Mathew Scholtz Does The Texas Two-Step With Two Podium Finishes At The Circuit Of The Americas
Austin, TX – April 25, 2017 – Yamalube/Westby Racing rider Mathew Scholtz had never stepped foot on Texas soil prior to last month when he and the team participated in the Official Preseason Test at the Circuit of The Americas. And, this past weekend at COTA, with the 2017 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship under way, Mathew, who is from Durban, South Africa, did the Texas Two-Step with two solid second places finishes in Saturday’s and Sunday’s Superstock 1000 Race 1 and Race 2. “Not bad for a greenhorn,” as they say in the Lonestar State.
Actually, “not bad” is an understatement because Mathew finished fourth overall on Saturday in the combined Superbike/Superstock 1000 results, and he backed that up with a solid seventh-place overall finish on Sunday.
“In Saturday’s race, I didn’t get as good of a start as I wanted,” Mathew said. “But I managed to get up to about sixth or seventh spot, and among the Superbikes. There were quite a few incidents with the front guys crashing out, so I was actually in good position to avoid all that. I got behind Bobby Fong, who was going really well, and I was about 1.5 seconds back of him. Chasing Bobby helped me gap all the other Superstock 1000 riders, and I rode the rest of the race mostly by myself and brought it home in second, which we were happy with for my very first race at COTA.
“After Race 1, we made a few changes to the bike overnight, and I was doing laps that were about a second faster than anyone else in Superstock 1000. In Race 2, again, not the best start for me, butvI got past Kyle (Wyman) and Josh (Hayes), and Bobby was going good again in front of me. From Lap 5 to 10, I was struggling a little bit, and I almost lost the front a couple of times, so I kind of had to back it off a little bit. Herrin passed me, and since he’s on one of the Superbikes, I tagged onto him for three or four laps, which helped get me even closer to the front. So, I finished in second place again, which we were really happy with. Coming here to race for the first time, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to battle at the front. Our preseason test here was a little bit difficult, but obviously, I’m really, really happy with two second-place finishes. Also, we figured out where we need to work on the bike to make it a little more comfortable and suit my riding style better. I’m feeling really confident heading to Road Atlanta, especially since that’s a home race for a lot of our guys.”
The Yamalube/Westby Racing team will now travel to Road Atlanta for Round Two of the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship, which is this weekend.
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 Meen Motorsports:
HelmetSounds.Com/ Western Service/ Meen Yamaha perseveres through COTA
(Austin, TX) – The HelmetSounds.Com/ Western Service/ Meen Yamaha persevered through a challenging weekend at Circuit Of The Americas, for the opening round of the 2017 MotoAmerica season.
With minimal practice and qualifying time, Josh Herrin started 13th on the combined Superbike and Superstock grid. For race one, Herrin had a great start, working his way into the tail end of the lead group. Herrin ran into some issues with brake fade and was unable to hit all his marks, resulting in a progressive loss of lap time, eventually settling into a seventh place finish. For Superbike race two, Herrin once again worked his way towards the lead group. With the issues from race one resolved, Herrin was able to do consistent lap times and finished in a solid sixth place.
Currently developing last years Superstock electronics to adapt with the new Superbike’s horsepower, the Meen Team is still streamlining its Meen Machine to work seamlessly with Herrin. Overall the Meen R1 posted some of the fastest trap speeds of the weekend and the Meen Team is leaving COTA making some huge improvements to their Superbike program as they head into Road Atlanta this coming weekend.
“Taking everything into consideration, I am pleased with the end results of this weekend. The team expected to have some growing pains our first year into Superbike. AT COTA, the bike never worked properly until race 2, so in essence it is as if we just finished our first true test on the bike. I am grateful to have a sharp group of guys working on this project and it is only a matter of time before you see us more and more towards the front,” comments Ameen Sajjadi, team owner.
The Meen Team’s Superstock 1000 rookie, Bryce Prince qualified 16th on the grid. Learning to adapt his style to the new R1, Prince continues to make progress each time he throws his leg over the Meen Machine. Prince finished his first ever MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 weekend in sixth place for race one and seventh for race two, in his respective class.
“I am very happy to have finished my first weekend with Meen Motorsports on the Yamaha R1. It definitely was a tough weekend, taking longer than I’d like to get a good feel with the front of the bike. Yet, it was great that we were able to improve every day and came home with some good points in Superstock 1000. I’m confident with the direction we are going and look forward to racing again in Atlanta in a weeks time. I cannot thank my crew and team enough for all of their hard work!” comments Prince.
Caroline Olsen made her Meen Motorsports debut this past weekend, wild-carding in the Supersport 600 class at COTA. Finishing 10th in the Saturday’s Supersport race, Olsen will now return to the Superstock 600 class in Atlanta at Round 2 of the MotoAmerica series this coming weekend.
“The weekend started a bit rough in Thursday’s practice. I was quite a bit off the pace I expected to run, but with great help from my team, Sean, Gary, Jason Pridmore and Mike from Öhlins we managed to get me more comfortable on the bike and pick up the pace for Friday’s qualifier. I’m very happy with a top 10 finish in Saturday’s race and I can hardly wait to ride at Road Atlanta this upcoming weekend,” notes Olsen.
Meen Motorsports would like to thank their following sponsors, HelmetSounds.Com, Western Service Contract fueled by McGraw Powersports, Quicksilver Products, RiderzLaw, Attack Performance, Moto-D, TechSpec, Core Moto, Galespeed, ZeroGravity, Speedcell, FT ECU, EK Chains, Vortex.
For more about the team please visit, www.meenmotorsports.com. Become a Facebook Fan, search Meen Motorsports. Follow the team on Instagram @meenmoto for live team updates.
Catch the Meen Team next at round two of the 2017 MotoAmerica Series in Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, this weekend, April 28-30.
More, from a press release issued by Broaster Genuine Chicken Honda:
Trial by fire in Austin
Austin, TX – The 2017 MotoAmerica season officially kicked off with flare and all the right pomp and circumstance. In what is becoming a tradition, the season opener was held in conjunction with the third round of the MotoGP championship. While that’s cool and all, we care about our business.. and this season, our business is all about developing a new race bike. This first round would signify some very important key milestones for the new project that is the Genuine Broaster Chicken / Honda (GBCH) team.
The biggest milestone is obviously the addition of the newest team member, the 2017 Honda CBR1000rr SP2. With limited testing time and even more limited parts, the 32Crew had their work cut for them. The team approached this task with the same methodical approach that has won them two championships. The idea was to take every opportunity to zero in on race settings that would allow Jake to maximize the potential of the new CBR. With no weather issues in the forecast every lap was going to count towards race set-up.
The first session was held on Thursday afternoon under typically cloudy yet bright Texas skies. Jake was able to stick to the plan of 5 laps out and then pit, then back out for 5 -7 laps and in.. rinse and repeat until the end of the session. While the timing sheets didn’t show it, Jake was making some serious strides on the Honda and with his relationship with crew chief Scott, every detail, bump and sound was scrutinized. After pouring over the notes and data, the crew went to work on establishing a new baseline set-up for Friday’s qualifying session one. The weekend’s schedule called for abbreviated sessions compared to when the series is on its own. This didn’t equate to a ton of time to really dial in the bike for a true race feel prior to qualifying. The goal is getting into Superpole.
Regardless of the limited time, the crew did their thing and tweaked and adjusted and modified all they could until Qualifying Session One. Jake got out to a great start and throughout the session kept making faster lap after faster lap. Going into the second qualifying session, the team was really excited to see how the bike would react to more adjustments that had been made. Following the second qualifying session, the team was ecstatic to learn that Jake had made it into Superpole. For their part, Dunlop had brought in a new Pre Qualifying tire to allow teams to get up to speed quicker during Superpole, and they worked brilliantly. After only three flying laps, Jake entered the pits to put on the super soft qualifying tires. These allow for one out lap and one flying lap. It was during the flying lap that Jake experienced a lowside and was unable to complete Superpole. At the end of the day Jake would have to start the races in P11.
Working through the night to prepare the Honda for race one, Scotty and the 32Crew were very pleased with Jake’s feedback from the previous sessions and they felt that they had a chance to make some big steps forward during the race. As the bike lined up on the starting grid, the fact that Honda was back on the Superbike grid was not lost on the crew or the media. A lot of buzz had been circulating about how this new CBR would do in a race situation. Jake was his typically calm and jovial self. Focused on the task at hand and not concerned with media hype. Under almost ideal racing conditions, the grid was cleared of support crew and the riders closed their visors and prepared for the first race of the 2017 MotoAmerica Season.
As the lights went out on the starting grid, the symphony of race engines harmonized to create the most beautiful sound in all of sport. The riders ran up the hill towards turn one which can be the most disastrous corner in all of racing, this time everyone made it cleanly through. Jake was right in the thick of the leading group having improved upon his starting position. On lap two however, there was an incident and Josh Hayes was taken out of contention. Jake stayed the course, didn’t get collected in the mayhem and begin to settle in. By the midpoint of the race Jake was part of three / four rider group battling the last spots in the top five. As he’s known to do, Jake began going quicker lap after lap. Soon he made his way around Josh Herrin and began tracking down Jake Lewis. In the closing laps, Jake made his move around the Suzuki of Lewis and was on the hunt for Mathew Scholtz. It was looking like Jake was going to catch Mathew but as they say in racing, “He ran out of laps.” This is a terrible description but true. Jake would cross the line in 5th place overall and claim 3rd place in Superbike. Not a bad way to begin writing the new story of racing for Honda in the US.
Hopes in the GBCH pit were at an all-time high overnight as the weight of the first race was finally off the crew’s shoulders. All that remained was a brief warm-up and then race two. Unfortunately, the feeling of excitement and hopefulness would be replaced by doubt and confusion as the race was over almost before it began. When Jake made it back to the starting grid after his sighting lap, he informed Scott that there was an electrical issue and the bike was cutting off. Quickly the team began to try and diagnose the issue. Checking all connectors and harnesses the problem couldn’t be fixed in the few minutes remaining. Uncertain of what would happen during the race, Jake literally faced an uphill battle as the lights went out and entire field left the starting line. The electrical issue persisted and Jake was forced to come into the pits. After a few laps had passed, the team sent Jake back out but in that out lap, the problem proved to be too much and Jake had to call it a race.
Unfortunately that is part of developing a brand new motorcycle, and while Jake and the GBCH crew were upset by not being able to complete the second race, they were very happy with the progress they’ve made in the set-up and overall readability of the bike. Despite the issue, the team is excited and confident heading into Road Atlanta for round two this weekend.
Jake Gagne – Superbike
“Man what a weekend. Up down and all around. The amount of work that has gone into this program over the last few months from all the guys and all our supporters has been unbelievable.
I couldn’t be more thankful for this whole group of people I have around me and Honda for getting a red bike back on the grid. We learned a ton this weekend and made a lot of forward progress. To have a pretty good result in race one was great for us all and a good start for where we are with this motorcycle.
It was a real bummer to have these issues and not make it through race two but we’ll take the positives and be ready for ATL.”
Danny Walker – Team Principal
“The awesome Circuit of The Americas track not only had extreme elevations on the track but with our finishes and emotions as well.
Once again the GBCH crew put in a lot of hard work and almost more hours then there are in the day. I am super happy and very proud of them and Jake for the effort in the first race.
As is typically the case with new machines, issues caused Jake to retire from Race Two. So leaving COTA and our fist race on the CBR1000rr SP2 with guarded optimism knowing that we still have a lot of hard ahead of us. My worries are always alleviated knowing that I have the best crew in the MotoAmerica paddock working tirelessly to get the job done. Couple that with the support we’ve received from our sponsors and technical partners and I think we’ll be running up towards the front soon.”
Scott Jensen – Crew Chief
“COTA was our official first race event with the new 2017 CBR1000RR SP2 and we were all excited to get it into competition in the MotoAmerica Superbike class and showcase the capabilities of the new CBR. With this being a brand new bike to not just our team but world-wide, there has been an extreme amount of work done by the entire crew and several of our sponsors. We’ve all been working around the clock getting the bike to race trim and we were eager to show the bike off to the world.
The first couple practice / qualifying sessions went well. We were constantly setup to make the bike work for Jake and he was getting more and more comfortable. Going into Superpole we were excited to put on the “Q” tires and put the bike thru its paces. When we came into the pits after the Pre-Q tire our times were looking very competitive and we threw on the final Qualifiers and went out for our flying laps. Jake, as always, was riding the bike at its limit and posting great splits but unfortunately with the extra grip of the “Q” at about the half way point of the lap he lost the front tire and crashed. This relegated us to the fourth row on the grid. Race 1 Jake rode the wheels off the new CBR and we stuck to our plan of running the harder rear tire and running people down at the end of the race ending up 5th, which was a great result for our initial race on the new Honda. Unfortunately, race two was over before it began with an electrical problem on the bike, and we retired after the first flying lap.
From here we head to Atlanta and fully expect to build on our progress at COTA and bring the Honda to the front of the field!”