MILLVILLE, N.J. — Day one in the battle for the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship went to Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Bobby Fong.
The championship points leader fired the first shot by earning provisional pole position on Friday at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Fong was fast all day and his 1:19.912 placed him as the only rider to crack into the 1:19s in Q1. That put him a tad over half-a-second faster than his teammate Jake Gagne, who may be the perfect wingman come race time for Fong.
Gagne’s best was a 1:20.426, some three-tenths faster than the second of three title contenders going into this weekend’s races – Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin. Herrin’s best lap was a 1:20.715 on his 12th, go-around – .803 of a second off Fong’s best.
And what of the rider closest to Fong in the title chase, Cameron Beaubier? The five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion had a rough day with crashes in both the morning practice session and Q1. After hasty repairs were made to his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW, Beaubier ended the day 12th-fastest and needing a Beaubier-esque turnaround for tomorrow.
Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim was fourth-fastest, a tick faster than Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sean Dylan Kelly.
Jayson Uribe ended the day sixth, just .095 of a second behind Kelly, in a dream Superbike debut for the OrangeCat Racing team.
If Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz doesn’t wrap up the 2025 Motovation Supersport Championship tomorrow at New Jersey Motorsports Park, it won’t be from a lack of pace.
The South African wasted little time getting up to speed in the first practice session on Friday morning as he shattered the Supersport lap record with his 1:21.651. Although he was a tick slower in the afternoon Q1 session, his 1:21.704 was fast enough to earn him provisional pole position.
Scholtz leads the championship points chase by 21 over Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL’s P.J. Jacobsen. If Scholtz scores four points in Saturday’s race one, he will earn his second successive Supersport title.
Although Scholtz led both sessions, things were tight at the top with Blake Davis second-fastest and just .361 of a second behind his Strack Racing teammate. Celtic/Economy Lube+Tire/Warhorse HSBK Ducati’s Cameron Petersen completed the provisional front row.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott was fifth-fastest with his 1:22.527 and the last rider to be within a second of Scholtz’ best.
Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL’s Kayla Yaakov, Altus Motorsports’ Jake Lewis, Rahal Ducati Moto w/Roller Die’s Corey Alexander, Bauce BARTCON Racing’s Joseph LiMandri Jr., and BPR Racing Yamaha’s Teagg Hobbs rounded out the top 10 on opening day at NJMP.
