A competitive MotoAmerica weekend at Mid-Ohio puts Benjamin Smith on pole and Loris Baz in the fight for the win for Warhorse HSBK Ducati FLo4Law

Sunnyvale, Calif., August 2, 2026 — The 2026 Quad Lock MotoAmerica Superbike Championship produced a career-first Superbike pole position for Benajmin Smith and the Warhorse HSBK Ducati FLo4Law team during a tense final qualifying session.

Smith's season has been a bruising one, but the Pennsylvanian showed he belonged with America's best in race one at Mid-Ohio, leading four laps before fading to fourth place at the flag behind winner Sean Dylan Kelly.

Unfortunately for Smith, after a lightning start in race two that saw him grab the holeshot, he touched the still wet grass from overnight rain and was launched into a vicious highside crash on the entry to turn two, thankfully, without injury.

A red flag was pulled and Smith's promising weekend was over, but there was plenty of good to come out of it for the #78.

With Cameron Beaubier still out with injury, his place was again taken by Loris Baz. The French ace carded a fifth place in race one and was in the fight for the win in the second encounter, but a crash for PJ Jacobsen ensured a second red flag was shown and as per the MotoAmerica rules, the race was called and Baz was classified as finishing fourth, 1.7-seconds from winner Mathew Scholtz.

In the Supersport category, South African superstar Darryn Binder (Celtic/Economy Lube + Tire/Warhorse) took both race wins, the first by 0.050-seconds and the second by 0.039-seconds in two nail-biting encounters.

Binder's teammate, Wristin Grigg, failed to finish race one and finished 13th in race two.

The result means Binder now enjoys a 19-point gap over Josh Herrin in the title race with three rounds remaining.

2026 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship After Round Six
P1 – Sean Dylan Kelly 217
P2 – Mathew Scholtz 193
P3 – JD Beach 185
P4 – Bobby Fong 162
P5 – Cameron Petersen 129
P12 – Benjamin Smith (Ducati) 59
P13 – Cameron Beaubier (Ducati) 47
P14 – Loris Baz (Ducati) 45 

2026 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship After Round Seven
P1 – Darryn Binder (Ducati) 273
P2 – Josh Herrin 254
P3 – Kayla Yaakov 171
P4 – Tyler Scott 144
P5 – Josh Hayes 141
19 – Wristin Grigg (Ducati) 15

Benajmin Smith (Warhorse HSBK Ducati FLo4Law team – #78)

“Man, what a roller coaster of a weekend,” Smith said. “I want to keep this super positive because that's the weekend we had—it was a massive step for us to put it on pole position, lead laps in race one, and ultimately finish a solid fourth yesterday.

“Today didn't go the way that I wanted. I got the start and was leading into the first turn and just misjudged it, touched the grass and that was the end of it. I take full ownership for that. The team has done an unreal job of getting us to where we need to be with the bike and I think the evidence is clear we are getting there. Luckily, I'm coming away mostly unscathed.

“I've got a week or so to heal up and then it's on to VIR. I've always loved that place, so the plan is to come out swinging and keep making steps.”

Loris Baz (Warhorse HSBK Ducati FLo4Law team – #76)

“I'm not happy with the result we bought home, but I am really happy with the work we did this weekend,” Baz said. “I felt really good on the bike since Friday. We made a big step since Laguna Seca, and getting the race finishes means the guys on the team now have some good data to help move the bike forward.

“We had a bit of an odd strategy on the rear of the bike during qualifying—we were a bit overprotective in terms of saving tires, and it didn't pay off as I was eighth on the grid. But the first race was good. I made a decent start, lost a bit of time at the beginning but fought back to fifth by the finish.

“I felt much better on the bike this morning. We topped the morning warm up and then it was a dramatic second race with Ben unfortunately going down early. With the red flag coming out, it felt like everything was against us, but I was always coming back and, in the end, I was only half a second from the podium.

“It was frustrating to end on another red flag, but the pace was good and I'm thankful to all the guys in my team for all their hard work.”

Darryn Binder (Celtic/Economy Lube + Tire/Warhorse – 53)

"I feel really good,” Binder said after the second Supersport race. “This was one of the tracks I couldn't visit before the race weekend, so coming in, and seeing the forecast calling for mixed conditions, I was a little nervous. To come away with the double win is a fantastic result.

"Friday wasn't our best day—I qualified fourth—but yesterday we put together a proper charge chasing Josh, and I was able to make a good move to get the win.

"Today was a very different race. I'm not sure if the red flag had anything to do with it, stopping and restarting on the same tires, but the grip just wasn't the same. Josh would lead, then I'd get in front, and it felt like we were playing a bit of cat and mouse. I just kept my head down and started thinking about a plan for the final lap.

"When it came down to it, I knew I had to make him go the long way around. If he got by, we'd figure it out from there, but it's difficult to make that move stick around the outside here. It worked out in my favor, we added some more points to the championship, and I'm really excited for the next round."

The seventh round of the 2026 Quad Lock MotoAmerica Superbike Championship will see the crews head to the far northeast and Virginia International Raceway, one of the favored stops on the tour, over the August 14-16.