe ended the day sixth, just .095 of a second behind Kelly, in a dream Superbike debut for the OrangeCat Racing team.
Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates was seventh-fastest with Flo4Law’s Benjamin Smith, OrangeCat Racing’s Andrew Lee, and Real Steel Honda’s JD Beach rounding out the top 10.
Motovation Supersport – Scholtz On Pace For Title
If Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz doesn’t wrap up the 2025 Motovation Supersport Championship tomorrow at New Jersey Motorsports Park, it won’t be from a lack of pace.
The South African wasted little time getting up to speed in the first practice session on Friday morning as he shattered the Supersport lap record with his 1:21.651. Although he was a tick slower in the afternoon Q1 session, his 1:21.704 was fast enough to earn him provisional pole position.
Scholtz leads the championship points chase by 21 over Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL’s PJ Jacobsen. If Scholtz scores four points in Saturday’s race one, he will earn his second successive Supersport title.
Although Scholtz led both sessions, things were tight at the top with Blake Davis second-fastest and just .361 of a second behind his Strack Racing teammate. Celtic/Economy Lube+Tire/Warhorse HSBK Ducati’s Cameron Petersen completed the provisional front row.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott was fifth-fastest with his 1:22.527 and the last rider to be within a second of Scholtz’ best.
Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL’s Kayla Yaakov, Altus Motorsports’ Jake Lewis, Rahal Ducati Moto w/Roller Die’s Corey Alexander, Bauce BARTCON Racing’s Joseph LiMandri Jr., and BPR Racing Yamaha’s Teagg Hobbs rounded out the top 10 on opening day at NJMP.
SC-Project Twins Cup – Di Mario Over Chapin
Robem Engineering’s Alessandro Di Mario and RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki’s Matthew Chapin battled over provisional pole in Friday’s Q1 session for the SC-Project Twins Cup races, with the fight ultimately going to Di Mario by just .137 of a second.
While Di Mario has wrapped up both the Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul and SC-Project Twins Cup titles and recently signed a deal that will see him race for the Rahal Ducati Moto team in next year’s Motovation Supersport series, we haven’t seen Chapin since the VIRginia International Raceway round in August. On Friday, he reminded us how good he is by ending the day so close to Di Mario, who lapped at a best of 1:25.057.
Di Mario’s teammate Hank Vossberg ended up third-fastest with his 1:25.363, just .306 of a second off his Di Mario’s best.
Bad Boys Racing’s Avery Dreher and Speeddemon Racing’s Logan Cunnison rounded out the top five.
Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul – Vossberg!
Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Hank Vossberg led Friday’s Q1 session in the Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul class, but things are tight at the front with the top six within a second of the Wisconsinite.
With newly crowned Talent Cup Champion Alessandro Di Mario sitting this one out, Vossberg took over as the rider to beat with his 1:29.668.
Jones Honda’s Bodie Paige ended up second, .350 of a second from Vossberg and .068 of a second ahead of fellow Australian Sam Drane and his Yamaha BLU CRU Estenson Racing-backed Krämer APX-350 MA.
Team Roberts’ Kody Kopp continued to move closer to the top with the multi-time flat track champion ending the day fourth. Bettencourt Racing’s Nathan Bettencourt rounded out the top five on opening day at NJMP.
Mission King Of The Baggers – Hello, Mr. Petersen
SDI Racing’s Cameron Petersen was all business on Friday at New Jersey Motorsports Park, with the South African having his best qualifying session of the season to put his Indian Challenger on provisional pole position in Mission King Of The Baggers Q1.
Petersen’s 1:22.901 was .097 of a second faster than RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson’s Hayden Gillim with the two ping-ponging the top spot in the waning minutes of the 39-minute session.
Gillim’s teammate Rocco Landers was third-fastest and only .109 of a second off Petersen’s best.
S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Tyler O’Hara was the first of the factory Indians in fourth, narrowly ahead of newly crowned Mission King Of The Baggers Champion Kyle Wyman.
S&S/Indian Motorcycle’s Loris Baz and Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s Bradley Smith ended the session .891 of a second from Petersen and the last rider on the same second as the provisional pole sitter.
