P96
FEATURE
2021 MOTOAMERICA PREVIEW
Ecstar Suzuki). Making Supers-
port even more compelling this
season is the fact that wonder
kid Rocco Landers will step up
to race Supersport in 2021 after
dominating the MotoAmerica
Junior ranks and stepping up
to win the MotoAmerica Twins
Championship last year, as well,
racing with SportbikeTrackGear.
com/Roadracingworld.com Su-
zuki. It will be interesting to see
how Lander reacts when he's no
longer top dog in the class, at
least not coming into the season.
If the 16-year-old Landers man-
ages to find the speed to run with
the likes of Escalante and Kelly
this season, it could become the
most entertaining class in the
series.
Others to watch for in Super-
sport include South Africans
Dominic Doyle and Sam Lochoff.
Doyle was one of the only riders
who made Landers look human
in Junior Cup, so he could be
a factor on the Bartcon Racing
entry, especially as the season
progresses. Lochoff, also moves
up from Junior Cup to Supers-
port and he'll be on the powerful
M4 Ecstar squad, so he's on one
of the best seats in the champi-
onship. Xavier Zayat was expect-
ed to be a leading contender,
but his team pulled out at the last
minute. If he can put a program
together expect the "X-Man" to
be a contender.
Other riders who figure to mix
it up in the top 10, and possibly
even the top five, of the 2021 Su-
persport Championship are Altus
Motorsports Suzuki teammates
Kevin Olmedo and Jaret Nas-
saney, North East Cycle Outlet
Racing Yamaha's Benjamin Smith,
Pure Attitude Racing Yamaha's
Nate Minster, Cycle Gear Rac-
ing Yamaha's Nolan Lamkin, and
another Supersport rookie mak-
ing the leap from Junior Cup to
Supersport, Grant Motors Racing
Kawasaki's Liam Grant.
With defending series champ
Cam Petersen moving up to
Superbike, the way is clear for
other riders to claim the Stock
1000 title. Last year's runner-
up, Corey Alexander, who won
two Stock 1000 races last year,
seems to be odds-on favorite
to win the title. He'll be on the
speedy Honos HVMC Racing
ZX-10RR. Jake Lewis, a one-
time factory Superbike rider with
Yoshimura Suzuki, found himself
without a ride last season and
MotoAmerica Junior
champ Rocco Landers will
step up to the Supersport
class in '21. It will be
interesting to see how the
16-year-old will stack up to
Escalante and Kelly.
