MONTEREY, Calif. — Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Bobby Fong had a perfect Sunday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
The Northern California native swept the pair of MotoAmerica Superbike races and firmly establishing himself as someone not to be taken lightly as the season heads into the dog days of summer.
A day after finishing second in race one on Saturday, Fong didn’t put a wheel wrong on Sunday as he came from behind to beat championship points leader Josh Herrin and his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati in both races.
Although Herrin lost both races on Sunday after winning on Saturday, he was a big winner as far as the championship goes. With title rival Cameron Beaubier crashing the Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000 RR out of the lead in race one and finishing third in both Sunday races, Herrin leaves Monterey with a 31-point lead after five rounds and 11 races.
Fong’s two wins were the sixth and seventh of his MotoAmerica Superbike career, and the first and second wins of the 2025 season. It also moved him to within six points of Beaubier in the championship standings, and 37 behind Herrin.
Fong’s teammate Jake Gagne had a productive weekend as he continues to get the strength in his arms back. Gagne was third on Saturday and fifth and fourth in the two races on Sunday.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante was sixth and fifth on Sunday despite racing a bit banged up after two crashes in practice/qualifying.
Escalante’s teammate Sean Dylan Kelly finished fourth in race two on Sunday but suffered a DNF in race three when his chain broke.
The surprise of the weekend was Real Steel Honda’s J.D. Beach and his Stock 1000-spec Honda CBR1000RR-R SP, with the Kentuckian finishing sixth and seventh in Sunday’s two races after carding a fourth on Saturday.
Herrin wasted little time slotting the Ducati into the lead of the first of Sunday’s two races as he led the field over the hill and into turn two. He then wasted little time in eking out a lead on the chasing pack, led by Fong and Beaubier.
When push came to shove, it was Fong who applied the most pressure as he started to close the gap to Herrin, getting the lead to 1.2 seconds on the ninth lap. Beaubier, meanwhile, was struggling to keep the pace and was over three seconds behind after nine of 20 laps.
It was setting up nicely to be a two-rider battle to the flag as Fong looked to be getting stronger while Herrin seemed to be tiring. Beaubier was still in no-man’s land but was well clear of the Kelly/Gagne battle for fourth.
On the 14th lap, Fong made his move, passing Herrin in turn 11 and holding it to the finish as everyone started to struggle with a lack of grip in the hot conditions. Fong crossed the line 1.6 seconds clear of Herrin.
Beaubier also found some second life as he started to pull back the gap to the lead duo and got that to under two seconds. He finally had to give up the chase, however, and cruised in to finish third, 6.5 seconds behind Fong.
Kelly made up for yesterday’s disappointment by holding off Gagne by a bit over half a second at the finish line in the race for fourth. Those two were less than a second ahead of Escalante, who crossed the line in sixth.
Beach won the intrateam battle with Hayden Gillim for seventh, taking the Superbike Cup win in the process. FLO4LAW/SBU Racing’s Benjamin Smith and BPR Racing’s Bryce Kornbau rounded out the top 10.
The third and final MotoAmerica Superbike race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca was a virtual replay of race two. Beaubier led the first three laps before giving way to Herrin, who put his head down and pulled a gap to Fong after the Yamaha rider had also found a way around Beaubier.
By the fourth lap, Kelly was knocked out of the battle with Gagne when his Suzuki tossed its chain and the battle at the top settled down with Herrin leading Fong and Beaubier. Gagne was a lonely fourth and turning lap times close to those being done by the top three.
Nothing much changed until the 14th of 20 laps when Fong made his move on Herrin in turn 11. From there, the Yamaha man steadily pulled away while Herrin turned his attention to keeping Beaubier at bay.
The two were close for a handful of laps until Beaubier threw in the towel with the BMW struggling to find traction. He ended up a few seconds adrift of Herrin, who was .991 of a second behind a celebrating Fong.
Gagne was alone in fourth, well clear of Escalante, who was some three seconds ahead of Beach. Gillim ended up seventh with Smith, Lewis, and Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates rounding out the top 10.
