The First-Ever Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul Is In The Books With Two Thrilling Races In The Lone Star State.
Just when it seemed as though Warhorse Ducati/American Racing’s Alessandro Di Mario was going to dominate the all-new Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul Championship after a crushing victory in Saturday morning’s race one, a 14-year-old Australian by the name of Bodie Paige put the skids on that with an equally impressive win in race two.
And the 2025 Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul is off and running, with lots of promise with youngsters battling throughout the field in both races from start to finish.
Di Mario stormed to victory in race one, winning by over nine seconds after leading from start to finish in the eight-lap race. In race two, however, the 16-year-old botched the start and didn’t get to fourth place until the pack hit the back straight for the first time. Di Mario started to move forward and slipped into second place with a handful of laps remaining, but he couldn’t make a dent in Paige’s advantage.
At the finish line, it was CTR/D&D Cycles-backed Paige by 1.3 seconds over Di Mario, with the two leaving Texas and heading to round two at Barber Motorsports Park next weekend tied at the top of the championship point standings with 45 points apiece.
Third place in both races went to a second 14-year-old Australian in the form of Estenson Racing’s Sam Drane.
Race One – Di Mario Domination
Di Mario didn’t nail the holeshot in race one, but he led by the time they exited from the first corner. From there, he never put a wheel wrong in storming to a 9.442-second win.
With Di Mario disappearing into the distance, it was Paige emerging from the pack and racing to a rather lonely second place with almost 5.5 seconds over third place.
That spot ultimately fell to Paige’s fellow Australian Drane, who was just .169 of a second ahead of Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Hank Vossberg.
Drane and Vossberg ended up pulling a gap to what was once a six-rider battle for third, with Jones Honda’s Julian Correa besting San Marcos Iron Doors 316 Rossi Motorsports’ Rossi Garcia by a scant .200 of a second. MP13 Racing’s Ella Dreher crossed the line in seventh, just .202 of a second behind Garcia.
Envy Powered By Warhorse’s Derek Sanchez, Chase Black Racing’s Chase Black, and Ice Barn Racing’s Solly Mervis rounded out the top 10.
Race Two – Paige Flips The Order
Paige led from start to finish in race two on Saturday afternoon, ultimately beating Di Mario by 1.3 seconds to win his first career MotoAmerica race. Judging by his performance and the ability to hold off a charging Di Mario, it won’t be Paige’s last MotoAmerica victory.
Di Mario missed a little bit on setup for race two and said he had front-end chatter that forced him to run wide in several spots on the track. The defending MotoAmerica SC-Project Twins Cup Champion tried but couldn’t match Paige. Next week at Barber, Di Mario will be pulling double duty with both Talent Cup and Twins Cup on his plate.
While Drane had a battle on his hands in race one with Vossberg, the Estenson Racing rider was mostly alone in race two until Di Mario showed up. Once Di Mario made his pass, Drane had a lonely race and finished almost two seconds ahead of Jones Honda’s Julian Correa, who improved one spot from his fifth place in race one.
MP13 Racing’s Dreher showed her mettle in race two, finishing fifth after improving from her seventh-place finish in race one.
Sanchez also improved in race two, moving from eighth to sixth.
Three-time AFT Singles Champion Kody Kopp bounced back from his crash in race one to finish seventh in what was just his first day of road racing. Kopp was in a heated battle throughout, with just .266 of a second covering Sanchez in sixth to Garcia in ninth. King, meanwhile, was also in that pack and finished eighth.
Black rounded out the top 10, dropping a spot from his race-one ninth.
Vossberg, who was a fighting fourth in race one, was knocked out of the battle by a mechanical failure.
The Parts Unlimited Talent Cup By Motul has just a few days off before the series resumes with the opening round of the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship at Barber Motorsports Park, April 4-6.
Talent Cup Race One
- Alessandro Di Mario
- Bodie Paige
- Sam Drane
- Hank Vossberg
- Julian Correa
- Rossi Garcia
- Ella Dreher
- Derek Sanchez
- Chase Black
- Solly Mervis
Talent Cup Race Two
- Bodie Paige
- Alessandro Di Mario
- Sam Drane
- Julian Correa
- Ella Dreher
- Derek Sanchez
- Kody Kopp
- Carson King
- Rossi Garcia
- Chase Black
Quotes…
Alessandro Di Mario – First/Second
“They went a lot faster. The pace was insane that second race. We made some bike changes, and apparently it wasn’t really too good. Every time I would lean the bike over and then get on the gas, it was kind of chattering a lot. So, I didn’t really have much confidence. I couldn’t lean it a lot. But the pace was also higher, too. So that made the issue even bigger. Obviously, I got a really bad start. I’ve got to learn how to start these things better. I was fifth or sixth, I think, at turn one. I had to make my way up. So, I got to about third place and then at that point, I just tried to control my pace and finish the race and get as many points as possible. I could tell the pace was a lot higher, so I knew it was going to be hard. But I just wanted to get up to the front as quick as possible. I lost three or four seconds just in the pack the first couple laps. So, it made it a lot harder. I feel like if I had gotten a good start I could have been up there battling. But we just have to work on that.”
Bodie Paige – Second/First
“We had it planned earlier in the year, and we were all set. We just had to pay off the bike, but we came up late on that. We pulled the pin on it for this year, and we were maybe going to do it next year. But we got a ride from Wayne Rainey, and we said ‘yeah.’ It was on the way home from dirt track. So, it was late. We got all the stuff that we needed for the test, but it wasn’t quite everything we needed. So, we just focused on bike setup at the test and just trying to get me comfortable with it, then focus on getting all the stuff for this round. It’s been a good weekend for the start of the championship, so hopefully we can keep going.”
Sam Drane – Third/Third
“I did a lot of different riding (from race one to race two). I tried to lean off it more. It worked out better. I just had some struggles with the front end in race two that I dropped off a bit and slowed the pace down. Race one, we just didn’t really have the pace for the two in front of me. They were both good races, and it set me up nicely for the championship.
“From about December last year. Tim (Estenson, the team owner) really decided he wanted to do it and got all the stuff for it, and that’s about where we started. Yeah, we’re all in it together now because Tommy (his brother) is racing flat track and I’ll be doing that too this year. They built a house (in Kentucky) and we’re just going to be living there for most of the year now.”
