Tyler O’Hara won MotoAmerica Mission Super Hooligan Race One Saturday at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), in Austin, Texas. O’Hara survived a race-long fight with his Progressive Insurance/Mission Foods Indian teammate Jeremy McWilliams that went down to the final corner. There, a final pass attempt by McWilliams ended with him crashing without serious injury.
McWilliams’ crash and DNF combined with O’Hara’s fourth win of the season clinched a second straight Championship in the class for O’Hara.
Stefano Mesa finished second on his Energica Eva Ribelle RS electric motorcycle, giving the Italian manufacturer its first podium finish in the class.
Andy Di Brino claimed third on his DiBrino Racing KTM 890 Duke R.
More, from a press release issued by Energica:
We got ourselves a podium against ICE motorcycles in MotoAmerica. Period.
Sometimes it is hard to write a press release. As part of an amazing new project, the emotions may get in the way of rational thinking. Long story short, Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Stefano Mesa rode the Energica Eva Ribelle RS (equipped with the Kit Corsa Clienti) to the second place of the podium in a series almost exclusively made of ICE motorcycles. Can you believe it? We are still trying to come to terms with it – but yes, it happened.
The Circuit of The Americas, also known as CoTA, is a long track, 3.426 miles, even longer than Daytona, with 20 corners. And it was hot there, very hot: 39°C in the air (102°F) and a lot more on the asphalt. What on paper could technically hold an electric motorcycle back, did not: Stefano got off to an amazing start into second and then third place, and then held his own until a red flag forced him back to the pits; he did even better as soon as the action resumed, staying in podium contention and making the most of the incredible opportunity.
