Random notes, comments, statistics, musings, and bits of trivia from the MotoAmerica Superbike Speedfest at Monterey Presented By Law Tigers:

Di Mario’s Di Margins Di Victory

At MotoAmerica, we take a lot of pride in the closeness of our racing, and more times than not, the margins of victory in virtually all our race classes are measured in split seconds. Riders winning by less than a bike length is a common occurrence in our series and at every round.

So, what’s the deal with Alessandro Di Mario? He’s only 16 years old, and he has already graduated from high school, but does he have to do everything at an accelerated pace? OK, he didn’t break the Twins Cup lap record at Laguna Seca, but his margin of victory in SC-Project Twins Cup race one on Saturday was 9.164 seconds. In Sunday’s SC-Project Twins Cup race two, his margin of victory was 7.005 seconds.

And, have you seen his hair? The kid is going so fast that he’s losing all the color from it.

Several people have commented that he probably shouldn’t even be racing for a second season in Twins Cup, but again, he’s only 16 and is less than two years removed from the minimum age required to race in any class in MotoAmerica. Plus, coming into the 2025 season, he badly wanted to race in Supersport, but a ride just never materialized for him. So, he gets to race with the number one on his Robem Engineering Aprilia RS 660, and he’s also competing in the inaugural Talent Cup Championship for Warhorse Ducati/American Racing.

Let The Records Stand…Except For One

Alessandro Di Mario wasn’t the only rider who didn’t break any lap records at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca this past weekend. In fact, no one except Kyle Wyman set a new lap record. The eldest Wyman brother actually broke the lap record in the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship at Laguna Seca twice. He did a 1:28.057 in Friday’s Qualifying 1, which eclipsed his old record of 1:28.152 that he set in KOTB Q2 last year. Then, in Saturday’s Qualifying 2, Wyman went even faster aboard his Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing Road Glide, turning a 1:27.524, which is now the new King Of The Baggers lap record at Laguna Seca.

Surprisingly, neither Kyle Wyman nor any other Baggers competitor broke the race lap record in the class, which Wyman set last year in KOTB race two with a 1:28.207.

Greasy Kid Stuff

One of the reasons no new lap records were set in any of the race classes except Mission King Of The Baggers may have been because of something that a lot of riders commented about over the weekend: that the track was “greasy.” Now, that doesn’t mean that there is actually any grease on the track or that the race surface is slippery due to a foreign substance. “Greasy” is a term that motorcycle road racers use when their tires don’t provide the level of grip that they’re accustomed to. Normally, greasy conditions occur when the air temperature is high, the sun is bright, and the track temperature is well into triple digits. But, that wasn’t the case at Laguna Seca. The track temperature was a little over 100°, but the air temperature was only in the mid-60s. No one seemed to have a clear answer as to why the track was greasy.

Rapidity At The Dry Lagoon

Ask Tytlers Cycle Racing‘s Cameron Beaubier, and he would probably tell you that his Laguna Seca weekend didn’t quite go as well as he hoped. The five-time Superbike champ did reach the podium in two of the three races with a pair of third-place finishes in Sunday’s Superbike doubleheader, and he recorded the highest overal trap speed of any rider in any class over the weekend. Beaubier got his BMW M 1000 RR Superbike up to 165.5 miles per hour on the penultimate lap of the 15 he did during Saturday’s Qualifying 2 session.

In Mission King Of The Baggers, both RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson‘s Rocco Landers and
S&S/Indian Motorcycle‘s defending class champion Troy Herfoss went 152.2 miles per hour on lap two of the three-lap Challenge race, which was the highest trap speed of the weekend among the KOTB ranks.

Celtic/Economy Lube+Tire/Warhorse HSBK rider Cam Petersen had a very fast Panigale V2 under him at Laguna Seca. Not only did he notch a runner-up result in Sunday’s Motovation Supersport race two, but on lap two of the 19-lap feature, Petersen went 151.2 miles per hour, which was the fastest anyone in MotoAmerica’s middleweight class went during the weekend.

The Mission Super Hooligan National Championship Powered By Harley-Davidson saw Cody Wyman also powered by Harley-Davidson as the KWR rider achieved a highest trap speed of 146.8 miles per hour on the second lap of Saturday’s 8-lap race one aboard his Harley-Davidson Pan America.

And, finally, in SC-Project Twins Cup, Matthew Chapin maxed out his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki GSX-8R at 137.7 miles per hour on lap four of Saturday’s 13-lap race one.

Good On Ya, Kelza

It was nothing less than incredible seeing MotoAmerica president, three-time 500cc World Champion, and two-time AMA Superbike Champion Wayne Rainey rip around Laguna Seca on a specially prepared Yamaha XSR 900 GP resplendent in Marlboro Team Roberts-inspired livery. But how about 87-year-old Kel Carruthers? The 1969 250cc World Champion donned his Yamaha Heritage Team leathers, was helped into his helmet by his son and our Communications Manager Paul Carruthers, climbed aboard a Yamaha MT-07, and joined Rainey and other eight Legends on a brisk jaunt around the circuit as raucous cheers rang out from the adoring crowd.

What a bonzer weekend it was.