Mathew Scholtz won MotoAmerica Supersport Race One Saturday at Ridge Motorsports Park, in Shelton, Washington. Riding his Strack Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 on Dunlop slick control tires, Scholtz rode bravely through a light rain to win the 15-lap race by 2.192 seconds. And by winning the race, his fifth of the season, Scholtz took over the Championship point lead.
PJ Jacobsen was with Scholtz for the first part of the race but couldn’t match the South African’s late pace. Jacobsen was able to hold off his Rahal Ducati Moto w/XPEL teammate Kayla Yaakov to take the runner-up spot, however.
Yaakov put pressure on Jacobsen late in the race but eased up on the final lap to celebrate third place — and her first podium finish with her new team — with a big wheelie across the finish line.
Altus Motorsports Suzuki’s Jake Lewis came out on top of a three-way fight for fourth place. Tytlers Cycle Racing Kawasaki’s Stefano Mesa finished fifth, 0.162 second behind Lewis and 0.222 second ahead of Teagg Hobbs, who got sixth on his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R750.
David Anthony was seventh on his Wrench Motorcycles Suzuki.
Hobbs’ teammate Tyler Scott led the first three laps and was fighting for the lead for several more laps until he was slowed by a technical issue that resulted in him slipping back to eighth.
Corey Alexander was also hindered by an unknown issue that caused him to drop out of the lead group and drop back to an eventual ninth-place finish.
Blake Davis rounded out the top 10 finishers on his N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha.
More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:
Scholtz Takes Over Supersport Points Lead At Ridge Motorsports Park
Mathew Scholtz Takes Over At The Top, Kayla Yaakov Podiums
SHELTON, WA (June 29, 2024) – Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz took over at the top of the Supersport Championship point standings for the first time this season on Saturday at Ridge Motorsports Park with the South African beating series rival PJ Jacobsen and his Rahal Ducati Moto Panigale V2 by 2.1 seconds.
The race was a battle with as many as seven riders at the front in the early going, but that whittled down to four and ultimately three. And then there was one with Scholtz taking his fifth win of the year and his third in a row to move into the lead in the championship standings by just three points over Jacobsen.
Third place went to the impressive Kayla Yaakov with the Rahal Ducati Moto racer landing on the Supersport podium for the second time in her career and the first in dry racing conditions.
Well, not completely dry as there were spits of rain throughout the race, but never enough for rain tires to be even a consideration. This one was definitely a dry race and she ranked it above her first podium last year in the rain at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
“This was a real podium,” Yaakov said after battling with the best of the best.
Yaakov ended up just 4.5 seconds from the lead as she’s finally found a set-up with the Rahal Ducati Moto Panigale V2 that she’s comfortable with.
Altus Motorsports’ Jake Lewis came out on top of a three-rider battle for fourth, besting Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Stefano Mesa by just .162 of a second and .384 of a second over Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Teagg Hobbs.
Wrench Motorcycles’ David Anthony, Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott, Rahal Ducati Moto’s Corey Alexander and N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s Blake Davis rounded out the top 10.
“It was a bit of a weird one. Obviously, my starts sucked, as usual. Kayla (Yaakov) cut me off good. It was crazy. I think her and Corey (Alexander) touched and I kind of got bogged down a little bit. Made my way up to third or second following PJ (Jacobsen) and Tyler (Scott). I felt comfortable. I think we were doing 44.8s by then. I was like, ‘This feels slow, guys. Come on.’ Then I got up to first and I was doing 44.5s. I was riding over my head. I was almost highsiding coming out of corners, losing the front. It was just a difficult race. I think that when you followed somebody, it felt comfortable doing it, but when you got to the front, you couldn’t really know how much harder you could push. When it’s like that, you lose grip extremely quickly. You don’t really feel what the bike is doing. I don’t have enough torque to keep the rear tire spinning coming out of the corners. So, once I lose it, it goes really, really quick. I had a pretty decent moment at 13 at the top of the hill. Then I kind of settled into a pace and was doing high 44, low 45, which is a lot slower than we had been going. But overall, I was getting worried with about seven laps to go, that it was only .3 of a gap. So, I was thinking maybe I should let PJ pass me and we would just battle out in the final lap. Then I think with maybe five laps to go, I started picking up the pace and opened it up to a second gap. I kind of knew that it was my race to lose from then. Overall, just looking forward to having a fully dry race tomorrow and doing 42s and 43s, what we should be doing. Not like nearly crashing doing 46s out there. So that was a sketchy one, but obviously happy to take the championship lead. I think that the team have been working hard and they deserve this right now.”
Stock 1000 – Gillim’s Fourth
Real Steel Motorsports’ Hayden Gillim won his fourth race of the five-race-old Stock 1000 season at Ridge Motorsports Park on Saturday with the defending series champion winning by a controlled 2.4 seconds on his Honda CBR1000RR-R SP.
The man who kept Gillim in check was OrangeCat Racing’s Jayson Uribe with the Californian earning his second podium of the season and just one race removed from his first-career Stock 1000 victory at Brainerd International Raceway two weeks ago.
Third place went to Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates with the Georgian trailing Motorsport Exotica’s Andrew Lee for most of the race before making his move on Lee and his BMW M1000 RR.
The podium was Yates’ third in a row.
Lee had his best finish of what has been a difficult season thus far with his fourth-place finish.
FLO4Law Racing’s Benjamin Smith came out on top of a battle with Visit Indiana/Tom Wood Powersports’ Nolan Lamkin with those spending a lot of the race right at the tail of the Yates/Lee battle.
Gillim crashed out of race two at Brainerd a few weeks ago and he learned a lesson from that.
“After that race at Brainerd, I told everybody at the team, ‘Hey, I need y’all to keep my head on straight.’ We’re racing Stock 1000, not trying to chase the Superbike times, necessarily. We can do it in practice and everything, but the races need to be a little bit more controlled. So, I tried to do that, but Jason was pushing me. I wanted to push a little harder and see what I could do, but also, I have been having some little moments on the front here and there and didn’t want to override it. I knew if I could get through a couple spots pretty good, it would be really hard to make a pass. So, I just felt like if I was consistent and kept my lines tight, ran everything smooth, was getting off the corners good, I thought I could at least keep them behind me. I knew with the track being a little cooler maybe the tires would go off a bit. I felt pretty good once that started happening this weekend. So, I felt like once we could get to that point, maybe I could get a little bit of a gap. But it was a good race. I’m happy. I’m most happy just about my starts this year. Everything has been going good right off the line. So, as long as I can keep that up, it makes my life a little bit easier. The whole Steel Commander Southern Powersports Honda team has given me a really great bike this whole year. The Honda has been really good. It surprised me a bunch right from the beginning how good the thing was. I expected there to be a little bit more of a learning curve for me. It’s been really good. I’m loving it. I’m enjoying riding. The thing is super, super competitive. I’m just having fun. Got the family with me at all the races. We’re making a little road trip out of this West Coast swing. Just enjoying it.”
Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. Moore Continues Domination
Mikayla Moore won her fourth race of the five-race-old season on Saturday in the Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. and she did so in typical Mikayla Moore fashion. By a country mile.
Moore led by 10 seconds after three laps, 15 seconds after four laps… you get the picture. At the end of the eight-lap race, she was almost 34 seconds clear after setting a new lap record with a 2:02.801.
Aubrey Credaroli crashed out of second after battling with Camille Conrad and that handed Conrad her fourth podium finish of the season while also moving her to second in the championship.
Third place went to podium-first-timer Kira Knebel, some three seconds behind Conrad and well clear of Emma Betters, who was bouncing back from a big crash on Friday. Miranda Cain rounded out the top five finishers.
So how does Moore motivate herself?
“Being out there, being in the front, I know if I’m able to set the pace for the group, if they want to come along with me, they can,” Moore said. “I really don’t start picking up speed until probably the second lap. So, the first lap is really just getting through the first few corners and then once I cross the finish line, it’s on to racing. There have been times like last year at Ridge, Kayleigh (Buyck) stuck with me pretty much the whole time. So, for me, it’s really just about setting lap records to show anyone else that comes to this track on a Royal Enfield that that should be your goal, to be able to beat my lap record.”
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship – Wyman!
Two races were held in the rain on Saturday afternoon at Ridge Motorsports Park and the last race of the day was the wettest – the second round of the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship. The racer who took the most advantage of the conditions was KWR’s Cody Wyman, with the youngest of the three Wyman brothers riding to a 7.9-second win over his teammate Hayden Schultz.
For Wyman it was his first career Super Hooligan victory, and it also made him the first rider in MotoAmerica history to score a podium finish in four different classes – Junior Cup, Twins Cup, Stock 1000 and the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship.
Schultz was happy with second on his Kyle Wyman-owned Harley-Davidson Pan America with the Arkansas resident 5.3 seconds ahead of S&S Cycle/Indian Motorcycle’s defending series champion Tyler O’Hara who battled with a surging throttle for the entire race to finish on the podium.
Roland Sands Design’s Hawk Mazzotta was a career-high fourth in the class, some five seconds ahead of Travis Wyman.
With the win, Cody Wyman takes over the championship points lead, 54-49, over O’Hara. Cory West, who led the title chase after Daytona, slips to third with 41 points after crashing out of today’s race.
“For sure, happy to see the rain,” Wyman said. “We were pretty far behind from yesterday. Like I said, we really missed out on a lot of track time. Mostly my fault. But Hayden (Schultz) really stepped up as a teammate to help me with gearing and just get me back up to speed. We’ve learned so much in just a few days really riding these Pan Americas. This learning curve is really steep at first. So, we’re really getting a lot out of these bikes. Stoked with the rain. I always love the rain. I knew that would help me kind of get a little bit more equal to the guys up front. Crazy race, though. Everyone was dealing with their own little issues, maybe more than others. But I knew this place was good in the rain. So, I had some confidence. I’ve done a lot of Champ schools here and ridden in the rain on DOTs. It was the longest four-lap race I’ve ever had. Just so thankful for Harley-Davidson and for my brother for doing so much. Gene Burcham building the bikes. I didn’t expect to be winning today. So, pretty awesome.”
More, from a press release issued by Rahal Ducati Moto:
THE RIDGE RACE 1
SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 2024 | QUALIFYING 2 & RACE 1
The Rahal Ducati Moto team entered Saturday’s race day with momentum after strong practice and qualifying sessions on Friday. Qualifying 2 allowed the riders the chance to advance their starting positions and ultimately ended with PJ Jacobsen scoring the pole position and setting a new track record. With Corey Alexander claiming the fourth starting position and Kayla Yaakov earning the fifth grid spot, today’s race marked the first time the Rahal Ducati Moto team had all three riders start in the top five.
While conditions for the race proved to be testing, with a light sprinkle falling over the Shelton, Washington, track, Jacobsen and Yaakov earned a set of podium finishes for the team with Corey Alexander finishing in ninth.
A new day of racing will begin tomorrow with a morning warm up session followed by Race 2 in the afternoon.
PJ JACOBSEN
No. 15 XPEL DUCATI PANIGALE V2
STARTED: 1st
FINISHED: 2nd
CHAMPIONSHIP: 2nd (191 pts)
NOTES: Remains the only rider in his class to finish all championship points races on the podium, collecting his ninth of the season // Despite sliding into second in the championship, remains in the championship hunt with just three points behind new points leader Mathew Scholtz
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “The race today went okay. I really wanted to win but my tire started dropping off so it got pretty difficult, especially in the last five laps. It was getting super slippery and it was hard to ride the bike. [Mathew] Scholtz beat us in that race, but I’m so proud of my teammate Kayla, she rode a great race and did an amazing job. To have two Rahal Ducati Moto XPEL bikes on the podium was great, and I’m looking forward to Race 2 tomorrow.”
KAYLA YAAKOV
No. 19 XPEL DUCATI PANIGALE V2
STARTED: 5th
FINISHED: 3rd
CHAMPIONSHIP: 10th (69 pts)
NOTES: Earned her first podium-finish of the season and her second-career Supersport podium (first was New Jersey 2023) // Records the team’s 12th podium finish // Made several impressive passes throughout the race to claim and maintain the third position // Remained nose-to-tail with second place finisher, Jacobsen throughout the race
WHAT SHE’S SAYING: “This one means a lot. This has been a long time coming, and to do it in my first real year in Supersport is insane. I can’t thank this entire Rahal Ducati Moto team enough. This wouldn’t have been possible without them. This race was crazy – battling up in the front. I was surprised by the slow pace in the first couple of laps, but it played in our favor, and we were able to conserve a bit for the end. This wouldn’t be possible without Graham [Rahal], Ben [Spies], my mechanics Michael Godin and Hugo Peralta, my Dad, Steve [Weir], and all the guys working on my bike. XPEL, ELF, Ducati, Mission Foods, and more have all helped so much. Thank you all.
“It was dry in the beginning, but when the rain started it, got a bit sketchy. With the stacked field, and two previous Superbike riders on the podium as well is pretty amazing. I’m finally understanding what the bike needs. Even in Q2, we made a very minor change overnight and it helped a lot. At the beginning of the season, it felt like we were behind every single Friday, having to make huge geometry changes. We’re at the point where it’s just small tweaks here and there, but I ride a lot different than my teammates and a lot of the other guys, so the team had to adjust to that. I’m also still learning, so my riding style changes a lot because I’m trying to ride the bike like its a superbike, but it’s so fun. I really enjoy this team, they’ve worked so hard, and the work is paying off.
“I’m always really hard on myself. In the first few rounds, I was beating myself up. I’ve never felt pressure from my team or anyone else to perform, that pressure was really just from myself. I had been in a spot at Road Atlanta to possibly be on the podium in the wet, but struggled a lot in the beginning and qualifying. Now, we’re finally getting to that spot where I feel comfortable being close to the front. We saw it in Qualifying – less than half a second from pole is not a lot of time. It’s emotional because I think I’m starting to shut a lot of people up. I’m sick of hearing that I’m just the girl racer out there. I’m going out there to win.”
COREY ALEXANDER
No. 23 CODE 3 ASSOCIATES DUCATI PANIGALE V2
STARTED: 4th
FINISHED: 9th
CHAMPIONSHIP: 6th (75 pts)
NOTES: Kept with the lead pack for the first half of the race // Struggled with tire degradation toward the middle and end of the race resulting in loss of positions
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “Unfortunately, the weather played a pretty big role in our race today. I felt pretty decent until the fifth or sixth lap, and then my tire really started shredding. I went backward from there as it was really hard to get a feel for whether or not the track was getting wetter because of the rain or if it was my tire. Ultimately, I kind of went into conservation mode with where I was at position-wise. I didn’t see much benefit in trying to push it and possibly having a bigger issue. We got through it, but I’m looking to get back to where we were this morning and the rest of the weekend. Tomorrow will be better.”
BEN SPIES
TEAM PRINCIPAL
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “It was a really good race for us today. PJ got some really good championship points – he had the tire fall off a little bit at the end and lost contact with Mathew [Scholtz]. Kayla rode an incredible race today, it gave her lots of confidence and we’re so happy for her. Congrats to Mathew for the win, but at the same time she got the ride of the day. Corey had a little bit of a tire issue as well the whole race, so we’re looking to rebound tomorrow and get some great results for the team under some better weather.”
