Two-time and defending Champion Jake Gagne topped a tight and sketchy MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Qualifying One (Q1) session Friday at Brainerd International Raceway, in Brainerd, Minnesota.
With rain threatening, Gagne got to business quickly on his Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha YZF-R1, turning a 1:31.492 on his sixth and final lap in the session. After that, Gagne parked his bike and sat on pit lane for the remainder of the 40-minute session.
Nine minutes later, PJ Jacobsen did a 1:31.510 on his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000 RR that held up for the second-best time of the session. And then Jacobsen parked his bike on pit lane.
Earning the third and final spot on the provisional front row was four-time AMA Pro Superbike Champion Josh Hayes, who is filling in for Gagne’s injured teammate Cameron Petersen for his first Superbike race since 2017. Hayes’ 1:31.518 came on his 14th of 15 laps and was just 0.026 second off Gagne’s time.
The top 10 riders were only separated by just 1.020 seconds during the session.
As the session went on, the rain flags continued to wave and winds began to gust, but some riders braved the conditions to go even quicker.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch put his head down late in the session, 30 minutes after Gagne did his best lap, and turned a 1:32.072 that elevated him to P5, between Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW’s fourth-fastest Cameron Beaubier (1:31.632) and sixth-quickest Bobby Fong (1:32.120) on his Wrench motorcycles Yamaha.
More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Gagne Quickest In Tightly Knit Q1 At Brainerd International Raceway
Jake Gagne Leads The Way, But There’s 10 Riders Within A Second On Friday In Minnesota
BRAINERD, MN (July 28, 2023) – Sprinkles of rain, dark clouds and prep-storm conditions put a damper on Friday’s Q1 session for the Medallia Superbike class at Brainerd International Raceway but not before Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne put his YZF-R1 on provisional pole position despite sitting out the end of the session.
Gagne’s best lap was his sixth of the session, the 1:31.492 putting him just .018 of a second ahead of Tytlers Cycle Racing’s PJ Jacobsen with a tightly knit group of 10 within the same second.
Ageless four-time AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes completes the provisional front row in third and just .026 of a second off Gagne’s best. Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier was fourth fastest and only .140 of a second from the top of the timesheets.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch continued to impress in his second outing in the class. Paasch was fifth fastest with his 1:32.072 and just half a second from the top with his time coming late in the session. Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong had his best session since returning to the class with his 1:32.120 putting him sixth and just ahead of Paasch’s teammate Richie Escalante.
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin, Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Corey Alexander and Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz rounded out the top 10 on Friday. Alexander’s session ended early with a high-speed crash in turn one. Alexander emerged unscathed. The bike wasn’t as fortunate.
Supersport – Landers Is Back
With a break in the REV’IT! Twins Cup Championship, Rocco Landers opted to wipe the dust off his Yamaha YZF-R6 and give the Supersport class another shot. And why not, especially since the youngster won both Supersport races here a year ago?
Landers started his weekend off on the right foot, earning provisional pole position on Friday afternoon with the Landers Racing Yamaha rider lapping at 1:33.254 to best Squid Hunter Racing’s Josh Hayes by just .061 of a second. Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Teagg Hobbs was third fastest on the opening day at Brainerd.
Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Xavi Forés, the championship leader with a perfect eight wins in a row coming into Brainerd, ended the session sixth and 1.4 seconds off Landers’ best in what is his first visit to BIR.
Steel Commander Stock 1000 – Gillim Over Wyman
Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim was the fastest of the fast in Steel Commander Stock 1000 Q1 with the Kentuckian lapping at a best of 1:35.848 to best Travis Wyman Racing’s Travis Wyman by just .052 of a second.
Orange Cat Racing’s Kaleb De Keyrel had a good day at his home track and ended up third fastest and just .436 of a second behind. Benjamin Smith Racing’s Benjamin Smith ended up fourth fastest in his first day in the class and first day on his privateer Yamaha YZF-R1.
Championship points leader Ezra Beaubier rode his Orange Cat BMW to the fifth fastest time.
Junior Cup – A Wet One
Only six Junior Cup racers took to a wet track on Friday afternoon with the tail-end of a rainstorm coming during their session. At the end of the 30-minute session, it was Karns Performance’s Chris Clark earning provisional pole position prior to the youngster crashing out.
Orlando Road Racing Academy’s Isaac Woodworth and Panda Racing’s Jasmine Nichols rounded out the top three provisional qualifiers.
Mission King Of The Baggers – O’Hara In The Wet
With 11 of the 16 Mission King Of The Baggers taking to a wet but drying racetrack, it was Indian Motorcycle/Progressive/Mission Foods’ Tyler O’Hara who led the way with his last lap his fastest lap – a 1:53.543.
With nearly everyone’s best laps coming late in the session when the track was at its driest, O’Hara ended up .621 of a second faster than Vance & Hines/Mission/Harley-Davidson’s James Rispoli and .646 of a second faster than his teammate Jeremy McWiliams. Rispoli’s teammate Hayden Gillim ended up fourth with H-D Screamin’ Eagle’s Kyle Wyman rounding out the top five.
Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. – Moore Fastest Again
Mikayla Moore, who is undefeated in the Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. season, ended up on top of Friday afternoon’s Q1 session after turning in a 2:04.142 on her final lap on a still drying racetrack. Jessica Martin and Aubrey Credaroli rounded out the provisional front row.
Superbike Q1
- Jake Gagne (Yamaha) 1:31.492
- PJ Jacobsen (BMW) 1:31.510
- Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 1:31.518
- Cameron Beaubier (BMW) 1:31.632
- Brandon Paasch (Suzuki) 1:32.072
- Bobby Fong (Yamaha) 1:32.120
- Richie Escalante (Suzuki) 1:32.167
- Josh Herrin (Ducati) 1:32.210
- Corey Alexander (BMW) 1:32.432
- Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) 1:32.512
More, from a press release issued by Ducati:
Ducati’s Josh Herrin and Xavi Forés Up to Speed During Day 1 at Brainerd MotoAmerica
Sunnyvale, Calif. — Under cloudy skies with drops of rain sprinkling the surface of Brainerd International Raceway (BIR) in Minnesota, Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC riders Josh Herrin and Xavi Forés were on pace Friday during the opening qualifying session for round six of the 2023 MotoAmerica Championship.
In the Superbike class at BIR’s 2.5-mile, 13-turn Competition Road Course, Herrin piloted his Ducati Panigale V4 R to the eight quickest time behind leader Yamaha’s Jake Gagne. Herrin, who claimed three podiums at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca three weeks ago, posted a 1:32.210 during the nine laps he rode during Friday’s qualifying 1, an improvement over his 1:33.506 during practice.
As for the MotoAmerica Supersport Championship leader, who heads into the race weekend with a perfect and new record of eight consecutive wins, Ducati V2 pilot Xavi Forés ended the opening qualifying session sixth on his first visit to BIR. The Spaniard, who dominated the extended 38-lap Supersport race at Laguna Seca, posted a best lap of 1:34.697 during his 12 qualifying laps, ending the day 1.443 seconds behind the leader, Yamaha’s Rocco Lander.
Superbike Qualifying 1 Results – Top 5
P1 – Jake Gagne (Yamaha) 1:31.492
P2 – PJ Jacobsen (BMW) 1:31.510
P3 – Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 1:31.518
P4 – Cameron Beaubier (BMW) 1:31.632
P5 – Brandon Paasch (Suzuki) 1:32.072
P8 – Josh Herrin (Ducati) 1:32.210
Supersport Qualifying 1 Results – Top 5
P1 – Rocco Landers (Yamaha) 1:33.254
P2 – Joshua Hayes (Yamaha ) 1:33.315
P3 – Teagg Hobbs (Suzuki) 1:34.289
P4 – Stefano Mesa (Kawasaki) 1:34.571
P5 – Tyler Scott (Suzuki) 1:34.577
P6 – Xavi Forés (Ducati) 1:34.6971
Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC– #2)
“Friday wasn’t one of our best days when you look at the qualifying results, but it was one of our best days making changes to the bike. We were able to make the bike feel a lot better in the middle of the second session, but a little bit of rain also came in on the second session, which hurt us from being able to go quicker. The lap times weren’t as good. Today will be really important because we can’t start from the back. The goal for today is to get as close to the front row as possible during qualifying. And then be upfront during the race and fight for the win. It’s the second half of the season, and we are in the championship fight, so we need the points, and we can’t afford to lose any points. We need to put in as good of a performance and get as many points as possible.”
Xavi Forés (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC– #12)
“It was a hard Friday for me. This is the track where I was supposed to struggle most because of the complaining I had all season about the low power on my bike. It’s been a nightmare so far on this track. We struggled setting a gear ratio for the whole track, and the top speed compared to the other bikes is very poor, but I will push hard to fight for the podium for sure!”
The racing action for round six of the 2023 MotoAmerica Championship will kick off with race one (18 laps) Saturday, July 29, at 3:10 p.m. CDT. The first Supersport race (16 laps) is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. CDT.
