Cycle News Staff | September 24, 2023
Sunday Superbike
JD Beach was the master of iffy track conditions on Sunday at New Jersey Motorsports Park with the Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing rider controlling the final race of the season from the sixth of 16 laps to score the second MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike victory of his career and his first in four years.
With a drying track throwing a bit of confusion into the mix prior to the start, Beach and the majority of the Medallia Superbike contingent went with Dunlop rain tires while two of them opted for slicks. As it turns out, rain tires were the right call and one that Beach and his team made just prior to the start of the race.
It was Tytlers Cycle Racing’s PJ Jacobsen who led the race for the first five laps before Beach made his move on the New Yorker. Once past, Beach steadily pulled away before slowing his pace to cross the finish line 5.4 seconds ahead of Jacobsen.
With Jacobsen finishing second, it was his teammate Corey Alexander who finished third for the second straight day. On Sunday, however, the Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW-mounted Alexander was third on the track and it didn’t take Jacobsen’s two-spot penalty to move him to the position as it did the day prior. Alexander was happy with his first podium but was happier with his second.
Three-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Jake Gagne finished fourth, the Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha rider finishing off the podium for the first time all season in races that he finished. The Colorado resident had a DNF with a mechanical issue that was his only non-score in what was an 11-win season in which he scored 420 points.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch was fifth, three seconds behind Gagne and just .274 of a second ahead of his teammate Richie Escalante.
Team Brazil’s Danilo Lewis had his best MotoAmerica Superbike finish in seventh with Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong eighth.
Aftercare Scheibe Racing’s Ashton Yates and Thrashed Bike Racing’s Max Flinders rounded out the top 10.
Notables missing from the results are Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Josh Herrin and Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz. Both Herrin and Scholtz opted for slicks, and both crashed early in the race.
The final 2023 MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Championship point standings were led by Gagne’s 420 points with Herrin second and Jacobsen third. Scholtz ended up fourth, tied with Escalante. Sixth went to Cameron Beaubier with the five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion missing the final four races of the season with injury.
Superbike Race 2
- JD Beach (Yamaha)
- PJ Jacobsen (BMW)
- Corey Alexander (BMW)
- Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
- Brandon Paasch (Suzuki)
- Richie Escalante (Suzuki)
- Danilo Lewis (BMW)
- Bobby Fong (Yamaha)
- Ashton Yates (BMW)
- Max Flinders (Yamaha)
Sunday Supersport
The final Supersport race of the 2023 season gave Squid Hunter Racing Yamaha’s Josh Hayes another opportunity to extend his all-time AMA race wins record. And, on a wet-but-drying track, Hayes proved he’s still got it when he took the checkered flag by nearly six seconds over North East Cycle Outlet Racing Yamaha’s Anthony Mazziotto.
For Hayes, it was his 88th career win and, for Mazziotto, it was the New Jerseyan’s second podium of the weekend on his home track. Disrupt Racing Suzuki’s Jake Lewis also had a good weekend in New Jersey, finishing third for his first podium result since filling in for injured rider Cory Ventura beginning with the Road America round in June.
Sunday Twins Cup
Going into Sunday’s final REV’IT! Twins Cup race of the season, just one point separated the top two contenders for the title. Unfortunately, the showdown between defending class champion Blake Davis aboard his N2 Racing BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha and Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering Aprilia rider Gus Rodio didn’t last long. Rodio lost control of his bike on the wet track and ended up out of the race.
As a result, Davis took the race win over second-place finisher Filippo Rovelli, who was The WagBar MP13 Racing Yamaha-mounted, and clinched the championship by 26 points over Rodio. Third place went to Team Iso Yamaha’s Dominic Doyle.
Sunday Junior Cup
It was a great weekend for Team ECB/Bartcon Racing Kawasaki’s Eli Block. The Connecticut rider won both Junior Cup races at New Jersey Motorsports Park in only his second MotoAmerica race weekend this season.
Block took the victory with a gap of 2.786 seconds back to Badie Racing Kawasaki’s Levi Badie, who overcame a last-lap battle with third-place finisher Yandel Medina aboard his Top Pro Motorsports Kawasaki and MonkMoto Kawasaki’s Logan Monk, who ended up fourth.
Sunday King of The Baggers
With just two season championships left to be decided on the final day of the 2023 MotoAmerica season, ironically, the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship ended in a similar fashion to how the REV’IT! Twins Cup Championship ended.
Only seven points separated Vance & Hines Mission Harley-Davidson teammates Hayden Gillim and James Rispoli going into Sunday’s race two at New Jersey Motorsports Park. But the showdown never really materialized because Rispoli ran off the track while leading early in the race on the wet-but-drying track. Although Rispoli didn’t crash, the off-track excursion put him well back in the pack and he ended up seventh.
That essentially handed the title to Gillim, but he still had to race, and he ultimately finished second to H-D Screamin’ Eagle rider Kyle Wyman who won the race after having a miserable weekend to that point that was lowlighted by his crash in Saturday’s race one that eliminated any chance of him winning the championship.
Third place went to M3/Revolution Performance Indian Challenger rider Max Flinders whose popularity as a crowd and paddock favorite was underscored by the raucous celebration he received on the podium after the race. For Flinders, it was his first career MotoAmerica podium.
Saturday Superbike
Saturday’s MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike race was held in a rainstorm at New Jersey Motorsports Park, and it was a race that Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha’s Jake Gagne didn’t need to win. But he did. Because he could. And that’s what Gagne does.
The three-time MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Champion won his 11th race of the season and the 40thSuperbike race of his career in horrible conditions at NJMP. He won by a tick over 16 seconds and in the same manner as the majority of his other 39 wins. He led off the line, led into turn one, gapped the field quickly and maintained his lead to the finish of the 16-lapper that was shortened due to the inclement weather.
Gagne’s victory came over his teammate-of-late, JD Beach. Beach, who is filling in for the injured Cameron Petersen, was in the top four throughout the race and took advantage of crashes, off-track excursions and a penalty given to Tytlers Cycle Racing’s PJ Jacobsen after the New Yorker made a pass on Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Josh Herrin under a waving yellow flag.
When the dust (or mud) had settled, Beach was second with Jacobsen being dropped to fourth with the penalty.
While the Tytlers Cycle Racing team saw their lead rider dropped from second to fourth, they also got to enjoy the polar opposite with Jacobsen’s teammate Corey Alexander earning the first MotoAmerica Superbike podium of his career. Alexander was steady and fast and ended up some four seconds adrift of Beach and ahead of Jacobsen.
Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz was fifth on the track, but sixth in the official results after being penalized for punting Herrin off the track while passing the Ducati rider for fifth. Scholtz had already remounted after crashing out of third place in what was an eventful afternoon for the South African.
Another win for Gagne but a podium for Beach and first-timer Alexander.
Seventh place went to Benjamin Smith Racing’s Benjamin Smith, who was 10 seconds clear of Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim.
Tom Woods Powersports’ Nolan Lamkin and Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Stefano Mesa rounded out the top 10.
Notable non finishers included Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch and Aftercare Scheibe Racing’s Ashton Yates. Paasch crashed out of the race in the fast last corner with Yates suffering a mechanical failure.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante had his worst finish of the season in 11th. Ditto for Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong, who was 13th.
Superbike Race 1
- Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
- JD Beach (Yamaha)
- Corey Alexander (BMW)
- PJ Jacobsen (BMW)
- Josh Herrin (Ducati)
- Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)
- Benjamin Smith (Yamaha)
- Hayden Gillim (Suzuki)
- Nolan Lamkin (BMW)
- Stefano Mesa (BMW)
Saturday Supersport
The Supersport race-one podium at New Jersey Motorsports Park had a slightly different look on Saturday with a couple of different riders joining four-time Supersport race winner Tyler Scott on the podium.
Tyler Scott splashed through for the first Supersport win of the weekend.
Scott took the victory aboard his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki by just .206 of a second over runner-up place Anthony Mazziotto, who scored his second podium finish of the season aboard his North East Cycle Outlet Racing Yamaha.
Third place went to 16-year-old phenom Kayla Yaakov, who, in only the third Supersport race of her career, became the first female to reach the podium in a MotoAmerica Supersport race. She also recorded the fastest lap of the race during her spirited charge to the front of the pack aboard her Tytlers Cycle Racing Kawasaki.
Saturday Twins Cup
The REV’IT! Twins Cup Championship will be decided on Sunday, the final day of the season, after the results of Saturday’s race one.
Blake Davis hooked it up in the wet for a crucial race win.
Defending class champion Blake Davis won the race in dominant fashion aboard his N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha, which gave him a one-point lead in the standings over Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering Aprilia’s Gus Rodio, who finished third. Coming home second in the race was Team Iso Yamaha’s Dominic Doyle, who notched his fourth podium result of the season and is fourth in the championship.
Saturday Junior Cup
Although his 21st birthday was on Friday, Team ECB/Barton Racing’s Eli Block waited until Saturday to truly celebrate his 21st birthday and he did so with a first career victory in the MotoAmerica Junior Cup series.
Eli Block made it a birthday to remember with the Junior Cup race one win.
Block, who lives in Connecticut and races quite a bit at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, was the rain master as he stormed off to a 27.167 victory over Fernandez Racing’s Jayden Fernandez. Fernandez, meanwhile, earned his second podium finish of the season by just .363 of a second ahead of MonkMoto’s Logan Monk, who landed on the podium for the first time in his career.
Saturday King of The Baggers
Hayden Gillim put himself in the catbird seat for Sunday’s Mission King Of The Baggers season finale with the Vance & Hines/Mission/Harley-Davidson-backed Kentuckian earning a rain-sodden victory on Saturday to take a seven-point lead into the season finale.
Gilim’s teammate James Rispoli kept his hopes alive by finishing second to Gillim, but the New Yorker doesn’t control his own destiny. Gillim, however, does. If he wins tomorrow and Gillim finishes second, the title will go to Gillim.
Gillim’s now looking good for the KoTB title.
Sadly, the third contender for the title – H-D Screamin’ Eagle’s Kyle Wyman – had a horrible day and fell out of championship contention after a warm-up lap crash and a non-finish.
Although Kyle Wyman’s crash put a big damper on it, his teammate and brother Travis earned his first podium of the season after riding the second H-D Screamin’ Eagle Road Glide Special to third place behind the two Vance & Hines Harleys.
Roland Sands Design/Indian Motorcycle’s Kyle Ohnsorg and Sac Mile/SDI Racing/Roland Sands/Indian’s Bobby Fong rounded out the top five.
Friday Superbike
Tytlers Cycle Racing’s PJ Jacobsen would very much like to end the 2023 MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Championship on a high and he set the table for just that on Friday with provisional pole position at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Jacobsen, who has a slight chance of finishing the season second in the championship if all goes his way in the two races, lapped at 1:20.647 on a cloudy and windy afternoon at NJMP.
PJ Jacobsen went fastest at his home track on Friday.
Jacobsen’s best was just .172 of a second quicker than Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha’s Jake Gagne, who in turn was just a tick faster than Westby Yamaha’s Mathew Scholtz.
Leading the second row provisionally was Richie Escalante, the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider having a difficult session with two crashes. Despite the incidents that resulted in him getting just five laps, Escalante was the last rider to end on the same second as Jacobsen.
Wrench Motorcycles Bobby Fong ended Friday fifth fastest, just ahead of Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Josh Herrin and Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha’s JD Beach.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch, Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Stefano Mesa and Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim rounded out the top 10.
Supersport – Tyler, Barely
Only .068 of a second separated provisional pole sitter Tyler Scott and his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki from Disrupt Racing’s Jake Lewis on Friday afternoon with the top six covered by just .310 of a second.
Scott lapped at 1:23.779 to best Lewis and his 1:23.847 and then four riders in rapid succession led by Squid Hunter Racing’s Josh Hayes.
Just fractions behind came home-boy Anthony Mazziotto on his North East Cycle Outlet Racing Yamaha, leading Wrench Motorcycles’ David Anthony and Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Teagg Hobbs.
Newly crowned Supersport Champion Xavi Forés ended up seventh but was thwarted by lapped traffic on the final lap of the session.
REV’IT! Twins Cup – Landers On Top
Robem Engineering’s Rocco Landers is on the outside looking in as far as winning the 2023 REV’IT Twins Cup Championship goes but on Friday he showed that he’s the man to beat in the two races after a lap-record-setting lap of 1:24.659.
Landers, however, will also be seeking a little help from Mother Nature to change a forecast of heavy rains to a dry day on Saturday as the California resident isn’t a duck when it comes to taking to water.
Landers was a tick over a second quicker than Rodio Racing – Powered By Robem Engineering’s championship leader Gus Rodio and 1.8 seconds faster than the rider who is second in the championship – N2 Racing/BobbleHead Moto’s Blake Davis.
Rodio leads Davis by eight points and Landers by 14 heading into the weekend’s two races.
Junior Cup – Badie Leads The Way
Badie Racing’s Levi Badie earned provisional pole position for the two Junior Cup races this weekend with a lap that was just .109 of a second faster than newly crowed champion Avery Dreher with those two the only riders in the 1:30s.
Fairium NGRT – Gray Area Racing’s Rossi Moor ended the day third fastest ahead of SportbikeTrackGear.com’s Max Van and Team ECB/Bartcon Racing’s Eli Block.
Mission King Of The Baggers – Wyman Flexes
H-D Screamin’ Eagle’s Kyle Wyman knows his best chance of winning the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship is to win both races at NJMP and then let the cards fall where they may. Step one was being the fastest in Q1 on Friday afternoon and he did just that, earning provisional pole with an ever so slight gap of .192 of a second over Indian Motorcycle/Progressive/Mission Foods’ Tyler O’Hara.
The top five were all within a second of Kyle Wyman with championship leader Hayden Gillim third fastest on the Vance & Hines/Mission/Harley-Davidson and Kyle Wyman’s teammate and brother Travis Wyman fourth.
Gillim’s teammate James Rispoli, who is second in the championship heading into the two final races of the year and just two points behind Gillim, ended up fifth and .963 of a second off Kyle Wyman’s best.
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