More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Gagne Wins His Ninth Medallia Superbike Race Of 2022 In Pittsburgh
Gagne Tops Petrucci And Scholtz To Take 26th Career Superbike Victory
WAMPUM, PA (August 20, 2022) – Jake Gagne earned his ninth MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike victory of the season today in the red-flag interrupted race one of the Superbikes At Pittsburgh, Presented by LaRoche Aviation Services, round at Pittsburgh International Race Complex.
Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Gagne, who earlier in the day earned pole position with a new lap record of 1:39.344 around the 2.78-mile Pittsburgh International Race Complex, led all three starts and every lap of the three portions of the race to claim the 26th win of his AMA Superbike career.
Gagne’s victory also allowed him to claw back five precious championship points on series leader Danilo Petrucci, who finished a fighting second on his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC Panigale V4 R. Petrucci now leads Gagne by eight points, 273-265, with five races (including tomorrow’s race two at Pitt Race) remaining in the 2022 season.
Gagne crossed the line 2.064 seconds ahead of Petrucci at the end of the three-parter, with Petrucci was hounded to the finish line by Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz and Gagne’s teammate Cameron Petersen, with the three separated by just .417 of a second at the conclusion of what ended up being a five-lap sprint.
The runner-up finish was the ultra-consistent Petrucci’s 13th podium in 14 races after the Italian gave it his all in each of the restarts to try and latch on to Gagne.
Scholtz’s race to third was an adventurous one. Riding with a broken left wrist suffered at BIR three weeks ago, the South African was forced off track to avoid Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante, who made a mistake and crashed on the opening lap of the race. Scholtz had charged from well back to seventh when the first red flag was thrown on the seventh lap. Scholtz then charged through on the second restart and was battling with Petersen when another red flag was thrown. In the final portion of the race, Scholtz got the better of his countryman Petersen and the trio – Petrucci, Scholtz and Petersen, crossed the finish line in close formation.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis was a fighting fifth, 9.5 seconds behind Petersen and a tick over a second ahead of his fellow Kentuckian Hayden Gillim, who narrowly topped Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Hector Barbera.
Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing’s Corey Alexander was eighth while Aftercare Hayes Scheibe Racing’s Ashton Yates and ADR Motorsports’ David Anthony rounded out the top 10.
The first red flag was thrown when Ezra Beaubier’s BMW M 1000 RR suffered a mechanical failure and was parked near the side of the track. The second red flag came out when Jeremy Coffey crashed and was in an impact zone.
Other than those two, the notable non-finisher was Tytlers Cycle Racing’s PJ Jacobsen, who crashed out of the final portion of the race.
As mentioned earlier, Petrucci leads Gagne, 273-265, with Petersen third on 228. Scholtz’s 199 points and Barbera’s 142 round out the top five in the championship heading into tomorrow’s race two at Pitt Race.
Jake Gagne – Winner
“Yeah, after crashing a bike, splitting that thing in half… It sucks creating all that work for Richard (Stanboli, the team owner). He gave me a bunch of crap. He told me he had to sell his car. He sent me a picture of a car at Walmart yesterday. I’m glad I got a good crew. We just put it behind us and focused on the racing. The red flags, when you’re out and you get a good start, it’s hard not to be a little frustrated when you see a red flag, but at the same time I understand someone could be hurt out there. I hope everybody is okay and got up okay. But again, three starts. I got two good starts. The third start wasn’t too good, and I could hear Danilo’s (Petrucci) Ducati. I could hear the other Yamaha, I think Cam (Petersen), up the inside. So, I had to go in there pretty deep. But the Dunlops held up good. Like Danilo said, this track when it gets this hot it gets really greasy. It’s a different track than in the morning time. I’m glad that we made a lot of progress with the bike from yesterday. I’m glad we got a couple good starts and avoided the drama. Like you said, we’ll see what happens tomorrow. The weather ain’t looking so good. I think we’ll get the opportunity to see what this place is like in the wet. I don’t think any of us have ever ridden this track in the wet, so that always makes it interesting.”
Danilo Petrucci – Second Place
“I tried my best. Since the warmup lap, I felt the track was really, really greasy. Compared to this morning, it was really, really tough. I really struggled the first part of the race, the first start. Then I really enjoyed from behind. What Jake (Gagne) is able to do on the first lap is really awesome. He let the bike slide. I tried to do the same, but he was simply faster. For two times, I tried to stay as close as possible to him, but in the middle part of the track and in the last part of the track he is a little bit faster. It’s really, really difficult to follow him. At the end, was tough because it was like a sprint race, and you never know what’s going to happen the first lap. You don’t have any space to recover any mistakes. We definitely missed some traction. The problem we have all the year, but let’s see. We are still there, and we have to try to improve our performance.”
Mathew Scholtz – Third Place
“I think when the second red flag came out, I started thinking about my wrist more. It just started hurting slightly more. To be honest, when I was out there riding, I didn’t really feel it too much. So, I can’t really complain and say it was my wrist’s fault. It was definitely just getting pushed off into the third corner on the first start. The second start, I got up to fourth. Caught up to Cam (Petersen). I felt good then. Third on the restart. Obviously, there were only five laps. I got stuck behind PJ (Jacobsen) in the first one. Reeled in Cam and passed him and kind of managed to kind of get behind Danilo, which was really good. I think we showed that on the older tires, we have some serious pace. Just hopefully tomorrow’s race we can be there early on.”
More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:
Gagne Makes Championship Gains with Perfect Saturday at Pitt Race
Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne made championship gains with his ninth victory of the season in a shortened MotoAmerica Superbike Race 1 at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex. His teammate Cameron Petersen finished fourth in a challenging opening race at the eighth round of the championship.
It was a perfect day for Gagne at the 2.78-mile track in Wampum, Pennsylvania. He set the tone early with his seventh pole position of the season and broke another track record with a blistering 1:39.344. When it came time to go racing, he grabbed not one but three holeshots in the twice-restarted race. The reigning Superbike Champion continued to set the pace with some fast laps and built a gap up front to remain unchallenged. Even in the five-lap sprint race after the second restart, Gagne crossed the line with a two-second lead to return to the top of the podium and move within eight points of the championship leader.
Petersen got off to a flying start from the fifth spot on the grid and slotted into second behind his teammate. Although he was shuffled to third five laps into the race, he had a better starting spot on the front row of the grid for the restart. Once again, the South African claimed the runner-up spot but was soon shuffled to third. The second red flag was drawn, making for a heated five-lap sprint. Petersen was third after the start and found himself under pressure, and was passed by his fellow Yamaha rider on the final lap. He tried to counter but ultimately had to settle for fourth.
The Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing team returns tomorrow for MotoAmerica Superbike Race 2 at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex in Wampum, Pennsylvania.
Richard Stanboli – Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing Team Manager
“Our Yamahas once again showed their strength and versatility here at Pitt Race. Jake set another track record and led every lap of the three starts to easily win his ninth race this season. Cameron showed good speed and had great starts, but the two restarts were not as good for him, and he ultimately finished fourth. Tomorrow we will have both riders work together a bit more and push harder to achieve our goal of a 1-2 finish.”
Jake Gagne – Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing
“We got off to some great starts today, and with two red flags, that’s never easy. It’s great to get another win and get some points back. I’m really happy with how this R1 has been working here, and the team is doing an awesome job as always. We’ll try to get another win tomorrow!”
Cameron Petersen – Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing
“It was a tough first race here at Pittsburgh. It’s never fun finishing off the podium, but I had a good battle with the boys and look forward to a better day tomorrow! Thanks to the team for always giving me the best.”
More, from a press release issued by Westby Racing:
Persistence Pays Off With A Podium Finish For Mathew Scholtz In Superbike Race One At Pittsburgh
Wampum, PA – August 20, 2022 – Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz finished third in MotoAmerica Superbike race aboard his Yamaha YZF-R1. Those are the facts about how Mathew and the team fared on Saturday at Pittsburgh International Race Complex, round 8, race 15 of the 10-round, 20-race MotoAmerica Superbike Championship. But there’s so much more to the story than the result. It was a demonstration of persistence, perseverance, and sheer determination for both Mathew and his experienced crew.
Mathew came into the weekend with three still-healing fractured bones in his left wrist, suffered in a crash during final qualifying at the previous MotoAmerica round in Minnesota. Despite the injuries, Mathew went to work at Pitt Race and put his #11 R1 Superbike on the provisional pole in Friday’s first qualifying.
Saturday morning’s final qualifying unfortunately moved Mathew back to sixth on the grid, which put him on the outside of the second row for the start of the weekend’s two races. Saturday afternoon’s race then brought even more adversity as another rider’s miscue resulted in Mathew being pushed off the track and shuffled way back in the field. Despite the huge setback, he immediately went to work running fast laps and overtaking riders as he moved back towards the front.
The race ended up being red-flagged and stopped twice, which resulted in two restarts after the initial start of the 17-lap race. On the second and final re-start of what became a five-lap sprint to the checkered flag, Mathew somehow overcame his injuries along with the added fatigue that were a result of the initial start, being pushed off the track and having to play catch-up, and the two re-starts, and he delivered a third-place result despite everything that conspired against him.
All in all, it was a hero effort for The Scholtz Kid, and one that he, his team, and his many fans will long remember.
“I think, when the second red flag came out, I started thinking about my wrist more. It just started hurting slightly more. To be honest, when I was out there riding, I didn’t really feel it too much. So, I can’t really complain and say it was my wrist’s fault. It was definitely just getting pushed off into the third corner on the first start. The second start, I got up to fourth. Caught up to Cam (Petersen). I felt good then. Third on the restart. Obviously, there were only five laps. I got stuck behind PJ (Jacobsen) in the first one. Reeled in Cam and passed him and managed to get behind Danilo, which was really good. I think we showed that, on the older tires, we have some serious pace. Just, hopefully, in tomorrow’s race, we can be there early on.”
Sunday’s Superbike race two starts at 3 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 2 (FS2).
For all the action from Pitt Race, 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 Pitt Race. 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
Eazi-Grip Racing Products and MWR Air Filters 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
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