HAYDEN WINS MOTOAMERICA SUPERBIKE RACE 2 IN PITTSBURGH ON YOSHIMURA SUZUKI
Elias Builds Series Points Lead to 79 Points, Hayden Regains Second
Chino, CA (Aug. 28, 2017) – Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing’s Roger Hayden broke through to score his second victory of the season Sunday in MotoAmerica Superbike Race 2 in the inaugural series race at Pittsburgh International Race Complex in Wampum, Pennsylvania. Teammate Toni Elias finished second, not only giving Yoshimura Suzuki yet another one-two finish, it also expanded Elias’ series lead to 79 points with just four races remaining on the 2017 MotoAmerica calendar.
Hayden’s standout weekend began by winning Superpole – his series-leading fifth of the year. He was joined at the top of the timing charts by Elias and Jake Lewis, giving the 2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000 a clean sweep of the front row in qualifying.
Elias and Hayden finished second and third respectively in Saturday’s race, before the two ran at the front nearly the entire way in Sunday’s race. Hayden built up a big lead before a red flag stopped the race. On the 6-lap restart Hayden once again quickly powered to the the lead and held on for the victory.
It was the eighth time this season that Yoshimura Suzuki has finished one-two.
It marked Hayden’s sixth-career Superbike victory.
“I’m happy to get this victory not just for me, but also for my family,” Hayden said. “It shows that we’re still here, we’re still racing and we’re still winning. My Suzuki was great today and I thank my whole team for the work they put into making that happen. I’d built a pretty good lead and was disappointed to see the red flag, but on the restart I was determined to get back up front. On that last lap I wasn’t going to let anyone pass me.”
Elias nearly crashed into Cameron Beaubier when Beaubier’s bike lost traction right in front of Elias, but Toni was able to make a quick move to avoid potential trouble and from there rallied to push Hayden all the way to the flag. Hayden’s gap over Elias at the finish in Sunday’s race was 0.263 seconds.
“It was very close for me when Cameron ran off the track,” Elias explained. “I tried my best to catch Roger, but he was too strong today. Fortunately my finishes this weekend have given me a good gap in the points, but I will not rest because the championship is not over until it’s over.”
The series now goes east in two weeks to New Jersey Motorsports Park for the penultimate MotoAmerica round, on Sept. 8-10 in Millville, N.J.
For additional details on the upcoming event visit www.MotoAmerica.com
You can keep up with the team’s progress by visiting yoshimura-racing.com and www.suzukicycles.com/Racing and via YouTube at www.suzukicycles.com/Racing
More, from a press release issued by Yamalube/Westby Racing:
Scholtz Is Burgermeister Of Pittsburgh As He Finishes Second In MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Race 1, Then Wins Race 2 To Further Extend His Championship Lead
Wampum, PA – August 28, 2017 – MotoAmerica’s inaugural race weekend at Pittsburgh International Race Complex gave Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz the perfect opportunity to extend his reign over the 2017 Superstock 1000 Championship.
Mathew was the fastest rider overall at the Dunlop Tire Test held at PIRC earlier this season, so he and the team were looking forward to returning to “The Burgh” this past weekend for Round 8 of the MotoAmerica season, with pole positions to be set, races to be won, and podiums to be celebrated at the 2.78-mile, 19-turn road course.
And celebrate, the Yamalube/Westby Team did as Mathew finished second on Saturday in the Superstock 1000 class and sixth overall in the combined Superbike/Superstock 1000 field. And then, on Sunday, the charismatic South African won the Superstock 1000 class, while finishing fourth overall among all Superbike/Superstock 1000 competitors.
Most importantly, Mathew stretched out his points lead in the 2017 MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Championship to a gaudy 64 points with only two rounds and four races left in the season.
After celebrating his seventh victory and 16th trip to the podium this season, Mathew said, “If I’d done something silly, I could have been part of a battle or two with the Superbikes in front of me, but I was perfectly happy to stay behind them, get the win in Superstock 1000, and continue to increase my points lead. It was a brilliant weekend here in Pittsburgh, and I really love the track, plus I got to meet a lot of really enthusiastic fans. So, a big thanks to them for coming out and watching us race. I’m looking forward to our next round in New Jersey!”
The Yamalube/Westby Racing team will now travel a little further east for the Championship of New Jersey on September 8-10 at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville.
For more updates on Yamalube/Westby Racing, including news, photos, and videos, visit https://www.westbyracing.com
Also, visit “Westby Racing” on your favorite social media site.
More, from a press release issued by Kyle Wyman Racing:
KWR team battles adversity at inaugural Pittsburgh MotoAmerica race
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (Aug. 28) — Kyle Wyman and his Décor Brilliance/Lucas Oil/KWR team fought through adversity this past weekend at Pittsburgh International Race Complex. Wyman rode his Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike to 7th and 6th place class finishes in races one and two, respectively.
Expectations were high for Wyman, since posting the 3rd overall fastest time of the official test at Pitt-Race back in May. After two hour-long qualifying practice sessions, he found himself with the 8th fastest time of the day.
“As we started our weekend at Pitt, it became apparent that we were facing quite a different track than we had back in May,” Wyman said. “Half of the race track had been repaved since then, and we were really struggling for grip on the new surface. It turned out that our setup from the test wasn’t working very well this time around.”
Despite his discomfort, Wyman’s time was good enough to lock himself into Superpole. A personal best time of 1:41.633 on the Dunlop Q-tire would secure his spot in 9th for qualifying, on the third row of the grid for both 18-lap Superbike races.
That afternoon in race one, Wyman opted for the medium compound rear tire for the race, a gamble due to the new abrasive surface and many other teams choosing the harder tires. Wyman settled into a race long battle with two other riders but struggled with rear grip for the entirety of the race.
“In gambling with the softer of the two race tires, I was expecting to have really good grip in the beginning of the race compared to most of the grid,” Wyman said. “Unfortunately I experienced the opposite, and the tire never came in at all. It was bad and then stayed the same for the entire race. I was stuck in the 43’s when I knew the bike was capable of faster.”
After ending up 12th overall, and 7th in class in race one, the KWR team decided to make the best use of the Sunday morning warm-up session. Making no changes at all to the bike, Wyman put on a new tire, but in the harder compound rear. He was able to turn a lap of 1:41.889 on the same exact chassis setup as the day before, over a second faster than in race one and nearly eclipsing his Superpole time.
With high hopes for a better tire choice in race number two, the KWR team mounted a new harder option tire for the 18-lap final and sent Wyman off. A better start in the second race saw Wyman in seventh overall through the first section of the first lap, until multiple near-crash incidents cost him time and an eventual running off the track.
“On the first lap of the race I was eager to put in a hard charge to stay with the front pack,” Wyman said. “Right away the rear started stepping out on corner entry and I had one huge moment on the first lap that got me out of the seat.”
“From there I was just hanging on, but getting passed left and right. I got sucked in deep into one of the corners with the new asphalt and ended up running off the track. I thought my race, and my weekend, was essentially over and again I was stuck running in the 1:43 range of lap times.”
With Wyman back in 14th place and a small chance of recovery, it wasn’t until lap 12 that the red flag came out due to the big crash of Hayden Gillim (who ultimately escaped without injury). The red flag would allow the teams to make changes to the bike, and the field would line up again for a short 6-lap sprint race to the finish. The KWR crew made a ride height change in the rear and a small change to the K-Tech KTR-3 Forks to try to improve rear grip.
“I really had nothing to lose, and only 6 laps to find out if we could really race with the guys,” Wyman said. “Fortunately the changes we made were pretty good and I got to hang onto the front group for the six laps, and dip back into the 42’s that I knew we were capable of from the start. I’m disappointed with 7th in class, 10th overall.”
“It was a frustrating weekend but I’ve learned so much again, like Sonoma, that I know will pay dividends for me in the future. I am ready to put Pittsburgh in the past and focus squarely on New Jersey coming up in just over a week.”
The MotoAmerica series heads to New Jersey Motorsports Park September 8-10, 2017. In the mean time, stay tuned for news and announcements in the coming weeks.
For more information about Décor Brilliance, visit www.decorbrilliance.com
More, from a press release issued by KTM North America:
DUMAS WINS DOUBLE IN PITTSBURGH
Round 7 – KTM RC Cup Championship
Pittsburgh, PA. – Round seven of the 2017 KTM RC Cup Championship, held in conjunction with the 2017 AMA MotoAmerica/FIM North American Road Racing Championship, made its way to the Pittsburgh international Race Complex and JP43 Junior Team’s Alex Dumas came away with a massive double victory taking his first career victory wire-to-wire and winning the next on a last-lap pass.
Pre-race qualifying was once again topped by Quarterly Racing/On Track Development’s Benjamin
Smith (the current RC Cup points leader) with Dumas chasing him down for second at .459 seconds back. Third fastest went to CSVMoto’s Cory Ventura (currently second in points) at 1.073 seconds off the fastest pace set by Smith. The top six qualifiers at the Pittsburgh stop were all within 1.4 seconds at the end of qualifying, ensuring plenty of close racing to come.
Dumas started race one with a statement, bolting away from the line to take the Holeshot while the pre-race speed of Smith was shuffled back through the pack. Soon, it was Smith’s Quarterly Racing/On Track Development teammate Jackson Blackmon battling Ventura for second. While they fought it out up front, Aces High Racing’s Dylan Deutschlander and the Quarterly Racing ride of Draik Beauchamp moved forward through the grid. Smith, working hard to gain ground from a poor start and opening laps, ended up crashing on an outside pass, forcing him to finish with zero points on the race. This put Beauchamp and Deutschlander into fourth and fifth with Savage Racing’s Sean Ungvarsky joining the fray. On the last lap, Blackmon made his move on Ventura for second stick and put down a blistering lap (the first to dip into the 1:59’s all weekend), nearly passing Dumas at the line with a gap of only .045 seconds.
The race victory was Dumas’ first after two runner-up finishes this year.
“In the end, it surprised me Jackson was right behind me and coming so fast,” Dumas Said “I thought it was Benjamin and Cory and then when I saw Benjamin off the track I thought it was just Cory behind me and I didn’t look back. I’ve been here once to do an endurance race so I knew the track pretty well and my bike setup was perfect today and I had a lot of fun.”
Race two took off and Ventura grabbed the Holeshot from the grid. His time up front was to be short-lived as Dumas looked to capitalize on his first race momentum and made a pass into the lead on the first lap. Behind him, Smith and Blackmon followed with Smith looking to rebound from a rare race result outside the points. In the first lap-and-a-half, Smith, Dumas, Ventura and Beauchamp put a gap on Blackmon, Deutschlander and Ungvarsky. But almost immediately a red flag stopped the action on lap two. With a grid-and-go restart ordered and eight laps to go, Dumas made his move to the front and the battle began between himself and Blackmon, Smith and Ventura. Beauchamp slipped back into fifth, losing touch with the tight group of the top four.
On the final lap, Smith passed Ventura for third, allowing Blackmon and Dumas to scrap for the win. Dumas mad a final-lap pass for the lead and held Blackmon to second with Smith salvaging his weekend with a third in race two. Cory Ventura finished fourth with Beauchamp locking down fifth.
The double victory for Dumas was a rare accomplishment. Only the championship leader Smith has done so before this season.
“It was a perfect weekend,” Dumas said. “I was good in practice and qualifying and all weekend long I held a good position in the races. I’m very happy with the setup and the way my mechanic prepped my bikes. We’ve worked hard to get it all right and I feel confident we can carry this momentum to the next race.
Next Event: New Jersey Motorsports Park / September 9-10, 2017
KTM RC Cup Race 1 Results
1. Alex Dumas
2. Jackson Blackmon
3. Cory Ventura
4. Draik Beauchamp
5. Sean Ungvarsky
KTM RC Cup Race 2 Results
1. Alex Dumas
2. Jackson Blackmon
3. Benjamin Smith
4. Cory Ventura
5. Draik Beauchamp
KTM RC Cup Championship Point Standings
1. Benjamin Smith (208)
2. Cory Ventura (184)
3. Jackson Blackmon (176)
4. Alex Dumas (173)
5. Draik Beauchamp (165)