Binder, Gillim, And Kornbau Take Their 2026 Titles At Circuit Of The Americas
Circuit of The Americas delivered three of the four 2026 MotoAmerica feature class championships on hand Sunday. Darryn Binder’s Race 2 win clinched the Supersport title with a round to spare, Hayden Gillim’s runner-up finish secured his second career Mission King Of The Baggers Championship, and BPR Racing Yamaha’s Bryce Kornbau denied his own teammate in a last-lap battle to claim the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship. Only the Talent Cup title remains unresolved, with Nathan Gouker carrying an 18-point lead over Kensei Matsudaira into the season-ending round in New Jersey.
Supersport
Darryn Binder needed no drama in Race 2, checking out early for a flag-to-flag win while his closest championship rival could only manage seventh — a result that clinched the 2026 Supersport Championship for Binder with one round remaining on the schedule. The victory was his tenth of the season and 13th podium, completing a weekend sweep for the South African at COTA.
With Binder gone up front, the real fight was for the remaining podium spots, where Harrison Voight (+3.440s), Joshua Hayes (+3.830s), Kayla Yaakov (+3.988s), and Mikey Lou Sanchez battled behind the runaway leader. Sanchez’s day nearly ended before it began — an ignition issue on the warm-up lap forced him to pit and start from the back of the grid. The 16-year-old Texan wasted no time working through the field on his home circuit, already up to eighth by the end of lap one after starting P26.
As the laps wound down, the lead group swapped positions repeatedly, with Voight and Hayes both running as high as second and Sanchez and Yaakov never far behind with Binder still over four seconds up the road.
At the white flag, Voight held second over Sanchez, with Hayes fourth and Yaakov fifth — the group covered by less than a second. Sanchez found a run through the Esses on the final lap and slipped past Voight down the back straight to cross the line second, with Voight recovering from a wiggle through the stadium section to hold third.
For Sanchez however, the result did not stand. Post-race technical inspection by FIMNA Stewards in Parc Fermé found Sanchez’s machine underweight, and his ensuing disqualification promoted Hayes to third — the BPR Racing Yamaha rider also turning the race’s fastest lap, a 2:13.047. Josh Herrin, Binder’s closest championship rival (+15.105s) finished seventh, ending his championship bid.
The following quote is from Race 2 winner Darryn Binder:
“Really happy. This morning I felt like I had the pace to try and get away. I got to the front as quick as I could and put my head down, opened up a little gap and just tried to manage it. I got my mom and dad here this weekend as well as my wife. To get the championship done with them here is extra special for me. I can’t thank the team enough. Everyone, Celtic, Economy Lube, Warhorse, HSBK. Thank you, guys, so much for everything this year. It’s been a real treat. Made racing fun again for me, so thank you, guys.”
Supersport Points Standings
- Darryn Binder (Celtic/Economy Lube + Tire/Warhorse Ducati) — 368
- Josh Herrin (Rahal Ducati Moto with Desnuda Organic Tequila) — 292
- Kayla Yaakov (Rahal Ducati Moto with Droplight) — 218
- Joshua Hayes (BPR Racing Yamaha) — 215
- Blake Davis (Strack Racing) — 196
Mission King Of The Baggers
Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s Bradley Smith won the battle in Race 2, but Hayden Gillim’s (+4.717s) runner-up finish on his J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Factory Indian won the war for the championship. With only 50 points remaining across the final two races at New Jersey Motorsports Park, Gillim’s 54-point lead over Smith is more than the field can make up — clinching his second career Mission King Of The Baggers Championship and making him the first rider to win a title for two different manufacturers in the class.
SDI Racing’s Tyler O’Hara (+10.292s) rounded out the podium in third — his first podium of the season — with James Rispoli (+12.898s) fourth. Gillim’s closest championship rival on paper, teammate Troy Herfoss (+24.628s), ran with the leaders early but slid wide at Turn 16, a mistake that dropped him to fifth. Two-time and defending champion Kyle Wyman and Saturday’s third-place finisher, Rocco Landers, both went down and did not finish.
Gillim grabbed the early lead, with Smith and Herfoss forming up behind him. By the end of lap one, though, it was clear Smith had more in the tank than he’d shown a day earlier — he moved past Gillim and immediately began stretching a gap that grew past four seconds by the finish. Gillim held second the rest of the way, while O’Hara capitalized on the Wyman and Landers crashes to claim the final podium spot.
The following quote is from 2026 Mission King Of The Baggers Champion Hayden Gillim:
“I just can’t thank the whole J&P Cycles, Motul, Vance & Hines guys enough. We didn’t get the bikes until late and got one test in before the season started, and we came out winning. To be able to finish it early is pretty special, especially against the guys that we’re racing against. Obviously, I want to win the championship right here in the middle, but Bradley — no matter if I was going for a championship or not — I think Bradley had me today. I can’t thank these guys enough. This is our second championship together, and my first one for Indian. Pretty pumped. It just shows how much work these guys put in and how good I can ride a motorcycle. I don’t like to toot my horn sometimes, but I feel like I can do a little bit right now. I can’t thank Terry and Steve and Byron and Mike — everybody enough. Man, it’s just incredible.”
The following quote is from Mission King Of The Baggers Race 2 winner Bradley Smith:
“First of all, huge shout-out to our sponsors, because I always forget — Dynojet, Rockford, K&N filters, Harley-Davidson. Second big shout-out, Vance & Hines, for the tremendous job — not only what they did at the end of last year, but when they got this product they stepped it up a level. They forced us to be better. They beat us, but we’re a hell of a lot further forward than we were this time last year. So big credit to all those guys over there — you deserve that number-one plate, enjoy it. That was awesome. To finish this way, winning out the race — I knew I could put Hayden under pressure because I knew he’d be thinking about the championship, so I stuck it in 13s for a little bit longer, got the brakes, and brought it home safe. We learned from yesterday — we made the bike a little more favorable for the hot conditions. I’m stoked. What a weekend. Going home happy.”
Mission King Of The Baggers Points Standings
- Hayden Gillim (J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Factory Indian) — 251
- Bradley Smith (Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing) — 197
- Troy Herfoss (J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Factory Indian) — 194
- Kyle Wyman (Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing) — 134
- Tyler O’Hara (SDI Racing) — 132
Talent Cup
Sam Drane snapped a long dryspell in his first premier-class Talent Cup win of the year, out-dueling points leader Nathan Gouker (+0.131) in a back-and-forth battle to take Race 2 at Circuit Of The Americas.
Gouker, starting from pole, jumped into the lead as the field sorted out positions through the opening laps. He began stretching a full-second gap over the chasing pack, which included Jake Paige in second and Sam Drane in third. Kensei Matsudaira (Team Roberts) ran fourth, with Sawyer Lafayette (Sawyer Lafayette Racing) fifth and Derek Sanchez (Real Steel Honda) sixth at the end of lap one. Gouker appeared to have broken clear of the group by 0.916 seconds while Drane moved past Paige for second.
In the closing laps, Drane clawed back the deficit and made the a move with four laps to go. Both riders dipped into new lap-record territory, with Gouker eventually setting the new benchmark at 2:26.001.
Gouker reclaimed the point with two laps remaining and looked set to hold on, but couldn’t find the drive out of Turn 11 on the final lap — Drane pounced before the braking zone at Turn 12 and held him off through The Stadium Section for his first win and sixth podium.
Despite missing out on the race win, Gouker’s second-place finish stretches his championship lead over Matsudaira to 18 points with one round to go. Drane’s win moves him into third overall, 79 points back, as the series heads to the season finale in New Jersey — the only title still up for grabs.
Talent Cup Points Standings
- Nathan Gouker (Quarterley Racing) — 289
- Kensei Matsudaira (Team Roberts) — 271
- Sam Drane (Yamaha BLU CRU Estenson Racing) — 210
- Jake Paige (Team Hammer) — 205
- Derek Sanchez King (Real Steel Honda) — 129
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship
Championship Sunday lived up to its billing, as BPR Racing Yamaha’s Bryce Kornbau out-braked his own teammate, Andy DiBrino (+1.608), in the closing laps to win Race 2 and the 2026 title by five points. Edge Racing’s Jason Waters (+5.625) claimed his first career podium in third.
DiBrino jumped from pole into the early lead, with Gus Rodio and Kornbau in tow — all three keenly aware the championship was on the line. The trio pulled clear of the field before Rodio made a small mistake that dropped him to seventh; he later crashed, remounted, and salvaged ninth (+35.419).
Up front, DiBrino led every lap but the one that mattered. Kornbau, who never let his teammate out of sight, set up a run onto the back straight off Turn 11. The two Yamahas ran side-by-side — each rider glancing over at the other before the drag race to Turn 12 — with DiBrino defending the inside line as long as he could. Kornbau came from the outside under braking, forcing him wide and sailing through to the win and the championship.
Rodio’s early misstep opened the door for Jason Waters and Rodio’s own teammate, Ben Gloddy (+5.662), to move into third and fourth. The two waged their own battle for the final podium spot, with Waters coming out ahead by just 0.037 seconds for his first career MotoAmerica podium. Saddlemen Race Development’s Jake Lewis (+14.154) was fifth, while ARCH Motorcycle Racing’s Michael Gilbert (+16.393) brought the bespoke machine home sixth in a strong fill-in ride to close out the team’s season. James Rispoli and Jeremy McWilliams were the race’s only DNFs.
The following quote is from 2026 Mission Super Hooligan National Champion and Race 2 winner Bryce Kornbau:
“I saw him look back on the first or second lap and I’m like, ‘Yup, I’m right here.’ Just from that moment on, I’m like, ‘How am I going to do this?’ I could tell he put in some good laps to try and break me, and I just maintained my pace and didn’t make mistakes. He dipped us back down into the 14s again. I’m like, even trying to pass him is not going to be easy. I could tell halfway through the race he started checking up a little bit — probably wanted to see if I was going to poke at him, but I was comfortable where I was at, and I decided to take my chances on the last lap to make that pass. I think we both went way, way too deep at the end of the back straight, and I was able to get it turned a little quicker and bring it home to the line. I can’t thank everybody enough — my wife, Savannah, for supporting me through all this, and my whole BPR Racing family. Hats off to Andy — he’s made me race harder than I have in a long time. I know it’s bittersweet for both of us, but I know this will help push both of us, and the team, forward. I’m just really happy with all of it.”
2026 Mission Super Hooligan National Championship Final Points:
- Bryce Kornbau (BPR Racing Yamaha) — 213
- Andy DiBrino (BPR Racing Yamaha) — 208
- Gus Rodio (Rodio Racing) — 167
- James Rispoli (Saddlemen Race Development) — 131
- Jake Lewis (Saddlemen Race Development) — 122
For the full 2026 MotoAmerica schedule and tickets, CLICK HERE
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