Just three points covers the top three in the
2024 Steel Commander Superbike Championship
MONTEREY, CA – July 14, 2024 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – If you thought the points race in the 2024 MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike Championship was close coming into the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca round, turns out you were wrong. Now it’s close.
How does three points separating the top three sound? That’s what we have with Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin now atop the championship by one point over Attack Performance/Progressive/Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne, who in turn is just one point ahead of his teammate Cameron Petersen.
So, who among those three won Saturday’s first of two Steel Commander Superbike races at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca? None of them.
The win went to five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier, the rider who is trying to claw back the most points on the lead group in the championship after missing several rounds with a broken heel.
On Saturday, Beaubier was dominant and claw back he did. Going into today’s race, Beaubier trailed Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong by 55 points. Following his fourth win of the season today, Beaubier now trails Herrin by 41 points.
Beaubier beat Herrin to the line by 1.1 seconds, though the margin was much bigger before the slow down and celebration in the final few corners.
Herrin had his hands full with Petersen for most of the race, but the South African had jumped the start and incurred a five-second penalty. Thus, Herrin was never in any real danger of losing the spot. The second place was Herrin’s sixth podium of the season, and it moved him into the points lead, albeit by just a point.
Petersen rode hard and it was enough to give him third place, despite the five-second penalty. At the finish he was seven seconds behind Herrin and some three seconds clear of EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly with the Floridian also fighting through after incurring a five-second jump start penalty.
Somehow Gagne and his arm-pump issues managed a top-five finish as the three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion continues to garner points despite his physical condition. He is planning on getting surgery following the Laguna Seca weekend. Through all of this, Gagne is just a point behind Herrin in the title battle.
Herrin’s teammate Loris Baz was sixth, less than a second behind Gagne and well clear of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Xavi…
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