Kensei Matsudaira (74) made a dramatic last-lap pass on Mahdi Salem (10) to win the first GP 190 race on Saturday. The two crashed together in race two, opening the way for Connor Raymond (44) to take the victory. Photo by Larry Lawrence.
Dramatic Action And Wicked Weather Highlight Saturday At The MotoAmerica Mission Mini Cup National Final
Leading Contenders Take Each Other Out In Wild GP 190 Battle At Road America’s Briggs & Strattan Motorplex
ELKHART LAKE, WI (August 9, 2025) – The first day of racing at the
second annual MotoAmerica Mission Mini Cup National Final took place on
Saturday at Road America’s Briggs & Strattan Motorplex. The day
featured intense racing and a stunning turn of events in the premier GP
190 class. Mother Nature also intervened, with a storm delaying action
for several hours before most of the second round ran in wet-to-drying
conditions.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day came in GP 190. Defending class
champ Mahdi Salem spent much of both races running up front, but it was
archrival Kensei Matsudaira who made a dramatic last-lap pass in race
one to score a mild-upset victory over Salem.
“I saw that he was taking a defensive line, so I formulated a plan on
the last lap,” said Matsudaira. “Then I just rode as hard as I could
after I took the lead. It was a great race with a lot of strategy and a
lot of good riding from everybody in the lead group.”
In the second GP 190 race, once again, it was Salem and Matsudaira
trading the lead for most of the way. But then late in the contest the
duo collided and both hit the deck. Salem was quicker to his feet and
recovered to finish third. Matsudaira, meanwhile, had trouble restarting
his Ohvale and had to settle for eighth.
The crash between the top two GP 190 contenders presented an opportunity
for Connor Raymond, who came home winner of the second race, just ahead
of Jase Dill. Raymond finished third in race one, so he and Salem are
locked in a tight battle atop the GP 190 standings with Sunday’s races
remaining.
Dill is one of the riders turning double duty, racing two classes. Dill
hopped off his GP 190 machine and went out to score the win in the first
GP 160 class in dominating fashion. He then passed Zaal Farhand late to
win race two.
Farhand, just a week removed from winning an Ohvale Supercup event in
China, shook off any jetlag he might be experiencing to sweep
Saturday’s GP 110 class.
In one of the other close races of the day it was Cooper Jazikoff
holding off Marcus Su by .107 of a second to earn victory in Stock 50
class race one. Cooper’s big brother Chase Jazikoff had a similar
style win in the Stock 110 class, beating Christian Berlowitz to the
flag by .329 of a second. Chase won the second wet Stock 110 race was
well over Mason McIntire. Cruise Texter dominated the second Stock 50
race, winning by over nine seconds.
Bodie Paige used an off weekend from MotoAmerica Talent Cup to keep
sharp by racing the Street GP class. Paige ran off and hid in both
races, winning by over 30 seconds in race one and by 13.387 seconds in
the wet race two.