Story and photos from motoamerica.com / Brian J Nelson

It’s early days for South African rider Darryn Binder racing in America, but he has certainly taken to U.S. racetracks like a Cape Shoveler to water (that’s a South African duck, by the way).

Binder set a new race lap record aboard his Celtic/Economy Lube + Tire/Warhorse Ducati in Saturday’s race one, then he broke it in Sunday’s race two and reset it yet again on his way to getting his second win of the weekend, third win in a row, and fourth race victory in seven races so far. He has also reached the podium in every race this season except the Daytona 200.

M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott, who set the overall Supersport lap record in Saturday’s Qualifying 2 session, got a great jump off the line in race two and grabbed the holeshot going into turn one.

Rahal Ducati Moto with Desnuda Organic Tequila rider Josh Herrin managed to overtake Scott for second, and he and Binder got into a prolonged skirmish for the lead. Unfortunately for Herrin, however, with five laps to go in the 11-lap event, he suffered a tipover. He was unhurt, but the crash ended his day.

Finally free of Herrin and with Scott battling against Rahal Ducati Moto with Droplight’s Kayla Yaakov and BPR Yamaha’s Josh Hayes, Binder was able to run clean, fast laps and build a gap, which extended to more than eight seconds by the time the checkered flag flew.

Scott emerged from the fray with Yaakov and Hayes, and he finished as runner-up with Yaakov and Hayes following close behind in third and fourth, respectively. How close? Scott beat Yaakov to the stripe by just .032 of a second, and Yaakov rounded out the podium by just .076 of a second. Incidentally, Strack Racing Yamaha’s Blake Davis also got himself in the mix for that third podium spot, and he was a scant .005 of second behind Hayes.

“That was awesome,” said Binder. “That was the plan today, to get out front and try to put in as many fast laps as I could. Even though Josh (Herrin) and I were battling so much, the pace was still pretty decent. So, I was quite happy about that. Kept pushing. I got probably about two laps alone and I realized something is up, because he hasn’t come by in any straights. Then I looked over at my board and saw about plus five. I was like, ‘OK, I’ve just got to manage it until the end of the race.’ So stoked. Thank you to the Celtic/Economy Lube/Warhorse team. They’ve done an amazing job this weekend. My bike has been phenomenal. First double (win) here in the States. Super happy and looking forward to the next one.”

Mission King Of The Baggers: Gillim Is An Unstoppable Force

What a weekend it was for Hayden Gillim, who also races in Quad Lock Superbike, but it was the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship where he had a Road America round that he won’t soon forget.

Gillim, who was baptized on Friday night by Chaplains Raymond Rizzo and Mark Merical, broke the track record in Saturday morning’s Qualifying 2 and the race lap record on his way to getting the win in Saturday afternoon’s race one, racked up the double win with his victory in race two on Sunday for his J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Factory Indian team.

Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s defending class champion Kyle Wyman tried to hang with Gillim for a while, but the Kentuckian was just too strong. Instead, Wyman and his teammate Bradley Smith enjoyed each other’s company as they pretended their Big Twin Road Glides were flat trackers and parried for position with their rear Dunlops sliding around with authority.

Smith ultimately got the best of Wyman, and finished second behind Gillim, while the rider of the #1 Road Glide, Wyman, had to settle for third.

Gillim, who was asked if racing a Superbike and a Baggers machine in the same weekend is a help or a hindrance, he responded, “I definitely think it helps. Being able to know what the track is like right before. What an awesome weekend. What an awesome start to the year. It’s going to be a long season. I know both of these guys are coming. I’m pumped for these guys. I’m pumped for myself.”

Twins Cup: Vossberg Victorious In The Friendly Confines

In the Twins Cup Championship, a little home cooking paid off for the pride of De Pere, Wisconsin, Hank Vossberg, who finished out the weekend on his home track with a narrow, and very exciting, victory on Sunday.

The race started out with M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Bodie Paige getting an incredible jump off the start to put him at the front of the pack. Vossberg chased down Paige and overtook him after two laps, but then, Karns/TST Industries Racing’s Isaac Woodworth got around Vossberg on lap three.

Vossberg fought back and regained the lead, but then, it was Paige’s turn to lead as he overtook Vossberg.

On the penultimate lap of the seven-lap race, Vossberg put his Robem Engineering Aprilia back in the lead and rode defensively, but he couldn’t keep Paige at bay. The Australian took the lead and, on the run up to the checkers, Vossberg slipstreamed past Paige to take the victory, Paige ended up second, and Woodworth completed the podium in third.

Vossberg, Paige, and Woodworth all finished within .165 of a second of each other.

“Bodie got another amazing start,” commented Vossberg. “I tried to just stay with him and see if we could break away. I was in the lead for a little bit and trying to put a heater in, but Bodie was ripping too. Same with Isaac. They were hounding me until the last lap. I knew I could draft Bodie to the line because I tested it out the lap before. Coming into the lead, I left the door open for him hoping he would take it, and then, I followed him right to the line and was able to get the win. I can’t give it up to the team enough for giving me such an amazing bike. And Tom at Containers 411 for being the local sponsor. Thank you so much, and everybody else.”

Royal Enfield Build.Train.Race.: Nobody But Noelle

Bryanna Everitt started from the pole position with a plan to repeat her flag-to-flag winning performance from Saturday’s race one. New Mexico rider Jasmine Noelle, however, had plans of her own. Getting the holeshot into turn one, Noelle took the lead with Everitt following close behind. Both riders raced in close formation, but on lap two, Everitt ran a little wide and slid off the track unhurt. That left Noelle uncontested at the front, and she held her lead all the way to the checkered flag to take her first win of the season. Brazilian rider Tati Paze, who also podiumed in Saturday’s race one, finished as runner-up, just .177 of a second behind Noelle. Third place went to Emily Dickson, who is from Canada. Dickson and Paze both had a good race and got to battle against each other for the majority of the five-lap event.

“That was a good race,” Noelle said. “I’ve been working, and working, and working to try to keep up at the top of the pack and look for my opening. Today was my lucky day. I really hope Everitt is okay. She’s a worthy opponent. She’s a great human. I’m really proud of all these girls that I’m surrounded by. I couldn’t be happier to see my girls up here on the podium with me. I want to thank everybody. K-Tech Suspension, Parts Unlimited, Dymag Wheels. We’ve got an amazing setup and people. Thank you so much to Freddie Spencer and Scott Rybarik for all that you guys are doing to help us. Hello and much love to all my family back home. Special thanks to Roger. He’s the one that started my road racing journey a year ago. I’m very thankful.”

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