Sunday Morning Notes // Road America

Superbike

Just ahead of the season if you'd have asked most folks, they'd have said 6-time MotoAmerica Superbike champ Cameron Beaubier aboard a factory supported Ducati was the odds on favorite for the title. The defending champ seemed to be coming out of his shaky start to the season, a pole and podium at Barber, a pole here at Road America and what looked to be a check-out victory in Race 1. A small mistake, one he described as a 'tip over', has likely cost him a chance at defending the title.

He ran wide in the kink, working to get the bike slowed to make the corner, he ran just off the track catching the grass and falling over. A wrist injury will put a halt on the season, more to come this week.

The red flag to get Beaubier off the track stacked the field back up for a 5 lap shootout and a shoot out it was. Cam Petersen emerged as the winner, his first with Wrench Racing Ducati and his Dad as crew chief. It didn't come without a fight though, Sean Dylan Kelly put his BMW squarely in the mix, with the two Attack Yamaha's right there as well. Bobby Fong finished third.

In the first start, PJ Jacobsen had his Rahal Ducati at the front and was in proper contention for the win, a slight moment seemed to cause an issue that persisted for a lap, eventually finding form again as the red flag came out. He went on to finish 4th, but is one to keep an eye on for Race 2.

Mathew Scholtz's missed the podium for the first time as his tough weekend continued, eventually bringing it home in 6th so salvage some solid points.

Supersport

Rules balance was the topic of the day on Friday and that continued Saturday. While the results page shows a Ducati 1-2-3, Ty Scott had pulled the pin and entered the mix late in the race, eventually getting in deep and folding the front as he worked to go around the outside of Binder and Herrin.

Come time for the press conference, the Ducati trio didn't mince words. Binder explaining that on Friday he found it difficult to even stay in the draft of the GSXR-750, "I got a terrible start (in race 1)," Binder said. "And when I saw Kayla and Josh drafting past him down the first straight, I was like 'okay he's sand bagging for sure'."

Ty Scott's stance on the matter links back to changes that were made to the Suzuki to make him more comfortable on the edge of the tire, which is allowing him to get a better drive on the straightaways, something they've been chasing for years.

We said there would be fireworks in this class, and between the battles on track and the spice in the press conference Satrday, it seems the show's starting.

King of the Baggers

Two things for sure. Hayden Gillim is in one of those moments that few racers have, where everytime they swing their leg over the bike, it feels like they're right at home. He mentioned after the race that he's now having a hard time finding more because the bike is just so good. As someone who's not one to pick apart the bike, it's what he's going to have to do to find more.

And it seems he might have to do that in the very near future, as Kyle Wyman and Bradley Smith significantly closed the gap to the front. Wyman's ability to launch of the line put him in the position in both races to play defense and keep the fight on at the front. Barring a mistake at turn 3 that let Gillim through and allowed him to escape for a bit of a gap, the end of the race may have looked a bit different yesterday.

Twins Cup

A three way battle for the win between Bodie Paige, Jody Barry and Hank Vossberg was one to watch. The trio eventually finished in the aforementioned order, Paige saying on the podium that his strategy was to upset Vossberg's rhythm and slow the pace at the front and he and Barry did just that.

On the final lap, Paige found himself at the right place and with just enough gap put in a flawless final sector, leaving him untouchable in the long run to the finishline.

It's no secret that Vossberg has the pace, will he be able to unleash it today or will the fight stay on?