Wyman races to top-five finish at MotoAmerica Championship of Pittsburgh despite Lap 1 crash
Weir Everywhere Racing BMW rider maintains second place in Stock 1000 Class standings
WAMPUM, Pa. – Travis Wyman’s mental toughness was on full display during Sunday’s MotoAmerica Stock 1000 Class race at Pittsburgh International Race Complex.
The Weir Everywhere Racing BMW rider recovered from an early race crash to score a fourth-place finish at the MotoAmerica Championship of Pittsburgh. Wyman’s comeback performance allowed him to maintain his second place in the championship standings, as well as kept his championship hopes alive.
The team came into the weekend with a new, untested suspension package for its BMW S 1000 RR, and used the Saturday morning practice session to get the bike set up for Wyman. Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session saw Wyman capture sixth place on the starting grid. The overnight rain soaked the track for Sunday morning’s qualifying session, and Wyman was unable to move any further up the starting grid.
Wyman got a good start in the Sunday afternoon race but made contact with another rider at Turn 3 and crashed. The race was red flagged for a separate incident shortly after Wyman crashed, and he was able to ride the damaged BMW back to pit lane. The team worked feverishly to repair the bike and Wyman was able to take the restart from the back of the grid. Wyman quickly made his way up the running order, advancing from 11th to fifth in two laps. The race ended with a second red flag and Wyman was credited with his fourth top-five finish of the 2018 season.
The next round of the MotoAmerica Stock 1000 Class Championship takes place at New Jersey Motorsports Park, Sept. 7-9. The track has been a stalwart on the American professional motorcycle road racing calendar for over a decade. Hopefully Wyman will be able to use his considerable experience at the track to score his third win of the season.
Travis Wyman / #24
“It was a tough start to the weekend. We made a switch to a new suspension package and spent most of Saturday getting that dialed in for me. We used the Sunday morning qualifying session to perfect our bike’s setup. I felt pretty confident going into the race and got a good start. I went for a pass on the first lap and end up crashing hard. I thought my weekend was over, but the red flag came out and I got the bike going again and back to pit lane. They cleared me at the medical center to race again, and I had to get a new helmet and leathers because of how bad the crash was. I wasn’t sure what to expect on the restart, as I was still feeling the effects of the crash. I made my way through the field quickly but did not have time to catch up to the leading pack and had to settle for a fourth-place finish. Overall, we came back pretty strong this weekend and I am looking forward to the next round at New Jersey Motorsports Park.”
Steve Weir / Crew Chief
“We made a suspension package change for this weekend and were making a lot of changes to the bike early in the weekend. There are always some growing pains with such a big change, but we were able to find a good setup for today’s race. Travis got an okay start the first time but had a little mishap with another rider at Turn 3 and got taken out. Travis got the bike back to pit lane and the team worked hard to get the bike ready to take the restart. Travis was pretty beat up, but he manned up and put our BMW S 1000 RR inside the top five after starting from dead last. I am just so happy over how our entire team performed this weekend. We learned a lot about the new suspension and Travis seems to like it a lot. We will take what we learned here and look forward to being back at the front at the next round.”