KurveyGirl.com brings you the results of this weekend’s events.
Mathew Scholtz won MotoAmerica Supersport Race Two Sunday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, in Lexington, Ohio. Scholtz put on a big push late in the race, made one gutsy move in the closing laps, and held on to win the race on his Dunlop-equipped Strack Racing Yamaha YZF-R6. It was Scholtz’s seventh race win of the season, allowing him to increase his lead in the Championship point standings.
Tyler Scott battled for the lead throughout the race but had to settle for a very close runner-up finish on his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R750.
Jake Lewis brought his Altus Motorsports Suzuki home in third place.
Scholtz’s primary Championship challenger PJ Jacobsen led most of the race on his Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL Panigale V2, but Jacobsen encountered suspected issues with his soft-compound front tire late in the race and quickly slipped backward to a fourth-place finish.
EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing Suzuki’s Maxi Gerardo rounded out the top five finishers.
More, from a press release issued by Rahal Ducati Moto:
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE RACE 2
SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 2024 | WARM-UP & RACE 2
The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course skies threatened rainfall throughout the day, however, held off with crystal clear skies for the duration of Race 2.
Similarly to Race 1, a competitor’s engine expired on Lap 2, leaking oil onto the track surface. A red flag was waved, and the riders had to return to their original starting positions for a condensed 12-lap race. Unfortunately, Alexander, who had fought his way through the pack to 6th, was forced to restart at 15th. His Ducati’s mechanical issues persisted after the restart, ending his time on track early. The crew will have to continue to diagnose the bike’s issues before the next rounds of competition at Circuit of The Americas.
PJ Jacobsen’s momentum shifted after suffering tire degradation, pushing him back to fourth position in the last few laps after leading a majority of the race. Four rounds remain for Jacobsen and the XPEL team to close the gap to the championship leader, Mathew Scholtz, who is currently 25 points ahead.
With an unfavorable ending to the team’s visit to their home track, the crew packs the truck to head back to home base in Zionsville, Indiana, before Rounds 15 and 16 of Supersport competition in Austin, Texas, at Circuit of The Americas on September 13- 15.
PJ JACOBSEN
No. 15 XPEL DUCATI PANIGALE V2
STARTED: 1st
FINISHED: 4th
CHAMPIONSHIP: 2nd (279 pts)
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “I honestly feel like I could’ve won that race. I guess we made the wrong tire choice, but it’s strange since we tested with that tire on Thursday, and put in a lot of good laps with it. We had no problems before. The heat was similar on the Thursday test, and it was only a 12-lap race, so I’m not sure what happened. With two laps to go, the tire dropped terribly on the right hand side. It was completely shredded and I could barely ride. Risking crashing to hold on to my position would not have been smart.”
KAYLA YAAKOV
No. 19 XPEL DUCATI PANIGALE V2
STARTED: 7th
FINISHED: 10th
CHAMPIONSHIP: 6th (120 pts)
WHAT SHE’S SAYING: “Today wasn’t the best day. Going into the race I felt very confident and excited to have another go at it. I felt like my pace was there to be in the top six. I was getting great starts, but unfortunately some things happened during the race that caused me to drop back a little bit. I tried to claw my way back up to eighth position, fighting for sixth, but with about four laps remaining, the front tire was completely done and the focus was trying to get the bike back safe and not crash out of the race. It’s really unfortunate, but i’m confident we can bounce back with the last two rounds of the season, and we can put these bikes back where we know they can be. Overall, I had a good time here at Mid-Ohio. Hopefully next year we have more luck. It was great to announce that all three of us will be back for 2025.”
COREY ALEXANDER
No. 23 ROLLER DIE + FORMING DUCATI PANIGALE V2
STARTED: 15th
FINISHED: DNF
CHAMPIONSHIP: 9th (111 pts)
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “Super bummed for my guys on the Rahal Ducati Moto team with Roller Die + Forming. It was just one of those weekends, but that’s how it goes in racing sometimes. We had the bike, and everyone on the team worked so hard, but we just couldn’t get it done. We’re going to have to figure out what the issue was somehow. Nothing the guys did seemed to make a difference. Thank you to the entire team for working so hard the whole weekend – I know it was a lot of hard work on their part. Nobody gave up, but it just didn’t work out.”
BEN SPIES
TEAM PRINCIPAL
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “It was a bit of a frustrating day, but that’s how it is in racing sometimes. PJ rode really well, but the front tire blistered and came apart, and there was nothing he could do. Kayla had a great start. We’re not sure what happened when she lost a few positions but she still rode a really strong race. The bike issue with Corey was frustrating, but it happens, unfortunately. We’ve had plenty of good races this season, and we will be back at COTA.”
