Former World Superbike racer Jake Gagne will not take part
in MotoAmerica EBC Brakes Superbike Race Two on Sunday after crashing his
Scheibe Racing BMW S1000RR at high speed in the pre-race warm-up ahead of Race
One Saturday at Circuit of The Americas.
Under normal conditions, Gagne might have walked away from
the fourth-gear lowside crash in Turn 10, but the former MotoAmerica Superstock
1000 Champion is still recovering from a badly broken left leg break he
suffered while off-road riding during the winter and Saturday’s
crash aggravated that still-healing injury.
“I think the wind must have got me,” Gagne exclusively told
Roadracingworld.com. “I was really just cruising at 80% leaning into that turn,
and that wind was blowing really hard. And I was thinking about it. I knew
which direction it was coming from and everything, but [the crash] came out of
nowhere. I started losing the front. I did what I could, but it just went.
“I was sliding trying to keep my foot in the air and keep it
out of the way, but I started tumbling through the gravel. My first thought in
the gravel was like, ‘Sh–!’ Because it didn’t feel good.
“I just had surgery four months ago. I’ve been nursing the
heck out of it. But they X-rayed me in the medical center, and everything looks
OK. It’s still fractured. The fractures have never healed, but I think the
hardware’s alright.”
Gagne said he didn’t think he had officially been declared
unfit to ride by MotoAmerica, but he said it didn’t matter.
“There’s no way I can even put any weight on the thing,”
said a dejected Gagne. “I feel like I’m back to square one.”
Gagne’s crash is even more painful considering he was one of
the fastest riders during Qualifying Practice on Friday and his BMW was tied
for having the fastest trap speed in the MotoAmerica Superbike field, and that’s all without Gagne pushing, he
said.
“It was going good,” said Gagne. “The bike was working good
here. It was fast. And still, I was being easy on it. I wasn’t pushing the
limits. We had plenty of room to go. I was nursing this [leg injury] still.
It pisses me off. That’s how it goes. It was my mistake. I’m just bummed for
these guys [his team members] because we had a good bike.”
Update: Jake Gagne contacted Roadracingworld.com after post time to say that after watching a video replay of his crash he now believes he hit water seeping up through cracks in the track.