Press Release | June 22, 2023
MotoAmerica previews round four of the 2023 championship at Ridge Motorsports Park.
This is a press release from MotoAmerica…
Irvine, CA (June 21, 2023) – For a fourth straight year, the MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Championship visits the Pacific Northwest with round four of the 2023 championship slated for Ridge Motorsports Park, June 23-25. And for a fourth straight year, Yamaha will be attempting to keep its perfect win streak alive at the tight and twisty circuit on the Olympic Peninsula region of Washington.
Jake Gagne will be trying to extend his win streak at Ridge Motorsports Park this weekend. The defending MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Champion has won the past four races in Washington State. Photo by Brian J. Nelson
For the streak to be broken, someone is going to have to figure out how to beat the combination of Jake Gagne and his Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing YZF-R1 with the pair riding a four-race win streak at “the Ridge.” But, based on the fact that both BMW and Ducati have won half of the six races held thus far in 2023, there’s obviously a chance that could happen.
So, who won the two races that Gagne didn’t win at Ridge Motorsports Park? Well, that would be Cameron Beaubier, the victor in the inaugural two MotoAmerica Superbike races at the Ridge in 2020 and the winner of two of the six races held thus far in this year’s title chase. And Beaubier won those two races as Gagne’s teammate on a Yamaha YZF-R1 in 2020. All that translates to the fact that Yamaha has won all six of the Superbike races held at Ridge Motorsports Park.
Three riders will go to Washington with Medallia Superbike wins in 2023: Gagne, Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW’s Beaubier and Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin. And only 21 points separate those three atop the championship point standings.
Heading the title chase is two-time defending Medallia Superbike Champion Gagne with his three wins and two additional podiums in his pocket. Gagne also arrives in the Pacific Northwest happy to see Wisconsin and Road America in his rear-view mirror. Gagne went into the Road America round with a 21-point lead over Beaubier after the first two rounds and he was fortunate to leave Wisconsin still with a 12-point lead over the five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion.
Gagne’s Yamaha team had a miserable weekend in Wisconsin with engine failures and a lack of top speed momentarily keeping his run for a third straight title in check. Gagne failed to finish race one at Road America, but he he salvaged his weekend with a third-place finish in race two.
Race one at Road America was won by Beaubier, but his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M1000 RR also suffered a mechanical failure in race two that prevented him from keeping the points lead he’d inherited the day before with Gagne’s failure to finish. Thus, the top two in the title chase come to the state of Washington separated by just 12 points.
The man who gained the most at Road America was Herrin with the 2013 AMA Superbike Champion having left Wisconsin with his first win of the year, which came a day after his third-place finish in race one. Herrin starts his weekend at Ridge Motorsports Park nine points behind Beaubier and 21 behind Gagne.
Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz is fourth in the point standings, and he also had an off weekend at Road America with eighth- and sixth-place finishes in the two Medallia Superbike races. The South African is nine points behind Herrin and nine points ahead of Beaubier’s Tytlers Cycle Racing teammate PJ Jacobsen.
Like Herrin, Jacobsen is also coming off a great weekend in Wisconsin with the New Yorker carding a pair of second-place finishes in what was easily his best weekend in the Medallia Superbike class.
Sixth in the title chase heading to Washington is Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante. Escalante was a fighting fourth in race one at Road America but had some issues in race two and dropped four places to finish eighth.
Although Cameron Petersen’s weekend in Wisconsin wasn’t stellar by normal standards, it could have been a lot worse. Petersen came into the Road America round with an injured right wrist suffered in a testing crash the week prior but was able to bravely continue, and he finished fifth and fourth in the two races. Still, the South African has a lot of work to do to try and claw his way back into championship contention as he trails teammate Gagne by 54 points.
Corey Alexander, the third of the Tytlers Cycle Racing teamsters, is eighth in the title chase, six points adrift of Petersen and two ahead of the now-retired Toni Elias, who will be replaced for the Ridge round by journeyman racer Taylor Knapp. Knapp is currently sixth in the Steel Commander Stock 1000 Championship, but Ridge Motorsports Park isn’t a round of that championship so he will be able to focus his efforts on the Medallia Superbike class.
Aftercare Scheibe Racing’s Ashton Yates rounds out the top 10 in the Medallia Superbike Championship heading to Ridge Motorsports Park.
Pre-Ridge Superbike Notes
Two-time MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Champion Jake Gagne is the winningest rider in the short three-year (six-race) history of MotoAmerica holding a round of its championship at Ridge Motorsports Park. Gagne has won four of the six races with Cameron Beaubier winning the first two races in 2020.
Last year, Gagne started from pole position and won both races, besting his teammate Cameron Petersen and Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci in race one and Petrucci and Petersen in race two.
Gagne is also the lap record holder at Ridge Motorsports Park with the Colorado resident lapping at 1:39.145 in final qualifying last year to break his own record of 1:39.568 from 2021.
Portions of the 16-turn, 2.47-mile Ridge Motorsports Park circuit have undergone re-paving since MotoAmerica visited the track a year ago and that usually results in lap records across all classes. In addition, track owners have also added curbing to the track and have erected new grandstands for spectator viewing.
After winning both Medallia Superbike races a year ago, Jake Gagne moved to within 11 points of then championship leader Danilo Petrucci. This year, Gagne arrives in Washington with a 12-point lead over Cameron Beaubier, who is back in the MotoAmerica series after two years competing in the Moto2 World Championship.
With his two wins thus far in the 2023 Superbike Championship, Beaubier continues to gain ground on his former teammate Josh Hayes on the all-time AMA Superbike win list. Australian Mat Mladin tops the list with his 81 Superbike victories with Hayes second on 61 wins. Beaubier, however, is on the move with 56 victories in AMA Superbike racing.
With his three wins in 2023, Jake Gagne is now tied for fourth on the all-time Superbike win list with Miguel Duhamel and Toni Elias, with the latter announcing his retirement following the Road America round. Those three have 32 Superbike victories.
Hayes, meanwhile, continues to chase the all-time AMA road race win record as he is currently tied with Miguel Duhamel with 86 wins across all classes. Hayes will be aboard his Squid Hunter Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 in the two Supersport races at Ridge Motorsports Park. Beaubier, meanwhile, lurks in fourth on the all-time list with 77 wins – nine behind Duhamel and Hayes.
It’s Tight At The Top In Rev’It! Twins Cup As The Series Heads To Ridge Motorsports Park
Just Two Points Separate Top Three As MotoAmerica Visits Washington State
The Rev’It! Twins Cup Championship is back on track this coming weekend at Ridge Motorsports Park, June 23-25, after a one-round hiatus and that means a lot of attention will rightfully fall on what is the closest title fight in the MotoAmerica Championship after three rounds and six races.
Points Battle: Blake Davis (1) leads Gus Rodio (96) and Hayden Schultz (49) by just two points in the 2023 Rev’It! Twins Cup Championship as the series heads to Ridge Motorsports Park this weekend for round four. Rocco Landers (97), meanwhile, has won the past three races. Photo by Brian J. Nelson
So how close is it? Just 20 points separate the top five riders in the title chase and only two points separate the top three as the series arrives at the racetrack located on the Olympic Peninsula region of Washington State.
In addition to the Rev’It! Twins Cup and the premier MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike classes, the MotoAmerica weekend at Ridge Motorsports Park will feature three other classes of racing: Supersport, Mission Super Hooligan National Championship and Royal Enfield’s Build. Train. Race.
REV’IT! Twins Cup – Battle Royale
As previously mentioned, championships don’t get much closer than this one.
At the very top of the Rev’It! Twins Cup Championship sits N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s defending series champion Blake Davis, one of two riders in the top five to score points in all six races thus far. Davis has one victory and only one other podium finish, but he’s managed even on bad days to walk away with points and that’s what has him atop the standings.
Behind him by just two points are Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering’s Gus Rodio and Cycle Tech’s Hayden Schultz.
Rodio arrives in Washington trying to forget the misery of scoring zero points at Barber Motorsports Park and Schultz arrives with chunks of points from all six races, including three podiums. Rodio’s season, meanwhile, started with a win and three second-place finishes before derailing in Alabama. Both find themselves in solid positions at the top of the standings.
The hottest rider in the class is Rodio’s quasi-teammate Rocco Landers, the winner of the last three races after missing the opening two races of the season at Daytona International Speedway. Landers is the all-time win leader in Twins Cup with 12 race victories, nine of which came in his championship-winning year in 2020.
Trackday Winner/Blackmon Racing’s Jackson Blackmon is fifth in the championship heading to Ridge Motorsports Park – 20 points behind Davis.
Supersport – Can Fores Stay Perfect?
There have been 150 championship points up for grabs from the five Supersport races held so far in 2023 and Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Xavi Fores has 150 of them in his pocket as he arrives for what will be his first laps at Ridge Motorsports Park. It begs the question: Will he keep that perfect season alive in Washington?
The 150 points that Fores has secured puts him atop the title chase by 37 points over Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Stefano Mesa with Mesa an additional 30 points ahead of Squid Hunter Racing’s Josh Hayes.
If not for Fores’ season, we’d be talking about how fast and consistent Mesa has been with his four runner-up finishes and the fact that his fourth-place finish in the opening race at Road Atlanta is his only non-podium finish.
Hayes, who is just four points ahead of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott, has also been solid with three podiums from the five races. Scott has two podium finishes and is nine points ahead of Michael Gilbert Racing’s Michael Gilbert with Gilbert’s scorecard featuring a fourth and four fifth-place finishes.
Mission Super Hooligans National Championship – O’Hara Defends
Only two Mission Super Hooligans National Championship races have been held so far in 2023 and those took place way back in March at Daytona International Speedway. And both were won by defending class champion Tyler O’Hara and his Indian Motorcycle/Progressive/Mission Foods-backed Indian FTR1200.
O’Hara’s successful run at Daytona puts him 14 points clear of his teammate Jeremy McWilliams, who in turn is 12 points ahead of Gray Area Racing’s Mark Price and his KTM 890 DUKE R. Price was eighth in race one at Daytona and third in race two. McWilliams returned to Northern Ireland with third- and second-place finishes to show for his trip to Florida.
Roland Sands Design/Indian Motorcycle’s Bobby Fong was second in race one at Daytona but failed to finish race two. Fong will be pulling double duty at Ridge Motorsports Park as he will also be racing in the Medallia Superbike class.
Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. – Moore Wins To Come?
After two dominating performances in the opening round of the Royal Enfield championship at Road America, it doesn’t appear as of yet that anyone will be able to challenge Maryland’s Mikayla Moore. Moore didn’t just win those two races; she annihilated the competition and didn’t seem to put a wheel wrong in her Build. Train. Race. debut.
If anyone can rise to the challenge it is likely to be last year’s champion Kayleigh Buyck. Buyck failed to finish race one at Road America, but she was the closest competition to Moore in race two, finishing 11.7 seconds behind, after Moore had won race one by 17.2 seconds.
Texan Crystal Martinez, who like Buyck is in her second year of Royal Enfield racing, is second in the points after two podium finishes at Road America. She trails Moore by 17 points and is just four points ahead of Utah’s Aubrey Credaroli.
Pre-Ridge Support Class Notes
Last year’s two Supersport races at Ridge Motorsports Park were won by Josh Herrin, who went on to claim the 2022 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship for the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati team. Herrin beat Rocco Landers and Sam Lochoff in race one before beating Tyler Scott and Kevin Olmedo in race two. Herrin has moved to the Medallia Superbike class for 2023 where he currently sits third in the championship.
Anthony Mazziotto swept to a doubleheader wins in the REV’IT! Twins Cup class last year with the New Jerseyan beating Kaleb De Keyrel and Hayden Schultz in race one and Schultz and Cody Wyman in race two.
The class with the most entries at Ridge Motorsports Park this year? Mission Super Hooligan National Championship with 35 riders set to do battle on both Saturday and Sunday. Eight of those 35 entries are from the Pacific Northwest states of Washington and Oregon with 10 Californians driving up the coast to compete in Shelton.
How To Watch MotoAmerica Superbikes at Ridge Motorsports Park
Here’s are the broadcast times listed in the Cycle News Motorcycle Racing TV Listings & Live Streaming Guide (Eastern times), subject to change, visit cyclenews.com/motorcycle-tv-listings for up-to-date listings:
| Royal Enfield BTR The Ridge Race 1 LIVE |
MA Live+ |
6/24 |
3:30 PM |
| MotoAmerica The Ridge Twins 1 LIVE |
MA Live+ |
6/24 |
4:10 PM |
| MotoAmerica The Ridge SSP 1 LIVE |
MA Live+ |
6/24 |
5:10 PM |
| MotoAmerica The Ridge SBK 1 LIVE |
MavTV |
6/24 |
6:00 PM |
| MotoAmerica The Ridge SBK 1 LIVE |
MA Live+ |
6/24 |
6:10 PM |
| MotoAmerica The Ridge Super Hooligan 1 |
MA Live+ |
6/24 |
7:10 PM |
| Royal Enfield BTR The Ridge Race 2 LIVE |
MA Live+ |
6/25 |
3:00 PM |
| MotoAmerica The Ridge Super Hooligan 2 |
MA Live+ |
6/25 |
3:45 PM |
| MotoAmerica The Ridge Twins 2 LIVE |
MA Live+ |
6/25 |
4:20 PM |
| MotoAmerica The Ridge SSP 2 LIVE |
MA Live+ |
6/25 |
5:10 PM |
| MotoAmerica The Ridge SBK 2 LIVE |
MavTV |
6/25 |
6:00 PM |
| MotoAmerica The Ridge SBK 2 LIVE |
MA Live+ |
6/25 |
6:10 PM |
| MotoAmerica The Ridge SBK 1 |
MavTV |
6/28 |
2:00 AM |
| MotoAmerica The Ridge SBK 2 |
MavTV |
6/28 |
3:00 AM |
| MotoAmerica Rewind: The Ridge |
FS1 |
7/2 |
1:00 PM |
| MotoAmerica Rewind: The Ridge |
FS2 |
7/3 |
1:00 PM |
For more information on MotoAmerica, visit www.MotoAmerica.com
