Newly crowned 2023 MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Champion Jake Gagne threw down a lap time late in Free Practice One to jump to the top of the order Friday at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), in Austin, Texas. Riding his Fresh N Lean Progressive Insurance Yamaha YZF-R1, Gagne covered the 3.4-mile course in 2:10.579.
That time put Gagne just ahead of Josh Herrin, who led a lot of the session on his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R but ended up second-best with a time of 2:10.842.
Gagne, Herrin, and Gagne’s teammate JD Beach all tested at COTA in August.
PJ Jacobsen was third in the session with a 2:11.381 on his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000 RR.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki teammates Richie Escalante (2:11.942) and Brandon Paasch (2:12.461) were fourth and fifth, respectively.