Story and photos from motoamerica.com

Josh Herrin delivered a commanding double victory at Ridge Motorsports Park, taking control of Supersport Race 2 after a mid-race crash shuffled the order and boosted his momentum in the championship fight. Herrin, aboard the Rahal Ducati Moto with Desnuda Organic Tequila Ducati Panigale V2, led home Celtic/Economy Lube + Tire/Warhorse rider Darryn Binder and the rest of the field after capitalizing on the key moment of the 15-lap race.

Pole-sitter Kayla Yaakov launched cleanly on her Rahal Ducati Moto with Droplight Ducati Panigale V2 and initially set the pace in the early laps. Tyler Scott moved into second on the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki, with Herrin settling into third and Binder climbing from eighth on the grid to fourth by Lap 2. Josh Hayes completed the early top five aboard the BPR Racing Yamaha.

As the race developed, Yaakov and Herrin controlled the front while Binder steadily reduced a 2.7-second deficit. The South African rider closed in to within 1.4 seconds as the leaders approached the final stages.

The race changed with five laps remaining when Herrin overtook Yaakov at the front-straight chicane. Yaakov lost the front and crashed at the exit, leaving her machine on the racing surface. Binder was forced onto the escape route to avoid the incident, costing him significant time and a subsequent mistake at Turn 11 removed  him from contention for the win.

With clear track ahead, Herrin pulled away to secure a dominant victory by more than eight seconds. Binder recovered to finish second after a strong charge through the field, while Scott and Hayes fought for the final podium position in the closing laps. Scott ultimately prevailed after Hayes briefly moved ahead before a small error at Turn 13.

Blake Davis rounded out the top five aboard the Strack Racing Yamaha YZF-R9.

Herrin’s victory tightened the championship picture as he closed the gap in the standings to 24 and bottled a bit of momentum toward the next round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

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

“The Ridge has always been good to me. I think I have three out of the last four superbike wins here, so I definitely came in here with the confidence like I had at Road America, but obviously it went a lot better than Road America did. Huge shout out to the whole Rahal, Desnuda Tequila team. Thank you to Nimbus Healthcare, Brew Watches, everybody that’s involved in this whole program. Thank you to Graham Rahal. He was here for the first time this year, so it was cool to get the double win here. I’m bummed that Kayla went down. She was running a really good race. From the beginning, me and Ben (Spies) and her kind of had a thing where we weren’t going to battle each other if we had someone up front, just knowing that Binder was coming from mid-pack. She was riding a really good race but I just saw plus 1.6. Went down like a half second at some point, so I knew I needed to get by and try to up the pace a little bit. I didn’t know for a couple laps that she had gone down. So definitely a bummer. She was running a good race. Excited to go to Laguna after this one and carry the momentum there. I think we’re 24 points down now. Just got nothing else to do but try to win races and hope for the best.”

Talent Cup 

The start of Talent Cup Race 2 saw four riders charge toward Turn 1 nearly abreast as Sawyer Lafayette Racing’s eponymous rider briefly challenged for the lead before Team Roberts’ rider Kensei Matsudaira jumped to the front of the pack.

Lafayette was shuffled to fourth before the opening lap was complete as Quarterly Racing’s Nathan Gouker and Team Hammer’s Jake Paige slipped by after his wide exit at the chicane.

From here Gouker and Matsudaira would stretch out a gap of over two seconds to page, as they swapped the lead back and forth. Paige briefly closed the gap at the halfway point but began to fall back as the laps wound down.

Throughout the race Matsudaira and Gouker would trade the top spot 10 times, with the tenth and final overtake coming at the finish line on the final lap. Matsudaira appeared poised for victory until running slightly wide in Turn 15. The mistake compromised his drive onto the front straight and allowed Gouker to maintain a tighter line through the final chicane.

The pair drag raced to the checkered flag, where Gouker prevailed by just 0.008 seconds, extending his points lead to 14 over the Californian Matsudaira, and 67 points ahead of third place, Jake Paige.

The following quote is from Talent Cup Race 2 winner Nathan Gouker:

“This race was definitely difficult, and Kensei held up a great battle. We were battling the whole race. I was trying to see where he was quicker, where I was quicker, and I thought I was testing it a couple laps, going across the line, see if I could draft to him. I mean, I didn’t think it was worth risking running wide at the top of the hill or on top of “The Waterfall.” So, I just kind of stayed behind him and was hoping that I could draft him to the line. The whole Quarterley Racing, Powered by Warhorse, Supported by Wrench crew. They had the bike feeling great all weekend. Dale (Quarterley)’s not here. He’s out racing cars, so congrats to him.”

Mission Super Hooligan National Championship

Mission Super Hooligan National Championship Race 2 opened with Corey Alexander leading the opening lap aboard his ARCH Motorcycle Racing 2s-R machine, ahead of OrangeCat Racing’s Josh Herrin on the electric Lighfighter V3-RH, and BPR Racing Yamaha teammates Andy DiBrino and Bryce Kornbau on a pair of Yamaha MT-09 SPs.

Herrin’s first attack came in Turn 6 on Lap 2 but would not stick. Moments later, he dove underneath the leader Alexander entering Turn 12, briefly taking over the lead while the Race 1 winner was shuffled back to fourth as the quartet raced three-wide toward Turn 13.

The early battle at the front allowed Saddlemen Race Development’s James Rispoli and points leader Gus Rodio of Rodio Racing to close the gap. Both riders matched the leaders’ pace in the 1:45 range and making it a six rider fight at the front of the pack.

With three laps remaining, DiBrino made a decisive pass for the lead entering Turn 14. He maintained his advantage through the closing laps to secure the Race 2 victory, finishing nearly two seconds ahead of ARCH Racing’s Corey Alexander and 2.5 seconds ahead of BPR Racing Yamaha teammate Bryce Kornbau. It was one of the weekend’s hardest-fought contests and Yamaha’s first ever victory in the class. 

In championship points standings, Rodio leads by five points over Rispoli while DiBrino sits just 15 points down in third with three rounds remaining in the season.

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

“I don’t know what got into me today, but I feel like we always knew I could do it. I’m just so proud to pull it off. 
I gotta give a big thanks to Bryce (Kornbau), my teammate, BPR racing, for putting me on this bike, giving me this opportunity. Josh Hayes for giving me a good talk yesterday and giving me some advice for today. My mom, my dad, Tim, everybody, all my sponsors, rich with our sports park, Rusty Gill, everybody who helps me out, there’s so many to think, and I’m just so fortunate that I got to pull this off. 
Finally, and yeah, I think I’ll be happy the rest of my life now.”

Royal Enfield Build.Train.Race. 

Bryanna Everitt grabbed the holeshot in the eight-lap Royal Enfield Build.Train.Race. finale with Tati Paze and Jasmine Noelle giving chase. Brianna Cutler and Tiffanie Vo rounded out the top five in the first portion of the race.

The lead battle remained tight through the opening half of the race. On Lap 4, Noelle made an ambitious move on Paze entering Turn 13 but was unable to complete the pass.

One lap later, Paze struck.

The Brazilian swept past Everitt in Sector 1 to claim the lead and immediately began opening a gap over the chasing pack. Over the final three laps, Paze steadily extended her advantage, taking the checkered flag by more than 1.5 seconds.

The fight behind the leader continued to the finish as Noelle worked her way into second during the closing laps, while Cutler moved past Everitt to capture the final podium spot.

Paze’s victory capped another competitive round for the Royal Enfield Build.Train.Race. championship as the series heads into the second half of the 2026 season.

Noelle leads the championship chase by 27 points as the series takes a break before their final round at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course from July 31- August 2.

The following quote is from B.T.R. Race 2 winner Tati Paze:

“B.T.R. race winner for me is incredible. It’s a dream. I dream about not only podium, not only race, but it’s a dream. My life. Thank you for B.T.R. Thank you for my team. Thank you for my colleagues. Thank you for Freddie Spencer, Scott. Thank you for MotoAmerica. Thank you for my sponsors and my family, my friends, thank you.”