MotoAmerica riders, past and present, are racing this weekend in both Europe and the Persian Gulf.
Three of them, Garrett Gerloff, Mallory Dobbs, and Sonya Lloyd, are competing at the famed TT Circuit Assen in The Netherlands, while another two, Joe Roberts and Bodie Paige, are at Lusail International Circuit, in Doha, Qatar.
Gerloff and his Kawasaki WorldSBK Team took part in the opening race of the Assen FIM Superbike World Championship round on Saturday, and the Texan finished 13th, scoring valuable Championship points in the process. Before Saturday’s Race One, Gerloff faced a final free practice session and then Superpole Qualifying, which determines each rider’s final grid position. The Double-G ended up 17th on the starting grid, but he improved to P13 by the end of the 21-lap Race One.
Kawasaki’s sole rider on the Ninja ZX-10RR this season, Gerloff feels there is still progress to be made with his overall machine set-up, thus he and his crew will now look at the data from Race One to find improvements for Sunday’s 10-lap Superpole Race and then the 21-lap Race Two. After two relatively warm and sunny days of action, the weather forecast indicates wet conditions for the final day of racing at Assen.
“There were some positives from today,” Gerloff said. “I did my best-ever lap time in qualifying, by more than half a second. That was positive, but it did not help me with my starting position. I tried my best in the opening race, but we still we need to improve. So, I am just going to have a good night’s sleep and see if we can find a solution for tomorrow because we need something. It may rain tomorrow, and if it is raining, anything could happen.”
Dobbs and Lloyd are also at the TT Circuit Assen for the opening round of the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship (WorldWCR) also at TT Assen Circuit. In Race One board their spec Yamaha YZF-R7 motorcycles, Diva Racing’s Dobbs finished 15th, while Team Trasimeno’s Lloyd was 18th. After a morning warmup session. Dobbs and Lloyd will line up again for Race Two on Sunday.
“P15 today and we are on the board with a point,” commented Dobbs. “It’s not where I want to be, but it’s where we are this weekend, and I’m making the best of it step by step. We dropped a solid 3 seconds today in the race from our qualifying time yesterday. I’m definitely starting to feel more competitive and comfortable on this track, but the competition this year is serious business. More tomorrow!”
Meanwhile, over in Qatar, American Joe Roberts participated in Moto2 World Championship final practice on Saturday morning and finished 8th with a best time of 1:58.081 on his OnlyFans American Racing Team Kalex. Based on his results in Saturday afternoon’s qualifying, Roberts will start Sunday’s Moto2 race in 23rd position.
Bodie Paige, the 15-year-old Australian rider who is competing in MotoAmerica’s inaugural Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul, was a late call-up for round two of the 2025 Asia Talent Cup at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar.
Paige earned a reserve spot at the Asia Talent Cup’s selection event held this past October, and injuries to his Aussie countrymen Rikki Henry and Archie Schmidt opened the door for Paige to make his debut in the series alongside the MotoGP paddock in Qatar. Incidentally, American Kensei Matsudaira also earned a reserve spot in the 2025 Asia Talent Cup.
Paige started Race One in 16th on the grid aboard his spec Honda NSF250R Moto3 machine, and he diligently worked himself all the way up to 9th at the finish. He will line up again on Sunday and compete in Race Two.
