The second round of the 2026 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta is in the books. With much cooler temperatures than Saturday’s race one, riders commented that traction was readily available around the 2.54-mile Georgia circuit, likely resulting in the new lap record in Supersport and four other lap records in the support classes.
Rahal Ducati Moto with Desnuda Organic Tequila rider Josh Herrin took the win in race two aboard his Ducati Panigale V4 R. The 2022 Supersport champion spent the first half of the race in the lead group of four riders before making his move to first on lap nine. Once Herrin had a clear track in front of him, the 33-year-old Californian stretched out a 1.490-second gap over second place and set a new Supersport lap record in the process at 1:27.554.
Second-place finisher, Celtic/Economy Lube + Tire/Warhorse’s Darryn Binder led the first half of the race and defended multiple pass attempts from the riders behind him at turn 10a. The South African Supersport race one winner showed he has the speed to run directly with Herrin and briefly set his own Supersport lap record of 1:27.613 on lap 15 before Herrin eclipsed him by .059 of a second and trails Herrin by just three points.
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott was the only other rider to dip into the minute-27 club with a 1:27.938 on lap 11. The GSX-R750 rider could not keep touch with the leaders, however, as they consistently put down minute-27’s for the remainder of the race. Scott finished 6.6 seconds behind the leader to cap off the podium. Scott is third in points with 56 points.
Rahal Ducati Moto with Droplight’s Kayla Yaakov brought her Ducati Panigale V2 home in fourth position. The polesitter ran as high as third for a moment before falling behind the lead group, finishing 6.9 seconds behind the leader. She sits fourth in points with 42 heading into the next round.
Rounding out the top five was Strack Racing’s Blake Davis aboard his Yamaha YZF-R9. After finishing third in race one, Davis heads to Barber fifth in points with 36 on the board.
The following quote is from race two winner Josh Herrin:
“I lived here for a long time, and I love coming here and all the people here. I have a lot of family and friends. I’ve never clicked well with it. On a 600, or supersport class, it’s been better to me, but in Superbike, I really struggled here. So, that one felt good. To answer your question about riding like that with Darryn, yes, it was a lot of fun, but everybody in this class for the most part, except for Tyler, is new for me riding around them. So I’m trying to sit back and learn their styles and see where they’re passing, where I can get away a little bit and stuff like that. It’s a lot of fun, though. You know me and my history. I’d rather fight to the end than have boring races. I was having a lot of fun out there. Yesterday, my goal was to try to get in front and just put some laps down and try to separate the field a little bit. There’s guys that I expect to be there, but I want to see what I can do. After the mistake I made yesterday, today, I just decided to play it safe and wait a little bit. Even with waiting until halfway through, everybody was so anxious to just try and pass each other that I had no other choice than to just try and go to the front and put down some laps and see who can go. I was getting a little bit nervous just the way everybody was passing on the back straight through the kink and stuff like that. Had a lot of fun. Super-happy with how the team worked this weekend. We made a lot of changes. Yesterday, it didn’t pay off, but I feel like we recovered well and had a good race today. Thanks to the whole Rahal Desnuda Tequila team.”
Superbike Cup – Depth Of Field Tested In Race Two
BPR Racing Yamaha’s Deion Campbell was the first Superbike Cup finisher from race two and finished the first lap in ninth ahead of some Superbikes. As expected, the higher-spec machinery of M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch, OrangeCat Racing’s Jayson Uribe, and a hard-charging Warhorse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law Beaubier from 20th on the grid. Campbell hung on to the top “Cup spot”, beating Superbike Cup points leader, Real Steel Honda’s Andrew Lee, by just .061 of a second.
The third Superbike Cup finisher from race two was Alex Dumas aboard his Aftercare Scheibe Racing/Jones Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP.
The following quote is from Deion Campbell, first Superbike Cup finisher in race two winner:
“It was an eventful weekend, for sure. We started off strong, had some little mishaps on Friday. Saturday, we continued with our pace, pushing very well. Unfortunately, we had a little mishap in the first race. And it didn’t go too well for me, but the BPR Racing guys buckled down and really worked hard and got me a great platform to come back strong for race two. Got a great start, got up there in the Superbike grid a little bit. I was just trying to keep my head down, keeping up with those guys and trying to stay consistent that last lap I was really just hitting my marks and making sure I brought that home safe for these for a first place.”
Talent Cup – Race Two Podium Decided By .221 Of A Second
A red-flag-abbreviated Talent Cup race two saw Kensei Matsudaira take the win and record the first double victory of his young MotoAmerica career, extending his win streak to three.
The Team Roberts rider spent the majority of the race in second place, chased by Team Hammer’s Jake Paige as Quarterly Racing’s Nathan Gouker dictated the pace up front.
The trio remained inseparable through the duration of the race. On the final lap, on the back straight, the group tightened. The three riders went three-wide into turn 10A, forcing a dash, led by Matsudaira to the line.
The lead would stick, with Matsudaira over Gouker by .104, followed by Paige in third and .117 behind Gouker.
Third-place finisher, Team Hammer’s Jake Paige was not only the rider rounding out the podium. He also managed to set a new Talent Cup lap record with a 1:40.191 in race two.
Yamaha BLU CRU Estenson Racing’s Sam Drane once again found himself in the lead pack and capped off the weekend with a fourth-place finish.
The following quote is from race two winner, Kensei Matsudaira:
“Honestly, I couldn’t be any happier with three in a row, so hopefully we can keep this momentum for the next couple of races. And, yeah, looking forward to Barber.”
Mission King Of The Baggers – Gill’Em All
J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Factory Indian rider Hayden Gillim won pretty much everything there is to win in Mission King Of The Baggers here at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. The 31-year-old from Owensboro, Kentucky, found himself sitting on pole for the weekend’s races after setting a new lap record in Qualifying 2 with a 1:27.669, just .115 of a second slower than the new Supersport lap record set by Josh Herrin.
Gillim went on to win the Mission King Of The Baggers Challenge, Saturday’s race one, and Sunday’s race two. To add a cherry to the top of his Sunday race, he tacked on a new race lap record at 1:27.959.
Gillim’s J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Factory Indian teammates Rocco Landers and Troy Herfoss finished second and third respectively, creating an all Indian Challenger podium in The Peach State.
Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s Bradley Smith finished fourth with SDI Racing’s Tyler O’Hara rounding out the top five.
The following quote is from race two winner Hayden Gillim:
“It was an amazing weekend. One of the very few times that I’ve led every session. It’s maybe happened once or twice in my career. So, to be able to do that is pretty special. It just kind of shows where this team is headed. It’s still really early days for this whole group and for Vance and Hines with these Indian bikes. We’re slowly getting better and better every weekend. To be able to come here and do what the three of us did is just really awesome. It’s a testament to them. It’s just really awesome. To have all three of us up here today, it’s pretty special.”
Twins Cup – Matthew Chapin Dominant In First Win Of Season
The Twins Cup Championship had a rough start to race two with Robem Engineering’s Hank Vossberg highsiding his Aprilia RS 660 in turn 4, and Speed Demon Racing Powered by Ready to Ride’s Logan Cunnison crashing his Aprilia RS 660 just after Vossberg. With Cunnison’s bike in a less than ideal position on the race course, the original eight-lap contest was red-flagged and shortened to five laps.
During the race stoppage, Vossberg returned to the pits with the left handlebar almost touching the front fairing it was so bent, and some other cosmetic damage. More concerning however, was his visible limp after landing hard on his right hip. His Robem Engineering crew was able to fix the bike, and the Wisconsinite showed his toughness by gridding up for the restart. Cunnison was not able to make it back in time for the restart.
On the restart, M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Matthew Chapin jumped out to an early lead on his GSX-8R and led all five laps of the race, winning by a comfortable margin of 2.6 seconds.
Second-place finisher, Robem Engineering’s Hank Vossberg was still limping when he returned aboard his Aprilia RS 660 to the podium. The Wisconsin native tucked in behind the leader Chapin in turn one and occupied second place for the entire duration of the race finishing ahead of third place by .944 of a second.
Third place went to Karns/TST Industries Racing rider Kevin Olmedo aboard his Suzuki GSX-8R. The El Salvador native started in sixth position and worked quickly to make three passes in just five short laps, making his final overtake for third came on the final trip around the Georgia circuit.
Behind Olmedo was a tight group of riders in fourth through seventh, separated by just a tenth or two of a second each. M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Bodie Paige was fourth, Karns/TST Industries Racing’s Isaac Woodworth was fifth, Ghetto Customs team owner and rider Chris Parrish was sixth, and TAB Performance’s Kyle Ohnsorg was seventh.
The Twins Cup Championship continues May 15-17 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.
The following quote is from race two winner Matthew Chapin:
“I got the dream start, I guess. Came out P2 and then tried to make quick work of Bodie, you know, get past my teammate there because I knew he had some bike problems before the red flag. Just kind of wanted to stay all out of that and then just put my head down, tried to build some consistency, click off some laps. I just got to give it up to my guys at M4 ECSTAR Suzuki. After a race like yesterday, you know, struggling with a few bike problems, coming out here and dominating the field pretty good, I feel amazing and it was much needed.”
Build.Train.Race. – Cutler Takes Care Of Business
Brianna Cutler upped the pace from her race one performance by checking out, winning race two by a margin of 4.9 seconds, and improving her best lap time by just over two seconds to demonstrate the rapid progression riders can achieve in the BTR program. Her time of 1:54.99 stands as a new BTR lap record at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Jasmine Noelle improved her best lap time by over one second and finished in P2, while Bryanna Everitt capped off the podium in third position, 5.9 seconds behind the leader.
The next race on the BTR calendar will be at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on May 29-31.
The following quote is from race two winner Brianna Cutler:
“Amazing being the points leader right now, especially with the struggles that I had last year. Seeing my effort pay off is incredible, and I tried to stay consistent. I looked at the data, and I knew which sector was my fastest, so I got open track, and I just started running. I don’t know how to look behind me without crashing, so I just kept going, and I really didn’t know what was going on behind me, but I could hear some dogfights, so I kept it pinned until I saw the checkered flag.”
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