Story and photos from motoamerica.com

Sunday’s double-header of the Quad Lock Superbike Championship at VIRginia International Raceway delivered one of the most unpredictable and action-packed days in MotoAmerica history. Warhorse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law’s Loris Baz snatched a breathtaking victory in a restarted Race 3, following a masterclass performance by Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Bobby Fong in Race 2 earlier in the day.

Race 2: Fong Rallies From Seventh For Victory

Race 2 began with immediate drama as Race 1 winner, Fong, suffered a poor start, dropping back to seventh position in the opening stages of the first lap. At the front, JD Beach (Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing) led Mathew Scholtz (Strack Racing), Sean Dylan Kelly (OrangeCat Racing), and Richie Escalante (M4 ECSTAR Suzuki). Meanwhile, further back in the pack, Hayden Gillim (Real Steel Honda) ran off track from 11th, and Benjamin Smith’s race ended early with a crash on Lap 4.

Fong quickly mounted a fierce recovery. By the end of Lap 5, he sliced past Baz into fifth, and on Lap 7, he made a decisive move on Escalante. At this stage of the 20-lap race, a tight trail of seven superbikes was separated by less than two seconds. Fong continued his march, overtaking championship leader SDK for third just as Scholtz slipped past Beach for the lead.

On Lap 8, Fong dispatched his teammate Beach to take second. With eight laps remaining, Scholtz held a narrow lead with Fong hounding his rear tire, while a gap of over 1.8 seconds opened to the battling trio of Beach, SDK, and Escalante. With just two laps to go, Fong capitalized on a misstep from Scholtz, gaining the lead. Fong held his lead and pushed on to cross the finish line 2.044 seconds ahead of Scholtz. SDK rounded out the podium in third, leading a frantic trio, where Escalante finished fourth (0.195 seconds behind SDK), and Beach (0.133 seconds from Escalante).

Race 2 Superbike Cup: A 0.015-Second Photo Finish

In the Superbike Cup class, BPR Racing Yamaha’s Deion Campbell led Danilo Lewis (Team Brazil) and Andrew Lee (Real Steel Honda) by Lap 5. Lee steadily mounted a charge, and by Lap 16, he had fought his way into the lead of the Superbike Cup field.

The battle came down to an absolute photo finish on the final lap. In an incredibly tight dash to the stripe, Campbell managed to edge out championship leader Lee by a mere 0.015 seconds to claim the victory, with Lewis finishing third in class.

Race 3: Red Flag And Turn 1 Restart Chaos

Race 3 initially saw Fong secure a much better start, but PJ Jacobsen (Rahal Ducati Moto with XPEL) made a stellar launch to jump into third behind Scholtz and SDK. On the front straight of Lap 2, Scholtz experienced a violent headshake and rattle, compressing the pack. On Lap 3, Kelly overtook Scholtz for the lead, and Jacobsen pushed past Scholtz on Lap 4 to claim second.

While Jacobsen nipped at the tire of SDK on Lap 7 of 20, Escalante suffered a high-speed crash into the air fence. The impact dislodged the safety barrier, forcing an immediate red flag to repair the fence.

Race 3: Baz Lunges To The Front

Following seven laps of the initial 20-lap Race 3, which included another look at Fong, Scholtz and SDK, and now Jacobsen, Escalante suffered a high-speed crash into the air fence. The impact dislodged the safety barrier, forcing an immediate red flag to repair the fence.

The race was restarted at an abbreviated 11-lap distance. As the pack roared into Turn 1 on the restart, the holeshot went three-wide, resulting in a massive, multi-rider pile-up. Fong entered the corner from the inside, losing space and ultimately control, resulting in a chain reaction that had collected Cameron Petersen (Wrench Motorcycles), Scholtz, SDK, and Benjamin Smith (Warhorse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law). While Fong, Petersen, and Smith were forced to retire, both SDK and Scholtz remounted their damaged machines to rejoin the race. Scholtz was ultimately forced to pull over due to mechanical issues, while SDK rode a lap down to salvage a single championship point in 15th.

With five top riders out of the equation, Jacobsen inherited the lead ahead of Jayson Uribe (OrangeCat Racing) and Beach. As Jacobsen began to lose pace with seven laps to go, Uribe closed the gap. Behind them, Loris Baz made his late-race charge, passing Beach for third, continuing to catch the leading duo, as the top four riders were within two seconds.

Baz sliced past Uribe into second. At Turn 1 on the penultimate lap, Baz executed a daring lunge on Jacobsen to take the lead. Despite the pressure from Jacobsen on the final half-lap, Baz held off his fellow Ducati rider to take victory by just 0.155 seconds. Uribe crossed the line in third (+0.801) on his OrangeCat Racing BMW, securing a brilliant podium finish, and his first Superbike podium of his career.

Race 3 Superbike Cup: Post-Race Penalty Decides The Winner

The Superbike Cup class saw further high-stakes drama. Campbell crossed the finish line first among the Cup competitors, ninth overall, apparently securing his third Cup win of the weekend. Post-race technical scrutiny revealed that Campbell had passed under a yellow flag, resulting in a devastating four-position penalty.

The penalty demoted Campbell to 13th overall (sixth in class), handing the official Superbike Cup Race 3 victory to Lee, who was promoted to ninth overall. Lewis claimed second (10th overall), and Carl Soltisz (Super Carl Racing 57 Rider Development) took third (11th overall). The victory extends Lee’s commanding lead in the Superbike Cup Championship standings.

Quad Lock Superbike Race 2 Results

1. Bobby Fong (Yamaha)
2. Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)
3. Sean Dylan Kelly (BMW)
4. Richie Escalante (Suzuki)
5. JD Beach (Yamaha)
6. Loris Baz (Ducati)
7. PJ Jacobsen (Ducati)
8. Cameron Petersen (Ducati)
9. Jayson Uribe (BMW)
10. Brandon Paasch (Suzuki)

Superbike Cup Race 2 Results

1. Deion Campbell (Yamaha)
2. Andrew Lee (Honda)
3. Danilo Lewis (Honda)

The following quote is from Quad Lock Superbike Race 2 Winner, Bobby Fong:

“Man, honestly, I’m stoked to get two wins this weekend. We rode good. I mean, we made a big step with the bike, I’m back to being comfortable on the thing for a few rounds.
I was struggling there for a little bit, so big kudos to Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha. A bummer what happened in race three. I like to end a weekend on a good note. I don’t want to take anybody out. You know, it just got super tight in there and I ended up tucking the front and taking out the championship leader. So, I’m sorry to Sean (Dylan Kelly) and the whole OrangeCat team. Like, that’s not cool. I’m sorry about that, but I’m looking forward to COTA. 
We do good at COTA. I like that place. The test there, and the beginning of the season was really good. 
So, I know it’s going to be hot and slippery, and lately, I think we got our form at the end of these races. So, it might play into our favor.”

The following quote is from Superbike Cup Race 2 Winner, Deion Campbell:

“I definitely have some great momentum. We’ve been working hard with Chris (Weiand) and had a new mechanic, Russ (Proctor), come on, and he’s been definitely a blessing. So yeah, we’re definitely going in the right direction, making big headway with the bike, and I’m pretty excited for COTA now.”


Quad Lock Superbike Race 3 Results

1. Loris Baz (Ducati)
2. PJ Jacobsen (Ducati)
3. Jayson Uribe (BMW)
4. JD Beach (Yamaha)
5. Hayden Gillim (Honda)
6. Brandon Paasch (Suzuki)
7. Ashton Yates (Honda)
8. Max Flinders (BMW)
9. Andrew Lee (Honda)
10. Danilo Lewis (Honda)

Superbike Cup Race 3 Results

1. Andrew Lee (Honda)
2. Danilo Lewis (Honda)
3. Carl Soltisz (Honda)

The following quote is from Quad Lock Superbike Race 3 Winner, Loris Baz:

I’m going to start dedicating that win to two of my really good friends and my first mechanic that passed away in the last month. Unfortunately, I was here racing and I was not with their family. So, Denis, Franc, that’s for you. I promised when I knew the bad news that I was going to win a race before I have to give back the bike to Cam (Beaubier). So really proud to do it. I want to thank Bobby (Shek). I want to thank Warhorse and all the crew. Cyle (Winkler), Simone (Toso), Danny (Anderson), Lee (Vaughan). I’m going to forget a lot of people, but all the sponsors. Not easy to jump on a bike mid-season. We’ve been lucky. Broke my shoulder after ten minutes on the bike. Simone did a really good job. Flo, thanks for everything. I’m so proud. The race, I’ve been lucky, but that’s for the unlucky last race in Mid-Ohio. I could be here talking for half an hour. So proud to do it in front of my dad again. Let’s celebrate. Let’s go fishing and drink some tequila.”

The following quote is from Superbike Cup Race 3 Winner, Andrew Lee:

“We got a bit lost on the setup Friday and spent the weekend trying to work back into the right spot. I never felt 100%, but thankful for my team behind me working through everything. We will be back and stronger in COTA”

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