Beaubier Is Best Over Yamaha Duo In Timed Practice

Provisional Grid Set For Support Classes After Day One

BRASELTON, GA – April 18, 2026 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – The MotoAmerica Superbikes at Road Atlanta kicked off with plenty of sunshine and temperatures in the mid-80s as six classes of racing took to the track for practice and qualifying.

The Quad Lock Superbike class wrapped up their timed practice today at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with the top 21 riders moving on to tomorrow’s Qualifying. The action on track will surely continue to heat up as the top six riders are separated by less than a second.

Cameron Beaubier set the fastest lap of the session aboard his Warhorse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law Panigale V4 R. The six-time MotoAmerica Superbike champion wasted no time dialing in his setup aboard his brand-new machine and, after a few adjustments, he was quickly atop the standings with a 1:24.348 on his sixth lap during the 40-minute session.

Cameron Beaubier – Warhorse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law Panigale. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.

Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Bobby Fong put his Yamaha YZF-R1 in second behind the defending champion. Fong crashed early in the qualifying session but returned later to put down a 1:24.525, just .177 of a second behind Beaubier.

Mathew Scholtz is off to a solid start aboard his Strack Racing Yamaha YZF-R1. The two-time Supersport Champion and five-time Superbike race winner led the session in the early minutes before the pace dropped into the 1:24 range. Later in the session, he did a 1:24.526, just one one-thousandth of a second behind Fong and .178 of a second behind the leader.

OrangeCat Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly put his BMW M 1000 RR in fourth place with a 1:24.677, just .329 of a second behind the leader. After hovering around the top five early, the 23-year-old from Hollywood, Florida, found his groove late in the session and joined the “minute-24 crew.”

Fifth position belongs to Wrench Motorcycles’ Cam Petersen. The South African was fifth-fastest with a time of 1:25.048 aboard his Ducati V4 R, and he looks to close the gap to the top four in tomorrow’s Qualifying session.

Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s JD Beach is sixth, seventh position is occupied by Warhorse HSBK Ducati FLo4Law’s Benjamin Smith, followed by Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim in eighth, Rahal Ducati Moto with XPEL rider PJ Jacobsen in ninth and M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch rounds out the top 10.

Tomorrow’s weather calls for more of the same with temperatures in the mid 80s and with Qualifying 2 set for 11:10 AM, we could see cooler track temperatures contribute to some lower lap times.

Supersport

The top five riders in Supersport are separated by less than one second after the first qualifying session.

Rahal Ducati Moto with Desnuda Organic Tequila’s Josh Herrin set the provisional pole aboard his Ducati Panigale V2. Herrin began the session in the 1:29 range, but a mid-session red flag brought riders into the pits for about 15 minutes while crews cleaned up oil on the racetrack. Herrin’s crew made a few adjustments to his bike during the stoppage, which helped him take the top spot with a 1:28.600

Josh Herrin – Rahal Ducati Moto with Desnuda Organic Tequila. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.

Just .241 of a second behind Herrin was the Celtic/Economy Lube + Tire/Warhorse Ducati Panigale V2 of Darryn Binder. The former MotoGP rider briefly led the session with a 1:28.841 lap time before being eclipsed by Herrin towards the end of the session.

M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott slotted his GSX-R750 into third position with a 1:29.100 lap time. The 20-year-old Pennsylvanian led the session early before sliding back to third, and he will look to come back strong in Q2 tomorrow.

Supersport rookie, and last year’s Twins Cup and Talent Cup champion, Alessandro Di Mario finished Q1 in fourth position. The Rahal Ducati Moto with Roller Die + Forming rider took his Ducati Panigale V2 around the Atlanta circuit at a pace of 1:29.302.

Rounding out the top five from the first qualifying session was the Rahal Ducati Moto with Droplight Ducati Panigale V2 ridden by Kayla Yaakov. The 18-year-old from Biglerville, Pennsylvania, sits just .745 of a second out of the lead with a lap time of 1:29.345.

Mission King Of The Baggers

Hayden Gillim grabbed provisional pole in the first qualifying session. The J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Factory Indian rider put up a 1:29.021 to grab the top temporary spot.

Hayden Gillim – J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Factory Indian. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.

Just behind Gillim is his teammate Troy Herfoss with a 1:29.329. The Australian has three-tenths of a second to make up on his teammate.

Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman is in third position. The New Yorker brought his Road Glide around for a 1:29.505 lap time, keeping him on the leading pace and just half a second off the leader’s fastest time.

Rocco Landers was able to put in a 1:30.085 lap aboard his J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Factory Indian Challenger. The former Twins Cup and Talent Cup Champion’s session was cut short due to a mechanical issue, so he will be looking to improve tomorrow.

Rounding out the top five is Big Diehl x Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s James Rispoli. The man from DeLand, Florida, sits 1.4 seconds out of the lead heading into tomorrow’s final qualifying.

Twins Cup

After Qualifying 1, the top eight Twins Cup riders are separated by just nine-tenths of a second. While the grid is provisional, it alludes to a heated battle in Q2 tomorrow and close competition during the weekend’s two races.

M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Matthew Chapin put his GSX-8R on provisional pole with a 1:33.943 trip around the Atlanta circuit. The 17-year-old from Damascus, Maryland, was the only rider to dip under the one-minute-34 mark and looks to extend that gap in tomorrow’s Q2 session.

Matthew Chapin – M4 ECSTAR Suzuki. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.

Hank Vossberg is off to a strong start aboard his Robem Engineering Aprilia RS 660. Sitting second in points, Vossberg put down a 1:34.060 lap, just .177 of a second behind Chapin.

Making a big stride from the Daytona opener, Speed Demon Racing Powered by Ready to Ride’s Logan Cunnison put his Aprilia RS 660 in third position. Heading into Q2 tomorrow, the Arizonan sits just .329 of a second behind the leader.

In fourth place at 1:34.376 is the TAB Performance Suzuki GSX-8R of Kyle Ohnsorg. Trailing the top step by just .433 of a second, the Minnesota native sits tenth in points and looks poised to make up ground to the leaders this weekend.

Karns/TST Industries Racing’s Isaac Woodworth sits fifth after timed practice with a lap time of 1:34.426 on his Suzuki GSX-8R. The young Floridian looks to bounce back from his up-and-down Daytona opener where he finished fourth in race one, but suffered a DNF in race two.

Ghetto Customs’ team owner and rider Chris Parrish rode his Aprilia RS 660 within half a second of the leader and slots into sixth place after the Q1 session. The inaugural Twins Cup Champion turned in a solid 1:34.493 lap time.

Bodie Paige ended up with his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-8R in eighth after the first qualifying session. Paige was the last rider in the session to dip into the one-minute-34-second range.

Sam Drane is ninth aboard the Yamaha BLU CRU Estenson Racing YZF-R7 with a 1:35.476 lap time. The current Twins Cup points leader will be looking to shave some time and improve his starting position as he currently sits 1.533 seconds behind the leader.

Rounding out the top 10 is Hoban Brothers Racing/Darkhorse Motor Co.’s Seth Dahmer aboard his Suzuki GSX-8R.

Talent Cup

The first Talent Cup qualifying session of the weekend ended with Yamaha BLU CRU Estenson Racing’s Sam Drane in the top position. The Australian teenager set a 1:41.222 as the high mark.

Sam Drane – Yamaha BLU CRU Estenson Racing. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.

In second place is Quarterley Racing’s Nathan Gouker at just .696 of a second behind the leader. The Lexington, North Carolina, native was the second of only two riders to reach the 1:41 realm of lap times in the session.

Just behind in third is Team Hammer’s Jake Paige with a lap time of 1:42.443. Paige currently sits just over one second from Drane’s leading lap time.

Kensei Matsudaira rode his Team Roberts-backed machine to fourth-fastest with a 1:42.446. The young Californian will be looking to close the 1.224-second gap to the leaders in tomorrow’s final qualifying session.

Rounding out the top five is Real Steel Honda’s Derek Sanchez with a 1:43.018. Sanchez sits 1.796 seconds from the leader.

Royal Enfield Build.Train.Race.

The first practice and qualifying sessions are in the books for the Royal Enfield Build.Train.Race. program’s season opener. The group of 10 female racers finally got their chance to take their race-prepped Royal Enfield Continental GT 650s on track, and see how they stack up against each other.

After the first round of qualifying, Bryanna Everitt is fastest with a 1:59.780 lap time. The Columbia, South Carolina, native has separated herself from the field by 1.33 seconds and hopes to extend that gap tomorrow.

Bryanna Everitt getting familiar with the layout of Road Atlanta. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.

Second place is Marie Madura from Island Lake, Illinois. The lady from the Land of Lincoln turned in a lap time of 2:01.117 in a tight pack of two other riders behind her.

Hampton, Virginia’s Brianna Cutler turned in a 2:01.243.

Jasmine Noelle sits in fourth with a 2:01.266 lap on the board.

Emily Dickson rounds out the top five with a 2:04.126.

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About MotoAmerica

MotoAmerica is North America’s premier motorcycle road racing series. Established in 2014, MotoAmerica is home to the AMA Superbike Championship as well as additional classes including Supersport, Twins Cup, Talent Cup, Super Hooligan National Championship, and King Of The Baggers. MotoAmerica is an affiliate of KRAVE Group LLC, a partnership including three-time 500cc World Champion, two-time AMA Superbike Champion, and AMA Hall of Famer Wayne Rainey; ex-racer and former manager of Team Roberts Chuck Aksland; motorsports marketing executive Terry Karges; and businessman Richard Varner. For more information, please visit www.MotoAmerica.com, and MotoAmerica’s social platforms on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube. To watch all things MotoAmerica, subscribe to MotoAmerica’s live streaming and video on-demand service, MotoAmerica Live+

Source: MotoAmerica

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