KurveyGirl.com brings you the results of this weekend’s events.
PJ Jacobsen topped MotoAmerica Supersport Qualifying One (Q1) Friday afternoon at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, in Lexington, Ohio. Riding his Dunlop-shod Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL Panigale V2, the veteran lapped the 2.4-mile track in 1:27.427. Not only was that good enough to top the 39-rider field, it also set a new Lap Record by surpassing the 1:28.028 Cameron Beaubier did on an AMA Daytona SportBike-spec Yamaha YZF-R6 in 2013.
Mathew Scholtz, the current Championship point leader, was a close second with a 1:27.590 on his Strack Racing Yamaha.
Jake Lewis was third-quickest with a time of 1:27.885 on his Altus Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R750.
N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha rider Blake Davis was fourth and right behind Lewis with a 1:27.905.
EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing Suzuki’s Maxi Gerardo rounded out the top five riders with a 1:27.999 in Q1.
More, from a press release issued by Rahal Ducati Moto:
MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE
FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 2024 | PRACTICE & QUALIFYING 1
LEXINGTON, Ohio (8.16.2024) – The forecasted rain over Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course held off for the trio of Rahal Ducati Moto riders to complete both the Practice and Qualifying 1 sessions under dry conditions. Jacobsen traded the top spot on the charts with Mathew Scholtz throughout the qualifying session, ultimately ending the day on the provisional pole.
Kayla Yaakov continues to improve with each session, ending Qualifying 1 just outside of the top five. As she sits now, Yaakov will start on the second row for her first race at Mid-Ohio.
The 23 Ducati of Corey Alexander experienced mechanical issues during the practice session resulting in minimal track time. Despite the Roller Die + Forming crew thrashing to diagnose the issue going into Qualifying 1, they were unable to fix the issue during the session, resulting in the inability to clock a lap. Alexander and his crew will need to work hard overnight to get the No. 23 Ducati prepared to run for tomorrow’s Qualifying 2.
The 13-turn course will see Qualifying 2 tomorrow morning at 9:40 a.m. ET, followed by the first supersport race in over 10 years at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Race 1 will go green at 2:10 p.m. ET. The team looks forward to welcoming the “home” crowd for tomorrow’s events.
PJ JACOBSEN
No. 15 XPEL DUCATI PANIGALE V2
PRACTICE: P5 (1:29.318)
QUALIFYING 1: P1 (1:27.427)
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “We’re on provisional pole right now, which is great. I think we have a strong package right now, but we will work overnight to try to fix some more areas that we can improve on for tomorrow’s qualifying session. I’m happy with the lap time we did and the pace that we are running. We’re going to keep improving and bringing the fight for Race 1 on Saturday.”
KAYLA YAAKOV
No. 19 XPEL DUCATI PANIGALE V2
PRACTICE: P7 (1:29.674)
QUALIFYING 1: P6 (1:28.428)
WHAT SHE’S SAYING: “Today was really good – one of the best Friday’s we’ve had. I’m really happy with the bike. We made some big changes going into the first qualifying session, and it was great. The bike handled well, and I was able to slot in behind some riders for the first time this weekend and get a feeling as to where I stack up. I’m provisionally on the second row, which is great for me. I have a good feeling about tomorrow morning. Hopefully we can find some speed in some more small sections and go a bit faster. It’s a bummer for Corey, but I know that the team will get the bike fixed for tomorrow and he will be right up front with both of us. Overall, it was a really good day.”
COREY ALEXANDER
No. 23 CODE 3 ASSOCIATES PANIGALE V2
PRACTICE: P12 (1:30.451)
QUALIFYING 1: NO TIME RECORDED
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “Unfortunately, we had some technical difficulties that trickled over from yesterday. We thought we had them sorted out after testing, but they popped up again this morning and we couldn’t fix it going into or during the qualifying session. Hopefully tonight we will get it figured out. Praying for some dry weather in the morning so we can get a good qualifying time for both races this weekend.”
BEN SPIES
TEAM PRINCIPAL
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “We had a great Friday. PJ got provisional pole, and he is very happy with the bike. I hope we can make it even better for him. Kayla is riding extremely well for her first time here at Mid-Ohio, which is a very difficult track. Corey had some gremlins with the bike. I feel for him as we weren’t able to log much time on track today, but I think we will be able to get it fixed for tomorrow. He’s fast at this track and likes it a lot, so we’re going to try to get the bike working well for him and get set for tomorrow.”
