Editorial Notes:
Danilo Petrucci was given a five-second penalty for a jump start, i.e. moving while the start lights were on. Without the penalty he would have finished third.
Unofficially, if Petrucci wins Race Two, Jake Gagne can clinch the 2022 MotoAmerica Medallia Championship by finishing seventh or better.
Update:
Petrucci’s Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC team appealed his jump-start penalty and MotoAmerica ruled in Petrucci’s favor, reversing the penalty, awarding him third place, and demoting PJ Jacobsen to fourth place.
Based on the new Race One results, if Petrucci wins Race Two Gagne must finish fourth or better to win the Championship.
Original Race Results:
Revised Race Results:
22_11_BARBER_SBK_R1_res_REVISED
More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Gagne Plus 13 Points With One Round To Go For MotoAmerica Superbike Title
Gagne Wins His 12th Race Of The Season, Petrucci Third. Title To Be Decided Tomorrow
BIRMINGHAM, AL (September 24, 2022) – All season long, Jake Gagne hasn’t wanted to talk about championship points. Today, at Barber Motorsports Park, he didn’t seem to mind. It’s amazing what a 13-point lead going into the final race of the year will do.
After earning pole position this morning with a new lap record, Gagne did what Gagne does in the race. He took off at the start and was never headed, flanked initially by his wingman on the Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha team Cameron Petersen and ultimately followed home by Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz.
At the end of 20 laps of the 2.38-mile Barber Motorsports Park, Gagne had his 12th win of the season and the 29th of his AMA Superbike career by 5.43 seconds over Scholtz. Scholtz had been on the move early, chasing Petersen until his fellow South African crashed on the sixth lap. From there, Scholtz went into points-scoring mode as those two will battle for third in the championship in tomorrow’s finale with only four points separating them. Petersen, meanwhile, remounted and scored seven valuable points for finishing ninth.
Gagne’s run to the championship tomorrow was originally made easier with Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Danilo Petrucci struggling with a fourth-place finish after being stung with a jump-start penalty of five seconds. The penalty, however, was later overturned on appeal by Petrucci’s team and overturned at roughly 6:30 p.m., giving Petrucci third on the day.
Tytlers Cycle Racing’s PJ Jacobsen was originally credited with third place but the change in the official results moved him back a spot to fourth.
While Gagne pocketed 25 points for winning, Petrucci earned 16 points for finishing third. That gives Gagne a 13-point advantage going into Sunday’s final race of the year.
Fifth place on Saturday went to Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Hector Barbera, giving the BMW team two riders in the top five. Barbera was some nine seconds ahead of the Hayden Gillim/Jake Lewis scrap for sixth.
That spot went to Disrupt Racing’s Gillim over fellow Kentuckian Lewis and his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki by just .059 of a second.
Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing’s Corey Alexander, Petersen and ADR Motorsports’ David Anthony rounded out the top-five finishers.
After 19 of 20 Medallia Superbike races, Gagne leads Petrucci, 356-343, with Petersen third on 279 points. Scholtz is four points behind with 275 and Barbera rounds out the top five with 184 points.
With just one round remaining in the Superbike Cup for racers using Stock 1000-spec motorcycles in the Superbike races, Danilo Lewis leads Altus Motorsports’ Brandon Paasch by six points with Paasch winning today’s race-within-a-race while Lewis finished second.
Superbike Race One
- Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
- Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)
- Danilo Petrucci (Ducati)
- PJ Jacobsen (BMW)
- Hector Barbera (BMW)
- Hayden Gillim (Suzuki)
- Jake Lewis (Suzuki)
- Corey Alexander (BMW)
- Cameron Petersen (Yamaha)
- David Anthony (Suzuki)
Jake Gagne – Winner
“It did (go to plan). Obviously, I keep saying it, but I knew if we could get a win today – I knew these Yamahas were going good. I knew PJ (Jacobsen) was going good. I knew if we could get a little bit of a points spread, everybody would sleep a little bit easier tonight. I’m glad. I think you mentioned, we got a 16-point lead going into tomorrow, so that makes life a little easier. But anything can still happen. It’s still racing. But I got off to a good start. Made one big mistake up over the hill. Almost ran off the track. Then I could see my pit board and I knew Cam (Petersen) was in second. Then he kind of charged back to me. Then all of a sudden, I had that two-second gap, so I saw that he wasn’t on the big screen anymore so he must have went down, which was a bummer. Hats off to Mat (Scholtz) and PJ. These guys both did me a little bit of a favor today and got me some points. Like I said, I think we’ll sleep a little easier tonight knowing we’ve got 16 points (now 13 points). But anything can still happen. It could rain. It’s motorcycle racing. We’ve just got to try to do the same thing tomorrow and get off to a good start, avoid any drama and try to bring this thing home for the team.”
Mathew Scholtz – Second Place
“I think it was coming to corner two. I think Cam (Petersen) was just maybe charging in slightly harder than he had been and just lost the front. I had a very similar moment in the second-to-last corner. I think it was just so hot out there on the track that the front tire was just skidding. It just didn’t seem to want to hook up and turn. It was kind of pushing the front. I felt in the first two or three laps, I must have folded the front at almost every single corner. I was at my limit trying to hold onto Jake (Gagne) and Cam. Once I saw Cameron crash out, it seemed like a pretty small crash. I hope he’s doing good. But I know that I’m battling Cam for third in the championship. I was only about 20 points back, so from then, I kind of knew that if I wanted to try to catch up to Jake I would have had to ride over my head and I just wasn’t willing to do that, knowing the circumstance that Cam had crashed out and I could maybe clinch third in the championship still. So, just kind of went into salvation mode from there. One more time, hats off to Jake. He’s fighting for a championship, and he was out there flying in the first couple laps, showing us how to do things. All the credit goes to him. Well done to PJ. I know that bike is a handful to ride, and he’s doing great. Hopefully tomorrow just try to be up on the box one more time.”
PJ Jacobsen – Third Place (prior to the overturned penalty)
“I really didn’t know (that Danilo Petrucci had been penalized). I saw they had a board out, and I thought I saw nine (Danilo Petrucci). I couldn’t really tell. I didn’t really know, to be honest with you. Then at the end of the race when I looked up at the board, I saw my number was third. I made a huge mistake in the beginning of the race and almost highsided myself in the museum corner. Went almost to the inside of the grass. It just cost me the race to be in front of him fair (and square). I think I could have maybe beat him. But it is what it is. It’s racing and that’s how it is. I’m really happy for my team to get another podium and stand up here for the last MotoAmerica weekend.”
More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:
Gagne Extends Championship Lead with Emphatic Race 1 Victory at Barber
Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne stood on the top step of the podium for the 12th time this season, scoring a dominant win in today’s MotoAmerica Superbike Race 1 at the Barber Motorsports Park. His decisive victory bolstered his title defense in the premier class, giving him a 13-point lead heading into tomorrow’s final race of the season. Cameron Petersen made an impressive comeback from last to ninth after a crash in the challenging conditions.
It was a perfect day for Gagne at the 2.38-mile track in Birmingham, Alabama. He took another track record in qualifying, edging out his teammate to secure his eighth pole position in 10 tries this season. The defending champion then grabbed the holeshot and, on the second lap, set another track record with the fastest race lap. Gagne kept a hot pace to remain unchallenged and finish 5.4 seconds clear of the competition. His 29th career superbike victory gives him a 13-point advantage heading into tomorrow’s final showdown.
Petersen was also on top form aboard his Attack Performance Yamaha R1. He broke the track record yesterday afternoon in the first qualifying session and finished just .288 seconds shy of Gagne in the combined times. The South African got off to a great start behind his teammate and was holding down the runner-up spot with fellow Yamaha rider Mathew Scholtz on his heels. Unfortunately, Petersen made an error in the greasy conditions on Lap 6 and crashed in Turn 2. He remounted and charged his way forward from the back of the field to break the top 10 in the final laps of the 20-lap race, finishing ninth to score valuable points and maintain the third spot in the standings.
The Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing team lines up again tomorrow for MotoAmerica Superbike Race 2 at the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, on Sunday, September 25.
Richard Stanboli – Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing Team Manager
“The Yamaha R1 loves Barber, and so do our riders. After seeing our pace in all of the sessions, we felt both riders had the opportunity to win and could do so without compromising the championship. Jake did what had to be done by winning the race and stretching the points gap to second. Cameron showed great pace all weekend and was poised to challenge Jake for the win. Unfortunately, a low-side crash pushed him back to last, but he recovered to a ninth-place finish. Our goal tomorrow is to cap off the season with another 1-2 finish!”
Jake Gagne – Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing
“Today was an important day for a win, and we made it happen. These R1s are working great here at Barber, especially in the hotter conditions this afternoon. I’m looking forward to the finale tomorrow and bringing the championship home for the team.”
Cameron Petersen – Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing
“Going into Turn 2, I got in there a little bit hot and tucked the front. So just a mistake on my part, which is unfortunate because I felt so good all weekend and wanted to be the team player. At least it worked out for Jake in the end, but having one more bike would have helped him even more. I’m sorry to let the team down, but we’ve got tomorrow, and we’re going to bounce back.”
More, from a press release issued by Westby Racing:
Scholtz’s Saturday Runner-Up Superbike Finish In Alabama Marks His 11th Podium Of The Season
Birmingham, AL – September 24, 2022 – For Mathew Scholtz, rider of the Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike with the big number 11’s on the front and sides, Saturday’s runner-up result in Superbike race one at Barber Motorsports marked his—there’s that number again—11th podium finish of the 2022 MotoAmerica season.
Continuing with the numbers theme, it was also Mathew’s fifth consecutive podium finish and his second runner-up result in the row, making it eight runner-up finishes so far this season with one more race left in the season Sunday afternoon.
Starting from the outside of the front row on the grid, Mathew immediately gave chase to fellow Yamaha riders Jake Gagne and Cameron Petersen. On lap six, Petersen had a tipover, and Mathew took over second place where he went to work on trying to catch Gagne in the lead. As the laps wound down, Mathew decided to stabilize his position as runner-up in the race, which now puts him just four points behind Petersen for third in the championship points standings.
“I think Cam was just maybe charging in slightly harder than he had been and just lost the front,” Mathew said. “I had a very similar moment in the second-to-last corner. I think it was just so hot out there on the track that the front tire was just skidding. It just didn’t seem to want to hook up and turn. It was kind of pushing the front. I felt in the first two or three laps, I must have folded the front at almost every single corner. I was at my limit trying to hold onto Jake and Cam. Once I saw Cam crash out, it seemed like a pretty small crash. I hope he’s doing good. But I know that I’m battling him for third in the championship. I was only about 20 points back, so from then, I kind of knew that if I wanted to try to catch up to Jake, I would have had to ride over my head, and I just wasn’t willing to do that, knowing the circumstance that Cam had crashed out and I could maybe clinch third in the championship still. So, I just kind of went into salvation mode from there. Hopefully, tomorrow, I’ll be up on the box one more time.”
Sunday’s Superbike race two starts at 3:10 p.m. CT and will be broadcast via tape delay on Fox Sports 2 (FS2) at 9 p.m. ET.
For all the action from Barber Motorsports Park, as it happens, subscribe to MotoAmerica Live+, which is MotoAmerica’s live streaming and on-demand service.
Meet Mathew, Get An Autographed Poster, And More
Mathew will be available for autographs during the Dunlop Hot Pit Walk & Autograph Session, scheduled for 11 to 11:40 a.m. Sunday on pit lane at Barber Motorsports Park. He and the team will be handing out free posters and T-shirts, so don’t miss it.
Check Out The Westby Racing Sponsor Showcase
Attack Performance and Puig USA are the featured team sponsors on display in the Westby Racing paddock area this race weekend, so be sure to stop by to say hello and learn about some of the companies that support the team.
For more updates about Westby Racing, including news, photos, and videos, visit http://www.WestbyRacing.com
Also, follow “Westby Racing” on your favorite social media sites.
