Ella Dreher is coming back. The 16-year-old MP13 Racing/One Cure Racing rider will return to MotoAmerica Supersport competition next weekend at Circuit of The Americas, four months after suffering serious injuries in a racing incident at Round 3 at Barber Motorsports Park in May. The announcement came from team owner Melissa Paris and One Cure Racing’s David Pierce.
Ella Dreher’s Road Back From Barber
Ella, the younger half of the sibling pairing known as the Dynamic Dreher Duo, called the recovery process anything but easy. “There have been a lot of sweat and tears working to get back to racing,” Ella Dreher said, crediting Brian Heiser at 321 Performance PT for pushing her through rehab both physically and mentally.
She’ll be back aboard her #10 MP13 Racing/One Cure Racing MV Agusta F3 RR, rejoining a team that’s had to piece together its lineup on the fly all season.
Joseph LiMandri Jr. stepped in for Ella at Ridge back in June, and he’ll continue splitting fill-in duty at COTA, racing the #641 MV Agusta on behalf of Ella’s brother and teammate Avery Dreher, who was injured separately at Ridge Motorsports Park that same month and is still working his way back to fitness.
Ella Dreher’s Comeback Weekend Schedule
Ella Dreher and LiMandri hit the track together Friday, September 11, starting with Supersport Practice 1 at 10:15 AM CT, followed by Qualifying 1 at 2:10 PM CT. Qualifying 2 runs Saturday morning at 10:15 AM CT, with Race 1 going green that afternoon at 1:10 PM CT. Race 2 closes the weekend Sunday at 1:15 PM CT.
LiMandri, who has been racing on Avery’s behalf for much of the season, said Ella’s return has been its own source of motivation. “Her amazing work ethic and determination have been an inspiration,” he said, adding that he’s hoping to close out the final two rounds of the season, COTA and New Jersey, on a high note.
Team owner Paris didn’t hide how difficult the season has been. “It’s been a pretty wild ride this season with bad luck,” she said, calling Ella’s determination through the recovery process nothing short of inspiring. Both Ella and Avery have already re-signed with MP13 Racing/One Cure Racing for the full 2027 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship, giving the team’s current patchwork lineup a clearer shape heading into next year.
The team races under the banner of One Cure, an initiative founded by David and Maxine Pierce tied to the Colorado State University Veterinary Clinic, working to advance cancer treatment research for companion animals in ways that also inform human treatment. It’s a fitting name for a season that’s tested this team’s own resilience as much as it has its riders’.
Four months after a scary incident at Barber, Ella Dreher gets to do the thing she said she missed most: just get back to racing. Whatever happens on track at COTA, the fact that she’s lining up on the grid at all is the real headline this weekend.
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