Di Mario Leads The Lap That Matters Most In Talent Cup Thriller At Mid-Ohio

Seven Riders Finish Within A Second Of Victory In Race One At
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course 

LEXINGTON, OH – July 27, 2025 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Warhorse Ducati/American Racing’s Alessandro Di Mario didn’t lead the most laps, but he led the only lap that mattered to win a thrilling Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul race at high noon on Saturday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

A pack of six Talent Cup racers head to the finish line on the final lap with Alessandro Di Mario (27) winning his fourth race of the season by just .050 of a second over Hank Vossberg (31). Bodie Paige (65), Sam Drane (59), Ella Dreher (22), and Carson King give chase. Photo by Brian J. Nelson

How close was this one? Seven riders finished within the same second as Di Mario with the race winner besting Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Hank Vossberg by a scant .050 of a second after 10 fast and furious laps of Mid-Ohio.

Pole sitter Bodie Paige ran out of gearing and that prevented him from making moves on the back straight on his CTR/D&D Cycles Krämer APX-350 MA. Still, Paige was third and just .250 of a second from victory.

Yamaha BLU CRU Estenson Racing’s Sam Drane, the only rider to take to the track in a very wet Q2 on Saturday morning, was fourth, just .346 of a second off the lead as seven riders crossed the finish line in a tightly knit pack.

MP13 Racing’s Ella Dreher was fifth, .602 of a second behind Di Mario, with Royalty Racing’s Carson King sixth and Team Roberts’ Kody Kopp seventh, the last rider crossing the line within a second of Di Mario.

Kopp, however, set the fastest lap of the race – a 1:37.038 – on the fourth lap while Di Mario recorded just the sixth fastest lap en route to victory.

Bettencourt Racing’s Nathan Bettencourt battled to eighth as he tried in vain to latch on to the lead pack. Even so, he was just a tick over a second from victory.

Ice Barn Racing’s Solly Mervis and D&D Certified Racing’s Landen Smith rounded out the top 10 finishers.

Three different riders – Di Mario, Paige and Vossberg – led laps across the stripe, but there were at least 12 lead changes over the course of the 10-lap race.

After seven races, Di Mario’s fourth victory has stretched his championship points advantage over Drane to 33 points, 152-119. Paige is third with 102 points.

Talent Cup Race 1

1. Alessandro Di Mario
2. Hank Vossberg
3. Bodie Paige
4. Sam Drane
5. Ella Dreher
6. Carson King
7. Kody Kopp
8. Nathan Bettencourt
9. Solly Mervis
10. Landen Smith

Quotes

Alessandro Di Mario – Winner

“The chatter was insane. As soon as I started pushing a little bit, my outside foot was slipping out and I was doing everything I could, and it was chattering a lot. I knew I didn’t have the pace to be up there. In the first part of the track they were a little faster, so I didn’t care if I got passed because I knew the straightaway was right after and it’s downhill, so it helped. After I figured out I didn’t have the pace, I just figured I had to be smart about it, and I knew I wanted to make a pass on the last lap, and it just worked out perfectly. When Hank passed me, I knew the group was pretty big, so I just tried to calm down and take it easy and I knew it was going to come down to the last lap and no lap before that mattered. When I was third, I knew that I could draft them, so I decided to make the move on the last lap.”

Hank Vossberg – Second Place

“It was crazy. I got not so great of a start, but I just tried to get up with the lead group because I knew that Bodie (Paige) would try and break away. He had some gear problems that allowed me to stay in the lead, and I just knew if I wanted to have a chance in the fight, I had to stay in the top three and get away from all the carnage. I just can’t give it up enough for the team.”

Bodie Paige – Third Place

“We just had a little bit of difficulty with our gearing. On the first lap I came down the straight and was hitting the rev limiter right before the speed trap so that definitely didn’t help with my race. Other than that, it was good. I definitely felt like I had the superior speed in that group, but it was just unfortunate, but that’s racing. Sometimes you just miss a setup. We’ll go back and fix it and look forward to the next one. It definitely made me a little bit angry coming down that backstraight knowing that I couldn’t really do anything because I knew I was going to hit the limiter. I tried to place myself in the best possible position but that backstraight definitely killed my last lap. We’ll look at the data and see what gearing we can put on for the next one.”

Di Mario (27), Paige (65) and Vossberg (31) did most of the leading, but it was Di Mario who led when it mattered most. Photo By Brian J. Nelson

Pole sitter Paige (65) leads Vossberg (31), Di Mario (hidden), Drane (hidden), Ella Dreher (22), King (32) and Kody Kopp (12). Photo by Brian J. Nelson

Kody Kopp (12) ended up with the fastest lap of the race while holding off Dreher (22) and King (32). Photo by Brian J. Nelson

Talent Cup formation flying at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with Di Mario, Drane, Dreher, King, and Kopp. Photo by Brian J. Nelson

(From left to right) Hank Vossberg, Alessandro Di Mario, and Bodie Paige celebrate their top-three finishes on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course podium. Photo by Brian J. Nelson