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More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Day One At WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Belongs To Gagne
Jake Gagne Leads The Way Again In HONOS Superbike
MONTEREY, CA (July 9, 2021) – Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha’s Jake Gagne had a normal Jake Gagne day on Friday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Go fast, earn provisional pole, get ready for tomorrow’s first of two HONOS Superbike races in the MotoAmerica GEICO Motorcycle Superbike Speedfest at Monterey.
Gagne lapped at 1:24.371 in Qualifying 1 and that put him .338 of a second ahead of Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York’s Loris Baz, the Frenchman turning his best lap of 1:24.709 after a low-side crash in the Corkscrew.
“We had a good day today,” Gagne said. “In the first session we took the bike off the truck, and it was actually one of the toughest first sessions we’ve had. I wasn’t too happy with the bike with just a couple of little tweaks, the electronics mostly. We managed to run both tires and I liked the green tire better. We made some changes in between sessions and made the bike feel a lot better right away in the second session. So, we went out and did a 13-or 14-lap run to get a good feel for the tires, and we had a really good run out here. Obviously, we are just trying to do the work for the race. We’re just seeing how these Dunlops are going to be in the second half of the race because that’s when we want to be strong.”
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Cameron Petersen ended a sunny and warm afternoon on the Monterey Peninsula third fastest by virtue of his 1:24.831 on his 17th lap and that put the South African ahead of countryman Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholz by just .002 of a second. Scholtz suffered two crashes in the session.
Gagne’s teammate Josh Herrin completed the day in fifth place with his 1:25.139, which put him ahead of Scheibe Racing BMW’s Hector Barbera, M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Bobby Fong and the returning Toni Elias on Kyle Wyman’s Panera Bread Ducati rounding out the top eight.
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sean Dylan Kelly topped his rival Richie Escalante, on the HONOS HVMC Racing Kawasaki, by just .130 of a second in Supersport Q1. North East Cycle Outlet Racing’s Benjamin Smith, CV28 Racing’s Cory Ventura and Altus Motorsports’ Kevin Olmedo rounded out the top five.
Scott Powersports/KTM’s Tyler Scott was the fastest of the SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup races as he led his championship rival Ben Gloddy by 1.4 seconds. Max Van ended the day third fastest, 1.7 seconds behind Scott.
BPR Tuning’s Bryce Prince made his first day back in the MotoAmerica Series count as he led the way in Stock 1000 Q1, besting Ridge Motorsports Park/DiBrino Racing’s Andy DiBrino and Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates.
Mission Foods S&S Cycle Indian Challenger’s Tyler O’Hara and his 1:33.058 led the Mission King Of The Baggers Q1, besting H-D Screamin’ Eagle’s Travis Wyman, DTF Performance/Hoban Brothers Racing’s Michael Barnes and championship points leader Kyle Wyman and his H-D Screamin’ Eagle Road Glide.
Righteous Racing’s Jody Barry led Twins Cup Q1 over Robem Engineering teammates Toby Khamsouk and Kaleb De Keyrel.
More, from a press release issued by Ducati North America:
Ducati Stars Shining Bright in California Sunshine
Sunnyvale, Calif., July 9, 2021 – Loris Baz and Toni Elias put on a solid day’s riding for Ducati at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the European duo ending the day second and eighth fastest, respectively.
Baz’s fastest time put him just 0.338 seconds shy of pacesetter Jake Gagne on the Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha. The Frenchman completed 32 laps across the day on the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York entry, impressing with his consistency as he outpaced Suzuki’s Cameron Petersen and Yamaha’s Mathew Scholtz.
Elias put in a mammoth 42 laps across the first practice and qualifying sessions on the Panera Bread Ducati, ending the day 1.8 seconds off Gagne after nearly a year off from racing activity as he gets used to the storming Panera Bread Ducati in place of regular rider and team owner, Kyle Wyman.
Loris Baz (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York – Ducati #76)
“It’s always nice to be back in Laguna,” Baz said. “This place is always crazy. You always feel like you need to learn the track again, even if you know it. It’s so cool to ride here. I feel ok. We were P2 in both sessions but the grip of the track is not super high so we made some changes, but I think we went in the wrong direction for Q1. I had a small off in the Corkscrew, so a massive thanks to the team because it was lap one and they managed to put the bike back together for me to finish the session. I’m not super happy with the pace but I think there’s some improvement to be had for tomorrow. I’m happy to ride the Ducati here, it’s an amazing place and the weather is much nicer than the last race, so we’ll go for it tomorrow.”
Toni Elias (Panera Bread Ducati – Ducati #24)
“I’m really happy to have the sensations of riding a racing bike again,” Elias said. “To feel the power, the brakes, the up and downs and roller-coaster of Laguna, it’s been amazing. We worked very hard from first practice to the first qualifying. I felt comfortable with the position of the bike since the beginning, but then I struggled a little bit with the geometry of the bike. In the afternoon, following the changes, I felt much better. My lap time improved all day, but maybe I need a rider in front to help me jump into the 1:25’s. The ’25’s is closer to the P3-P5 group, but we are missing something. To do everything just in one day is impossible, but I think we are taking the right steps and tomorrow we are hoping for another step. We need to make the rear a bit more stable and get a bit more grip and if we can do that, I think we’ll make a big step. We made some progress from the first to the last session in stability on the brakes. We are going in the right direction, we just need a bit more time, and hopefully tomorrow we’ll get the feeling we want and get the lap time we are after.”
