Rennie Scaysbrook | October 12, 2023
Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne has been disqualified from his second-place finish in race two at Circuit of The Americas.
*scroll down to see additional clarification from MotoAmerica
Gagne’s fuel was found to not comply with MotoAmerica’s regulation and thus he loses the 20 points he gained after finishing second to Ducati’s Josh Herrin.
Gagne leads Richie Escalante in race two at CoTA. Photo by Brian J Nelson
The result has no bearing on the MotoAmerica championship that Gagne took at the previous round at PittRace.
Gagne’s DQ thus moves everyone up a spot with Jacobsen moving to second behind Herrin with Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong earning the final podium spot.
The only change in the points standings is fourth and fifth with Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante swapping spots with Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz. With the change, Escalante finishes the season in fourth, one point better than Scholtz.
Yamaha reacts to Gagne’s disqualification
Yamaha USA issued the following press release in response to Gagne’s disqualification on October 11, 2023.
“Following MotoAmerica’s announcement that Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne was disqualified from his second-place finish in Race 2 at the Circuit of The Americas, the team shares its position.
A sample testing found that the fuel in Gagne’s bike was not in compliance with the 2023 AMA/FIMNA MotoAmerica regulations. The team acknowledges the decision of the sanctioning body and would like to clarify that there was no malintent in making the fuel selection for that second race at the penultimate round of the championship.
“For Superbike Race 2 at COTA, we cleared the use of the 2022 fuel with the MotoAmerica Tech Director,” said Richard Stanboli, the Team Manager. “In hindsight and knowing what we now know, we would not have used it.”
“We stand behind the team and firmly believe that there was no foul play,” said Tom Halverson, the Yamaha Racing Assistant Department Manager for YMUS. “After four years of working side by side with them, we know firsthand that every person on the team is of the utmost integrity.”
Gagne’s disqualification had no impact to the title defense as he secured his third-consecutive superbike championship at the previous round at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex. The team looks ahead to focus on making another title run in the 2024 MotoAmerica Superbike season.”
Update October 12, 2023
Additional Clarification On Gagne’s DQ From Circuit Of The Americas Race Two
MotoAmerica Adds More Clarity To Fuel Situation As It Relates To Sanction
MotoAmerica is offering the following for further clarification regarding the disqualification of Jake Gagne from his second-place finish in race two of the Circuit of The Americas round of the 2023 MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Championship.
VP has provided the same blend of fuel to MotoAmerica since 2019 and the sample taken from the machine at COTA after Superbike race two was not compliant with any batch of VP MGP manufactured between 2019 and 2023. VP has analytical results from each batch of fuel produced and the results of the fuel sample in question did not match the baseline results provided by VP. This was also substantiated by a third-party certified lab, Intertek, who confirmed that a foreign chemical component outside the specification was found.
There is also an outstanding issue regarding a drum of MGP that was obtained by Gagne’s team and had incorrect warning information. VP confirms that this was due to a software issue, which was rectified. The contents of the drum contained the correct MGP fuel as labelled.
To view the MotoAmerica sanction, click HERE
For more information on MotoAmerica, visit www.MotoAmerica.com
