Weekend Takeaways // Laguna Seca

It would have been easy to head into Laguna thinking that each of the classes, barring maybe Superhooligans, had either a stand out rider or small group that were a shoe in for the championship fight. But as the racing gods typically do, they swooped in to Laguna Seca for MotoAmerica's fifth round and reminded us all that racing is racing and we've got a lot of it left before things are even close to decided.

Superbike

One man was not to be denied this weekend and his name was JD Beach. First win on a Superbike in dry conditions Saturday and promptly backed it up on Sunday, building over a 5 second lead to the chasing pack behind him. The difference for the Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha rider this weekend? For the first time since his return to road racing, he was comfortable and pushing as the bike rolled off the truck on Friday, not just when the lights went out.

We mentioned in Sunday Morning Notes that one dry win could be all it takes for JD to come to life and be a contender, signs sure point to that being possible after Sunday's performance.

Mathew Scholtz has led the championship points courtesy of a dominating run to open the season, frankly, one that few predicted. However, since the series pulled out of the gates of Barber Motorsports Park, luck has been all but on the side of the Strack Racing Yamaha #11, and that continued at Laguna, right down to losing the points lead after a mechanical took Scholtz out of Race 2. The rumor mill suggests that the divorce between Strack and Attack that happened late in the pre-season could be affecting the team, but we've only got hearsay at this point.

Sean Dylan Kelley's consistency in landing 8 out of 10 podiums this season, including two wins, has him in control of the championship by 11 points over Beach with Scholtz just 3 back from there. SDK and his Orangecat Racing BMW will get some test time between now and the next round at Mid Ohio and should turn up ready to fight for more wins.

One thing is for certain, if you had told us that the first 2026 Ducati Corse Panigale V4R in the standings at the half way point would be PJ Jacobsen in 10th, we would have laughed you out of the room. That said, PJ has pace, it's only a matter of time before he puts it together.

The takeaway? This class is blown wide open. We've got 3 riders who are squaring up in the title fight, with Fong and Petersen just a handful of points back.

Supersport

Saturday's tire drop off while waiting until the closing stages to take the fight to Darryn Binder saw a renewed Josh Herrin turn up on Sunday. He wasted no time ringing the bell and starting the fight, with the duo trading paint at the front in one of the best scraps all season in any of the classes. However, Binder made a mess of the top of the corkscrew, eventually making a huge save through the gravel down the hill, only to toss his Ducati V2 down the road in turn to just corners later.

Herrin brought it home and clawed back a heap of points on the South African, now just 9 points adrift as the series rolls on to Mid Ohio. We've got to imagine that seeing his aggressive nature pay off, that we'll only see more of the same from Herrin at Mid Ohio, making this the class to watch in our eyes.

Additionally, Kayla Yaakov's crash in Race 2 has resulted in an undisclosed injury, potentially to do with her finger, we're hearing. More on that to come.

The takeaway? The fireworks have started, as we've been waiting for all year.

Superhooligans

BPR Yamaha turned up and went 1-2 in both Roland Sands Superhooligans races, showing that Yamaha has become the bike to beat at the moment in the class. Andy DiBrino's Sunday win and streak of four podiums sees him walking away from the round as the points leader just 5 points ahead of teammate Bryce Kornbau.

Arch Motorcycle and Corey Alexander have found form, also securing four podiums on the trot as we head into what was their best round last season at Mid-Ohio. It's a bit of what could have been had they not had such a rough go in the first two rounds, only securing 16 points, with 3 DNF's in four races. That said, Alexander is now 4th in points, 37 back from DiBrino, so not mathematically out of the fight.

The ever-polarizing topic of the Harley-Davidson PanAmerica in the class is still just that, polarizing. While there's not denying that a little balancing wouldn't hurt the class coming out of last season, what we've seen is a pendulum swing that's got Harley well off the back of the front group. The Saddlemen HD gang that could point and shoot their way to victory were handicapped a bit of power this season, and with the development of the Yamaha and Ducati, the HD is clearly on the back foot. Thus, James Rispoli, Jake Lewis and Cory West are left scratching their heads on where to bridge the gap to the front.

The takeaway? It's a toss up in this class at the moment as well. Will HD get their velocity stacks back? Will Arch go on a run to close the gap? Will Gus Rodio resurface to the front group at the upcoming rounds to keep himself in the hunt? Mid-Ohio will be telling.

Talent Cup

Nathan Gouker went into the weekend 14 points ahead of Kensei Matsudaira and a series of crashes, including a massive last lap crash in Race 1, saw him limp away trailing Matsudaira by 23 points as the class takes a break for a months time ahead of the next round at VIR.

The takeaway? This class has had dog fight battles throughout the entire season. With Sam Drane and Jake Paige finding their way into the front group at Laguna, Gouker isn't out of it yet, a few race wins with a rider or two between him and the Team Roberts #74 and he's right back in the fight. That said, Kensei has been strong, never off the podium and matching Gouker with 5 wins a piece.

King of the Baggers

It would have been fair to say Hayden Gillim was the odds on favorite for the title heading to California, but a wild weekend for the Vance and Hines Indian rider sees the points gap tighten and a resurgence for Harley Davidson means we've got an interesting back half of the season shaping up.

Gillim's uncharacteristic crashes cost him dearly at Laguna, a place where he said he knew coming in this could be the weekend that he finally sees adversity after a near flawless start to the championship. Recent history shows he's likely still the favorite by a margin, but what was happening around him has the paddocks head turned and looking at the class for sure.

Bradley Smith's maiden KOTB win in Race 1 was backed up by another second place, chasing his teammate Wyman to the finish line in Race 2. For Smith, it's clear his constant hounding of the HD team is paying off, for both him and Wyman. Wyman took the challenge race win, which was moved to Sunday, and Race 2, saying that if he hadn't made a set up change going into Race 1 he liked his odds for a double. The 200RPM bump that was well documented has clearly unlocked something for the team, who now are firmly in the fight at the front.

Troy Herfoss described himself as 'the nail' this season, is second place after a double podium this weekend at Laguna. With the Aussie is slowly coming to grips with the Vance and Hines version of the Indian Challenger, he's in a prime spot to find a way to be 'the hammer' in the back half of the season.

The takeaway? The winds shifted just slightly and it's safe to say the fight's on in King of the Baggers.