This weekend’s results are brought to you by 6D Helmets.
More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Beaubier In The Clear After Superbike Sweep Of NJMP
After Six Rounds, Four-Time Champ Leads By 84 Points
MILLVILLE, NJ (September 13, 2020) – Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha’s Cameron Beaubier leaves New Jersey Motorsports Park and heads to Barber Motorsports Park this week with a massive 84-point lead in the 2020 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship after, ahem, what was another walk-in-the-park victory for the four-time series champion.
While it’s too early to hand him the number-one plate with three rounds and eight races remaining the series, it’s about time to fire up the engraver.
Sunday’s win at NJMP came in a shortened race after a red flag was thrown on the second lap when Bradley Ward crashed his FLY Racing ADR Motorsports Kawasaki, putting debris on the racetrack. As he did on the first start, Beaubier grabbed the holeshot and never looked back, opening up a lead and maintaining it to the finish. At the completion of the 14 laps, Beaubier was 2.884 seconds ahead of his pursuers.
“Truthfully, I thought I was going to have a little advantage on these guys going into the second part of that race after the red flag because I was on that harder option tire,” Beaubier said. “I knew the softer tire heat cycles, and the grip definitely drops a little bit. I was riding as hard as I could from them. I was barely, barely inching away and sometimes I really wasn’t. I’m super happy that we had a good weekend here in New Jersey. It was an incredible weekend. We had perfect weather both days. It was great to ride in front of all these fans. We just need to keep going. We can’t get comfortable because both these guys keep making steps. We need to keep searching too. I’m just having so much fun riding right now and everything’s going good. I’m looking forward to getting on my bike at Barber. We had a good test there at the beginning of the season. Should be good.”
Two of those pursuing Beaubier raced to the bitter end with his teammate Jake Gagne drafting past Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz at the finish line by .014 of a second with the two fighting it out for the duration. In addition to the battle on track, that pairing is also fighting it out for second in the title chase. Gagne now leads Scholtz by just six points.
“Yeah, it’s a great way to finish it, obviously,” Gagne said of his weekend that featured two crashes. “It’s probably been one of the toughest weekends in a long time. Usually one crash in a weekend is enough, and that’s more than we need. But two days in a row and crashing out the first lap of the race yesterday is just always a bummer. But I learned from it. It was a good race. We were all a little bummed to see that red flag there in that first start. I think we all wanted to go – except maybe Cam, I think we all wanted to go the full distance there. But I got off to a good start. Ran around the first kind of half of the 14-lap race. I knew Mat (Scholtz) was right on me. I knew it was Mat. Then Mat came by me on the front straightaway and passed me into one. I got an opportunity to kind of check some stuff out. Like he said, there were some sections I had him a little bit, some sections he was faster than me. So, we were kind of teeter-tottering. Going into the last lap, I wanted to try to get him into one. I felt pretty good in one. I know he was really strong in there, but I figured if I maybe could get inside of him, but he closed the door. Didn’t let that happen. For me, I knew it was going to be really tough to try to make a pass anywhere. I knew Mat knows this track and it’s tough on Superbikes. You really got to push it in there. Once I didn’t make that pass in one, I was thinking about that last turn. I knew if I stayed on him, I felt like the last turn was one of my strong sections. I could kind of just get in his draft if I timed it perfectly. Luckily that’s what I did. I just timed that thing perfectly by a hair there. Hats off to Mat. It was fun battling. It was fun to bring a race down to the last lap. It feels like it’s kind of been a little while since that happened. Hats off to Cam. Hats off to Yamaha. It’s good to have a couple Yamahas back up here. We’ll be back at Barber in a couple days. Looking forward to it.”
Soon after Scholtz took over second in the final laps, both he and Gagne were baulked by lapped traffic but Scholtz may have gotten the worst of it which allowed Gagne to claw his way back for his last-lap attack.
“There were certain sections of the track that I was struggling with and where Jake (Gagne) was faster,” Scholtz said. “On the final lap I kind of got stuck behind Sam (Verderico). Jake definitely beat me. Hats off to him. But in the back of my mind I always kind of have that, if I didn’t catch Sam at that point. But it is what it is. I’m just very thankful to be up here on the podium after crashing in morning warmup. Well done to Cam (Beaubier). He’s absolutely flying. I’m kind of happy that we weren’t so far back behind Cam. Just really looking forward to Barber next week. It’s definitely the strongest track for me. I know Cam and Jake both go well there too, so let’s do some more battles.”
Bobby Fong was next, the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider finishing some four seconds ahead of his teammate Toni Elias, the Spaniard failing to match the pace that earned him his first podium of the season on Sunday.
KATO Fastening/StoneCastle/KWR Ducati’s Kyle Wyman was sixth after finishing fourth on Saturday, the New Yorker getting the better of Altus Motorsports’ Cameron Petersen on Sunday. FLY Racing’s David Anthony rode his Suzuki GSX-R1000 to ninth with Travis Wyman Racing’s Travis Wyman rounding out the top 10 on his BMW.
After six rounds, Beaubier leads Gagne by 84 points, 275-191, with Scholtz third on 185 points. Fong is fourth with 138, 22 clear of Elias and 26 ahead of Wyman.
More, from a press release issued by Westby Racing:
Westby Racing’s Scholtz Notches A Double Podium In Superbike At New Jersey Motorsports Park; Wyman Gets Two Top-Ten Finishes In Junior Cup
Millville, NJ – September 13, 2020 – Westby Racing’s two-rider team came away from round six of the MotoAmerica Championship with a pair of podium results and a pair of top tens at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Superbike rider Mathew Scholtz raced his #11 Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 to a third-place finish in Sunday’s race two as an encore to his second-place result in Saturday’s race one. He very nearly got his second runner-up result in as many days, but he was baulked by a backmarker on the final lap of the red-flag-shortened race, which enabled Jake Gagne to catch back up to Mathew and set up for a pass in the final turn before the finish line. At the stripe, Mathew missed out on second place by just .014 of a second. Mathew now trails Jake by just six points for second place in the season championship.
Mathew commented, “There were certain sections of the track that I was struggling with and where Jake (Gagne) was faster. On the final lap, I kind of got stuck behind Sam (Verderico). Jake definitely beat me. Hats off to him. But, in the back of my mind, I always kind of have that, if I didn’t catch Sam at that point. But it is what it is. I’m just very thankful to be up here on the podium after crashing in morning warmup. Well done to (race winner) Cam (Beaubier). He’s absolutely flying. I’m kind of happy that we weren’t so far back behind Cam. Just really looking forward to Barber next week. It’s definitely the strongest track for me. I know Cam and Jake both go well there too, so let’s do some more battles.”
Junior Cup rider Cody Wyman, who pilots the #34 Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R3, started in the middle of the third row for Sunday’s race two, and he rode a consistent race among a pack of other riders, which has been his lot this entire season. With his competitors and him dicing back and forth, Cody enjoys the competition, but he also knows that his results depend somewhat on the luck of the draw and the timing of where he is among that pack when he crosses the finish line. His result was a good one since he finished the race in eighth place, which is exactly the position he started from on the grid.
“I’ve never felt so satisfied with an eighth-place finish as I was today, Cody said. “Yesterday, I felt pretty rough on the bike, so I was glad to be in the battle for a top-five position today. About halfway through the race, I got held up and lost touch with the group by a couple of seconds, but I was able to put my head down and run my fastest lap of the race on my own to catch back up and eventually lead the group. I ended up getting nipped at the line by a thousandth of a second, but I felt way better with the changes that we made to the bike after Saturday’s race one. We’re still not where I want to be, but we have a few more opportunities to get that podium position that I’m hoping for. Thank you to my team, family, and friends for supporting me. And, now we’ll make a quick turnaround to race again next weekend.
Next up for Westby Racing is round seven of the MotoAmerica Championship, which will take place at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 18 through 20.
MotoAmerica Superbike Standings
1. Cameron Beaubier – Yamaha – 275
2. Jake Gagne – Yamaha – 191
3. Mathew Scholtz – Yamaha – 185
MotoAmerica Junior Cup Standings
1. Rocco Landers – Kawasaki – 285
2. Dominic Doyle – Kawasaki – 195
3. Samuel Lochoff – Kawasaki – 194
8. Cody Wyman – Yamaha – 85
For more updates about Westby Racing, including news, photos, and videos, visit http://www.WestbyRacing.com
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More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:
Beaubier, Gagne Finish 1-2 in Race Two at New Jersey Motorsports Park
Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha Racing’s Cameron Beaubier capped off his stellar weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park with another victory in Sunday’s race two to further extend his points lead in the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship. Teammate Jake Gagne rebounded from a tough weekend in Millville, New Jersey, to take the runner-up spot by .014 of a second.
Beaubier got off to a great start from pole position with his teammate slotted right behind him going into Turn 1. Unfortunately, the race was red-flagged due to a crash further back in the final corner on the first lap. The Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha Racing duo lined up on the front row for a complete restart of a shortened 14-lap race. On his second try, Beaubier got off to an even better start, leaving everyone in his dust with a commanding holeshot. Although the four-time Superbike Champion didn’t have as big of a margin on his fellow Yamaha riders in Sunday’s race, he was able to steadily increase his gap towards the end of the race and score his 11th victory of the season. With three rounds remaining and 200 points on the table, Beaubier has a healthy 84-point lead in the championship.
After a tough start to the weekend with a crash on Friday and in Saturday’s race one, Gagne was once again second on the restart with fellow Yamaha rider Matthew Scholtz on his heels. With five laps to go, Scholtz passed him in Turn 1. Gagne patiently waited for his opportunity to retake the position, which came on the final lap. The Californian got a good drive out of the final corner and was able to slip past the Westby Yamaha rider and cross the line second for a photo finish. Gagne’s efforts allowed him to keep his runner-up spot in the standings and extend his gap to six points over Scholtz.
The Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha Racing team heads south to Leeds, Alabama, for Round 7 of the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship at Barber Motorsports Park, on September 18-20.
Richard Stanboli – Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha Racing Team Manager
“It was a great result today. Cameron had a perfect weekend, and it was a good recovery for Jake after the crash he had yesterday. That closed the gap between second and third in the points, but he picked up some today with his second-place finish. As I said to him, it’s important to maintain a nice second-place spot in the championship. Everyone’s been riding great: Cameron, Jake, and (Mathew) Scholtz on the Westby Yamaha for another Yamaha 1-2-3. The Yamaha R1 is such a great platform and we have been working hard to give our guys the best bikes out there. I also want to thank Dunlop for helping us make the right decisions on the tires this weekend. We’re looking forward to being back at it next weekend at Barber.”
Cameron Beaubier – Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha Racing
“It was an incredible weekend. I was pretty excited coming into this round because I knew how fast JD (Beach) was here last year on the Attack R1. He was giving us fits here both days. I knew that the bike was pretty dialed in, and he was riding good, so I was excited to try it myself. Our bike was incredible this weekend around this place. I had a lot of fun. The weather wasn’t great on Friday, but then Saturday and Sunday it was perfect conditions. I’m happy that we were able to make the harder option tire work in both races. Everything is going really well right now. I don’t want to get too excited, so we’ve got to keep trucking along. We’ve got three rounds left, and I just want to finish strong.”
Jake Gagne – Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha Racing
“This was one of the toughest weekends I’ve had in a while. We had a big crash on Friday and got a little banged up, and then another crash yesterday on the first lap of the race, which was a bummer. We missed out on learning from race one, but we rebounded today. I got off to a good start and had a pretty decent pace. Cam had some pace on us, but Mat (Scholtz) and I had a good little battle there. I’m glad we brought it down to the last lap. I was strong in the last turn, so I knew if I could get the perfect run, get the perfect draft, we might be able to get it, and we were just able to sneak by. It was cool to have a photo finish and a Yamaha 1-2-3.”
