Three classes will begin their 2025 MotoAmerica Championship campaigns this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park with Superbike, Motovation Supersport, and Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. starting their seasons at the picturesque Barber Motorsports Park on the outskirts of Birmingham, Alabama.
SC-Project Twins Cup and Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul, meanwhile, will be holding their second rounds at Barber, having already started their seasons at Daytona International Speedway and Circuit of The Americas, respectively.
The Stock 1000 class, meanwhile, will begin its 2025 championship at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, May 2-4.
Motovation Supersport – Scholtz For Title Defense?
Thirty-two entries are set for the start of the 2025 Motovation Supersport Championship, led by defending class champion Mathew Scholtz and his brand-spanking-new Strack Racing Yamaha YZF-R9, with the much-ballyhooed new bike a major talking point of the off-season as it takes over from the YZF-R6.
Scholtz returns to the Motovation Supersport class after his eight-win, 15-podium season that saw him emerge from a season-long battle with Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL’s PJ Jacobsen to earn his second MotoAmerica title. The South African’s first championship in the U.S. was way back in 2017 in the Superstock 1000 class.
Scholtz and Jacobsen will start the season as title favorites, but there’s plenty of others hungry for a title.
How about we start with four-time AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes? The winningest rider in AMA road racing history, Hayes will campaign the entire season on one of nine Yamaha YZF-R9s entered with his effort backed by the BPR Racing Yamaha squad.
Scholtz’s young teammate on the Strack Yamahas is Blake Davis with the Virginian showing his mettle last year by finishing third in the championship behind Scholtz and Petersen. The 18-year-old Davis had one win and six additional podium finishes in 2024.
Jacobsen’s two teammates should also be factors with Corey Alexander and Kayla Yaakov returning to the Graham Rahal-owned team after their sixth- and seventh-place finishes in the 2024 title chase, respectively.
MotoAmerica Stock 1000 Champion (2020) and six-time Superbike race winner Cameron Petersen should cause his friend and fellow South African Scholtz some worry as he joins the Supersport class on the championship-proven Celtic/Economy Lube+Tire/Warhorse HSBK Ducati Panigale V2.
Vision Wheel M4 ECTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott won a Supersport race last year and earned three additional podiums en route to fourth in the title chase. Scott will be joined on the team by Max Van, who was 13th in last year’s championship.
Jake Lewis was a race winner in Supersport in 2024 and he’s back for more with Altus Motorsports, but this time the Kentuckian will be armed with a Yamaha YZF-R9. He will be joined on the team’s Yamahas by Jaret Nassaney.
Team owner/racer David Anthony will again be aboard a Suzuki GSX-R750 in his one-rider team.
SC-Project Twins Cup – Chapin Leads Them In
With his two wins in the two SC-Project Twins Cup races at Daytona in early March, RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki’s Matthew Chapin is the early leader in the championship as the series heads to Barber for its second round.
Chapin won both races for a perfect score of 50 to lead defending class champion Alessandro Di Mario by 10 points. Di Mario finished second in both races in Florida on his Robem Engineering Aprilia RS 660.
Giaccmoto Yamaha Racing’s Dominic Doyle had a successful start to his 2025 campaign with two third-place finishes on his Yamaha YZF-R7.
Koch Racing’s Sean Ungvarsky also ran in the lead pack at Daytona on his Yamaha YZF-R7 and ended up with a pair of fourth-place finishes.
Bad Boys Racing’s Avery Dreher rounds out the top five heading into round two with a pair of fifths on his Yamaha.
Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul – All Tied At The Top
The 15 youngsters taking part in the all-new Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul will barely catch their breath before doing it all over again at Barber Motorsports Park as they are fresh off the series opener at Circuit of The Americas this past weekend.
Victory in the first two races in Texas was split between Warhorse/American Racing’s Alessandro Di Mario and CTR/D&D Cycles’ Bodie Paige as the pair each won a race and were second in the ones they didn’t win.
Third place in both races went to Yamaha BLU CRU Estenson Racing’s Sam Drane as the series got off to a thrilling start with battles all through the field.
Jones Honda’s Julian Correa and MP13 Racing’s Ella Dreher left Texas fourth and fifth in the new championship. Correa was fifth and fourth in the two races with Dreher ending up seventh and fifth.
Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race – Going International
The 12-strong pack of Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. will begin their season at Barber Motorsports Park with an international flair as it will feature two riders from Brazil and one from Canada joining nine American returnees.
Last year’s BTR Champion Mikayla Moore won’t be returning to the series in 2025, but the 2024 series runner-up will be in the lineup – Camille Conrad. The Californian had four podium finishes in a season dominated by Moore and should be one of the favorites for a title run in 2025.
The Brazilian contingent is two strong with Karina Simoes and Tati Paze set to make their series debut. Team Canada, meanwhile, consists of Lucy Blondel in her second year of competing in the series.
Pre-Barber Notes…
Mathew Scholtz won both of the Supersport races at Barber Motorsports Park in 2024 with his season-long rival PJ Jacobsen second in both races. Maxi Gerardo and Blake Davis split third-place finishes.
Avery Dreher and Alessandro Di Mario won the two Twins Cup races last year. Casidy Heiser was second in race one with Dominic Doyle third. Rocco Landers was second with Gus Rodio third in race two.
In Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. Mikayla Moore showed her dominance with two race wins. Camille Conrad was second with Emma Betters third in race one. In race two, Betters reversed the score and finished second with Conrad third.
Suzuki leads the way in entries for the Barber series opener in Supersport with 12 riders set to race GSX-R750s. Yamaha is next with seven of its new Yamaha YZF-R9s and two of its YZF-R6s. There are eight Ducati Panigale V2s with MV, Kawasaki, and Triumph fielding one entry apiece.
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