Random notes, feedback, statistics, musings, and bits of trivia from the MotoAmerica Superbikes at Ridge occasion:
Tight At The High
5 rounds and 11 races into the 2024 Metal Commander Superbike Championship, and we’re simply previous the midway level of the season with 4 rounds and 9 races left to determine all of it. Within the ten-year historical past of the MotoAmerica collection, the factors standings have by no means been this shut on the prime and at this level within the season. Lower than 10 factors separate Wrench Bikes’ Bobby Fong, Assault Efficiency/Progressive/Yamaha Racing teammates Jake Gagne and Cameron Petersen, and Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin. And among the riders under the highest 4 are additionally not out of rivalry for the Championship, both.
We’ve received three races arising subsequent weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and they’re completely crucial. A rider who will get scorching on the “dry lagoon” and runs the desk with three wins might break from the pack with momentum to propel them into the ultimate three rounds of the season. However don’t depend on it. The best way this season has gone, one rider profitable all three races at Laguna is a really tall job. We will quickly see.
Quick Occasions At Ridge Mount Excessive
Because the years go at Ridge Motorsports Park, and as is the case with most racetracks, the racing floor improves. Increasingly tire rubber will get embedded into the asphalt combination, lowering the abrasiveness and offering extra rubber-to-rubber contact. Plus, riders enhance, bikes enhance, and the Dunlop tires enhance, too.
Consequently, a bevy of latest lap information was set once more this previous weekend on the 16-turn, 2.47-mile highway course. In Inventory 1000, Actual Metal Motorsports Honda rider Hayden Gillim continued his assault on the file books as he set a brand new class lap file of 1:40.904 in Saturday morning’s Qualifying 2. Then, later within the day on Saturday, Gillim did a lap of 1:41.435 throughout Inventory 1000 race one, which was a brand new race lap file.
Additionally on Saturday, in Supersport Qualifying 2, Rahal Ducati Moto’s PJ Jacobsen set a brand new class lap file of 1:42.524. Then, throughout Sunday’s banger of a Supersport race two (extra on that later), Strack Racing Yamaha’s Mathew Scholtz established a brand new race lap file of 1:43.102.
Within the Mission Tremendous Hooligan Nationwide Championship, Saddlemen/Harley-Davidson’s Jake Lewis did a lap of 1:45.554 on his solution to profitable Sunday’s race two, which was a brand new race lap file within the high-handlebar-heroes class.
Mikayla Moore simply goes sooner and sooner each time she is on observe. The defending Royal Enfield Construct. Prepare. Race. Champion and present factors chief ended her weekend at Ridge by setting each a brand new class lap file and a race lap file of 2:02.327 throughout Sunday’s race two.
Sunday’s Supersport Banger
Throughout Sunday’s Supersport race two, instantly after Strack Racing Yamaha‘s Mathew Scholtz overtook Rahal Ducati Moto’s PJ Jacobsen for the race lead, which resulted in Jacobsen crashing out of the race, MotoAmerica Race Management fastidiously studied the incident by analyzing the video proof supplied by their very own devoted cameras. They dominated that the matter was a “racing incident,” and Scholtz went on to win the race whereas Jacobsen didn’t end (DNF). Shortly after the checkered flag, Rahal Ducati Moto filed a proper protest towards Mathew Scholtz. Race Management re-evaluated the incident and finally upheld the protest. Scholtz was given a three-second penalty for “inflicting a crash.”
Finally, the end result was that Rahal Ducati Moto gained the protest, however Scholtz nonetheless gained the race. The three-second penalty wasn’t sufficient to vary the ending order, nonetheless. As an alternative of profitable Sunday’s race two by 8.530 seconds over Jacobsen’s teammate Kayla Yaakov, Scholtz ended up profitable by 5.530 seconds. Nonetheless an honest margin of victory both approach for Scholtz.
A Plethora Of Podiums
Two riders from two completely different race lessons celebrated comparable accomplishments on Saturday at Ridge Motorsports Park. With Imaginative and prescient Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Xavi Forés ending on the rostrum in Metal Commander Superbike race one, he grew to become the one skilled bike highway racer on the planet to succeed in the rostrum in World Superbike, British Superbike, Germany’s IDM Superbike, Italy’s CIV Superbike, and MotoAmerica Superbike.
Additionally on Saturday, when KWR/Harley-Davidson’s Cody Wyman gained Mission Tremendous Hooligan Nationwide Championship race one, he grew to become the second rider in MotoAmerica historical past to podium in 4 completely different race lessons: Junior Cup, Twins Cup, Inventory 1000, and Tremendous Hooligan. Who, you would possibly ask, was the first rider to perform the feat? The reply is Rocco Landers, and he podiumed in his fourth MotoAmerica race class as lately because the earlier spherical at Brainerd Worldwide Raceway. Landers had already podiumed in Junior Cup, Twins Cup, and Supersport. And, at Brainerd, his podium end in Mission King Of The Baggers introduced his tally to 4.
Congratulations to each Xavi and Cody, and in addition a belated congratulations to Rocco. Take a well-deserved bow, gents.
Caught In A Lure
After the unusual phenomenon wherein BPR Racing Yamaha Inventory 1000 rider Tyler Bengford was the quickest man within the land at Brainerd Worldwide Raceway, issues returned to regular with a Metal Commander Superbike rider going the quickest general at Ridge Motorsports Park:
Metal Commander Superbike
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin went 165.7 miles per hour on lap 12 of the 14 he accomplished throughout Friday’s Metal Commander Superbike Qualifying 1.
Inventory 1000
Staff Brazil’s Danilo Lewis achieved a most entice velocity of 159.9 miles per hour on the eleventh and ultimate lap he did aboard his BMW M 1000 RR throughout Friday’s Inventory 1000 Qualifying 1.
Supersport
N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha rider Blake Davis achieved the very best Supersport entice velocity of 149.7 miles per hour on his fifteenth and ultimate lap throughout Saturdayh’s Qualifying 2.
Mission Tremendous Hooligan Nationwide Championship
S&S/Indian Bike’s Troy Herfoss received his Indian FTR1200 as much as a category most entice velocity of 144.6 miles per hour on lap 5 of Sunday’s 8-lap Mission Tremendous Hooligan Nationwide Championship race two.
Royal Enfield Construct. Prepare. Race.
Camille Conrad maxed out her Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 at 106.5 miles per hour on lap 7 of Saturday’s 8-lap race one.
It Don’t Imply A Factor If You Ain’t Obtained That Swingarm
One of many secrets and techniques to Wrench Bikes’ Bobby Fong’s success in Metal Commander Superbike is the custom-engineered and fabricated components that David Anthony’s ADR Motorsports have created for Fong’s Yamaha YZF-R1. The bike’s swingarm is an absolute murals and science, resplendent in CNC-machined and welded billet aluminum. After Fong’s podium end in Sunday’s Metal Commander Superbike race two, he revealed that his workforce truly tried out one other totally new swingarm in Sunday morning heat up, and Fong used it within the race. “Immediately was nice,” Fong stated. “We rode good. I felt just like the bike was fairly good. We tried a brand new swingarm this morning, and I used to be actually not sure of it. I’m nonetheless not sure of it, nevertheless it labored nice.”
Who’ll Cease The Rain?
A lot to everybody’s shock on Saturday, rain descended on Ridge Motorsport Park, and it made issues fascinating for the day’s races with a few of them formally declared “dry” regardless that there was mild precipitation falling. In Supersport race one, the droplets on the printed digital camera lenses across the circuit had been a telltale signal that it was, in actual fact, raining. However, the observe floor wasn’t fully moist.
Once you’re the rider within the lead, you tackle the added duty of serving to to determine if the rain is falling exhausting sufficient to red-flag the race in order that the sector can are available, change their slick tires with rain tires, and restart the race. However, even in the event you because the lead rider sign that it’s raining (by waving your hand, for instance), it’s nonetheless Race Management’s resolution whether or not to cease the race. You might find yourself waving your hand in useless if Race Management doesn’t agree with you, and in the event you wave an excessive amount of or decelerate an excessive amount of, it’s possible you’ll get handed and lose the race if the pink flag isn’t proven.
Strack Racing Yamaha’s Mathew Scholtz was within the lead of Saturday’s Supersport race one, and because the race continued, the rain did intensify slightly bit regardless that it was nonetheless thought of mild and never dampening the observe to the purpose the place grip was thought of treacherous. Because it turned out, Scholtz gained the race with out incident.
Afterwards, I requested him if he thought of placing his hand as much as let Race Management know they could need to cease the race. Scholtz’s reply was fascinating and humorous: “I discovered from Barber again in 2021 that it doesn’t actually matter. At this level, I’m simply going to journey till I crash, I assume. It’s what it’s.”
What Scholtz was referring to, and also you in all probability recall, too–particularly in the event you’ve seen the clip we’ve run innumerous occasions on our social media channels of Scholtz and his Westby Racing Yamaha Superbike sliding in tandem down the absolutely moist and slick Barber Motorsports Park observe as in the event that they had been on a Slip ’N Slide–is that he has raced in circumstances far worse than what occurred throughout Saturday’s Supersport race one, so he wasn’t going to even hassle making an attempt to get the race stopped.
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