English
Italiano
With a near-perfect performance on Sunday afternoon at Brainerd International Raceway, PJ Jacobsen is no longer the fastest rider in the MotoAmerica paddock to not win a Medallia Superbike race after he added his name to the list of men who have won the premier class in the championship.
With three second-place finishes so far this season and a runner-up finish once in 2022, Jacobsen’s win turned him from bridesmaid to bride and he did it the right way, by besting two-time and defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Jake Gagne in a straight fight. The win also allowed him to step out of the shadow of his five-time Superbike Champion teammate, Cameron Beaubier – the winner of five races thus far in his first season with the Tytlers Cycle Racing team.
After trailing Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha’s Jake Gagne for all of race one on Saturday, Jacobsen was again behind the championship points leader in race two. Until there were nine laps to go. At that point, Jacobsen made his move on Gagne in turn three, got the job done and even put a bit of a cushion between himself and Gagne. Although Gagne put in a late-race charge, Jacobsen was able to withstand the pressure to take that elusive first win by .322 of a second.
Behind those two, Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz was also feeling pressure from behind as Bobby Fong was having the ride of his year on the Wrench Motorcycles Yamaha YZF-R1 and was giving the South African all he could handle in the final laps. Scholtz crossed the line in third with Fong giving up the chase in the final few turns.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch continues to impress in just his second weekend on the GSX-R1000R with another fifth-place finish. Sixth place went to Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim by a tick over Paasch’s Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki teammate Richie Escalante, who struggled with front-tire woes.
Josh Hayes was up to fourth when an off-track excursion knocked him back to 11th. The four-time AMA Superbike Champion, riding the injured Cameron Petersen’s Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing YZF-R1, charged back through to end up eighth.
Aftercare Scheibe Racing’s Ashton Yates was ninth with Thrashed Bike Racing’s Max Flinders rounding out the top 10.
With Beaubier being ruled out of racing on Sunday due to the concussion he suffered in Saturday’s crash, and Josh Herrin’s Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R suffering a mechanical problem that knocked him out of third place, Gagne’s lead in the championship swelled to 68 points over Herrin, 262-194. Beaubier drops to third, 79 points behind Gagne. With his 2-1 weekend tally, Jacobsen jumps past Escalante and into fourth in the title chase, 100 points behind the championship leader.
Superbike Race 2
Photo courtesy MotoAmerica by Brian J. Nelson
