English
Italiano
Other than surviving one of the scariest moments of his racing career midway through the Medallia Superbike race at Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday, Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s 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.
“It could have been bad. I got lucky,” Gagne said of his near crash after the race.
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 tire-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 teammate Cameron Petersen with the South African crashing out of second on the opening lap while trying to keep pace with Gagne.
Photo courtesy Motoamerica by Brian J. Nelson
Superbike Gara 2
Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)
Cameron Beaubier (BMW)
Richie Escalante (Suzuki)
PJ Jacobsen (BMW)
Josh Herrin (Ducati)
Corey Alexander (BMW)
Ashton Yates (BMW)
Toni Elias (Suzuki)
Hayden Gillim (Suzuki)
