Jake Gagne was fastest during MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Qualifying One (Q1) Friday at Ridge Motorsports Park, in Shelton, Washington, but the field wasn’t far behind the two-time and defending Champion on the time sheet.
Riding his Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha YZF-R1, Gagne lapped the 2.5-mile road course in 1:40.705 to lead the field of 18.
Closest to Gagne was five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier, who did a 1:40.752 on his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000 RR.
Earning the third and final spot on the provisional front row was Road America Race Two winner Josh Herrin with a 1:40.806 on his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R.
The top seven riders in the session were separated by less than 0.5 second.
Crashers during Q1 included Taylor Knapp (for the second time on the day), PJ Jacobsen, and Cameron Petersen.
More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Gagne Over Beaubier On Fast Friday At Ridge Motorsports Park
Gagne, Beaubier And Herrin Lead The Way On Day One In Washington
Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
SHELTON, WA (June 23, 2023) – Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne earned provisional pole position on a sunny Friday afternoon at Ridge Motorsports Park, the defending two-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion well off his lap record with tomorrow’s Q2 still to come.
Gagne, who has won the last four Medallia Superbike races at Ridge Motorsports Park, lapped at a best of 1:40.705 and that put him just .047 of a second ahead of Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier, the only other rider to win Superbike races at Ridge.
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin ended the day third to complete the provisional front row, the 2022 Supersport Champion knowing the importance of a front-row start at Ridge. Herrin’s best was .241 of a second off Gagne’s best and .140 of a second ahead of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante.
Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz and Gagne’s teammate Cameron Petersen, whose best lap came after an early session crash, rounded out the top two rows provisionally.
Supersport – Hayes Barely
Squid Hunter Racing’s Josh Hayes was the fastest of the fast in Supersport Q1 on Friday afternoon, the veteran leading a tightly knit group of five that was covered by just .3 of a second.
Hayes’s best was a 1:44.514 and that was just barely ahead of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Teagg Hobbs (.008 behind), Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Xavi Fores (.131 behind), Hobbs’s teammate Tyler Scott (.174 behind) and Disrupt Racing’s Jake Lewis (.337 behind).
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship – O’Hara Reigns
Defending series champion Tyler O’Hara led Q1 of the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship class on Friday, the Indian Motorcycles/Progressive/Mission Foods-backed Indian FTR1200 rider lapping at 1:46.957.
DiBrino Racing KTM’s Andy DiBrino came the closest to matching O’Hara’s pace with the Oregonian turning in a 1:47.450. O’Hara’s teammate Jeremy McWilliams ended Q1 in third, 1.4 seconds behind O’Hara.
REV’IT! Twins Cup – Landers On Top
Robem Engineering’s Rocco Landers put his Aprilia RS 660 on provisional pole for the two REV’IT! Twins Cup races this weekend at Ridge. Landers ended up topping Team Iso’s Dominic Doyle, the South African ending up .452 of a second off Landers’s 1:46.546.
Cycle Tech’s Hayden Schultz ended the session in third – 1.7 seconds slower than Landers. Trackday Winner/Blackmon Racing’s Jackson Blackmon and Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering’s Gus Rodio rounded out the top five on the day.
Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race – Moore Again
Maryland’s Mikayla Moore continued to hold the hot hand in Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. as she earned provisional pole position for the weekend’s races while keeping her perfect 2023 record intact. Moore, who won both races in round one at Road Atlanta, has led each and every session thus far on the two-race-old season.
Moore bested last year’s champion Kayleigh Buyck by 1.8 seconds with Aubrey Credaroli completing the provisional front row.
More, from a press release issued by Ducati North America:
Herrin and Forés to the Fore Between the Trees at The Ridge
Sunnyvale, Calif., June 24, 2023 — Ducati’s dynamic duo of Xavi Forés and Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC) had productive days in the MotoAmerica Supersport and Superbike categories, with both riders inside their respective class’s top three.
Herrin used the day to assess a variety of Dunlop slick tires on the factory Panigale V4 R in the Superbike category, ending the day third after completing 21 laps of the picturesque Pacific Northwest venue.
Forés’ day was one of acclimatization as the Spaniard got used to yet another all-new circuit on the Panigale V2. Forés completed a whopping 29 laps yesterday, equaling two full race distances around The Ridge to finish only 0.2s off the fastest time. This indicates the international racing veteran will be right in the mix race one today.
Superbike Qualifying 1 Results – Top 5
P1 – Jake Gagne (Yamaha) 1:40.705
P2 – Cameron Beaubier (BMW) 1:40.752
P3 – Josh Herrin (Ducati) 1:40.806
P4 – Richie Escalante (Suzuki) 1:40.946
P5 – Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) 1:40.977
Supersport Qualifying 1 Results – Top 5
P1 – Joshua Hayes (Yamaha) 1:44.514
P2 – Teagg Hobbs (Suzuki) 1:44.522
P3 – Xavi Forés (Ducati) 1:44.645
P4 – Tyler Scott (Suzuki) 1:44.688
P5 – Jake Lewis (Suzuki) 1:44.851
Xavi Forés (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC – #12)
“It was good fun yesterday,” Forés said. “I really like the track because it’s quite different to some of the other places we’ve raced this year. Lots of blind corners, lots of fast and a few slow corners. In the first session my feeling was good. The bike was working well, and in the Q1 session, I was working more on race pace rather than a one lap sprint. Overall, it was a positive day and we’ll be aiming for pole position and the race one win.”
Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC – #2)
“Yesterday was good,” Herrin started. “We went out with the harder of the rear tires and we told ourselves that no matter how hard the session was due to the tire, we were just going to leave the tire on there so we could do some real testing, so we were a little down on the times for that run. We went to the softer compound for the second session. My goal this weekend is to get on the front row because after watching Danilo’s (Petrucci) race from last year where he was on the second row, it was hard for him to fight through the pack. So with that lap in Q1, were on the right track. I’m happy with how the bike is working around this track. I’m getting more comfortable on it, more confident, so we’re happy and ready for tomorrow.”
On track action at The Ridge will commence 8:30 am CDT. Forés will be out in Q2 at 9:45 am, while Herrin takes on Q2 at 10:25 am. The first Supersport race will take place at 2:10 pm with race one for Superbike scheduled for one hour later at 3:10 pm.
