VOLUME 62 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 16, 2025 P131
2
BOBBY FONG'S
CHAMPIONSHIP
CAPITULATION
It was all looking so good.
Bobby Fong and the Attack
Performance Progressive Ya-
maha Racing YZF-R1 were in
perfect
harmony for much of
the 2025 season. Coming into
the final round in New Jersey,
all Fong had to do was keep it
upright and out of trouble, and
he'd be crowned MotoAmerica
Superbike champion for the
first time in his career.
He started well, winning
race one at a canter, which
gave him a 13-point lead with
two races remaining. Then it
all went wrong.
port directly from the Honda
Racing Corporation in Japan,
and the CBR1000RR-R SP got
quicker and quicker, Beach
coming within two points of the
Stock 1000 Championship win.
But more was to come as
Beach took third place in race
one at Mid-Ohio, the result
marking the first podium for the
Honda factory since way back
in 2009 when Neil Hodgson
took third at Daytona. Thus, a
16-year AMA/MotoAmerica
podium drought was ended.
Gillim decided to get in on
the podium action as well by
taking third in the final race of
the season at New Jersey.
racing paddocks in one form
or another for over 40 years,
Sean Dylan Kelly and Richie
Escalante gave boss, former
racer Chris Ulrich, a reason
to celebrate by taking second
and third in race two. It was
the team's best result in the
MotoAmerica era.
The result was the culmi-
nation of a season of steady
progress
as Kelly gradually
worked his way up to be a
permanent top-five contender
after a rough first few rounds,
and Escalante had a water-
shed year after his injury-
plagued 2024
season. With a
new bike on the way for 2026
and some of the series' top
riders jumping ship to new
machinery, next year could
yield yet more good times for
Suzuki's plucky AMA team.
3
JD BEACH
GRABS HONDA'S
FIRST PODIUM
IN 16 YEARS
Honda has struggled recently
in MotoAmerica. With limited
interest in the CBR1000RR
over the past decade, there
hasn't been much to celebrate.
That was until best friends
JD Beach and Hayden Gillim
teamed up in the Real Steel
Honda team. Over the season,
the team drew increasing sup-
JD Beach put Honda
back on the racing
map in North America
by taking third in
race one at Mid-
Ohio, Honda's first
AMA/MotoAmerica
Superbike podium in
16 years.
