On May 17 through 19, one of the largest contingents of rider entries in the 10-year history of the MotoAmerica Championship will descend upon Barber Motorsports Park for the MotoAmerica Superbikes at Barber event. There are 200 entrants in the six race classes that will compete on the 17-turn, 2.38-mile road course. Let’s take a closer look at each of the race classes:

Steel Commander Superbike

A formidable phalanx of 33 premier-class riders are entered to compete at Barber Motorsports Park in what many fans and pundits are considering to be MotoAmerica’s best Superbike Championship season yet. To wit, the field includes a three-time and defending class Champion (Jake Gagne), a five-time class Champion (Cameron Beaubier), a one-time class Champion (Josh Herrin), a World Superbike race winner and MotoGP competitor (Loris Baz), a former Supersport Champion and Moto2 competitor (Sean Dylan Kelly), two former Supersport Champions and Superbike race winners (Bobby Fong and JD Beach), a former Stock 1000 Champion and Superbike race winner (Cameron Petersen), last year’s Stock 1000 and Mission King Of The Baggers Champion (Hayden Gillim), and a former KTM RC Cup Champion, two-time Daytona 200 winner, and multiple Stock 1000 and Supersport podium finisher (Brandon Paasch).

By the sound of David Swarts’s excellent Roadracing World story about the unfortunate rider injuries that occurred at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, we won’t see Richie Escalante at Barber, but his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki team is almost certain to have a rider filling in for him. The first two candidates that come to mind are 2023 Supersport Champion Xavi Forés and current Mission King Of The Baggers rider Troy Herfoss. Team Hammer would do well by hiring either of those highly experienced Superbike riders to fill Escalante’s seat for the immediate future.

Supersport

We continue to be amazed by how much the Supersport class continues to flourish. The FIM’s brilliant “Supersport Next Generation” concept has brought more manufacturers and more riders to MotoAmerica’s middleweight class. At Barber, there are just under 50 entrants and, like Superbike, the talent level in Supersport is arguably at an all-time high.

The Rahal Ducati Moto team bounced back from a rough debut at Daytona in March, but they showed their Ducati prowess at Road Atlanta with PJ Jacobsen doing the double, Corey Alexander earning the pole, and Kayla Yaakov continuing her development at an ultra-rapid pace. Blake Davis continues to show that supreme talent can keep the “little Yamaha YZF-R6” in contention, and Mathew Scholtz overcame an inauspicious debut to show that he is going to be a force aboard his own R6. Then there’s young phenom Tyler Scott and wisened veterans Jake Lewis and David Anthony, as well as Maximiliano Gerardo and Scott’s teammate Teagg Hobbs, all aboard venerable GSX-R750s refreshed by Team Hammer with new-fangled electronic throttles. Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Stefano Mesa is always a factor aboard his Kawasaki ZX-6R. And celebrated Italian rider Roberto Tamburini made his MotoAmerica debut at Road Atlanta for Melissa Paris’s Equitea MV Agusta by MP13 Racing team, so look for him to be a factor as he and the team further acclimate to the MV Agusta F3 800 RR.

Junior Cup

MotoAmerica’s entry-level riders will be well-represented at Barber Motorsports Park with 25 entrants in the Junior Cup Championship. Avery Dreher had a tough start to his title defense at Road Atlanta, but look for the Floridian to return to form at Barber. Teammates Matthew Chapin and Eli Block both showed well in round one at Atlanta, as did Ryan Wolfe and current Junior Cup points leader Yandel Medina, whose big smile was a welcome sight on the podiums and in the press conferences after both races in Atlanta, especially race two, in which he notched his first career MotoAmerica win.

Stock 1000

Along with Supersport, Stock 1000 has a massive list of 46 entries for the season debut of the literbike championship. 2023 Stock 1000 Championship winner Hayden Gillim is defending his title, but the number-one plate will be on a new bike and a new team for Gillim in 2024: a Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP campaigned by Real Steel Motorsports, which is an American Honda-supported team. Other Honda Fireblade riders in the mix at Barber will include Gabriel Da Silva riding for Geoff May’s American Honda-supported GMR/Jones Honda squad, and Ashton Yates, who debuted the Jones Honda Fireblade in Superbike at Road Atlanta and was the top-finishing Superbike Cup rider in race one. The other top-finishing Superbike Cup rider in race two at Road Atlanta and also the defending Superbike Cup Champion, Nolan Lamkin, will be aboard his Visit Indiana/Tom Wood Powersports BMW S 1000 RR.

Californian Bryce Prince is entered to race a Yamaha YZF-R1M in Stock 1000 at Barber, and his four-rider BPR Racing team includes Wyatt Farris, also aboard an R1M, along with Deion Campbell and Tyler Bengford, who will each be racing Yamaha R1 motorcycles. OrangeCat Racing will make its 2024 Stock 1000 debut with two new riders–Travis Wyman and Jayson Uribe–campaigning the team’s BMW M 1000 RRs. And two-time Stock 1000 Champion Andrew Lee has teamed up with Motorsport Exotica team owner Jarred Fixler for Lee’s comeback season in Stock 1000 on a BMW M 1000 RR. In addition, look for Team Brazil’s Danilo Lewis aboard his BMW M 1000 RR and Benjamin Smith racing for FLO4LAW in the saddle of a Yamaha R1.

BellissiMoto Twins Cup

We are already two rounds into the 2023 BellissiMoto Twins Cup season, and Barber Motorsports Park will mark round three for the 34 entrants in the ever-popular two-banger class. The new-to-the-class Suzuki GSX-8R has already won a race at the hands of RevZilla/Mission/Vance & Hines Suzuki’s Rocco Landers in race one at Road Atlanta. Meanwhile Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering’s Gus Rodio is currently leading the Championship on the strength of his two wins, a second, and a third for a podium-perfect season aboard his Aprilia RS 660 thus far. Giaccmoto Racing’s Dominic Doyle is off to a great start this season with a race win and a runner-up result aboard his Yamaha YZF-R7, and Rodio’s teammate Alessandro Di Mario is showing why is is a former Nicky Hayden AMA Horizon Award Winner.

Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Rossi Moor had a tough weekend at Road Atlanta, but he’s too talented not to bounce back at Barber. Englishman-by-way-of-Canada’s Jack Roach has returned to MotoAmerica for 2024, and the former Junior Cup rider is already a factor aboard his Wrench Motorcycles Yamaha R7.

Also, a special shout-out to the OG of Twins Cup racing, Chris Parrish, who built an absolute weapon of an Aprilia RS 660 during the off-season. He had some teething pains at Road Atlanta, but don’t ever count out the Ghetto Customs bossman, especially at Barber Motorsports Park.

Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race.

The highly popular Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. program kicks off the race portion their journey with two races at Barber Motorsports Park and a baker’s (biker’s?) dozen female riders entered to show their talent and racecraft aboard Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 motorcycles that they race-prepped themselves and trained on for their four-round, eight-race season.

Defending Champion Mikayla Moore is back for 2024 with the big number ones on the front and sides of her racebike, and she’ll be joined by returning riders Aubrey Credaroli, Emma Betters, Holly Varey, and Lauren Prince. The other eight entrants are newcomers to the BTR program, and we look forward to meeting them and watching them compete.

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