Story and photos from motoamerica.com

Rahal Ducati Moto w/ Desnuda Organic Tequila’s Josh Herrin took the win in Sunday’s Supersport Race 2 by over eight seconds in Supersport Race 2 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Sunday, capitalizing on his rival’s misfortune and slashing the points deficit in the process. 

The race immediately showed high intensity as Celtic/Economy Tire + Lube/Warhorse rider Darryn Binder and Herrin traded the lead aboard their Ducati Panigale V2s in a fierce opening-lap dogfight. The frontrunners quickly gapped Rahal Ducati Moto w/ Droplight rider Kayla Yaakov on her Ducati Panigale V2, four-time Superbike champion Josh Hayes on a BPR Racing Yamaha with Compact Octane YZF-R9, and M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott on his Suzuki GSX-R750.

The polesitter, Binder, led the first eight laps with Herrin in tow as they built a two-second cushion over the tight battle for third between Yaakov and the veteran Hayes. Further back, BPR Racing Yamaha’s Brendan Ketelsen and Rahal Ducati Moto with Roller Die + Forming’s Alessandro Di Mario ran fifth and sixth.

The order shuffled quickly. On lap two, Scott pitted with an apparent mechanical issue. Two laps later, Yaakov low-sided her Ducati in the Andretti Hairpin, exiting the race holding her clutch hand after it became trapped between the handlebar and the pavement and Di Mario overtook Ketelsen.

The incident promoted Hayes to third, and the cross-country racer inherited another position on Lap 8 as the front-row battle peaked.

Herrin executed a textbook pass-through Turn 5 to take the point. Binder countered three corners later with an inside dive at the Corkscrew entrance, but he overcooked the left-hander, ran through the gravel. Five turns later, the South African crashed entering Turn 2. Binder quickly remounted his damaged machine to salvage an 11th-place finish and five valuable championship points.

Binder’s crash elevated Hayes to second and Di Mario—who had dispatched Ketelsen—to third, but the spotlight belonged to Herrin. The Californian cruised to an eight-second victory over Hayes, while Di Mario secured his first career Supersport podium.

Binder retains the championship lead by nine points over Herrin, while Yaakov moves into third despite her Race 2 DNF.

The following quote is from Supersport Race 2 winner Josh Herrin:

“That feels good to get that win for my team. I said it at the Ridge, but Jonathan (the owner of Brew Watch Co.) and Graham are here watching and they’re both good luck. So we got to try to get them back to all the races. That’s for sure. I’m really happy to be able to do this with my family here. It means the world to me, as you guys know. Yesterday I rode a different race than I’m used to running and I think it just affected me. Today I needed to put the pressure on, battle with him. That’s what I know how to do. It worked out today. We just needed to put the pressure on. I knew eventually he’d make a mistake, and he did. We really needed that points jump there. Huge congrats to my entire Rahal Ducati Desnuda team. Super pumped to see Alessandro up on the podium. It’s been a rough start to the season for him, so happy to see him up here. Bummed that Kayla went down, but I’m sure she’ll bounce back at Ohio real good. Just a huge thank you to everybody. Thank you to Nimbus Healthcare, Brew Watches, KYT Helmets, Watson Services, Desnuda Tequila, the entire Rahal Ducati team, In Motion Orthopedic, everybody involved. Just a huge thank you. Really pumped. I also got to go and say goodbye to my Lightfighter up there on the Corkscrew, so that felt good. Looking forward to a good next race.”

Mission King Of The Baggers – Challenge Race And Race 2

After oil cleanup in the Corkscrew delayed Saturday’s Bagger Challenge, the feature ran Sunday morning following warmups. Six qualified Baggers fought for a $5,000 top prize. Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing teammates Kyle Wyman and Bradley Smith jumped to the front immediately. The defending Mission King Of The Baggers champion and his British teammate ran nose-to-tail for the three-lap sprint, with Wyman leading every lap to win by 0.3 seconds over Smith, while J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Indian rider Hayden Gillim took third.

In Race 2, factory Harley riders Wyman and Smith launched into first and second. J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Indian rider Troy Herfoss held third ahead of his teammate, championship leader Gillim. By lap two, the lead quartet distanced themselves from Big Diehl x Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s James Rispoli in fifth.

On lap three, Gillim low-sided in Turn 2 to exit contention. Over the final five laps, the Harley-Davidson teammates dropped the third-place Australian. The order held to the stripe as Wyman secured his first Baggers feature win of the season over teammate Smith, while the Aussie Herfoss rounded out the podium in third.

The Mission King Of The Baggers series looks ahead to Round 5 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, July 31–Aug. 2. Hayden Gillim continues to lead the championship but now manages a 13-point gap to Herfoss in second and 20 points to Bradley Smith in third. Defending champion Kyle Wyman is fourth, 43 points adrift.

The following Quote is from Mission King Of The Baggers Challenge Race and Race 2 winner Kyle Wyman:

“Just tried waking up on the other side of the bed, I guess. It was a tough weekend. It’s been a tough year, just to start. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs, like you said. These boys just never quit. The Harley-Davidson team, I can’t say enough about these guys. It’s so gratifying to be able to put that race together, to put those nine laps together. It just feels so good when you can execute a plan that you have in your head. I don’t think I put a wheel wrong. It’s just down to the team giving me an amazing bike. These guys, we’ve been up and down and all over the place with this thing. Our partners, Dynojet, Rockford Fosgate , K&N, they all jump in and help us. This one means a lot. Laguna is my place, and it feels like it again. So, it’s good. I just want to give a shout out also to the Lawwill family. It’s so cool to be able to get a win here at Laguna with Mert’s helmet and running his number one plate on the bike. I don’t know a better way we could try to honor him. He won a lot more than me, but it’s super cool to get this done for him. I’m just so happy. Thank you.”

Talent Cup – Race 2

Prior to Race 2 in the Morning Warmup session, Matsudaira completed only two laps before having engine troubles and had to bring the bike back to his team. The crew went to work replacing the fouled powerplant, including Matsudaira himself who was retrieving parts from their race rig and working alongside his crew to be ready for Race 2 approximately five hours later.

Race 2 left the line with Team Hammer’s Jake Paige leading the pack. But it was short lived as the typical rotation of Team Roberts’ Kensei Matsudaira and Quarterley Racing’s Nathan Gouker made their way past before Lap 1 was completed.  Estenson BLU CRU Yamaha Racing’s Sam Drane and Real Steel Honda’s Derek Sanchez joined the leading trio in a five-rider breakaway at the front. Sanchez would suffer an unfortunate mechanical on Lap 2 however, dropping him from the race altogether.

With the lead group trimmed back to four, positions were shuffled constantly until Lap 9 when Gouker would start to fade uncharacteristically. The North Carolina native would ultimately finish fourth, leaving the podium battle up to Matsudaira, Paige and Drane for the final four laps.

Californian native Matsudaira held off his competition to secure a double victory at his home track, recapturing the points lead in the process. Drane and Paige rounded out the podium in second and third, respectively, with Gouker finishing fourth. 

Matsudaira now leads Gouker by 23 points as the series takes a break until their next round at VIRginia International Raceway August 14-16.

The following quote is from Talent Cup Race 2 winner Kensei Matsudaira:

“Yeah. It’s definitely great to be up top, especially after Warmup where our motor blew up, so I didn’t get any laps. Huge thank you to the whole team, everybody that helped. We got it done fairly quickly. But the race was good. It was a good battle, three-way battle actually because I didn’t know where Nathan (Gouker) was. Great job to everybody else. Obviously, I have to thank everybody. HJC Helmets, Dave Designs, Alpinestars, Fast Track Racing, Arnie, Amy, Capital Toyota, Kenny, Iconic Motorbikes, MotoAmerica, Dunlop, and everybody else. Thank you, guys.”

Mission Super Hooligan National Championship – Race 2

BPR Racing Yamaha’s Andy DiBrino took the win by just one-tenth ahead of Race 1 winner and teammate Bryce Kornbau and ARCH Motorcycle Racing’s Corey Alexander rounding out the podium in third, eight-tenths behind the leader.

DiBrino jetted out of the gate aboard his Yamaha MT-09 SP and never relinquished the top spot in a flag-to-flag victory with his teammate Kornbau backing up his Race 1 win with a P2 finish and Alexander just a few bike lengths behind in third on the ARCH 2s-R machine. 

Off the start, the podium finishing trio wasted no time stretching out a gap over fourth place rider, Harley-Davidson x Factory Dynojet Racing’s James Rispoli and points leader Gus Rodio aboard his Ducati Streetfighter V2 in fifth, leaving them 1.5 seconds behind by the second lap, and growing the margin to almost three seconds by the finish.  

Over the course of the race Kornbau made a few attempts to the inside of his BPR Racing Yamaha teammate in a bid for the lead but could not get to the apex first and fell back in line to take second. Alexander could only watch from a close third as he rode in to take his fourth podium in a row. 

Rispoli and Rodio rounded out the top five in Race 2, with Rodio dropping the lead to points lead to DiBrino and allowing Kornbau up to second in points. The Pipe Dreams Podcast hosts, Rispoli and Alexander, round out the top five in points as the series looks forward to the next round at Mid-Ohio July 31–August 2. 

The following quote is from Mission Super Hooligan National Championship Race 2 winner Andy DiBrino:

“That was gnarly. There’s nothing like leading a race at Laguna Seca. To go one-two with my teammate, Bryce (Kornbau), again, that was unreal. I just started the day with going fastest in warmup. Luckily I got s. Such a great team. Bryce. Josh Hayes. Really appreciate those guys giving me the advice. I feel like I’ve always been really close, but to have a good team, a good support system around me makes all the difference. I owe it to them and my new trainer, Ethan, for getting me physically fit. I’m so pumped to get that win. This is amazing. I think this might top the Ridge.”

For the full 2026 MotoAmerica schedule, and to purchase tickets for MotoAmerica events, CLICK HERE

For information on how to watch the MotoAmerica series, CLICK HERE