From South Africa to South Jersey, Mathew Scholtz Wins His Second Consecutive National Road Racing Championship
Millville, NJ – September 11, 2017 – In less than two years, Mathew Scholtz has won national motorcycle road racing championships in two different countries that are located nearly halfway around the globe from each other. In 2016, Durban, South Africa-born Mathew won his home country’s SuperGP National Championship aboard a Yamaha YZF-R1. And, this past Sunday at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, New Jersey, USA, the “Durban Dynamo” wrapped up the 2017 MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Championship, once again aboard a Yamaha R1.
With one round and two more Superstock 1000 races left in the season, Mathew has already collected enough Championship points to make his lead insurmountable by any other competitor in the class. And he did it in style by clinching the title with a victory in Sunday’s Superstock 1000 Race 2 at NJMP.
“After the 2015 season back home (in South Africa), I nearly hung up my boots because it was just costing my family too much money (to race),” Scholtz said. “In 2016, we took one more final dig at it, and I won the South African SuperGP Championship on an R1. Then, I came over here. We ended up winning this MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Championship, and I couldn’t be happier. It’s like a dream come true for me. The Yamalube/Westby Racing team has had a real struggle the past few years, and I’m really happy to bring the championship home to them. They’re like a second family to me.”
Yamalube/Westby Racing was originally formed as a father-son racing team, with Tryg Westby as the team owner and his son Dane Westby as the rider. The team was very successful in the AMA’s middleweight road racing classes, and just as they were stepping up to race in MotoAmerica’s Superstock 1000 class in 2015, Dane lost his life when he was struck by a car while riding a motorcycle in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tryg decided to continue with the team as a tribute to Dane, and to honor his son’s legacy. Mathew’s Championship represents the completion of “unfinished business” that Dane began when he became a professional motorcycle road racer. And, with the 2017 MotoAmerica title now realized, Mathew and the team will move up to MotoAmerica’s premier Superbike class in 2018.
When asked which Championship means more to him–his 2016 South African SuperGP title or the MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 title that he won on Sunday, Mathew said. “Last year’s Super GP Championship was really special because it was my first national road racing title, and it was in my home country. But, MotoAmerica is a well-known racing series around the world, so this title also means a lot to me, especially now that I live in the U.S. (near Atlanta, Georgia, and close to the Yamalube/Westby Racing team’s race shop). America is my home now, and to win an American national professional road racing championship with Yamalube/Westby Racing, is very, very special.”
The Yamalube/Westby Racing team will now travel to Birmingham, Alabama, for the Championship of Alabama this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, which is the final round of the 2017 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship.
For more updates on Yamalube/Westby Racing, including news, photos, and videos, visit https://www.westbyracing.com
Also, visit “Westby Racing” on your favorite social media site.
More, from a press release issued by Dunlop:
Elias and Scholtz Win MotoAmerica Titles in New Jersey
Millville, New Jersey: Spaniard Toni Elias wasted no time making his mark on the MotoAmerica Superbike championship last year, and now he’s the 2017 title holder.
Elias locked up the championship in the first race of the weekend at the MotoAmerica Championship of New Jersey, amassing an insurmountable point lead to take the title. He followed that up with another win on Sunday, his tenth of the season. Apart from a crash that was not his fault, Elias never finished worse than second all season long.
For Elias it was a dream come true as he had come out of MotoGP retirement to race in America for the Superbike title. For the Yoshimura/Suzuki team, the win ended a streak of Yamaha Superbike championships that started in 2010.
“I’m so happy, for many reasons, first of all because Suzuki gave me this important deal last year,” said the 34-year-old Elias. “This year the new bike has been amazing. It is an amazing feeling for me (and) for all this group. I’m so happy and proud of these people. I decide to quit racing between five or six hundred days ago, and look at how the situation can change… I will continue doing my best. I will enjoy this moment, and congratulations to my rivals, Josh [Hayes], Roger [Hayden], and Cameron [Beaubier]. They have been so strong.”
South African Mathew Scholtz also took a race win in New Jersey on his Yamalube/Westby Racing R-1 to lock up the 2017 MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Championship in his first full season with the team.
Dunlop is the official tire of MotoAmerica, and all of the 1000cc and 600cc class teams race on slicks made in Dunlop’s Buffalo, New York manufacturing plant.
About Dunlop Motorcycle Tires
Dunlop is the largest supplier of original equipment and replacement motorcycle tires in the U.S.A. and the only manufacturer of motorcycle tires in North America. For more information, visit www.dunlopmotorcycletires.com.
Click here to see the Dunlop Made in the U.S.A. video:
More, from a press release issued by Kyle Wyman Racing:
Kyle Wyman scores first career Superbike podium in New Jersey for Yamaha Champions Riding School/Cambr/KWR!
MILLVILLE, N.J. (Sept. 12) — The KWR team triumphed this past weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park, where Kyle Wyman scored his first career Superbike podium finish. Wyman overcame a 6th place finish in race one and rode a brilliant race aboard his Yamaha Champions Riding School/Cambr/KWR Yamaha YZF-R1 to claim 2nd place overall in Sunday’s race two.
The weekend started with a high as Wyman put his YCRS steed at the top of the time sheets Friday morning in the first qualifying practice, more than a half a second adrift from the field.
“Things were just clicking right off the truck,” Wyman said. “The bike felt really good straight away and we just started grinding out the laps. The K-Tech suspension was working amazing and we were able to find a huge chunk of time at the end of the session on a new tire. By the end of the day we were third overall and only two tenths off provisional pole.”
Wyman headed into Superpole full of confidence. With a Dunlop Q-tire, he was able to lap the NJMP circuit in a personal best lap time of 1:20.826 to claim the 4th overall position on the starting grid.
That afternoon in race one, Wyman got off to a strong start early and ran in the 4th position, before finding himself in a scrap with fellow Superbike riders Josh Herrin and Jake Gagne. A mid-race drop in lap times by Wyman would cost him a few seconds over time, and he would have to settle for 6th overall on the day.
“In race one I had high hopes of staying right with the factory guys,” Wyman said. “I made a small mistake and broke too early on the second lap, and that let Josh [Herrin] and Jake [Gagne] by. I had pace on both of them the first half of the race but toward the end I was just losing the front end everywhere. I could barely ride the bike the last few laps.”
With higher hopes for race two, the YCRS/Cambr/KWR crew rallied for Sunday morning warm-up with some small changes to the front end of the bike, hoping to pick up grip in the latter stages of the 23-lap race. In the 10-minute session Wyman found the changes positive and the team would implement them for the 3:30pm scheduled race two.
Wyman got off to a great start in the last race of the weekend, finding himself in third through the first section, he then passed for second place and glued himself to the rear wheel of the factory rider of Roger Hayden. Wyman followed Hayden closely for 20 straight laps.
“After the first few corners when everyone was shuffling around, I found myself second and just grinding out laps behind Roger,” Wyman said. “I felt really comfortable sitting there, and could see the gap growing on my pit board. I was just flowing out there, implementing the techniques we teach at YCRS, putting in consistent laps. About lap 18 I started to see my gap closing behind me.”
That gap was closed by Toni Elias, newly crowned 2017 MotoAmerica Superbike Champion, who was charging through the field from his mishap on the first lap that gifted Wyman 2nd. Elias passed Wyman with three laps to go and charged after Roger. On the last lap Elias put a move on Roger that forced Roger into the grass and off the track. Wyman was handed back 2nd place in an instant and was able to bring home the YCRS/Cambr/KWR R1, only 1.946 seconds off of Toni.
“I was nervous seeing my gap closing, because I wanted to finish on the podium so bad,” Wyman said. “I thought maybe whoever was coming up behind me might be bringing company, and that would threaten my race for the podium result. Luckily we had nearly 10 seconds back to fourth place so we were safe in the end. For a moment I thought Toni and Roger both would be off the track on the last lap but Toni kept it on for the win.”
In addition to his first ever podium result in the Superbike class (the highest level of road racing in the United States), Wyman was also credited with the fastest lap of the race, at a 1:20.910 which was on lap two.
“Obviously I’m just super elated,” Wyman added. “It’s been a really long road to get here, racing the Harleys and 600’s, not really having much success on 600’s. I found the Yamaha R1 that I’ve fallen in love with now, and me and the team are working really well together. Today was my day, and now I know I can do it. I know we will push even harder from here to find our way to the top step of the podium at Barber Motorsports Park next weekend.”
Sign up for Yamaha Champions Riding School
The MotoAmerica series heads to Barber Motorsports Park this coming weekend, September 15-17, 2017. Stay tuned for news and updates as the season progresses.
For more information about YCRS, visit www.champschool.com