Rennie Scaysbrook | September 12, 2021
Sunday
Superbike
Jake Gagne wrapped up the 2021 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship on a record-setting, two-race Sunday at New Jersey Motorsports Park, the Californian winning his 16th race of the season to match the record held jointly by Josh Hayes and Cameron Beaubier for Superbike wins in a single season while also tying three-time 500cc World Champion Wayne Rainey’s mark for career victories.
Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha’s Gagne won both HONOS Superbike races at NJMP on Sunday after winning the lone race on Saturday in MotoAmerica’s Superbike tripleheader. The two wins were his 15th and 16th on the season (those are also his career win marks in the class) and the first victory on Sunday morning is the one that earned him the 2021 MotoAmerica Superbike crown.
Gagne’s performances were that of a champion, and it was another flawless display in New Jersey.
As he has done all year long, Gagne dominated and again led every single lap of both races en route to the two wins. Gagne has now led 273 consecutive laps in the 2021 season.
The two Superbike podiums on Sunday were identical with Gagne leading Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz and Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha’s Josh Herrin in both.
For Scholtz it was a solid day as he managed to keep Gagne in sight in both races, finishing 9.5 seconds behind in race two and 6.5 seconds behind in race three.
Herrin, meanwhile, was in his comeback weekend after suffering from COVID-19 that forced him out of two rounds of the series. If Herrin’s life wasn’t hectic enough in the past few months, his wife, Rachel, also gave birth to the couple’s first child this week. He put in a tough day’s work on Sunday, however, and came out on top of two hard-fought battles with Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York’s Loris Baz.
Herrin (2) got back on the box mere days after the birth of his son.
With Baz finishing fourth in both races, it was M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Cameron Petersen who finished fifth in both. Sixth place was different, however, with Scheibe Racing’s Hector Barbera earning the spot in race two and Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha’s Toni Elias besting the Spaniard for the spot in race three.
One Cure Ducati’s Kyle Wyman ended the day with seventh- and eighth-place finishes with Altus Motorsports’ Jake Lewis finishing eighth in race two.
Ninth place in race two went to Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates with M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Bobby Fong finishing ninth in race three. Michael Gilbert Racing’s Michael Gilbert was 10th in race two with Tecfil Racing Team’s Danilo Lewis 10th in race three.
2021 New Jersey MotoAmerica Results—Superbike Race Two
| 1 |
Jake Gagne |
(Yam) |
| 2 |
Mathew Scholtz |
(Yam) |
| 3 |
Josh Herrin |
(Yam) |
| 4 |
Loris Baz |
(Duc) |
| 5 |
Cameron Petersen |
(Suz) |
| 6 |
Hector Barbera |
(BMW) |
| 7 |
Kyle Wyman |
(Duc) |
| 8 |
Jake Lewis |
(Suz) |
| 9 |
Ashton Yates |
(Hon) |
| 10 |
Michael Gilbert |
(Kaw) |
2021 New Jersey MotoAmerica Results—Superbike Race Three
| 1 |
Jake Gagne |
(Yam) |
| 2 |
Mathew Scholtz |
(Yam) |
| 3 |
Josh Herrin |
(Yam) |
| 4 |
Loris Baz |
(Duc) |
| 5 |
Cameron Petersen |
(Suz) |
| 6 |
Toni Elias |
(Yam) |
| 7 |
Hector Barbera |
(BMW) |
| 8 |
Kyle Wyman |
(Duc) |
| 9 |
Bobby Fong |
(Suz) |
| 10 |
Danilo Lewis |
(BMW) |
Supersport
In Sunday’s Supersport race two, M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s two-rider team took all the headlines for the 19-lap event as Sam Lochoff won his first-ever MotoAmerica race and Sean Dylan Kelly clinched the 2021 Supersport Championship with his second-place finish. HONOS HVMC Racing Kawasaki rider Richie Escalante finished third, but the defending champion did not surrender his class title without a fight in every race so far this season, including Sunday’s. There were lead changes aplenty throughout the entire race, and all three riders took turns at the front.
Kelly (40) took the crown by Lochoff (44) came through for a career-first Supersport win.
SportbikeTrackGear.Com Junior Cup
In Sunday’s SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup race two, Scott Powersports KTM rider Tyler Scott won his ninth race of the season and extended his points lead to 30 over Landers Racing Kawasaki’s Ben Gloddy, who finished third on Sunday for his 14th podium finish this year. Local rider Gus Rodio, who won at Road America earlier this season, came in second aboard his Rodio Racing Kawasaki for the second day in a row.
It was a demolition job by Tyler Scott in the Junior Cup.
At the checkered flag, Scott won by a little more than seven seconds over Rodio, while Gloddy was another eight seconds behind Rodio.
Twins Cup
Talk about saving the best for last. The final race of the weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park was in Twins Cup, and it was arguably the best race of the entire event, not to mention the best race in that class all year. Which is saying something considering that MotoAmerica’s “tuner class” always puts on a good show for the fans.
Tommaso Marcon (third in this shot) came through to take the twins Cup race two win.
The battle at the front was fierce between Aprilia riders Tommaso Marcon, Anthony Mazziotto, and Max Toth. Marcon, who is an Aprilia test rider in Italy and is racing with Robem Engineering at the final two rounds of the MotoAmerica season, got the win by just .049 of a second over local rider Mazziotto, who competes for Veloce Racing. Marcon’s teammate Max Toth, who also recently joined Robem Engineering, finished third for the second day in a row and only his third race in the class.
Saturday
Superbike
If Jake Gagne manages to get out of bed tomorrow and make it to the grid for the first of two HONOS Superbike races at New Jersey Motorsports Park, he will be crowned as the 2021 MotoAmerica Superbike Champion. Nuff said.
In HONOS Superbike race one on Saturday afternoon, Gagne and his Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha again made a mockery of the rest of the field as he led all 20 laps in winning his 14th straight race by 7.6 seconds. After 15 races, Gagne leads the championship point standings by a whopping 98 points. If he scores two points in race one on Sunday, he will start race two as the 2021 MotoAmerica Superbike Champion – his second MotoAmerica title to go with his 2015 Superstock 1000 title.
Gagne, as he’s been all year, miles in front with no one to challenge him.
Only a brave man would bet against Gagne winning his 15th and 16th straight races tomorrow and the Californian doesn’t seem to be willing to let someone else win.
Second place on Saturday went to Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz, the South African taking the runner-up spot for the fifth time on the season as he solidifies his stranglehold on second in the championship.
Toni Elias had his third outing on the Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha and he put it on the podium for the second time, the Spaniard ending up third, some four seconds adrift of Scholtz and just .132 of a second ahead of M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Bobby Fong.
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York’s Loris Baz finished fifth and some 10 seconds behind Fong after topping the third Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha ridden by the returning Josh Herrin by just .051 of a second.
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Cameron Petersen was seventh, well clear of One Cure Ducati’s Kyle Wyman who was less than a second ahead of Superbike Cup winner Jake Lewis and his Altus Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R1000. FLY Racing ADR Motorsports’ Bradley Ward rounded out the top 10.
2021 New Jersey MotoAmerica Results—Superbike Race One
| 1 |
Jake Gagne |
(Yam) |
| 2 |
Mathew Scholtz |
(Yam) |
| 3 |
Toni Elias |
(Yam) |
| 4 |
Bobby Fong |
(Suz) |
| 5 |
Loris Baz |
(Duc) |
| 6 |
Josh Herrin |
(Yam) |
| 7 |
Cameron Petersen |
(Suz) |
| 8 |
Kyle Wyman |
(Duc) |
| 9 |
Jake Lewis |
(Suz) |
| 10 |
Bradley Ward |
(Suz) |
Stock 1000
Ask any motorcycle road racer, and pretty much all of them will say that the best way to wrap up a championship is to win the race when you clinch. And that’s exactly what happened for Altus Motorsports Suzuki rider Jake Lewis in the weekend’s only Stock 1000 race.
Lewis clinched the title in the best way by winning the Stock 1000 race.
Lewis had the best day of his MotoAmerica career with the win and the championship, but his closest rival Corey Alexander, unfortunately, had one of his worst days. Aboard his “Engine 23” HONOS HVMC Racing Kawasaki – which featured special fire engine-inspired livery in remembrance of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 – had a technical issue with his bike on the grid and was unable to start the race.
Second place went to Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates, who led a large portion of the 15-lap race until Lewis ultimately passed him and went on to the get the win. Meanwhile, the surprise of the day was third-place finisher Mike Selpe, who put his Markbilt Racing Yamaha on the podium in his first-ever MotoAmerica race.
Supersport
In Supersport race one, the expected battle between points leader Sean Dylan Kelly aboard his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki and defending champion Richie Escalante aboard his HONOS HVMC Racing Kawasaki manifested itself in a big way during the 19-lap event. But, before that, it was Kelly’s teammate Sam Lochoff who had the best race of his MotoAmerica career so far. The South African led the race multiple times and mixed it up with both Kelly and Escalante.
As close as it gets, but the win went to Kelly (40).
On the final lap, Kelly and Escalante established themselves at the front, and the battle was on. The season-long rivals swapped the lead at least four times on the final go-around, and Kelly ultimately prevailed by a scant .001 of a second to notch his 11th win of the season thus far and move even closer to clinching the season championship.
SportbikeTrackGear.Com Junior Cup
In SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup race one, Scott Powersports KTM rider Tyler Scott and Landers Racing Kawasaki’s Ben Gloddy were expected to continue their season-long fight for the championship, but a fractured wrist suffered by Gloddy a couple of weeks ago prevented Gloddy from finishing higher than fourth, and he was more than eight-and-a-half seconds behind race-winner Scott when the 13-lap event concluded.
Scott (10) painted the podium in orange with the Junior Cup win.
While Scott tallied his eighth win of the season, the rest of the podium was a battle between Rodio Racing Kawasaki’s Gus Rodio and Bauce Racing/Cybersafe Solutions/JL62 Racing Kawasaki’s Joe LiMandri Jr. At the finish line, Rodio prevailed in second place by just .024 of a second over third-place finisher LiMandri Jr.
Twins Cup
The Twins Cup class has seen an influx of new riders all season long, and for round eight of the championship, Aprilia test rider Tommaso Marcon raced for Robem Engineering, while Cory Ventura, who podiumed twice in Supersport at Laguna Seca in his only other appearance this season, competed for Veloce Racing.
Ventura (28) came away with a first-up win, but it was De Keyrel (51) who would be crowned champion for Aprilia.
It was a case of bad news/good news for the pair of Aprilia RS 660 riders as Marcon crashed out of the 14-lap event, while Ventura won the race. And while Ventura celebrated on the top step of the podium, second-place finisher Kaleb De Keyrel celebrated the class championship that he clinched aboard his Robem Engineering Aprilia. Also celebrating was De Keyrel’s teammate Max Toth, who got his first Twins Cup podium finish in only his second race in the class.
Friday
Superbike
As he has done all season long, Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha’s Jake Gagne led the opening day of qualifying for this weekend’s MotoAmerica round at New Jersey Motorsports Park, the Californian besting the rest of the HONOS Superbike field in Q1 on Friday.
Gagne lapped the 2.25-mile NJMP in 1:20.910 to top M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Cameron Petersen by .422 of a second on a sunny afternoon in Millville to earn provisional pole position for this weekend’s three HONOS Superbike races.
No surprises to see Jake Gagne in P1 on Friday at NJMP.
Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz completed the provisional front row with his 1:21.373, just .041 of a second slower than fellow South African Petersen.
Fourth fastest on the day was Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York’s Loris Baz, the Frenchman ending up .612 of a second off Gagne’s best. Baz also suffered a crash at the end of the session but escaped uninjured.
Gagne’s two Yamaha teammates for the weekend, Toni Elias and Josh Herrin, finished the day fifth and sixth as the Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha team is fielding three bikes this weekend. Elias was .208 of a second quicker than Herrin on the opening day.
Scheibe Racing BMW’s Hector Barbera ended up seventh in his first trip to NJMP, besting M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Bobby Fong and One Cure Ducati’s Kyle Wyman. FLY Racing ADR Motorsports’ Bradley Ward rounded out the top 10.
Supersport
An M4 ECSTAR Suzuki was on top of the Supersport field on Friday at NJMP, but it wasn’t ridden by champion-elect Sean Dylan Kelly. In this case, it was the GSX-R600 of his teammate Sam Lochoff who ended up on the provisional pole after Q1.
Sam Lochoff came good for the fastest Friday time in Supersport.
Second fastest was also somewhat of a surprise with Landers Racing’s Rocco Landers just .082 of a second behind Lochoff. Only then did championship rivals Richie Escalante and Kelly show up on the timesheets, the pair ending the day third and fourth, respectively.
Junior Cup
SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup Championship points leader Tyler Scott led Friday’s Q1 session with his 1:30.432 on the Scott Powersports KTM, besting Rodio Racing’s Gus Rodio’s 131.214. Bauce Racing/Cyber Solutions/JL62 Racing’s Joseph LiMandri Jr. ended up third with Scott’s championship rival Benjamin Gloddy fourth on the Landers Racing Kawasaki.
Scott topped the Junior Cup on Friday.
Stock 1000
Corey Alexander hasn’t given up on winning the MotoAmerica Stock 1000 Championship and he showed up at NJMP on a mission and that led to him leading Q1 on Friday. HONOS HVMC Racing’s Alexander headed the timesheets with his 1:22.610 to lead MESA37’s Stefano Mesa and Disrupt Racing’s Mark Heckles. More importantly for Alexander was the fact that championship points leader Jake Lewis could only muster the fourth fastest time on his Altus Motorsports Suzuki.
Corey Alexander (shot from PittRace) led the way in Stock 1000.
Twins Cup
Cory Ventura made his MotoAmerica Twins Cup debut on Friday at NJMP and promptly put his Veloce Racing Aprilia RS 650 on provisional pole, despite tipping over early in the Q1 session. Ventura lapped at 1:26.115 to lead Robem Engineering’s Tommaso Marcon, the Italian making his U.S. racing debut. Marcon’s teammate and championship points leader Kaleb De Keyrel ended up third on the day.
First time on the bike and it was P1 for Cory Ventura.
2021 New Jersey MotoAmerica Results—Superbike Q1
| 1 |
Jake Gagne |
(Yam) |
1:29.910 |
| 2 |
Cameron Petersen |
(Suz) |
1:21.332 |
| 3 |
Mathew Scholtz |
(Yam) |
1:21.373 |
| 4 |
Loris Baz |
(Duc) |
1:21.522 |
| 5 |
Toni Elias |
(Yam) |
1:21.719 |
| 6 |
Josh Herrin |
(Yam) |
1:21.927 |
| 7 |
Hector Barbera |
(BMW) |
1:22.378 |
| 8 |
Bobby Fong |
(Suz) |
1:22.831 |
| 9 |
Kyle Wyman |
(Duc) |
1:23.020 |
| 10 |
Bradley Ward |
(Suz) |
1:23.450 |
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