Two years away from racing a Superbike certainly didn’t cause Mathew Scholtz to lose his race skills in MotoAmerica’s premier class. At Michelin Raceway, on the first race day of the 2026 Quad Lock Superbike Championship, and after winning the past two consecutive MotoAmerica Supersport Championships, Scholtz’s return to Superbike racing couldn’t have gone any better.
The Strack Racing Yamaha rider earned the Superbike pole position on what was a warm and sunny day in Georgia. Then, in the afternoon’s race one, Scholtz got the holeshot and was never headed. Following a red-flag restart, the South African got the holeshot once again and took the win while also setting the fastest lap of the race with a 1:24.406. His victory by a margin of 6.630 seconds didn’t just make a statement, it practically shouted it.
While Scholtz pulled away, the rider who led day one’s practice session and carries the number-one plate, Warhorse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law’s Cameron Beaubier, was doing his best Pac Man impression.
After an out-lap crash in Qualifying, Beaubier failed to register a lap time, putting him 21st on the grid for the weekend’s two races. In the premier class start, Beaubier advanced 13 positions, all the way up to eighth place, as he experienced a mechanical and pulled into the pits for what seemed a Saturday to forget.
While his Warhorse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law crew worked feverishly on his motorcycle, a red flag was thrown due to a crash that left a bike in a perilous position on the track.
Meanwhile, Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha’s Bobby Fong, who had crashed out of second place just prior to the red flag being flown, was deemed to be not actively competing, so he was unable to line up on the grid for the restart.
The second start mimicked the first, with Scholtz up front, Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha’s JD Beach in second, and Sean Dylan Kelly was third aboard his OrangeCat Racing BMW M 1000 RR.
The trailing duo held their positions through six laps before Beach began to experience a mechanical issue that halted his progress and forced him to the pits, moving Kelly up to second and Wrench Motorcycles’ Cameron Petersen to third.
Beaubier, meanwhile, clawed back positions and was in 11th place by the end of lap one. By lap nine, he was right on the back wheel of Petersen in third.
With three laps remaining, Beaubier overtook Petersen and continued his hunt toward Kelly. A mere .316 of a second separated the two at the line as Beaubier overcame adversity to notch his first podium of the year and secure 16 critical points the hard way.
2025 Stock 1000 Champion Andrew Lee, aboard a Real Steel Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP for 2026, finished first among the field of Superbike Cup riders.
Mathew Scholtz – Strack Racing Yamaha:
“I felt strong, got a really good start, kind of tried to modulate the pace slightly. I could see that I was opening up the gap, so I didn’t have to try to do anything crazy. Then, the last three or four laps, I kind of was just trying to get to my marks, do what I know I could, and fortunately the gap was just getting bigger and bigger. I know the pace is going to definitely pick up tomorrow. We’ve got to see what the weather is doing, but overall, just thank you to the Strack Racing team for giving me this opportunity to ride a Superbike again.”
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