Press Release | August 15, 2021
Sunday
Superbike
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.
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.
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.
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.
2021 Pittsburgh MotoAmerica Results — Superbike Race Two
- 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)
Supersport
Sunday’s Supersport race was a chance for either HONOS HVMC Racing Kawasaki rider Richie Escalante to do the double and get his second win of the weekend or for M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sean Dylan Kelly to resume his winning ways after Escalante broke Kelly’s six-race winning streak on Saturday. That’s because Kelly or Escalante had won all but one of the 13 races prior to Sunday. And, as it turned out, it was Kelly who got the win, which was his 10th of the season.
As usual, it was far from easy, though, as Escalante shadowed Kelly throughout the entire race. Kelly led 12 laps of the 16-lap event, but Escalante took over the lead on lap 12 and held the position almost to the end. On the final go-around, Kelly, who had been carefully studying Escalante’s racing lines, overtook Escalante in the only place he thought he could make it stick. And he was right. Kelly took the checkered flag by just .064 of a second over Escalante.
Benjamin Smith, who was in third place for most of the race, faded back in the pack as the race approached its conclusion, and Landers Racing/Tyrant Designs/Yamaha/Yamalube’s Rocco Landers emerged as the third rider to stand on the podium.
SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup
SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup race two was similar to Supersport race two in that the two combatants at the top of the championship continue to battle back and forth, and each of those protagonists took race wins at Pitt Race.
Landers Racing Kawasaki rider Ben Gloddy, who had won Saturday’s race while Scott Powersports/KTM rider Tyler Scott faded and finished fourth, faced a much stronger challenge from Scott in race two. In fact, after Scott overtook Gloddy on lap two, the pair swapped the lead back and forth until three laps from the end of the 10-lap race when Scott stabilized his lead despite Gloddy trying everything he could to get around him. Gloddy made one more attempt to take the lead on the final run to the checkers, but Scott ultimately took the victory by .061 of a second.
Bauce Racing/Cybersafe Solutions/JL62 Racing Kawasaki rider Joe Limandri Jr., who recorded his first podium of the 2021 Junior Cup season with a second-place finish on Saturday, finished third on Sunday to make it a double podium for him at Pitt Race.
Stock 1000
Coming into this weekend, Altus Motorsports Suzuki’s Jake Lewis had said that he was looking forward to Pitt Race because it’s one of his favorite tracks. And in Sunday’s Stock 1000 race, the current championship leader showed exactly why it’s a favorite racecourse for him. Lewis started from the pole and led every lap of the 10-lap race to notch his fourth win of the season and extend his championship lead to 20 points over Corey Alexander.
Travis Wyman Racing BMW rider Travis Wyman started second on the grid and maintained his runner-up position all the way to the checkered flag, finishing 1.442 seconds behind Lewis. The surprise of the podium was third-place finisher Hayden Gillim who replaced Jason Farrell aboard the Franklin Armory/Disrupt Racing Kawasaki. Gillim had competed in the three-round King Of The Baggers Championship, but he hasn’t competed in any of MotoAmerica’s sportbike race classes for nearly two years. Also, he had to work on Friday before driving to Pittsburgh, so he missed Stock 1000 first practice and provisional qualifying. Given all that, it was remarkable that Gillim finished third.
Saturday
Superbike
Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha’s Jake Gagne continues his record-setting season of MotoAmerica HONOS Superbike racing as he made it an even dozen today at Pittsburgh International Race Complex with his 12th straight victory of the year.
As is the norm for the runaway championship points leader, Gagne hit the front from pole position, was never headed, and ended up crossing the finish line 11.3 seconds over second place.
It takes a lot for someone to overshadow 12 wins in a row, but on a sunny Saturday at Pitt Race, Toni Elias came pretty close to doing just that. In just his second race of the year and his first-ever outing on a Yamaha YZF-R1, Elias came off the couch to finish second on Josh Herrin’s Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha. Elias, who first threw his leg over the Yamaha on Friday, slotted in behind his temporary teammate Gagne and finished there.
Elias ended up some three seconds ahead of Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz. The South African had survived a hectic first lap with nemesis Loris Baz, the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York-backed Frenchman slamming into Scholtz at least twice in the first handful of corners. Baz would come under attack from M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Cameron Petersen straight away with France clashing with South Africa for a third time in three corners. On the third lap, Baz was gone after crashing out of third place.
From there, Petersen held the spot for a few laps before being passed by Scholtz, who would hold on to third for the rest of the race with Petersen finishing fourth.
With Petersen fourth, fifth place went to a lonely Scheibe Racing BMW’s Hector Barbera with the Spaniard 17.9 seconds behind Petersen and eight seconds ahead of Panera Bread Ducati’s Kyle Wyman in sixth. FLY Racing ADR Motorsports’ Bradley Ward was seventh and M4 ECSTAR Bobby Fong was eighth after starting the race on pit lane and finishing lap one in 26th place.
Ninth place went to Altus Motorsports’ Jake Lewis, the Kentuckian winning the Superbike Cup race in the process as the top finishing Stock 1000. Hayden Gillim, in his first Superbike race of the year on the Franklin Armory/Disrupt Racing Suzuki, was 10th overall and second in the Superbike Cup.
Gagne now has an even 300 points after his 12th win of the year and that puts him 88 points clear of Scholtz, 300-212. Petersen is third with 174 points, 25 more than Fong. The absent Josh Herrin, who is missing his second consecutive race weekend due to COVID-19, drops to fifth in the title chase.
Superbike Race One
- Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
- Toni Elias (Yamaha)
- Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)
- Cameron Petersen (Suzuki)
- Hector Barbera (BMW)
- Kyle Wyman (Ducati)
- Bradley Ward (Suzuki)
- Bobby Fong (Suzuki)
- Jake Lewis (Suzuki)
- Hayden Gillim (Suzuki)
Supersport
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sean Dylan Kelly came into Pitt Race with a six-race winning streak and a total of nine wins on the season. Meanwhile, defending Supersport Champion and HONOS HVMC Racing Kawasaki rider Richie Escalante has two wins this year, and he has finished second to Kelly seven of the nine times that he has won. But, in race one at Pitt Race, Escalante finally turned the tables on Kelly, broke his winning streak, and notched his third victory this year. In this race, Kelly finished second, while Landers Racing Yamaha’s Rocco Landers followed up his second-place finish at Brainerd with a third-place result in race one at Pitt Race
SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup
The points race is tight in the SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup class as the season approaches its conclusion, and Landers Racing Kawasaki rider Ben Gloddy, who is second in the championship, knows that he needs wins over points leader Tyler Scott to overcome his deficit.
Saturday’s race one started out like it was going to be another lap-by-lap battle between second-place Gloddy and race leader Scott. But, as the laps wound down, Gloddy managed to overtake Scott. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a group of riders that included Joe LiMandri Jr., David Kohlstaedt, and Gus Rodio joined the fray.
At the checkers, it was Gloddy who got the win, with Bauce Racing/Cybersafe Solutions/JL62 Racing Kawasaki’s LiMandri Jr. finishing second and just .358 of a second behind Gloddy, while Veloce Racing Kawasaki’s Kohlstaedt finished third and only .259 of a second behind LiMandri Jr.
Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race
The first race of the weekend was round two of the Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. Championship, and CJ Lukacs followed up her win at Brainerd International Raceway with a victory at Pitt Race. And, as a matter of fact, the entire podium at Pitt Race was identical to the one at Brainerd, with Becky Goebel finishing second and Trisha Dahl coming home in third. The seven women who make up the program each custom-built their own Continental GT 650 racebikes, which they are racing in the three-round series.
Twins Cup: Mazziotto Does It Again
The final race of the day on Saturday was the Twins Cup class’s lone event of the weekend. Veloce Racing Aprilia rider Anthony Mazziotto, who joined the team midway through the season, won his second straight race, and in this one, Mazziotto took the checkered flag by more than three seconds over second-place finisher Hayden Schultz, who was aboard his Hayden Schultz Racing Yamaha. Incidentally, Schultz was moved up from third to second after Teagg Hobbs was disqualified following a post-race inspection of his bike. And, with Schultz moving up to second, Righteous Racing Aprilia’s Jody Barry rounded out the podium.
Mini Cup by Motul: Red-Hot Action
In Mini Cup by Motul, which took place on the kart track adjacent to Pitt Race’s main track, Nathan Gouker and Kensei Matsudaira each won both of their respective races. Gouker took both 110-class races aboard his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York Ohvale, while American Racing Team’s Kensei Matsudaira took the victories in both 160-class races. In the 190 class, GPMSC-Xtreme Autoglass Pros’ Ryder Davis was the victor in race one, while California Mini Grand Prix rider Alexander Enriquez wrapped up the round by winning race two.
Friday
Superbike
For the second straight race weekend, Jake Gagne had a different teammate under the Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha awning with the arrival of Toni Elias as a fill-in rider for Josh Herrin. No biggie. Unfazed as always, Gagne went about the business of again being the fastest of the HONOS Superbike men on a hot and sunny Friday at Pittsburgh International Race Complex.
Gagne, who was joined in the team by JD Beach at the last round at Brainerd International Raceway, lapped at a best of 1:41.129 on his second lap of Q1. The Californian spent more time on hot pit than normal during Q1 as he and the team tried some different suspension tweaks. With rain forecast for this evening, it all may be for naught, however, Gagne said.
Gagne bested Westby Racing Mathew Scholtz by .726 of a second with the South African putting in his best lap on his 13th go-around. Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York’s Loris Baz was third, just a tick quicker than M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Cameron Petersen.
Then came Elias in his first day on the bike he’s battled with for his entire MotoAmerica career – the factory YZF-R1. Elias was fast from the get-go on the bike, ending the first session third. He dropped down to eighth early in the session when some chassis changes didn’t work, but he bounced back to fifth when the changes were reversed.
Panera Bread Ducati’s Kyle Wyman was sixth with M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Bobby Fong seventh. Scheibe Racing BMW’s Hector Barbera, Superbike Cupper Jake Lewis on the Altus Motorsports Suzuki, and Travis Wyman Racing BMW’s Travis Wyman rounded out the top 10 on opening day.
Gagne’s 1:41.129 is off Cameron Beaubier’s lap record at Pitt Race with the five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion ripping off a 1:39.472 during Superpole in 2019. Beaubier also holds the race lap record with a 1:40.550 set in race two in 2020.
Junior Cup
The Benjamin Gloddy/Tyler Scott duel resumed on Friday at Pitt Race with Gloddy coming out on top in Q1 on his Landers Racing Kawasaki. Gloddy led Scott Powersports/KTM’s Scott by .852 of a second. Kermoto/Madden Painting’s Cody Wyman rounded out the top three on Friday afternoon.
Supersport
Sean Dylan Kelly kept his hot hand in Supersport’s Q1, the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider ripping off a 1:44.330 to lead North East Cycle Outlet Racing Yamaha’s Benjamin Smith by a tick over a second. Landers Racing Yamaha’s Rocco Landers ended up third on day one. HONOS HVMC’s Racing Kawasaki’s Richie Escalante ended up fifth after a mechanical problem cost him the entire first practice session in the morning.
Stock 1000
MESA37’s Stefano Mesa led the Stock 1000 Q1 session with his 1:44.842, but that lap was bettered by Jake Lewis, Travis Wyman and HONOS HVMC’s Corey Alexander all went quicker in the Superbike session on their Stock 1000-spec motorcycles.
Twins Cup
In Twins Cup Q1, it was Veloce Racing’s Anthony Mazziotto coming out on top by half a second with his 1:49.360. Innovative Motorsports/Mike’s Imports’ Teagg Hobbs and Righteous Racing’s Jody Berry rounded out the top three.
Superbike Q1
- Jake Gagne (Yamaha) 1:41.129
- Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) 1:41.855
- Loris Baz (Ducati) 1:42.096
- Cameron Petersen (Suzuki) 1:42.144
- Toni Elias (Yamaha) 1:42.247
- Kyle Wyman (Ducati) 1:42.292
- Bobby Fong (Suzuki) 1:42.348
- Hector Barbera (BMW) 1:42.820
- Jake Lewis (Suzuki) 1:43.289
- Travis Wyman (BMW) 1:44.179
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