Mathew Scholtz secured a hard-fought victory for Strack Racing on Sunday at Mid-Ohio, capping off a chaotic MotoAmerica Superbike Race 2. The South African claimed his fourth win of the 2026 season, in a race twice red-flagged and ultimately abandoned after just nine laps.
The day took a dramatic turn on the very first lap when Benjamin Smith, who had started from pole position, suffered a heavy crash. His Ducati Warhorse HSBK Flo4Law went wide after losing control, bringing out the first red flag and forcing a full restart of the race. Smith was unable to continue, which immediately changed the complexion of the event.
At the second start, Sean Dylan Kelly took advantage of his front-row position to seize the lead, under pressure from Bobby Fong, Mathew Scholtz, and Richie Escalante. The pace remained very high, with a compact field and minimal gaps at the front.
One of the great stories of this race was PJ Jacobsen's comeback. The Rahal Ducati Moto with XPEL rider set a blistering pace, even setting the fastest lap of the race at 1'25''009 and running in the top three before crashing out himself.
His accident caused another interruption, effectively sealing the fate of the race. At the time of the final stoppage, nine laps had been completed, leading officials to freeze the standings at the moment of the interruption, with regulatory adjustments applied by the stewards.
A very close top 4 in MotoAmerica Superbike
In this unusual context, Scholtz was declared the winner, with a lead of just 0.177 seconds over Kelly. Bobby Fong completed the podium in third place, rewarded despite the general confusion of a Sunday where everything changed in a matter of seconds.
Frenchman Loris Baz finished fourth, having already shown speed in the warm-up, and Cameron Petersen took fifth place. Jayson Uribe and Brandon Paasch followed, while JD Beach, Ashton Yates, and Andrew Lee completed the top 10.
The final standings show just how close the field was at the front of the race: the top four were separated by less than two seconds. This also makes Scholtz's victory all the more valuable, as it resulted from a rapid adaptation to a situation where conditions, setup, and strategy changed with each restart.
A championship that's still wide open
With three rounds remaining and 150 points still up for grabs, the battle for the title remains wide open heading into Virginia International Raceway. Mid-Ohio has above all confirmed one thing: in this 2026 championship, nothing is ever decided until the checkered flag falls.
MotoAmerica Mid Ohio Superbike, Day 3 – Race 2 Results:
Ranking: MotoAmerica.com
Photo : Brian J. Nelson