KurveyGirl.com brings you the results of this weekend’s events.
PJ Jacobsen claimed provisional pole position during MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Qualifying One (Q1) Friday at Pittsburgh International Race Complex (a.k.a. PittRace), in Wampum, Pennsylvania. Jacobsen followed up leading Free Practice One (FP1) in the morning with a 1:43.079 by topping the hotter afternoon session with a 1:43.061 on his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000 RR.
Two-time and defending Champion Jake Gagne was second-best in Q1 with a lap of 1:43.228 on his Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha YZF-R1. Jacobsen’s teammate Cameron Beaubier earned the third and final spot on the provisional front row with a 1:43.339.
Bobby Fong was fourth with a time of 1:43.477 on his Wrench Motorcycles Yamaha YZF-R1. Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante was fifth in the session based on his 1:43.789. Mathew Scholtz ranked sixth by doing a 1:43.873 on his Westby Racing Yamaha.
Just 0.9 second covered the top seven riders in Q1, including Escalante’s teammate Brandon Paasch (P7 – 1:44.047), and the top 12 riders were separated by only 1.6 seconds.
More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Jacobsen Rolls On With Provisional Pole At Pittsburg International Race Complex
PJ Jacobsen Leads The Way On An Ultra Close Opening Day At Pittsburgh International Race Complex
WAMPUM, PA (August 18, 2023) – Tytlers Cycle Racing’s PJ Jacobsen brought the confidence earned from winning his first MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike race a few weeks ago in Minnesota to Pittsburgh International Race Complex on a blustery Friday with the New Yorker earning provisional pole position on his BMW M 1000 RR.
In what was the closest session of the season in the Medallia Superbike class, just 1.6 seconds covered the top 12 with a tick over one second separating first from ninth.
Jacobsen led both of Friday’s Superbike sessions with his best lap, a 1:43.061, coming in the afternoon’s Q1 session. That lap on his seventh go around, was just .167 of a second better than Medallia Superbike Championship points leader Jake Gagne. Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Gagne missed most of the first session after his Yamaha suffered a mechanical problem that oiled a portion of the track, bringing out the red flag after just one lap of FP1. Gagne’s crew got him back on track and he was able to jump up to third on his eighth of eight laps.
Jacobsen’s Tytlers Cycle Racing teammate Cameron Beaubier had a big moment early in Q1, losing the front, saving it and running off track and onto the grass. Beaubier ended up third in the session and .278 of a second off his teammate’s best.
Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong had his best session of the season on the team’s Yamaha YZF-R1 to post the fourth quickest time and less than half a second off Jacobsen’s provisional pole.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante ended the day fifth fastest and just ahead of Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz and Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch, who in turn was .15 of a second ahead of Aftercare Scheibe Racing’s Ashton Yates.
Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s JD Beach, who is filling in at Pitt Race for the injured Cameron Petersen, ended up ninth and only 1.1 seconds from pole in his first Superbike race in two years.
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Josh Herrin completed the top 10 after losing his best lap as a penalty for cutting the chicane on the following lap.
Supersport – Mesa On Top
Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Stefano Mesa bounced back from what wasn’t a good weekend for him at Brainerd International Raceway to lead the Supersport pack in Q1 on Friday afternoon. Mesa’s best was a 1:46.110, which was .635 of a second clear of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott.
Disrupt Racing’s Jake Lewis led the morning session and was third fastest in Q1 with a lap that was .808 of a second off Mesa’s fast lap.
Supersport Championship leader Xavi Forés was sixth fastest on the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC Panigale V2, one spot better than the man who is second in the title chase, Squid Hunter Racing’s Josh Hayes.
Junior Cup – Di Mario, Barely
Alessandro Di Mario put his Altus Motorsports Kawasaki Ninja 400 on provisional pole for the weekend’s two Junior Cup races with the Kentuckian barely besting Fairium NGRT – Gray Area Racing’s Rossi Moor and his KTM RC 390 R by just .186 of a second. Bicknese Racing’s Hayden Bicknese was just a tick behind those two to round out the provisional front row.
Championship points leader Avery Dreher ended up fourth fastest and 1.163 seconds behind Di Mario on his Bad Boys Racing Kawasaki.
REV’IT! Twins Cup – Rodio Over Davis Over Landers
A scant .153 of a second covered the top three in REV’IT! Twins Cup Q1 at PittRace with championship points leader Gus Rodio taking the top spot by just .063 of a second on his Rodio Racing – Powered By Robem Engineering.
N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s defending class champion Blake Davis ended up the closest to Rodio’s 1:48.842 with his 1:48.905. And that lap was only .090 of a second faster than Rodio’s teammate Rocco Landers, the all-time win leader in the class.
The top three managed to separate themselves from the rest of the pack with Team Iso’s Dominic Doyle fourth but 1.7 seconds behind Rodio.
Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. – Moore On The Verge
Upper Marlboro, Maryland’s Mikayla Moore took the first step to what will undoubtedly be a Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. Championship on Saturday at PittRace with provisional pole on Friday.
As she has been at each and every round, Moore was in a class of her own this afternoon with her lap of 2:09.911 leading the way as he has in what has been a perfect season for the 19 year old.
Second fastest today was Crystal Martinez with Sonya Lloyd rounding out the provisional front row.
More, from a press release issued by Ducati:
2023 MotoAmerica Superbike and Supersport Championship Round 7 – Herrin and Forés Optimistic Following a Good First Day at PittRace
Sunnyvale, Calif., August 18, 2023 — The Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC dynamic duo of Josh Herrin and Xavi Forés are both optimistic of their chances of race success at round seven of the MotoAmerica Superbike and Supersport Championship at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex.
Herrin and the stunning factory-built Ducati Panigale V4 R completed 16 laps of the picturesque 2.8 mile PittRace venue, and was looking good for a top five finish to the day until he ran off at the chicane and had his previous lap time (which was his fastest of the day) scratched from the timing screen as a result. The number 2 Ducati would eventually finish the day in 10th overall, but Herrin notes there’s still plenty of time left in Q2 to get onto the front row for the two scheduled races.
For Forés, PittRace marked yet another new track to his growing list for 2023 despite it being the home round for the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC team. With limited chances to get his bearings, Forés punched out 22 laps over the two Supersport sessions and finished an impressive sixth overall, less than a second behind class pacesetter, Stefano Mesa.
Forés will now turn his attention to Q2 where he feels a front row position is ready and waiting for the taking before race one commences on Saturday afternoon.
Superbike Qualifying 1 Results – Top 5
P1 – PJ Jacobsen (BMW) 1:43.061
P2 – Jake Gagne (Yamaha) 1:43.228
P3 – Cameron Beaubier (BMW) 1:43.339
P4 – Bobby Fong (Yamaha) 1:43.477
P5 – Richie Escalante (Suzuki) 1:43.789
P10 – Josh Herrin (Ducati) 1:44.691
Supersport Qualifying 1 Results – Top 5
P1 – Stefano Mesa (Kawasaki) 1:46.110
P2 – Tyler Scott (Suzuki) 1:46.745
P3 – Jake Lewis (Suzuki) 1:46.918
P4 – Teagg Hobbs (Suzuki) 1:46.987
P5 – Anthony Mazziotto (Yamaha) 1:47.015
P6 – Xavi Forés (Ducati) 1:47.100
Xavi Forés (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC – #12)
“It was a positive day,” Forés enthused. “I’ve never been on this track before but the feeling is similar to The Ridge in regards to the bike. We improved some things between FP1 and Q1 and got the bike working in a better way, but in Q1 I got stuck behind some traffic on my fastest lap and lost maybe half a second, but the lap time was still quite good. Hopefully, tomorrow we will get onto the first row in Q2 and be ready for the fight in race one.”
Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC– #2)
“Today was a good day, honestly,” Herrin said. “I struggled all day to get the bike working how I wanted and then in the last outing for the day, we did a good time. We were fourth or fifth, and was another half second up on the next lap, but I cut the chicane because I ran wide and the rule is the race control takes the previous lap time away, so the fast lap didn’t count. That’s a bummer, but we have the data, the bike is working well, and we have another qualifying session tomorrow to get it done. The times today don’t show what we had, we should have been top five, but we’ll be ready for tomorrow.”
Saturday sees track action commences at 8:30 am EDT with Herrin hitting the black top for Superbike Qualifying 2 at 9:50 am EDT. Forés will follow shortly afterwards for Supersport Qualifying 2 at 10:35 am EDT. The first Supersport race will commence at 2:10 pm EDT, with race one for Superbike scheduled for 3:10 pm EDT.
