Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati) continued his winning streak in MotoAmerica Superbike, winning for the fifth time in a row on Saturday at Laguna Seca. Taking advantage of a mistake by his direct rival Cameron Beaubier, Herrin consolidated his championship lead, which increased from eight to twenty-three points.
Starting from pole, Cameron Beaubier (Tytlers Cycle Racing) led the early laps before relinquishing the lead to Herrin on the third lap. Herrin then set a slower pace, disrupting his rival's strategy. Beaubier regained the lead, but crashed in Turn 2 just as he looked set to pick up the pace. Despite this incident, he was able to restart and finish sixth, saving ten valuable points for the rest of the season.
Victory wasn't easy for Herrin, however. Bobby Fong (Yamaha) clung to his wheel until the final turn, attempting a final attack but finishing just 0,367 seconds behind the winner. Fong claimed his fifth second-place finish of the season. Fong's teammate Jake Gagne rounded out the podium, capitalizing on crashes by Beaubier and Sean Dylan Kelly to earn his sixth top-three finish of the year.
JD Beach (Real Steel Honda), riding a Stock 1000 machine, distinguished himself by finishing fourth, thereby winning the Superbike Cup. Richie Escalante (Suzuki), despite crashes during practice, took fifth place, ahead of Beaubier. The top 10 was completed by Bryce Kornbau, Danilo Lewis, Max Flinders and Jason Waters. Several riders did not see the finish, including Hayden Gillim (mechanical issue), Sean Dylan Kelly, Ashton Yates and Benjamin Smith (crashes).
After nine races, Herrin leads the championship with 184 points, ahead of Beaubier (161) and Gagne (141). Fong is now just four points behind his teammate, while Escalante remains fifth with 92 points.
“I knew the race was going to be difficult with my sore neck, said the winner at the finish line, in comments relayed by the official website of the discipline. I knew Cam [Cameron Beaubier] had pace, it's his home track and he was going to push hard. Lately, I've been approaching races differently. Cam has been my main rival for the past two years and I'm trying to figure out how to beat him. I knew it was going to be tough, but I know he's all or nothing. My goal was to disrupt him a little bit, slow down the pace to throw him off. I knew he was going to come back and try hard. That's when I was counting on his mistakes. Instead of taking all the risks and going wide, I try to be smart."
MotoAmerica Superbike returns to action this Sunday with two more races at Laguna Seca, where strategies and rivalries promise to be full of twists and turns.
MotoAmerica Laguna Seca (J2): The classification of Race 1:
Ranking : MotoAmerica
