Petersen Takes Road America MotoAmerica Superbike Thriller
Photo: Brian J. Nelson
By Dennis Krause
Starting fifteenth on the grid, Cameron Petersen took advantage of a red flag just after the midway point of Saturday’s MotoAmerica Quad Lock Superbike Race 1 at Elkhart Lake’s Road American to score a thrilling win on his year-old No. 45 Wrench Motorcycles Ducati Panigale V4 R.
“Yeah, it's a used motorcycle,” said Petersen, “but it's a bike that has won the championship and almost won the thing last year. So we know it's a package that can go win races, but for sure the bike is a rocket ship. I think I've had the quickest top speed at every track we've been at this year. So, for sure, coming into this weekend, we knew we're going to have a good shot at it, and, yeah, here we are.”
Petersen took the lead from Sean Dylan Kelly with four laps to go following a red flag for a crash in the chicane that eliminated pole sitter and race leader Cameron Beaubier’s No. 1 Warhouse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law Ducati Panigale V4 R.
On the 12th and final lap of the 4.048-mile circuit, Kelly threw his No. 40 OrangeCat Racing BMW M 1000 RR inside of Petersen going into turn 12 with the two making contact.
Photo: Brian J. Nelson
“Yeah, we definitely got some contact going,” said Kelly,” and it was a.. it's sometimes a little bit scary, right? Because it's such a fast corner, last lap. I mean, yeah, we all want to win, but you also don't want to throw down yourself, nor your competitors, so it was a little bit on the limit, but went for it, and he held his line, and we rubbed, so it was nice for us to both get into the last corner, okay. But at the end of the day, obviously one side of me is really happy with another podium, another side of me is not so happy to lose the win in the last lap.”
After beating Kelly to the finish line by .067-seconds, Petersen had no issue with the hard racing for the win.
“I feel like most of us guys up at the front that are battling for wins and stuff, we have a bunch of respect for each other,” said the 31-year-old rider from Johannesburg, South Africa. “Obviously, we're going to ride hard like you just saw on the last lap, but that's racing, it's perfectly fine. I expect that from my competitors, people behind me for a win, and it's just nice knowing that nothing crazy, nothing stupid is going to be done. It definitely gives us a sense of confidence to be able to battle like that with each other, and it's sweet, it's good for everybody, it's good for us, it's good for the fans, and hopefully we can just keep racing like this.”
Photo” Brian J. Nelson
It was Petersen’s sixth career MotoAmerica Superbike win, and his first with his father, Robbie, as crew chief.
“Yeah, I mean, it is tough separating that relationship with my dad, but, honestly, it's been perfect,” Petersen said. “He knows what I like, what I don't, he understands my language. Honestly, it's been pretty easy, kind of going over data and setting the motorcycle up. We know that the bike's always been capable of winning races, so now it's just down to me figuring out what the bike likes, what it doesn't, and kind of just refining my riding style a little bit. But this weekend's the first time that the bike’s actually felt like mine. Every time I get on it, I know what to expect from the bike, and it's made a massive difference.
“But we're just so stoked to be up here,” Petersen continued, “to stand up on the top step of the podium. It's pretty special. Super fun race. I had to come from 15th on the grid before a red flag, so made life hard for myself. What a fun last lap with SDK. That's why we do that. That's why we love this sport, for moments like that.”
Bobby Fong, riding the No. 50 Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing Yamaha YZF-R1, was happy to finish third, just .032 seconds behind Kelly, on a track not many thought was suited to the Yamahas.
“Honestly, there's no really such thing as Yamaha track anymore, BMW, everybody's pretty good everywhere,” said Fong. “These teams are so good, you know, all the talent’s there. This place has always been pretty good to me. We've always just kind of rolled around this place pretty good, and I'm happy to get a Yamaha up here for sure.”
Photo: Brian J. Nelson
In MotoAmerica Supersport, it was another South African rider, championship leader Darryn Binder, who took his third win of the season in Race 1 Saturday. The rider of the No. 53 Celtic/Economy Lube + Tire/Warhorse Ducati Panigale V2 has now scored a win at each of the three tracks the series has raced at so far this season, his first on the circuit.
“Honestly, I think this is by far my favorite so far,” commented Binder. “Definitely suits my riding style. I love hard-braking corners. It's got a little bit of flowing stuff, so it makes for a good race, too, with straights and the draft and stuff. I kind of feel like I'm racing Moto3 again. So, yeah, it's good fun.
“It was a great race, I enjoyed it a lot, and looking forward to tomorrow,”
Championship runner-up Josh Herrin was second on the No. 2 Rahal Ducati Moto with Desnuda Organic Tequila Ducati Panigale V2 followed by teammate Kayla Yaakov’s No. 19 Rahal Ducati Moto with Droplight Ducati Panigale V2, her fourth podium of the season.
Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute. Follow him on X @DennisKrause500 or motorsportsminute.bluesky.social or motorsportsminute on Threads or MotorsportsMinute+ on Facebook.