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Pole Position, A New Lap Record, Two Race Wins And The Series Points Lead For Jake Gagne At Pittsburgh International Race Complex.

(From left to right) Mathew Scholtz, Maurice Cotton, Jake Gagne and Danilo Petrucci celebrate on the Pitt Race podium. Photo by Brian J. Nelson There are perfect weekends and then there are perfect weekends. Jake Gagne’s weekend at Pittsburgh International Race Complex was as immaculate at it could be. The defending MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Champion and his Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing Superbike didn’t put a wheel wrong at Pitt Race and the result was pole position, a new lap record, two victories and the points lead in the championship. After snatching everything he could on Saturday, Gagne came back on Sunday and did the same thing. This time, however, the big bonus that came with his 10th win of the season and 27th of his career was a one-point lead in the MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Championship. Gagne stormed away at the start, built a lead, and maintained it to the end of the 17-lap race. Behind him, he was getting help from Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz as the South African tore through from sixth on the grid to pass then-championship leader Danilo Petrucci and the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC Panigale V4 R for second place, a spot he would hold to the finish. And that gifted Gagne an extra four championship points, which translated to a one-point lead over Petrucci, 290-289. Scholtz, who was racing with three broken bones in his left wrist, ended up 4.8 seconds behind Gagne and 1.9 seconds ahead of Petrucci, who earned his 14th podium in 16 races with his third-place finish. Early on it was Gagne’s teammate Cameron Petersen who was tussling with Petrucci, but the South African couldn’t keep pace and slipped to fourth at the finish. Tytlers Cycle Racing’s PJ Jacobsen finished fifth, barely besting Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante with both riders bouncing back from crashes in Saturday’s race one. Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim ended up seventh, which made up in small part for his crash in the Yuasa Stock 1000 race. Gillim was just under a second ahead of Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Hector Barbera with the Spaniard being hit with two five-second penalties – one for jumping the start and the other for running straight in the chicane. Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis was ninth with Aftercare Hayes Scheibe Racing’s Ashton Yates rounding out the top 10. With Gagne now leading Petrucci, 290-289, Petersen is third with 241 points, 22 more than Scholtz. Barbera is still fifth with 150 points. The MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Championship resumes at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, New Jersey, September 9-11, with the ninth of 10 rounds. Superbike Race Two - Jake Gagne (Yamaha) - Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) - Danilo Petrucci (Ducati) - Cameron Petersen (Yamaha) - PJ Jacobsen (BMW) - Richie Escalante (Suzuki) - Hayden Gillim (Suzuki) - Hector Barbera (BMW) - Jake Lewis (Suzuki) - Ashton Yates (BMW)

Jake Gagne Wins His 13th Race In A Row At Pittsburgh International Race Complex Call it what you will: Lucky 13 or a baker’s dozen. It matters not. What matters is that Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha’s Jake Gagne continued his complete and utter domination of the 2021 MotoAmerica HONOS Superbike Series with his 13th successive win today at Pittsburgh International Race Complex. But this one was closer. After besting his teammate-for-the-weekend Toni Elias on Saturday by 11.3 seconds, things got a bit tighter on Sunday for Gagne as Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz cut that gap in half, ending up 5.7 seconds behind the runaway championship leader. “Yesterday, I know there was a lot of drama behind me, and I got through a lot faster than I should have compared to the pace that these guys had,” Gagne said after win number 13. “I knew it was going to be closer today. I got off to another good start. Put my head down for a couple laps. I think it was when Mat (Scholtz) finally got into second place, there were two laps or three laps where my pit board was dropping. I was like, ‘Oh, man. He’s pushing me. I got to go.’ I had to drop the times back and drop off a couple 10ths. When I had two or three seconds, it’s still enough to where I can’t do anything crazy, can’t make any mistakes, just hit my marks. I had fun. I love this track, so I’m happy we came out of here with some great results. I had a lot of fun. We had a good turnout. These boys don’t make it easy. We have a little bit of a cushion, and it looks easy, but it’s not easy. One little mishap and we could be off, and these boys could be right there with us. I know we’ve only got two rounds left, six races, so it will be battle royale. I know these guys want to win. I know we want to win, too. So, I’m looking forward to battling it out. I know we’ve been really fortunate this year to have a lot of wins. It’s pretty surreal. It will be a hard-fought last six races and these guys know. I know they’re ready for the fight. I think we’re all looking forward to it.” Scholtz, who had made some tweaks to his Yamaha after Saturday’s third-place finish, started strong and was behind Elias until making a pass on the Spaniard and then doing his best to set off after the always fast-starting Gagne. “We made a decent TC change and just one or two torque changes to try to get it out of the corner better,” Scholtz said. “Yesterday, I was just spinning up way too much, so we kind of just softened it slightly and made one or two TC changes to try to let it hook up better. I felt like it definitely was. It felt pretty cool doing mid 41s during the morning warmup. I kind of knew that I had a decent pace but sliding off. We were doing 40s, which was a little bit of a surprise to me. I kind of followed Toni (Elias) for a couple laps, got past him and Jake (Gagne) was only maybe three or four seconds up. I put in a couple heater laps and I closed in on Jake slightly, but then he obviously noticed that the gap on his board was getting smaller and he turned it back up. So, kudos to him. Overall, really happy just to kind of ride my own pace, my own rhythm and show that we can be up there challenging. We just need to try to get with Jake for those first couple laps and we might be able to do something at the end, but right now Jake is riding incredibly well. Well done to Bob (Fong). I feel like both of us should have been winning this year, but it seems like things weren't really working out for us. It seems like we’re kind of finding our way back to where we should be. So, overall, I’m just happy to be back up here. I’ve got to give a huge thanks to the Westby Racing team. There’s a three-week break now. I get to go and see my wife who I haven’t seen in six or seven months, so I’m really happy about that. It’s going to really make me feel better going to Jersey and to Barber having that time with your special person. It’s kind of been a difficult year staying by myself with no family and stuff.” Third place went to M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Bobby Fong, the three-time HONOS Superbike winner a year ago earning just his third podium of what has been a difficult season for the Californian. “It was weird in the beginning,” Fong said. “I haven’t gone that fast all weekend in the beginning of the race, and this morning I didn’t put on new tires. I had a few heat-cycled tires on the rear, and I just wanted to work on electronics at the end of the race. So, at the beginning of the race I’m like, ‘We’re going fast!’ I could actually open the throttle. I felt like I was actually losing a lot in the beginning of the race, but then as soon as the tire went off, I’m like, ‘Okay. I know the feel now.’ I just kind of sat behind Toni (Elias) and Mat (Scholtz) most of the race. I was just kind of sizing them up. There were places where Mat was stronger than me, and there were some places where I could get him. The last two laps, I felt like I was starting to gain on him, so I was trying to give it more throttle, which on these Superbikes you can’t do. You just spin in one spot. The electronics gets way too active. It just doesn’t work that way. So, I’ve got to work on being a little smoother at the end of the race. But, again, I’m happy to be back up here. Looking forward to New Jersey. Hopefully, it’s dry because we definitely should not go there if it’s raining.” After finishing second in his Yamaha debut on Saturday, Elias slipped to fourth on Sunday, capping off a highly successful weekend in just his second weekend of racing in 2021. Elias ended up some nine seconds behind Fong and five seconds in front of Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York’s Loris Baz, the Frenchman rebounding from a crash in Saturday’s race to finish fifth. M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Cameron Petersen was a lonely sixth, well clear of Scheibe Racing BMW’s Hector Barbera with the Spaniard beating Panera Bread Ducati’s Kyle Wyman on the last lap dash to the flag by just .117 of a second. Altus Motorsports’ Jake Lewis was ninth and the first of the Superbike Cup riders, the Kentuckian beating his neighbor Hayden Gillim by two seconds with Gillim rounding out the top 10 in his first Stock 1000 race of the year. Gagne’s 13th career HONOS Superbike victory puts him in a tie for 15th on the all-time AMA Superbike win list with Blake Young and Doug Polen. The win also gives him a 93-point lead over Scholtz in the championship point standings, 325-232. Petersen is third with 184 points, 19 ahead of his teammate Fong. Baz rounds out the top five with 149, just four points more than the absent Josh Herrin. Superbike Race 2 - Jake Gagne (Yamaha) - Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) - Bobby Fong (Suzuki) - Toni Elias (Yamaha) - Loris Baz (Ducati) - Cameron Petersen (Suzuki) - Hector Barbera (BMW) - Kyle Wyman (Ducati) - Jake Lewis (Suzuki) - Hayden Gillim (Suzuki) For more news checkout our dedicated MotoAmerica News page MotoAmerica News Or visit the official MotoAmerica website motoamerica.com/ Follow us on social media: Instagram: @superbikenews Twitter: @sbknews Facebook: @superbikenews SBN Directory - add your motorcycle related business here

Mathew Scholtz (11) finished second to Gagne with Bobby Fong (50) passing Toni Elias (24) for third place. Photo by Brian J. Nelson

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Toni Elias Bounces Back To Win PittRace Superbike Race

When it comes to last-lap battles, they don’t get much better than the final lap of today’s Motul Superbike race between Toni Elias and Cameron Beaubier in the Championship of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh International Race Complex.

The 18-lap Motul Superbike race came down to the very last lap of the 2.78-mile PittRace course and featured several close passes by both riders. In the end, though, victory went to Elias and his Yoshimura Suzuki – by just .046 of a second from Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Beaubier. It was Elias’ seventh win of the season and the 23rd of his MotoAmerica Superbike career and he dedicated the victory to Brian Drebber, the MotoAmerica announcer who passed away on Thursday from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.

“It was crazy,” Elias said of the final lap. “I’m really proud of the moves these two (Cameron Beaubier and Josh Herrin) are doing during this season because I think there’s not many championships you can see this show. Some days it falls on my side, other days it falls on his side, and other days on his side. So, everybody is there to try to win. It was amazing. I tried to push all the last lap, trying to close the doors, but I knew he (Beaubier) had the pace. He was there. I knew he was there to try it and he did it. The next corner I give it back, but, honestly, I was braking really hard in the last area. He tried. It was a big surprise. I said, ‘wow, where he go?’ He did it, but at the end I was inside and I could continue leading the race until the finish line. I’m happy because this is not our favorite track. We are always struggling a lot here, but this year we’re struggling more. It looks like yesterday we found some solution. My team is giving more than what we have. I felt better than yesterday. I don’t feel comfortable. I feel I’m losing the rear too much on the entrance, on the exit. Too much spin sometimes. With these guys, especially the official Yamaha team, we’re struggling a little bit in the edge grip and that first moment when you want to go out of the corner. But today it looks like we found something was a little bit better. Was not perfect but was a big help. Thanks to my team. Let’s continue like this.”

Beaubier bounced back today after finishing fifth in yesterday’s iffy conditions and, after a slow start, caught and followed Elias until the final lap. At that point he pounced, the two exchanging blows for the entire lap until Elias’ decisive counter punch a few corners from the finish.

“The race started off not the best, I think,” Beaubier said. “I think what I did was hit the pit limiter and the launch control. So, I launched and when I was going, it just hit like a limiter at 11,000 RPM or whatever it’s set at. I made a couple quick shifts and it slotted me back to like fourth place. I was fighting for a position with Matty (Scholtz) and was able to beat him down the hill into five. (Josh) Herrin and (Garrett) Gerloff were riding really good. This place is pretty tough to pass at. I was able to sneak up the inside of Garrett and then Herrin ran or blew the chicane and let me by. Honestly that was pretty big for me because I was able to put my head down and start chipping away at Toni’s (Elias) lead. It wasn’t easy, though. He was riding really good. He definitely upped his pace from practice and yesterday. I wasn’t expecting him to be that fast. That’s all I had. I got in behind him and I just wanted to stay on his wheel and see what I could do the last five laps or so. I knew there was no way I could pass him and gap him or nothing like that. I knew that wasn’t happening. So, I waited until the end and tried to get creative. I was struggling a little bit getting a run onto the front straight into one. Then compared to last year, Toni was really good over turn two down into the braking zone into three and that was where I felt like I could capitalize on him last year, but this year wasn’t the case. It always sucks to come up short, but I was really happy with how I rode this weekend. He (Elias) deserved it. He led almost every lap of the race. Hats off to him. I’m happy we’re going into the last two rounds with a good points lead. We’ve been working so hard this year. Hats off to my guys. I’m really looking forward to going to New Jersey because I didn’t get to race here last year with my shoulder injury, so should be good.”

Third went to Saturday’s Motul Superbike winner Josh Herrin, the Georgian holding off both M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis and Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz by less than a second.

“Can do like in motocross where we get an overall?” Herrin said after posting what would have been a 1-3 moto tally. “I was happy with the race. I think the thing that I was most proud of was that I had struggled in the beginning. I had some big moments going into the corner, like (Garrett) Gerloff and (Valentin) Debise had earlier. It just got in my head. I was just kind of riding around, not really concentrating and looking forward. I was thinking, ‘is it going to do it again?’ the whole time. So, I was proud that I was able to kind of regroup and charge again and do some consistent times by myself. These guys were riding super-fast, Toni (Elias) especially. I wasn’t expecting him to be up there. I thought he was going to get a good start. I thought that Cam (Beaubier) was going to come blowing by, but Toni kept the pace and rode really well. There was a certain part of the race where I felt like me and (Mathew) Scholtz were maybe going to catch a little bit, and it was just motivating. I didn’t think we were going to catch them, but we were at least biting away a little bit and we were using those carrots to kind of move forward. Then they pushed super hard at the end and pulled away again. I lost my carrot there, but I was happy with the last lap. I was able to put my head down and do my fastest lap of the race to get away from (Jake) Lewis. Like I said yesterday, this track is amazing. It was new to me this weekend and I was kind of nervous to ride here because I didn’t think I’d do well because it was a difficult track to learn. I’m super pumped with the track and I can’t wait to come back next year. I think it’s definitely an event that we should look at coming to twice just because the fans are so good here and the track is really good, the racing is really good. I think all of us would say the same thing. We had a lot of fun. Looking forward to New Jersey.”

Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda’s Bobby Fong finished sixth in his second race on the Honda CBR1000RR SP2, improving upon yesterday’s eighth-place finish.

Scheibe Racing BMW’s Danny Eslick was seventh after yesterday’s non-finish with KWR’s Kyle Wyman taking eighth, improving on Saturday’s 10th-place finish. Fly Street Racing’s David Anthony and Thrashed Bike Racing’s Max Flinders rounded out the top 10.

The only two non-finishers were notable in that they were Beaubier’s teammate Garrett Gerloff and Elias’ teammate Roger Hayden. Gerloff crashed on his own accord, with Hayden getting bumped off by Scholtz.

Despite a weekend without a victory, Beaubier has his hands firmly on the title with a 56-point lead and two rounds (four races) left to run. The Californian has 329 points to Elias’ 273. Herrin is third with 228, 101 points adrift of Beaubier. Scholtz and Gerloff round out the top five in the title chase as the series heads to New Jersey Motorsports Park in two weeks.

Supersport – It’s A Beach

In the red-flag-shortened Supersport race, Monster Energy/Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha rider JD Beach edged oh-so-close to clinching the 2018 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship when he made a strong comeback from a so-so result on Saturday at PittRace to win Sunday’s 12-lap feature, albeit by less than a second over Rickdiculous Racing/Yamaha’s Hayden Gillim.

Beach currently holds a 98-point lead over Gillim in the point standings, and he is poised to wrap up the championship at the next round in New Jersey. Yesterday’s third-place finisher Bryce Prince once again finished third aboard his RiderzLaw Racing/KWR Yamaha in the best weekend the California rider has had all season.

“We struggled quite a bit in the race yesterday after about lap six or so,” Beach said. “I think we figured out what it was, and it definitely didn’t happen again in the race for today. I felt like I had really good pace before the first red flag. After the second red flag it was like we were all in a group. (Valentin) Debise and Hayden (Gillim) were passing hard and I was passing Debise trying to get up to Hayden, and then Debise would get back by me. It was going to be a really fun race, and then I was able to get out in front. There were definitely parts of this track that I was struggling at, but I was trying to just be real quick in the parts that I was good at. We were able to get the win. I’m not too sure that would have happened if we would have gone the full race distance, but sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.”

Liqui Moly Junior Cup – Oh, Canada

In Liqui Moly Junior Cup, Saturday’s race winner Alex Dumas did the double and also notched a win on Sunday aboard his KTM Orange Brigade/JP43 Training RC390R. Dumas battled with Quarterley Racing’s Renzo Ferreira for several laps before Ferreira crashed out unhurt. Also crashing unhurt and out of the race was Yates Racing’s Ashton Yates, which opened the door for MP13 Racing Yamaha rider Cory Ventura and RiderzLaw Racing/Yamaha’s Jackson Blackmon, who finished second and third, respectively. Dumas, who now has eight race victories on the season, holds a 64-point advantage in the championship standings.

“This weekend has been incredible for me,” said Dumas. “I’m happy because I won the race and got 25 more points for the championship. I’m really happy about that. My KTM RC390R just went so well this weekend. We made a lot of changes, even all the weekend. I’m really happy how we ended up. I had a good holeshot in the first part of the race. I was able to do a big lap in the half lap, and then there was a red flag, so I just put my head down for the second part. Some guys just passed me, and I was just putting my head down and trying to be in front.”

Stock 1000 – Lee Again!

In Stock 1000, RiderzLaw Racing/Kawasaki’s Andrew Lee, who won his first race of the season at Sonoma Raceway during MotoAmerica’s previous round, emerged victorious again on Sunday at PittRace. The championship points leader had the measure of the field in the red-flag-shortened event and won by nearly seven seconds. Woolich Racing/Kawasaki rider Shane Richardson, who missed two races while he was back home in New Zealand, finished second. Third place went to Team Lewin Estates/Yamaha rider Chad Lewin.

“My goal coming into this weekend was to repeat Sonoma, and thankfully I did it because the crew behind me really stepped up this round and really worked super-hard,” Lee said. “To do it again, same kind of form, was just honestly a dream come true.”

Motul Superbike

Toni Elias (Suzuki)

Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)

Josh Herrin (Yamaha)

Jake Lewis (Suzuki)

Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)

Supersport

JD Beach (Yamaha)

Hayden Gillim (Yamaha)

Bryce Prince (Yamaha)

Anthony Mazziotto III (Yamaha)

Jason Aguilar (Yamaha)

Liqui Moly Junior Cup

Alex Dumas (KTM)

Cory Ventura (Yamaha)

Jackson Blackmon (Yamaha)

Kevin Olmedo (Yamaha)

Toby Khamsouk (Yamaha)

Stock 1000

Andrew Lee (Kawasaki)

Shane Richardson (Kawasaki)

Chad Lewin (Yamaha)

Travis Wyman (BMW)

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Josh Herrin Wins Race One At PittRace

Last year when MotoAmerica visited Pittsburgh International Race Complex for the first time, Josh Herrin was a spectator up on the hill after his team pulled out of the series. Well, what a difference a year makes. Today, Herrin won his first Superbike race in five years, the Attack Performance/Herrin Compound Yamaha rider mastering iffy wet/dry conditions to win the first of two Motul Superbike races of the Championship of Pittsburgh.

Herrin, who won the AMA Superbike Championship in 2013 with four race wins, took the lead from Yoshimura Suzuki’s Toni Elias with a hard pass in turn one, looked over his shoulder at the end of the lap and saw no one. From there he put his head down and pulled away, beating Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s Garrett Gerloff by 2.3 seconds with the Texan on a charge in the latter laps. Ironically, Herrin was actually one of the riders who was vocal about not starting the race in those conditions.

“I just know that in the past there was some guys that if they didn’t feel comfortable they’d step forward and let people know and kind of get the other riders to really speak their opinion,” Herrin explained. “I just wanted to make sure these guys were vocal about what they felt like was a safe decision. Obviously, the race went well. There was nothing that went wrong, but it was pretty sketchy conditions. On the warm-up lap I just made sure I drug my foot over on the track and made sure where the spots were wet so I knew on the first lap I could go at the exact spot I needed to, and I think it really worked out. I found some good lines the first couple laps. I just put my head down. I think I kind of just psyched myself out. I was kind of scared at the beginning and not confident at all. I made kind of a close pass on Toni (Elias). I didn’t mean for it to run in there as much as I did. I got on the side of him and he released the brakes, I released the brakes and we kind of had one of those deals going on. I just put my head down and went as hard as I could. I looked back coming around the front straight and got the gnarliest speed wobble ever. Scared the crap out of me. Saw nobody was there. I was like, ‘okay, maybe they’re on the other side of me.’ Looked over my shoulder the next couple corners and didn’t see them. Then from there just put my head down and went for it.

“The race went smooth. I don’t think I ever really had any big moments, besides that one on the front straight. I was pretty impressed at how the tires were wet in the first part of the track, and then you could just hammer on them right away. I’ve always kind of been nervous to go from wet to dry and just get on it, but the tires worked really well. I’m pumped because I realized on the podium it’s the first time I’ve won a Superbike race in five years. So that’s a huge deal for me. Richard (Stanboli, the team owner) has been racing for I don’t know how long and never got a Superbike win. So, it feels really good to get that for him. It’s something really cool, I think. Me and Richard have a crazy relationship. I’m so pumped that I got the opportunity to work with him this year. I think both of us were able to use each other to shine a little bit more than we ever did in the past. It looks like we’re probably going to do the same thing with him next year and I’m super excited about it. We got a whole year under our belts. We’ve got some sponsors coming in now to give us some actual budget. I feel like we can have a really good year. This will help get the momentum going. I know it’s a half dry, half wet race and I never consider that a real win, but it at least gets my confidence up for the rest of the year. Hopefully, we can build off of it and have a good rest of the year.”

Gerloff was a bit tentative early in the race and it ended up costing him any real chance of catching Herrin. Still, the second-place finish was impressive for the Motul Superbike rookie and it was his second runner-up result of the season.

“Super difficult,” Gerloff said of the conditions. “If we would have had a dry one from the beginning, I would have felt pretty confident, but my past experience this year in the rain hasn’t been too bright. Just was trying to really stay on two wheels until I had kind of a feeling with what the bike was doing through that first section. From the beginning, once we got through turn six or seven, it was dry all the way back to turn two. I knew I just needed to baby myself through the first section and then hammer until turn two again. That was kind of my strategy until the dry line started forming in the first section. Once that happened I felt good. We were still a little off base, but the conditions weren’t ideal obviously. I saw myself catching Toni (Elias) and caught Toni pretty quick. He just let me by, waved me by. I was like, all right, sweet. That’s one down. Then I saw Mathew (Scholtz) up ahead and was charging, trying to catch up to him. I was wondering if it was possible but caught him at a decent rate and got around him on that last lap. I wasn’t even sure if it was the last lap until I came around and saw the checkered flag. I saw this guy (Herrin) getting held up by somebody on an orange bike and I was like, ‘man, if I got one more lap, I’m going for it.’ But it was the checkered flag. All she wrote. Overall, I’m happy and really looking forward to tomorrow. Hopefully it’s a solid day, sun, and we can get a full, clean race in. That’s what I’m excited about.”

South African Mathew Scholtz returned to the podium for the first time since VIRginia International Raceway in May, the Yamalube/Westby Racing Yamaha rider regaining some lost confidence and ending up 3.2 seconds behind Herrin and .9 of a second behind Gerloff who passed him on the final lap.

“The first few rounds of the season we put in a couple results and we looked really good,” Scholtz said. “We were contending for the podium in every single race and we changed the Dunlop tire. We kind of lost our feeling slightly, but I feel like we’ve been getting better and better every single race. I had a couple of crashes and it took me a while to kind of change my riding style to suit it, but I’m very happy to be back up here on the podium. The Yamalube/Westby guys have been working hard. The race was great. (Josh) Herrin went off flying. I tried to follow him. He was a little bit quicker at the start. I feel like I was slowly reeling him in and then he picked his pace up. I picked my pace up and we went backwards and forward. Then probably with about eight laps left I could see that (Garrett) Gerloff was catching me. I tried to up my pace, which I did slightly, but Garrett just ran me down and passed me one more time. I was really happy to be back up here. Thank you so much to everyone that’s actually stuck behind me and supported me through this hard time.”

Defending MotoAmerica Motul Superbike Champion Toni Elias ended up fourth on the Yoshimura Suzuki, some two seconds behind Scholtz and well ahead of championship leader Cameron Beaubier.

Beaubier had an eventful race or, more accurately, an eventful start. The Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing rider entered pit lane after the sighting lap, which is against the rules, and was thus forced to start the race from the back row.

M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis fought back from a bad start to finish sixth with his Kentucky neighbor Roger Hayden seventh on the second Yoshimura Suzuki.

Bobby Fong rode the Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda to eighth in his debut with the team, right behind Hayden and some four seconds clear of Fly Street Racing’s David Anthony. KWR’s Kyle Wyman rounded out the top 10.

Even though his race started with the penalty, Beaubier’s championship didn’t suffer much as Elias only gained two points on him. That puts him 61 points ahead of the Spaniard going into tomorrow’s race two, 309-248. Herrin is third in the title chase, 33 points ahead of Scholtz, with Gerloff fifth, just two points behind the South African.

Supersport – Debise!

Valentin Debise, who missed the first four races of the MotoAmerica Supersport Championship due to injury, scored his second victory of the season aboard his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R600. Debise led every one of the 16 laps over Rickdiculous Racing/Yamaha’s Hayden Gillim, who finished second and a little less than a second behind Debise at the checkers. Riderzlaw Racing/KWR/Yamaha rider Bryce Prince scored his first podium finish of the season as he got past championship leader JD Beach on the final lap.

“Last couple months I worked really hard,” said Debise. “I took a new coach, spent money on him, spent money on training back home in France. Finally, it paid off. So, I’m glad that I did all of this job, and now I feel that I can even improve more. The race was good. We lead the whole race. It never happened to me. So, it was hard for me to keep focused. When I saw plus 1.5 on my board, I kind of not slowing down but just being a little bit safer where I wasn’t on the edge. Then I saw one second that they were getting back on me, so I decided to push it again until the flag. I was able to keep that gap. It was great. I enjoy a lot. We still have some room to improve on my riding style, some room to improve on the bike. So, we’ll keep going and I will keep enjoying every race I go in.”

Liqui Moly Junior Cup – Dumas Is Back

In Liqui Moly Junior Cup, KTM Orange Brigade/JP43 Training rider Alex Dumas notched his seventh win of the season in a race that was red-flagged because of a crash, restarted, and red-flagged again because of another crash. BARTCON Racing/Kawasaki’s Damian Jigalov had gotten past Dumas just before the race was red-flagged the second time, but according to FIM and MotoAmerica rules, the results revert back to the previous completed lap, so Jigalov was credited with second place. MP13 Racing/Yamaha rider Cory Ventura finished third.

“Today went good,” Dumas said. “It wasn’t the pace I was trying to do, but still, I’m really happy with how the race went. Before the red flag, I felt confident. I was surprised that they didn’t pass me, and I was happy just to race with some guys. Then, after the red flag, I didn’t have as good of a start as what I had in the first race, but I’m still really happy and I won with the red flag, so I’m happy.”

Twins Cup – Madama Back In Title Fight

In Saturday’s Twins Cup race, Syndicate/AP MotoArts/Yamaha rider Jason Madama won his third race of the season in a near-photo-finish over Turner Cycle Racing/Suzuki’s Kris Turner. Chris Bays, aboard his RBoM Racing Suzuki, finished third in the red-flagged and restarted four-lap sprint to the checkers.

“I always like to come out and have a good race and I like to battle,” Madama said. “I didn’t know honestly until the last couple laps something was wrong. I knew something was wrong with his bike because he wasn’t there, and he was there the whole race. He had pace on me all weekend. Like I said on the podium, I didn’t get a whole lot of track time. I basically did about 20 laps before the race, so I learned a lot in the race. Before the red flag, I was happy to stay with the front group, and it taught me a lot instantly. Like I said, I kind of got handed the win, but I’ll take it. This is an amazing track. The track is absolutely amazing. I’m in love with it. Honestly, I just want to dedicate this win to Brian Drebber. I was supposed to talk to him today and I’m just really, really bummed about what happened. So, this is going to him.”

Motul Superbike

Josh Herrin (Yamaha)

Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha)

Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)

Toni Elias (Suzuki)

Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)

Supersport

Valentin Debise (Suzuki)

Hayden Gillim (Yamaha)

Bryce Prince (Yamaha)

JD Beach (Yamaha)

Jason Aguilar (Yamaha)

Liqui Moly Junior Cup

Alex Dumas (KTM)

Damian Jigalov (Kawasaki)

Cory Ventura (Yamaha)

Ashton Yates (Kawasaki)

Renzo Ferreira (Kawasaki)

Twins Cup

Jason Madama (Yamaha)

Kris Turner (Suzuki)

Chris Bays (Suzuki)

Tyler Humphreys (Suzuki)