Loris Baz topped MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike Qualifying One Friday afternoon at Ridge Motorsports Park, in Shelton, Washington. Riding his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R on Dunlop Sportmax Slick control tires, the Frenchman navigated the 2.5-mile course in 1:40.034 to claim provisional pole position.
Baz’s teammate Josh Herrin was second-best and only 0.163 second back with a 1:40.197.
Bobby Fong, the current Championship point leader, was third-fastest Friday afternoon with a time of 1:40.304 on his Wrench Motorcycles Yamaha YZF-R1.
Free Practice One leader Cameron Petersen was fourth in Q1 with a lap at 1:40.382.
Petersen’s teammate Jake Gagne was right behind him in fifth at 1:40.809.
Back from an injury suffered at Road America, Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW rider Cameron Beaubier finished the session in sixth with a 1:41.113 he did after suffering a small crash.
Xavi Fores’ 1:41.244 on his Vision Wheel Suzuki GSX-R1000R was good enough for seventh.
Sean Dylan Kelly was eighth with a time of 1:41.418 on his EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing BMW.
Real Steel Motorsports Honda rider Hayden Gillim finished ninth with a 1:41.611.
Beaubier’s teammate JD Beach rounded out the top 10 in the session with a lap at 1:42.309.
More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Baz Leads The Way On Opening Day At Ridge Motorsports Park
It’s A Ducati One-Two With Baz And Herrin On Top In Washington
SHELTON, WA (June 28, 2024) – Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Loris Baz and Josh Herrin had a perfect afternoon at Ridge Motorsports Park with the pair riding their Ducati Panigale V4 Rs to the top two spots on the front row provisionally heading into tomorrow morning’s Q2 session.
Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Loris Baz led the way on Friday by earning provisional pole position in Steel Commander Superbike qualifying at Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, Washington. Photo by Brian J. Nelson
The pair were just .063 of a second apart after the 40-minute Q1 session on a sunny Friday with both setting their best laps on their 12th go-around. Baz lapped at a best of 1:40.034 with Herrin turning in a 1:40.197.
MotoAmerica Steel Commander Superbike Championship points leader Bobby Fong ended up third quickest on his Wrench Motorcycles Yamaha YZF-R1 and just .270 of a second behind Baz.
Next came the two Attack Performance/Progressive/Yamaha Racing’s Cameron Petersen and Jake Gagne with those two the last two riders in the 1:40s.
Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier was sixth fastest in his return to action after undergoing surgery three weeks ago on his broken right heel. Beaubier’s session was shortened with a slow tip-over and he ended up just a tick over a second from Baz’s best lap.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Xavi Forés was seventh and the best Suzuki and just ahead of EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly and his BMW M 1000 RR.
Real Steel Motorsports’ Hayden Gillim and Tytlers Cycle Racing’s JD Beach rounded out the top 10 heading into tomorrow’s Q2 session.
Stock 1000 – Gillim Over Uribe
Real Steel Motorsports’ Hayden Gillim was the only rider to lap in the 1:41s with him and his Honda CBR1000RR-R SP breaking the lap record in the Stock class with his 1:41.180 on Friday, which was .870 of a second better than OrangeCat Racing’s Jayson Uribe.
Gillim has won three of the first four Stock 1000 races of the season with Uribe winning the fourth.
Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates, who earned his first podium finish of the season at the past round in Brainerd, Minnesota, ended the day third fastest with FLO4LAW Racing’s Benjamin Smith and OrangeCat Racing’s Travis Wyman completing the top five in Q1.
Supersport – Scholtz!
Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz broke the Supersport lap record on Friday afternoon at Ridge Motorsports Park on Friday en route to earning provisional pole position on his Yamaha YZF-R6.
Scholtz, who sits second in the Supersport series point standings coming into the Ridge Motorsports Park round, led championship points leader PJ Jacobsen and his Rahal Ducati Moto Panigale V2 by .450 of a second to earn provisional pole.
Altus Motorsports’ Jake Lewis ended opening day third and .493 of a second off Scholtz’s best lap.
Rahal Ducati Moto w/Code 3 Associates’ Corey Alexander ended the day fourth fastest and just ahead of his teammate Kayla Yaakov with three Rahal Ducatis in the top five on opening day.
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship – O’Hara Starts It Off
S&S Cycle/Indian Motorcycles’ Tyler O’Hara led the way in the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship class on Friday with the defending series champion earning provisional pole position.
O’Hara ran off track early in the session but bounced back to lap at 1:46.432 and top championship points leader Cory West and his Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson Pan America by just .017 of a second.
West’s teammate Jake Lewis ended the day third fastest with KWR/Harley-Davidson’s Hayden Schultz and Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Stefano Mesa rounding out the top five. Lewis was just .260 of a second behind O’Hara
O’Hara’s teammate Troy Herfoss, who sits second in the title chase, only did four laps before his Indian had a technical issue and only completed two laps on a track he’d never seen before. Herfoss ended the day 11th.
Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race – Who Else But Moore
Mikayla Moore did what she normally does on a Friday, on a Saturday and a Sunday. She went fast. The Upper Marlboro, Maryland, rider started off her weekend with provisional pole position and a new lap record on her Royal Enfield Continental GT 650.
Moore lapped at a best of 2:04.845, which was 4.455 faster than second-placed Aubrey Credaroli. Lauren Prince had her best effort to date with the third fastest lap of the day and less than a second off Credaroli’s best.
Kira Knebel and Emma Betters rounded out the top five.
More, from a press release issued by Ducati:
Ducati domination on day one at The Ridge for the 2024 Steel Commander MotoAmerica Superbike Championship
Sunnyvale, Calif., June 28, 2024 — Loris Baz and Josh Herrin painted The Ridge Motorsport Park red on the opening day of action for round five of the 2024 Steel Commander MotoAmerica Superbike Championship.
The Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati duo produced a dominant performance in Washington, Baz leading the charge with a 1:40.034 lap time of the 2.5-mile venue in Qualifying 1. Baz’s growing confidence was clear as the Frenchman delved into the Ducati Panigale V4 R’s electronics for his time attack, and after 18 laps across the day, he’s confident of grabbing a first-ever MotoAmerica victory this weekend.
Josh Herrin’s run of excellent form continued at The Ridge as he looks to further the Warhorse HSBK team’s podium streak. Herrin completed 17 laps across the day and finished with a best time of 1:40.197 for second overall.
All eyes will now be on the ultra-important Qualifying 2 session, which will start at 10:25 a.m. CDT on Saturday, June 29.
2024 The Ridge Superbike Qualifying 1 Results – Top 5
P1 – Loris Baz (Ducati) 1:40.034
P2 – Josh Herrin (Ducati) 1:40.197
P3 – Bobby Fong 1:40.304
P4 – Cameron Petersen 1:40.382
P5 – Jake Gagne 1:40.809
Loris Baz (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati–#76)
“It’s been a good day for sure,” Baz said. “FP1 was tough as I was still relearning the track. I had ridden here in 2021, but that was a long time ago, so I had to refamiliarize myself with the layout and get all the references correct because the corners are so blind here.
“This morning, I think we all made the same mistake of using the soft tire in the cold weather for FP1, but I was confident we could do the lap times. For qualifying, we made some electronic changes, and I did a lot of laps on the hard tire in case we needed to use that for the race. Then we put the softer tire in, and I felt great. The times came, and so did the confidence. I can ride more and more like I want, and this is a great feeling.”
Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati–#2)
“Obviously, I want to be the guy in first, but to see our team finish the day one-two like that was really cool,” Herrin said. “It’s been a long time since Ducati had a one-two in American Superbike like that. It’s got to be at least since the early 2000s, so to do that is huge for this team.
“I’m happy to see Loris stepping up the pace because now we are close enough in terms of speed that we can use each other’s data and information to help each other. So, I’m really happy and I think we’ve got something for the pack come race one and two.”
Qualifying 2 is set for 10:25 a.m. CDT on Saturday, June 29. Race one is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. CDT that same day, and race two is set for 3:10 p.m. on Sunday, June 30.
