KurveyGirl.com brings you the results of this weekend’s events.
The 2024 MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike Championship ended with one of the best races of the season. Pole-sitter Loris Baz got out in front early and spent most of the race holding off his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati teammate Josh Herrin. That is until four other riders caught up to them in the closing laps.
In spite of the strong, late challenge, Baz was able to hang on and take the win – the first MotoAmerica Superbike win of his career and the first AMA/MotoAmerica Superbike win by a Frenchman – by 0.151 second.
Sean Dylan Kelly got close enough to challenge Baz on the final lap, but the Superbike rookie chose not to make a risky pass attempt and to accept the runner-up spot on his EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing BMW M 1000 RR.
Bobby Fong also closed in on Baz at the end but ended up taking third on his Wrench Motorcycles Yamaha YZF-R1.
Five-time Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier was a close fourth on his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW.
Richie Escalante got off to a slow start but thanks to the second-fastest lap of the race (1:20.899) he was able to score fifth, just 0.886 second behind the winner.
After shadowing Baz for much of the race, Herrin faded toward the end and eventually crossed the finish line in sixth, 3.121 seconds back.
Escalante’s teammate Brandon Paasch ended up seventh.
FLO4LAW Racing Yamaha’s Benjamin Smith held off AMD Motorsports/RK Racing Honda’s Richard Kerr in a race-long fight for eighth.
Ashton Yates rounded out the top 10 finishers on his Jones Honda, but that was enough for him to win the 2024 MotoAmerica Superbike Cup Championship and its $25,000 grand prize.
More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Baz Gets His First MotoAmerica Superbike Win At New Jersey Motorsports Park
Baz Is The First Frenchman To Win An AMA Superbike Race In A Thriller In New Jersey
MILLVILLE, NJ (September 29, 2024) – Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Loris Baz became the first Frenchman to win an AMA Superbike race on Sunday at New Jersey Motorsports Park with a thrilling victory in a race that featured five riders finishing within a second of Baz and his Ducati Panigale V4 R.
In winning his first MotoAmerica Superbike race, Baz became the 68th rider in AMA Superbike history to taste victory. He was also the seventh rider to win a MotoAmerica Superbike race in 2024, with the previous high being five different winners in a season.
Second place went to EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly with the Floridian fighting his way through the pack to emerge as the one to give Baz the most fits in the final few laps. Kelly came up just .151 of a second short in earning his seventh podium of the season, which includes his first Superbike win a few weeks ago in Texas.
Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong earned his second podium finish of the weekend as he was hot on Kelly’s rear wheel in third place, ending up .140 of a second adrift of the BMW.
Fourth place, for the second straight day, went to Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier with the five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion just a tick over half a second behind Baz and only .127 of a second behind Fong. Right on Beaubier’s rear wheel was fifth-placed Richie Escalante on the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki in what turned out to be one of the best Superbike races of the season.
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin, meanwhile, wrapped up his second AMA Superbike Championship yesterday with an impressive ride to victory, but today he was playing wingman to Baz in a role reversal. Herrin followed Baz for 90 percent of the race, but suddenly there were four riders on the attack. At that point, Herrin tapped out and he cruised home to sixth place, some three seconds behind his teammate Baz.
With his win on Saturday, Herrin tied Wayne Rainey on the all-time Superbike win list for 10th with his 16th victory. He is now one victory behind Nicky Hayden for ninth on the win list.
Seventh place went to Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch, who was well clear of FLO4LAW Racing’s Benjamin Smith. MD Motorsport RK Racing’s Richard Kerr and Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates rounded out the top 10.
After nine rounds and 18 races, Herrin ended the season 55 points ahead of Beaubier, 335-280, with Fong finishing third and the top-ranked Yamaha rider. Just 12 points behind Fong came Superbike rookie Kelly.
Baz’s second season of MotoAmerica Superbike racing netted him fifth in the title chase, just four points behind Kelly and 28 points ahead of Attack Performance/Progressive/Yamaha Racing’s Cameron Petersen with the South African unfortunately finishing his season with another mechanical DNF.
Quotes…
Loris Baz – Winner
“The guys did a good job because since Austin I’ve been struggling a lot with my start. We had some problem with my clutch. They found some parts that were not nice after Austin, so they changed it. But yesterday I had a bad start again and had a really strange feeling going into the warmup lap, so I was scared going to the race. But I had a good start. I can manage to go first and finally able to be aggressive again like I was in ’21. That has been the biggest problem for me this year. Not being able to be aggressive and overtake guys, for many reasons in the setup. I was first, and because we didn’t have many dry sessions this year, only two and it was the two races, I didn’t know what to expect from the rear tire drop at the end. So, I knew I had Josh (Herrin) and one guy, and then they just showed me there was Josh. So, I tried to slow down the pace, not use my tire, and then I was watching Josh’s pit board and it was plus 1.5, plus 1, plus 0.5. I was like, ‘whoa, they’re coming back.’ But then I was just instead of trying to push and kill the tire, I tried to close the line. Josh showed me his wheel. I overtook him again. I think he made my life easier. I think he had something more all season than everyone, and especially today. I saw in the warmup how his bike reacted. But we did some changes. We went in this direction. We changed the lean of the bike between the warmup and the race, so big thanks to the crew for that, and I felt good. It’s cool that we worked together all year and it’s paying off, especially for the team. It’s so cool to end up like this. It’s the home race for the whole team and we’re going to celebrate at the Mount Airy Casino tonight, which is a sponsor of the team. So, it’s cool. My dad is here. It’s the first time he came to a race in America. He’s going to come every race next year. Coming back to the race, last lap I knew there were many guys behind. I could hear that it was not Josh anymore. I thought it was Cam (Beaubier). I just tried to close the line. Going into that last lap, Hayden Gillim moved yesterday going in. I was like, should I close the door, or should I just try to go in fast and see what happens? I’m just happy it worked out. Sometimes just a tiny bit that makes you a hero or zero. But I’m proud of what I did and what all the guys did in HSBK this weekend.”
Sean Dylan Kelly – Second Place
“Definitely a pretty amazing way to finish off the season. Obviously, we always want to finish off strong. I didn’t win today, but I think that was definitely one of my two strongest races of the whole season. The other one being obviously when I won. This one, I came from a ways back and both Ducatis got up really strong at the beginning. I was able to get through the pack. Obviously qualifying seventh was not ideal, so I had to make some moves, make some passes. Straight out of the gate I felt way better than yesterday. Not too much to say. Up until today, it was a very strange weekend. Obviously, it was strange for everyone with the weather, but even just how I felt on the bike, some issues we were having, some things that we were running into and some silly mistakes we were making within the team, too. Like Q1 when I qualified seventh, that was first on me and then on the team. We didn’t do the right strategy. We definitely messed some things up today, but we are a rookie rider, rookie team. I think we didn’t make as many as we thought we should have this season in general, so it’s okay to get it in. Maybe we relaxed a bit too much after a win a couple weeks ago. We got it together today. I felt amazing. I saw Cam (Beaubier) struggling a little bit, so I got by him and it seemed like he got some pace while being behind me and he got in front of me. He made fastest lap, and then he made a mistake. I got by. I learned a little bit from him that fast lap. I feel like once he did that, I just kept on repeating the lap time. I just put my head down and I was just committed to getting to these guys. Got by Josh with a few laps to go. I definitely tried it on (Loris) Baz, but it was going to be way, way too dirty. He was braking really strong. Obviously, I was also a bit toasted up from coming a couple seconds back. I’m pretty stoked for him. I didn’t realize it was his first-ever win here, so that’s pretty badass that we did it two weekends in a row. It’s a pleasure to be racing with these dudes.”
