Jake Gagne does the MotoAmerica double in Alabama

2023 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship
Round Two – Barber

Images by Brian J. Nelson

Superbike Race One

Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne won his second race of the young season at Barber Motorsports Park on Saturday, and he did so in the same fashion in which he won 29 races over the course of the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

He started from pole, put his head down, quickly opened up a two-second-plus lead and maintained that lead to the finish of the shortened 16-lap race.

The win, which was the 31st of Gagne’s Superbike career, moved him out of a tie with Cameron Beaubier in the MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Championship and into the lead by himself. He now leads Beaubier by 12 points, 70-58. Beaubier finished fourth on Saturday on his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000 RR.

The man who was closest to Gagne at the finish was his teammate Cameron Petersen, the South African keeping Gagne honest from start to finish and crossing the finish line 1.8 seconds behind the defending two-time Medallia Superbike Champion.

Third place went to Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz, giving Yamaha a one-two-three finish at Barber. Scholtz didn’t get a good start and by the time he got through to third, the two Attack riders had distanced themselves from the rest. Scholtz ended up 6.1 seconds behind Gagne and 2.8 seconds ahead of Beaubier.

Beaubier, meanwhile, had rid himself of the battle he found himself in early with Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin, Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante and Tytlers Cycle Racing’s PJ Jacobsen.

It was Jacobsen who worked his way through that pack to finish fifth, some eight seconds ahead of the Herrin/Escalante battle that went the distance with Herrin beating Escalante by just .289 of a second to take sixth.

Aftercare Scheibe Racing’s Ashton Yates got the better of Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Corey Alexander by just .299 of a second for eighth with Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim rounding out the top 10 finishers.

Saturday’s race was shortened from 20 laps to 16 due to excessive tyre wear.

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Superbike Race one Results

Superbike Race Two

Other than surviving one of the scariest moments of his racing career midway through the Medallia Superbike race at Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday, Jake Gagne had the perfect weekend in Alabama. The two-time defending Medallia Superbike Champion started from pole position and led every lap en route to a clean sweep of the two races.

Sunday’s victory was Gagne’s third in a row, and it increased his lead in the championship to 24 points over Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier, 95-71. The win was also the 32nd AMA Superbike victory for Gagne and it moved him into a tie for fourth overall with Miguel Duhamel and Toni Elias on the all-time AMA Superbike win list.

Gagne’s only scare was when he lost control of his Yamaha YZF-R1, ran on to the grass and dirt on the inside of turn three, somehow saved it and carried on to win the 20-lap race by 2.9 seconds.

Other than that, Gagne’s 32nd win was like the other 31. Get a great start and don’t let anyone else get near you, much less past you.

Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz was second on his Yamaha YZF-R1 with the South African getting the better of Beaubier after a near race-long battle for the position. Their race came down to a last-lap brawl with the pair crossing the finish line just .161 of a second apart and almost hitting as Scholtz unknowingly swerved into Beaubier’s path.

Beaubier, who was fourth on Saturday with the harder-compound Dunlop R5s, switched to the softer R3 Dunlop for race two on Sunday and it paid dividends as he was a fighting third.

Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante had his best Superbike weekend to date, and he ended it in style with an impressive fourth-place finish on Sunday.

Escalante was 5.7 seconds behind Beaubier and some six seconds clear of fifth-placed PJ Jacobsen with the New Yorker getting the better of Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin, who struggled with tyre-wear woes.

With Herrin sixth, seventh went to Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Corey Alexander, who was less than a second ahead of Aftercare Scheibe Racing’s Ashton Yates.

Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Toni Elias was ninth with Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim rounding out the top 10.

The most notable of the non-finishers was Gagne’s team-mate Cameron Petersen with the South African crashing out of second on the opening lap while trying to keep pace with Gagne.

Jake Gagne – Winner

“I got off to another good start. There was some chaos on the grid. I pulled up to the grid last and I got off to a sweet start, luckily. I heard Cam (Petersen) went down in five. I was surprised on my gap. Even on the first lap I think I had a half second on my board, or something. So, I think that kind of gave me that little bit of a separation in the beginning. Put my head down. I was surprised to see 22.4 (a 1:22.4 lap), honestly. Really surprised. So, those first couple laps gave me a good break. We made some improvements on the bike. It was a little easier for me to ride. It was turning a little better than it was yesterday. But I think halfway through out of turn two, I had a moment that I haven’t had in years. Totally sideways, almost highsided. Ran off the inside grass, up over the curb, into the grass up over turn three. It was gnarly. I don’t even know. I think I only lost like a second somehow. I was expecting to lose a lot more than that. So, I got really lucky that I even kept it. After that, I’m like, I got to bring this thing home. I know these guys could – I had enough of a gap, they could reel me in a bit. I just needed to bring it home. Good weekend. This is obviously a track that really, really suits the Yamaha. So, I wanted to come in here and take advantage of that. Next up, Road America. I think all these boys are going to be in the hunt. It’s not going to be easy to get a win there, but we’ll just keep doing our job. Again, hats off to the team. I’m glad we got two dry races in here, because the weather was looking kind of gnarly. Good weekend.”

Mathew Scholtz – Second Place

“I think I pulled a little bit of a gap and Cameron (Beaubier) closed me down. I kind of knew from I think maybe lap six or seven that Cam had a couple tenths on me. So, I didn’t really try to push as hard as I could on the limits and use too much tyre. Once he passed me, I just made sure I made a couple good laps down that he didn’t pull a gap. There were a couple sectors on the track that he was definitely quicker, a couple sectors I was a little bit faster. On the final lap, I knew Charlotte’s Web was one of the main points that you could pass someone, so I went in there really, really deep. Then ruined the drive coming out. Cameron got up next to me going into corner seven. I brake-passed him there and it was a pretty hard pass. So, I kind of thought that I had a couple bike lengths and going into the final corner I tried to focus on driving out hard. Pushed the front and I just kind of had to close the line a little bit, because I know Cameron was obviously right there and driving off the corner well. Obviously, I don’t mean to try to cut somebody off, but I’m just happy to be sitting up here in second place. Obviously watching Cam ride Moto2 for the last two years, it feels awesome to be up here battling with him. So, well done to Jake (Gagne). He spanked us one more time. Hopefully ,in two weeks’ time we can give him something.”

Cameron Beaubier – Third Place

“This morning I was super happy with how I was riding. I was super happy with the step we made this morning. We made a couple tweaks to the bike overnight and threw the soft tyre in. I’ve been struggling pretty much ever since I got on this bike to make a good time on the soft tyre. I think part of it is I’m just not trusting the TC, I’m not trusting the bike. I felt just really good first from as soon as I rode out of pit lane. I was just trusting the thing. I was really riding the bike. I felt like I made a good step this morning on it. So, we just decided to race on the R3 soft rear, and it was a lot better than yesterday. I had really good grip there at the beginning. I just got stuck behind Josh (Herrin). He was really good on the brakes. Obviously, the Ducati has some speed on the straight. So, that was a little tough, but I put my head down after I was able to get by him and was able to reel in Matty (Scholtz). Matty had a really good pace going, and so did I at the beginning. I saw low 23s for a while on my dash. I was able to pass Matty and just kept my head down. Then I started running into tyre problems. Even my front was pushing around. The rear was coming around here and there. Then I just kind of lost my roll speed around the track. Ended up almost losing it down into five, into Charlotte’s Web. Matty got by. I just tried to do everything I could to stick on Matty’s wheel because he had a really good pace going. He was high 23s, low 24s. I tried to do something with him on the last lap. Like I said, I was struggling just to hang there. I came into the last lap. I was going to try to line him up going into Charlotte’s Web. I wasn’t close enough. Then he pushed the front in the last corner, and I snuck up the inside of him. I thought I was going to beat him to the line, but he got me with a sneaky little swerve. I don’t think he realized I was as close as I was. Hats off to him. He was riding so good. Obviously, Jake (Gagne) rode incredible all weekend. It’s going to be tough to close the gap to that guy, but just happy to get out of here with a podium and move on with the season.”

Superbike Race Two Results

MotoAmerica Superbike Standings

Stock 1000 Race One

Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim had a “terrible” opening round to his Steel Commander Stock 1000 series campaign, but that was then, and this is now and Gillim put his Road Atlanta hiccup behind him to win the first of two Stock 1000 races at Barber Motorsports Park on Saturday.

Gillim bested championship points leader Ezra Beaubier with Beaubier’s Orange Cat Racing teammate Kaleb De Keyrel finishing third for his first career podium in the class in just his third race on the BMW M 1000 RR.

Travis Wyman Racing’s Travis Wyman lost out on his battle with De Keyrel for third, but the Las Vegas resident held on for fourth with Tom Wood Powersports’ Nolan Lamkin rounding out the top five.

Beaubier leads the title chase by 24 points over Wyman, 70-46 with De Keyrel third on 40 points. Gillim trails Beaubier by 35 points.

Hayden Gillim

“Road Atlanta was terrible. I felt like I could do a little bit more at Road Atlanta than I did. Road Atlanta was just everything that I didn’t need to start the season. So, I’m happy to bounce back from a DNF and a 6th or 7th or something and get this win. I knew this weekend was going to be good for me. I needed to capitalize on this track because Road America is going to be freaking hard. It’s going to be another kind of Road Atlanta situation. So, I needed to capitalize on this track. These guys need to slow it up a little bit and let a couple guys get in front of them in order for me to get back in this thing. But it was a good race. I’m happy for the team, myself. I’ve gotten a little bit slower than I did last year, which I’m not happy about. Me and the bike this year just aren’t clicking quite like I did last year. So, I’ve got some stuff I still have to work on. I’m happy. My kid was happy on the podium, so that’s all that matters to me right now.”

Stock 1000 Race One Results

Stock 1000 Race Two

Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim had a horrible opening round to the Steel Commander Stock 1000 Championship at Road Atlanta, but he turned that into a distant memory with his second victory of the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday.

Gillim’s efforts were rewarded as he gained 14 points on championship leader Ezra Beaubier, with the Orange Cat Racing-backed Californian finishing third on Sunday behind Gillim and his teammate Kaleb De Keyrel.

Beaubier now leads Gillim and De Keyrel, who are tied for second, by 26 points, 86-60, with Taylor Knapp Racing’s Taylor Knapp (fourth today) fourth with 50 points and Travis Wyman Racing’s Travis Wyman (DNF today) fifth with 46 points.

Stock 1000 Race Two Results

Stock 1000 Standings

TBA

Supersport Race

Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Xavi Fores won his third Supersport race in succession on Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park and it was a good one to win as the first-ever MotoAmerica “Extended” Supersport race paid double points.

For many, however, it probably felt like two races as changing weather conditions prolonged the proceedings despite the race ultimately being shortened from 37 to 28 laps.

Fores completed the 28 laps in 44 minutes, 43.653 seconds to beat Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Stefano Mesa by 9.8 seconds with the pair battling until the mandatory pit stop left Mesa at a disadvantage that he couldn’t recover from.

Third place went to North East Cycle Outlet Racing’s Anthony Mazziotto with the New Jerseyan keeping his nose clean to earn his second career podium in the Supersport class.

Michael Gilbert Racing’s Michael Gilbert was fourth, some eight seconds behind Mazziotto, with Squid Hunter Racing’s Josh Hayes fifth after starting the final portion of the race on rain tyres – a mistake that forced him to pit quickly after the restart to change to slicks.

Supersport Race Results

Supersport Standings

Junior Cup Race One

16-year-old Floridian Avery Dreher followed up his double win at Road Atlanta last month with another victory in Saturday’s race one at Barber Motorsports Park.

Riding a Kawasaki Ninja 400, Dreher took the victory by just a little more than half a second over SportbikeTrackGear.com’s Max Van. Third place went to New Yorker Yandel Medina who celebrated his first career MotoAmerica podium.

Junior Cup Race One Results

Junior Cup Race Two

Belgian rider Levi Badie came from behind during the race to beat out Bicknese Racing’s Hayden Bicknese by only three milliseconds. Bad Boys Racing’s Avery Dreher, who won Saturday’s race one, had his winning streak snapped at three victories when he finished third on Sunday.

Junior Cup Race Two Results

Junior Cup Standings

TBA

REV’IT! Twins Cup Race One

The changeable weather conditions on Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park had an effect on some of the day’s races, and REV’IT! Twins Cup race one was one of those. The first feature race of the day, the Twins Cup battle was red-flagged and restarted because of a quick shower that unfortunately led to a couple of crashes.

Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering’s Rocco Landers had his Aprilia in the lead when raindrops fell. Landers signaled that it was raining, and he dropped back in the pack until the race was stopped.

On the restart, Landers made his way back to the front to notch his second race win in a row. Landers bested The WagBar MP13 Racing Yamaha’s Kayla Yaakov, the 15-year-old finishing as runner-up in her REV’IT! Twins Cup debut. Rounding out the podium was Team Iso Yamaha’s Dominic Doyle.

Rocco Landers

“That’s how you want races to go. The second half, for sure. The first half was a little bit gnarly. But Kayla (Yaakov) is riding amazing. I did not expect this. I don’t think anyone on the grid expected her to come back this strong. So many good races with Dom (Doyle). So many good races. Been on the podium with him so many times. It’s an incredible feeling to share the podium with these two people. It’s awesome.”

Landers’s victory was the 11th REV’IT! Twins class win, which moved him to the top on the all-time win list for the class.

REV’IT! Twins Cup Race One Results

REV’IT! Twins Cup Race Two

Defending REV’IT! Twins Cup Champion Blake Davis leads Gus Rodio and Hayden Schultz by just two points after three rounds and six races.

Despite not taking part in the two races at Daytona and DNFing the first race at Road Atlanta, Rocco Landers is lurking in fourth just 12 points behind after winning both races in Alabama. Two non-finishes by former runaway championship leader Gus Rodio, have flipped the championship upside down.

Davis finished second in Sunday’s race aboard his N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha and took over first place in the standings by two points over Rodio.

The WagBar MP13 Racing’s Kayla Yaakov got her second podium finish in as many days with a third-place finish on Sunday to go with her second-place finish on Saturday. Yaakov missed the Daytona and Road Atlanta rounds of the REV’IT! Twins Cup Championship due to injury, but she came back strong at Barber Motorsports Park in her debut weekend in the class.

REV’IT! Twins Cup Race Two Results

REV’IT! Twins Cup Standings