Slicer’s Corner
Sweltering. Sizzling. Scorching. All great adjectives to describe the elements everyone encountered at the Circuit of The Americas! Fortunately, we were able to spend a majority of our time in the comforts of an air-conditioned suite, with plenty of food, cold beverages and be entertained by special guest speakers while watching all of the racing action on TV monitors. Not so for many. Like Texas and like the flag on the cover, COTA is BIG, and it takes an enormous amount of staffing and commitment to organize an event of such, whether Mother Nature cooperates or not. Prior to every event MotoAmerica’s staff, race teams, support personnel and facility managers prepare for the forecasted elements to be presented to all involved including our valued race fans. Mother Nature presented a unique situation, and I must commend to all involved for a phenomenal job well done! With several championships yet to be decided, the teams and racers needed to prepare and focus on achieving their year-long objectives. We saw many instances where things did not go as planned with either racers or equipment. such issues may have been caused by the extreme heat? Through all of this three classes crowned champions, 1st it was Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Xavi Forés the Spaniard who dominated the field all season long, taking another victory on his Ducati to win the 2023 Supersport Championship. Next up it was factory Indian rider Tyler O’Hara winning on Saturday and taking the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship. And finally on Sunday Hayden Gillim delivering two outstanding rides to capture the Steel Commander Stock 1000 championship on board his Disrupt Racing 4SR Suzuki. What a weekend. Hopefully we all survived to race, work or watch our favorite form of motorsports for another day. Thank you. I hope you enjoyed your experience, which is commemorated in this book for you.
Best Regards
Ron “Slicer” Heben
Enduring the heat! Even with the tarmac exceeding 120 degrees F., our VIP’s had a blast on the Medallia Superbike pre-grid!
Jake Gagne is one cool dude .He and his team take a moment for a candid shot.
Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW’sPJ Jacobsen was all business, as he was focused on the race to come. PJ finished on the box!
Wow, what a group of diehard fans for Richie Escalante. Richie is a crowd favorite.
Above: The Medallia Superbike podium, always a special place, especially for those who survived the elements, even for our brand ambassadors.
Far left: Three amigos? Cameron, Jake and JD are always up for some fan pictures.
Left: Josh Herrin and Jake Gagne had a great battle in race 2.
Josh Herrin’s Ducati was up to the task in race 2. He put in a stellar ride to win his 2nd Superbike race of the season and of course racing on those reliable Dunlop slicks!
Roadracing World’s John Ulrich and founder of the Roadracing World Action Fund, provided informative details regarding Airfence safety and how to get involved to help support rider safety.
You may notice that Harly-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle rider, Kyle Wyman, is also sponsored by Mission Foods! Kyle and our guests had some fun in the suite!
Bobby Fong is a busy guy, but still finds time to stop in and visit with our VIP’s. Bobby races in the Mission King Of The Baggers and Medallia Superbike classes and between those he reps for Dainese!
Two popular people in the paddock with famous names are Megan Ryan (Öhlins Suspension) and Tony Romo (Dunlop Tires). Both Megan and Tony provided technical information regarding the products that serve the paddock.
Super MotoAmerica announcer Greg White, always brings an interesting discussion to the VIP suite. Greg (a former racer / so he says) has a vast knowledge of road racing. This time Greg even signed a couple Dunlop hats for our guests!
Down but not out, Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Cameron Petersen has been a welcome guest in our VIP suite, since he had his surgery. Cameron will soon be healed up and back for the start of the 2024 season.
The Mission King Of The Baggers have been putting on a show this season. At COTA it was all Harleys, taking wins in both Saturday’s and Sunday’s races!
Saturday’s Mission King Of The Baggers winner Kyle Wyman enjoys the spoils of victory while podium fi nishers Hayden Gillim and James Rispoli all gather after the press conference for a quick picture.
What a couple... Kyle and Hannah are a match made in heaven!
A lot of metal! Mission Super Hooligan National Champion Tyler O’Hara and his teammate Jeremy McWilliams finished 1-2 on their Indian Motorcycle/Progressive/Mission Foods machines.
In racing action throughout the season, Tyler and Jeremy would always be up front upfront with some crazy battles!
Our Sunday morning VIP’s got to check out MotoAmerica’s Timing and Scoring room along with race control. Totally unexpected!
This new drone feature has been a great hit. Just click the box below and Voila! you will get a bird’s eye view of the Circuit Of The Americas!
