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MotoAmerica’s Supersport class will feature an “extended” race (and pit stops) for the first time this coming weekend at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, May 19-21, while the riders atop the championship point standings in all the classes after the Road Atlanta round are hoping for status quo. For three of them, that means sweeping to victories for a second time on the season. For the other, it means keeping a four-race podium streak and large points lead intact.
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Xavi Fores showed that he will be a force to be reckoned with in the Supersport class as he won both races in his series debut at Road Atlanta on the ex-Josh Herrin championship-winning Panigale V2.
With the first taste of MotoAmerica racing under his belt, Fores and the rest of the Supersport gang get to try something completely new at Barber Motorsports Park as the first “extended” Supersport race (and mandatory pit stop) is scheduled for 37 laps around the 2.266-mile track.
That new twist will test not just the rider and his/her team, but will make things interesting in a class that already garnered lots of interest based on the opening round at Road Atlanta.
Fores, and his 17-point lead after a perfect weekend in Georgia, will make his debut at Barber and it’s a track his competition knows well. The Spaniard also has an impressive World Endurance racing resume, so the length of the races and the pit stops won’t unnerve him. At the top of the list of those out to gain ground on Fores in the title chase are the two men who are tied for second after their fourth/second place and second/fourth place finishes in the two races at Road Atlanta – Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Stefano Mesa and Vision Wheel ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott.
Fourth in the title chase, and just a point behind Mesa and Scott, is four-time AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes and his Squid Hunter Racing Yamaha YZF-R6. Hayes had two third-place finishes in the opening round as he continues to hunt down that elusive 87th victory that will move him out of a tie with Miguel Duhamel to the top of AMA’s all-time win list across all classes.
Michael Gilbert Racing’s Michael Gilbert sits fifth in the title chase heading to Alabama after carding a pair of fifth-place finishes.
Photo MotoAmerica courtesy by Brian J. Nelson
