PAIGE AND CHAPIN LEAD THE WAY FOR M4 ECSTAR SUZUKI AT MID-OHIO

Brea, CA, (August 3, 2026) — With their young chargers leading the way, Suzuki Motor USA and Team Hammer reeled in a 1-2 finish and another double podium as the 2026 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship continued at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.

Race Highlights:

M4 ECSTAR Suzuki

Twins Cup

Bodie Paige was rewarded for his bravery with a Saturday race win.
Matthew Chapin racked up a pair of close runner-up finishes.

Superbike

Brandon Paasch picked his way up to seventh on Sunday.
Richie Escalante qualified fourth but crashed out of podium contention.

Supersport
- Tyler Scott had a promising weekend go south after getting taken out in Race 1.

Bodie Paige led an M4 ECSTAR Suzuki 1-2 finish with a commanding Twins Cup victory at Mid-Ohio.

M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Twins Cup duo of Bodie Paige and Matthew Chapin were back in action aboard their Suzuki GSX-8R racebikes following a summer break in the schedule for the Twins Cup class and immediately reasserted themselves at the front.

Fortune once again favored the bold, as young Australian Paige decided to push the issue early in Saturday’s race while the rest of the field tiptoed around in light rain. Paige stormed into the lead at the end of the first lap and opened up nearly nine seconds of padding at one point. While teammate Chapin led a hungry pack in closing the gap, Paige held them off to secure the victory. He’d back that up with a fighting third on Sunday.

After claiming his win, Paige said, “The first few laps I knew that it was going to be a little slick. It was just going to come down to who had the most confidence. I went on the out lap, and I saw everyone was a little bit timid and I felt pretty good. The plan from the start was to get a good start and try to get out front, just be smooth and tick my laps off… It’s the first time Matt and I have been one and two in a race, so that’s pretty sick. A good weekend for M4 ECSTAR Suzuki.”

Matthew Chapin battled at the front in both Twins Cup races, earning back-to-back runner-up finishes.

Chapin put in another huge effort on Sunday, going back and forth at the front in an attempt to secure the team a second win on the weekend. It wasn’t to be, however, as he came up just 0.250 seconds short a day after missing out on victory by just over a half second. Still, Chapin was upbeat about his twin runner-up performance on the GSX-8R.

“I’m stoked on that race,” he said on Sunday. “We were pushing each other the whole time. We did some ‘29s, and I didn’t know I had that in me, but I guess I did. That was probably the most fun race I’ve had all season even though I didn’t come out on top. Of course, I want to beat everybody – I want to win every weekend. That’s the goal, and that’s what we’ll look to do at the next one, and we’ll see how it pans out. I want to give a huge thanks to my M4 ECSTAR Suzuki team and everybody here supporting me.”

Brandon Paasch continued his progress aboard the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000R with a seventh-place finish at Mid-Ohio.

M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Superbike pilot Brandon Paasch steadily improved throughout the weekend. After qualifying 12th, he picked up a position on Saturday to finish 11th aboard his GSX-R1000R. Sunday was considerably better still, as he was credited with seventh position while in the midst of a forward climb when the race was red flagged and ultimately called complete.

“We didn’t have the outright pace to run up front but we stayed consistently improving,” Paasch said. “We made progress with setup this round, especially the electronics, and I think it was a big step. On Sunday, we were able to stay in sight of the front, but it was a little frustrating knowing we couldn’t do much about it to close the gap right now. We’re not that far off. We know exactly what is next, and that is getting the chassis dialed for me so we can start taking off the couple of tenths we need to close the gap.”

Richie Escalante showcased front-running pace aboard the Mission M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000R before a Sunday crash ended his podium bid.

Superbike teammate Richie Escalante flashed podium potential but was unable to capitalize. The Mexican qualified in fourth position before finishing Saturday’s race eighth. Sunday’s rematch was trending more in his favor, as he ran third in the early going and remained firmly in the battle for the box before suffering a low-side crash that took him out of the contest.

Escalante said, “We finished Mid-Ohio, and it was a good weekend in many ways. The results were not what we wanted, but we had a good practice and qualifying. Our setup on the bike felt really competitive, and we were able to earn fast lap times. The top ten is very tight, and we were able to qualify fourth. On Sunday, we decided to go with the harder front tire at the last minute. We had used the other tire all weekend, so that may have been a factor in the crash. We have to keep working and translate the speed into podium results again.”

Tyler Scott fought near the front before contact and mechanical issues denied him the results his pace deserved.

M4 ECSTAR Suzuki Supersport ace Tyler Scott suffered through a second consecutive weekend in which his strong pace aboard the next-generation GSX-R750 went unrewarded in terms of race results. Scott worked his way up to fourth on Saturday but crashed after being contacted from behind. He was forced to retire despite riding his heavily damaged machine back to the pits. Sunday proved another frustrating affair. He ran as high as fifth early but tumbled down the order to finish an uncharacteristic 12th due to a mechanical issue.

Scott will now look to return to his more typical form and add to the tally of six podiums he’s already reeled in this season. He said, “I thought we had a really good race pace on Saturday. I did not get a good start, but I had made up two spots and was going forward when I got taken out in a crash. It tore up the bike and made for a lot of work for the team. For Sunday, I felt pretty good again, but we had a power delivery issue and that hindered our performance.”

The MotoAmerica season will resume in less than two weeks at Virginia International Raceway from August 14-16 in Alton, Virginia.For more Road racing news please visit suzukicycles.com/racing/road-racing.

About Team Hammer

The 2026 season marks Team Hammer's 46th consecutive year of operating as a professional road racing team. Racebikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 138 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races, have finished on AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National podiums 407 times and have won 11 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National Championships, as well as two FIM South American Championships (in Superbike and Supersport). The team has also won 137 endurance races overall (including seven 24-hour races) and 13 Overall WERA National Endurance Championships with Suzuki motorcycles, and holds the U.S. record for mileage covered in a 24-hour race. The team also competed in the televised 1990s Formula USA National Championship, famously running "Methanol Monster" GSX-R1100 Superbikes fueled by methanol, and won four F-USA Championships.

About Suzuki

Suzuki Motor USA, LLC (SMO) distributes Motorcycles, ATVs, Scooters, Accessories, and ECSTAR Oils & Chemicals via an extensive dealer network throughout 49 states. Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), based in Hamamatsu, Japan, is a diversified worldwide manufacturer of Motorcycles, ATVs, Scooters, Automobiles, Outboard Motors, and related products. Founded in 1909 and incorporated in 1920, SMC has business relations with 201 countries/regions. For more information, visit www.suzuki.com.