Saturday Race 1
Bobby Fong battled scorching temperatures and slick track conditions to claim a commanding victory in Saturday’s Quad Lock Superbike Race 1 at VIRginia International Raceway. Riding his Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing machine, Fong continued a winning streak he started last year, now securing his third straight at VIR, having won both races in 2025.
In the first of the three races this weekend, Fong weathered a race-long challenge from Mathew Scholtz to win the abbreviated 10-lap sprint by 1.078 seconds. OrangeCat Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly rounded out the podium in third, while setting the race’s fastest lap (1:25.128) of the race along the way.
The afternoon’s drama began before an official lap was completed. On the opening lap Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim suffered a high-speed crash which ended in the air fence, disabling a segment, bringing out an immediate red flag. While Gillim was unfortunately unable to rejoin for the restart, Benjamin Smith (Warhorse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law’s), who had qualified fourth, had separate opening-lap crash and saw his team pull off a heroic pit-lane repair effort that allowed him to restart from the back of the grid.
The race was restarted and shortened to a 10 laps. Pole sitter Scholtz jumped out to the early lead on his Strack Racing Yamaha, setting the pace for the opening four laps. However, Fong, who had focused on race pace with used tires throughout the weekend, made his move on lap five, pushing past Scholtz and never looking back. Scholtz fought hard to stay close but ultimately had to settle for second, while SDK brought his OrangeCat Racing BMW home in third.
Richie Escalante delivered a strong ride to bring his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki home in fourth, just over four seconds behind Fong. Loris Baz (Warhorse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law) rounded out the top five, followed closely by Fong’s teammate JD Beach (Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing) in sixth. Rahal Ducati Moto with XPEL’s PJ Jacobsen, Wrench Motorcycles’ Cameron Petersen, and OrangeCat Racing’s Jayson Uribe finished seventh, eighth, and ninth, respectively, just ahead of the charging Smith who finished 10th.
The results of Race 1 tighten the Quad Lock Superbike Championship as SDK (233 points) now leads Scholtz (213 points) by 20 points, with Beach (195 points) 38 points back and Fong (187 points) 46 points behind the leader. 50 points are still up for grabs this weekend in Sunday’s double-header.
Quad Lock Superbike Race 1 Results
The following quote is from Quad Lock Race 1 Winner Bobby Fong:
“The race was good. We worked a lot on race pace throughout the weekend, on used tire stuff. It was a hot and slippery race, and the team made it easy on me at the end of the race. The bike felt really good and it felt extra good with slippery, slippery conditions. So, we’re just going to try to improve some stuff where we’re getting gapped a little bit from some of the competitors and I think we can improve that. Some of the places where we can, that we got gapped, I think it’ll be a lot better tomorrow. We could just run a consistent fast race, but we got two long hot races to do it. So, we’re just gonna keep working and try to improve.”
Sunday Race 2
Race 2 began with immediate drama as Race 1 winner, Fong, suffered a poor start, dropping back to seventh position in the opening stages of the first lap. At the front, JD Beach (Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing) led Mathew Scholtz (Strack Racing), Sean Dylan Kelly (OrangeCat Racing), and Richie Escalante (M4 ECSTAR Suzuki). Meanwhile, further back in the pack, Hayden Gillim (Real Steel Honda) ran off track from 11th, and Benjamin Smith’s race ended early with a crash on Lap 4.
Fong quickly mounted a fierce recovery. By the end of Lap 5, he sliced past Baz into fifth, and on Lap 7, he made a decisive move on Escalante. At this stage of the 20-lap race, a tight trail of seven superbikes was separated by less than two seconds. Fong continued his march, overtaking championship leader SDK for third just as Scholtz slipped past Beach for the lead.
On Lap 8, Fong dispatched his teammate Beach to take second. With eight laps remaining, Scholtz held a narrow lead with Fong hounding his rear tire, while a gap of over 1.8 seconds opened to the battling trio of Beach, SDK, and Escalante. With just two laps to go, Fong capitalized on a misstep from Scholtz, gaining the lead. Fong held his lead and pushed on to cross the finish line 2.044 seconds ahead of Scholtz. SDK rounded out the podium in third, leading a frantic trio, where Escalante finished fourth (0.195 seconds behind SDK), and Beach (0.133 seconds from Escalante).
Quad Lock Superbike Race 2 Results
The following quote is from Quad Lock Superbike Race 2 Winner, Bobby Fong:
“Man, honestly, I’m stoked to get two wins this weekend. We rode good. I mean, we made a big step with the bike, I’m back to being comfortable on the thing for a few rounds. I was struggling there for a little bit, so big kudos to Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha. A bummer what happened in race three. I like to end a weekend on a good note. I don’t want to take anybody out. You know, it just got super tight in there and I ended up tucking the front and taking out the championship leader. So, I’m sorry to Sean (Dylan Kelly) and the whole OrangeCat team. Like, that’s not cool. I’m sorry about that, but I’m looking forward to COTA. We do good at COTA. I like that place. The test there, and the beginning of the season was really good. So, I know it’s going to be hot and slippery, and lately, I think we got our form at the end of these races. So, it might play into our favor.”
Sunday Race 3
In the Superbike Cup class, BPR Racing Yamaha’s Deion Campbell led Danilo Lewis (Team Brazil) and Andrew Lee (Real Steel Honda) by Lap 5. Lee steadily mounted a charge, and by Lap 16, he had fought his way into the lead of the Superbike Cup field.
The battle came down to an absolute photo finish on the final lap. In an incredibly tight dash to the stripe, Campbell managed to edge out championship leader Lee by a mere 0.015 seconds to claim the victory, with Lewis finishing third in class.
Race 3 initially saw Fong secure a much better start, but PJ Jacobsen (Rahal Ducati Moto with XPEL) made a stellar launch to jump into third behind Scholtz and SDK. On the front straight of Lap 2, Scholtz experienced a violent headshake and rattle, compressing the pack. On Lap 3, Kelly overtook Scholtz for the lead, and Jacobsen pushed past Scholtz on Lap 4 to claim second.
While Jacobsen nipped at the tire of SDK on Lap 7 of 20, Escalante suffered a high-speed crash into the air fence. The impact dislodged the safety barrier, forcing an immediate red flag to repair the fence.
Following seven laps of the initial 20-lap Race 3, which included another look at Fong, Scholtz and SDK, and now Jacobsen, Escalante suffered a high-speed crash into the air fence. The impact dislodged the safety barrier, forcing an immediate red flag to repair the fence.
The race was restarted at an abbreviated 11-lap distance. As the pack roared into Turn 1 on the restart, the holeshot went three-wide, resulting in a massive, multi-rider pile-up. Fong entered the corner from the inside, losing space and ultimately control, resulting in a chain reaction that had collected Cameron Petersen (Wrench Motorcycles), Scholtz, SDK, and Benjamin Smith (Warhorse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law). While Fong, Petersen, and Smith were forced to retire, both SDK and Scholtz remounted their damaged machines to rejoin the race. Scholtz was ultimately forced to pull over due to mechanical issues, while SDK rode a lap down to salvage a single championship point in 15th.
With five top riders out of the equation, Jacobsen inherited the lead ahead of Jayson Uribe (OrangeCat Racing) and Beach. As Jacobsen began to lose pace with seven laps to go, Uribe closed the gap. Behind them, Loris Baz made his late-race charge, passing Beach for third, continuing to catch the leading duo, as the top four riders were within two seconds.
Baz sliced past Uribe into second. At Turn 1 on the penultimate lap, Baz executed a daring lunge on Jacobsen to take the lead. Despite the pressure from Jacobsen on the final half-lap, Baz held off his fellow Ducati rider to take victory by just 0.155 seconds. Uribe crossed the line in third (+0.801) on his OrangeCat Racing BMW, securing a brilliant podium finish, and his first Superbike podium of his career.
The Superbike Cup class saw further high-stakes drama. Campbell crossed the finish line first among the Cup competitors, ninth overall, apparently securing his third Cup win of the weekend. Post-race technical scrutiny revealed that Campbell had passed under a yellow flag, resulting in a devastating four-position penalty.
The penalty demoted Campbell to 13th overall (sixth in class), handing the official Superbike Cup Race 3 victory to Lee, who was promoted to ninth overall. Lewis claimed second (10th overall), and Carl Soltisz (Super Carl Racing 57 Rider Development) took third (11th overall). The victory extends Lee’s commanding lead in the Superbike Cup Championship standings.
Quad Lock Superbike Race 3 Results
The following quote is from Quad Lock Superbike Race 3 Winner, Loris Baz:
“I’m going to start dedicating that win to two of my really good friends and my first mechanic that passed away in the last month. Unfortunately, I was here racing and I was not with their family. So, Denis, Franc, that’s for you. I promised when I knew the bad news that I was going to win a race before I have to give back the bike to Cam (Beaubier). So really proud to do it. I want to thank Bobby (Shek). I want to thank Warhorse and all the crew. Cyle (Winkler), Simone (Toso), Danny (Anderson), Lee (Vaughan). I’m going to forget a lot of people, but all the sponsors. Not easy to jump on a bike mid-season. We’ve been lucky. Broke my shoulder after ten minutes on the bike. Simone did a really good job. Flo, thanks for everything. I’m so proud. The race, I’ve been lucky, but that’s for the unlucky last race in Mid-Ohio. I could be here talking for half an hour. So proud to do it in front of my dad again. Let’s celebrate. Let’s go fishing and drink some tequila.”
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