More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:

Saturday At VIR: Gagne Closes In With Second-Straight Medallia Superbike Victory

The Defending MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Champion Jumps Up To Third In
The 2022 Series Standings

DANVILLE, VA (May 21, 2022) – With the debacle that was the opening round of the MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Championship at Circuit of The Americas and race one at Road Atlanta now a distant memory, Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne has most definitely righted the ship with his second win a row coming in race one on Saturday at VIRginia International Raceway.

Gagne led the pack into turn one from his fifth pole position in succession (and the new VIR lap record that came with it), withstood early-lap pressure from Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s championship leader Danilo Petrucci, then did the same with Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz.

When all was said and done, Gagne had his 19th career MotoAmerica Superbike win in pocket, his second win in a row in 2022, and a jump all the way up to third in the championship point standings.

Scholtz ended up second, his fourth runner-up finish out of the five races held thus far in 2022 and sits second in the championship – just eight behind Petrucci.

Third place went to Gagne’s teammate Cameron Petersen, the South African fighting his way past Petrucci and hooking up with Scholtz until losing a bit of touch in the closing stages. Petersen ended up almost two seconds behind his countryman Scholtz at the finish line, giving Yamaha a sweep of the Medallia Superbike podium on a blazing hot day in Virginia.

Petrucci was a lonely fourth, some 10 seconds behind Petersen and 10 seconds ahead of fifth-placed Jake Lewis on the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki.

Lewis also had a rather lonely ride, but the same couldn’t be said for the three riders behind him in the fight for sixth. That spot went to Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Hector Barbera by .149 of a second over his teammate PJ Jacobsen with Aftercare Hayes Scheibe Racing’s Aston Yates eighth on his BMW and just half a second behind the two Tytlers BMWs.

Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim ended up ninth with Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing’s Travis Wyman rounding out the top 10 finishers.

With five races complete in the 2022 MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Championship, Petrucci leads Scholtz by eight, 88-80, with Gagne third on 66 points – just one point ahead of Petersen. Barbera rounds out the top five with his 56 points.

Notable non-finishers included Richie Escalante with the Vision Wheel M4 ECTAR Suzuki rider crashing out of the race early.

Jake Gagne – Winner

“Cam (Petersen) got a great start. I thought he had the holeshot, but I just barely snuck up in there and won. Even from my first flying lap, it was a lot slicker than I anticipated, I think for most of us guys. Front, rear… First, second lap it already felt like we had 10 or 15 laps on the tire. So, right away my goal was just knock it back a couple percent and just do a pace where I couldn’t make mistakes, because mistakes could happen really easily today when it’s this slick and this hot. I could hear the Ducati (Petrucci’s) behind me. I figured it was him because you can hear that thing. In the slow turns, you hear that thing revving behind you. I figured Mat (Scholtz) and Cam were right there too. I just wanted to get through the first half of the race with no mistakes, and then just see where we end up. I just had a little over a second or whatever it was around halfway. It got tougher and tougher. Those last couple laps the tires were really tearing up and it was getting hotter and hotter and hotter. So, I’m happy to bring this thing home. Like I said, it was a tougher race than I really anticipated. I think just the heat and the tires. But this Yamaha rode really, really good. I think the name of the game was just to be smooth and not make mistakes, because mistakes can happen easily out there when it’s this tough. Hats off to the team. We’ve got work to do tomorrow. Everybody’s going to be going faster. I think everybody can learn from today. Looking forward to tomorrow.”

Mathew Scholtz – Second

“We knew that the morning practices, obviously the lap times seemed to be quicker. Maybe I was just a little bit eager and tried to set up the bike more for those cooler conditions with less spinning, because from the first lap out I was getting that thing sideways, spinning up in every single corner, which kind of made my forearms swell up slightly. Not to sound like I’m moaning about a couple things, but it just was a very difficult race for me. Danilo (Petrucci), looking at the practices, I kind of knew that he only had a couple laps, and he would drop off, but he hung in there a lot longer than what I thought. I kind of closed up to Jake (Gagne) and Danilo slightly, but once he started dropping off and I kind of got caught up with him, Jake opened up. I got past him and tried to catch up to Jake. I had a few pretty big moments spinning up, so I just had to settle for second. I thought it was going to be a pretty easy second, and then looking at the board I could see that somebody was catching me at a drastic pace. I thought it was Danilo maybe finding his groove again. Then I looked back, and I had this guy (Petersen) chasing me down. From maybe lap eight to lap 16, I was pushing as hard as I could, but maybe the last four laps or so Cam kind of dropped off slightly which definitely helped me because I was under the limit there. I thought that we would have something for Jake today. Obviously, he still has something more. So, I just have to go back to the pits now and figure out how to get off the corners better without spinning so much. Overall, it’s really awesome to be up here with Jake and Cam. Really good, good friends. We’ve been through some things together, so it’s awesome.”

Cameron Petersen – Third

“It really was a tough race. Hot and greasy out there. I got off to a great start and then the front three guys came past me pretty quickly. I kind of got a little bit erratic. I was out of the seat, running wide everywhere. Even in the last turn, I ran so wide I almost went off the track onto the curb on the outside. I just took a few laps to regroup, take a couple breaths and then just started trying to hit my marks from there. I think I got a little bit lucky because (Danilo) Petrucci was dropping back. So, that kind of held Matty (Scholtz) up and gave me the chance to close in with him. Then once I had that carrot to chase him, I was able to latch onto Matty a little bit. I think with about four laps to go, five laps to go, I started having a few moments. I was really good onto the brakes into one. The right side of the front tire, with a few laps to go, I could feel every time I tipped in. I had some moments. Just tried to do the sensible thing, the smart thing and bring the bike home. I just want to progress from race to race. I feel like we’re doing that. Actually, really stoked with my ride today. I know what we need to work on for tomorrow. Hopefully, if I’m in the same position, I’m not going to let it go that easy and push all the way to the end. Congrats to these two guys, once again. These are some of my best buddies and being up here on the podium with them is pretty cool. Let’s just keep this train going for the rest of the year and hopefully switch up some positions here and there, but let’s keep it like this.”

More, from a press release issued by Westby Racing:

Scholtz’s Runner-Up Result In MotoAmerica Superbike Race One At VIR Moves Him Closer To Points Lead    

Alton, VA – May 21, 2022 – On a sweltering Saturday at VIRginia International Raceway, Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz notched his fourth second-place result out of the five races so far this season. His runner-up finish in Superbike race one moved him to within eight points of the MotoAmerica Championship lead.

Starting from the middle of the front row, Mathew dropped back one position to third and remained there for the first ten laps while he worked to close the gap on Danilo Petrucci in second. On lap 11, Mathew overtook Petrucci, maintained second place all the way to the checkered flag, and crossed the finish line just under three seconds back from race winner Jake Gagne.

“This morning, obviously, the lap times were a little bit quicker,” commented Mathew. “So, maybe I was just a little bit eager and tried to set up the bike more for those cooler conditions with less spinning. But, from the first lap out, I was getting that thing sideways, spinning up in every single corner, which kind of made my forearms swell up slightly. Not to sound like I’m moaning about a couple things, but it just was a very difficult race for me. Danilo (Petrucci), looking at the practices, I kind of knew that he only had a couple laps, and he would drop off, but he hung in there a lot longer than what I thought. I kind of closed up to Jake (Gagne) and Danilo slightly, but once he started dropping off and I kind of got caught up with him, Jake opened up.

“I got past Danilo and tried to catch up to Jake. I had a few pretty big moments spinning up, so I just had to settle for second. I thought it was going to be a pretty easy second, and then looking at the board I could see that somebody was catching me at a drastic pace. I thought it was Danilo maybe finding his groove again. Then, I looked back, and I had Cam (Petersen) chasing me down. From maybe lap eight to lap 16, I was pushing as hard as I could, but maybe the last four laps or so, Cam kind of dropped off slightly, which definitely helped me because I was on the limit there. I thought that we would have something for Jake today. Obviously, he still has something more. So, I just have to go back to the pits now and figure out how to get off the corners better without spinning so much. Overall, it’s really awesome to be up here with Jake and Cam. Really good, good friends. We’ve been through some things together, so it’s awesome.”

Mathew and the team will prepare for Superbike race two, which starts at 3:10 p.m. ET. The race will be broadcast on Fox Sports 2 (FS2) Sunday night at 10 p.m. ET.

For all the action from VIR, as it happens, subscribe to MotoAmerica Live+, which is MotoAmerica’s live streaming and on-demand service.

Meet Mathew, Get An Autographed Poster, And More

Mathew will be available for autographs during the Dunlop Hot Pit Walk & Autograph Session, scheduled for 11 to 11:30 a.m. Sunday on pit lane at VIR. He and the team will be handing out free posters and T-shirts, so don’t miss it.

Check Out The Westby Racing Sponsor Showcase

GBRacing and Capit Performance are the featured team sponsors on display in the Westby Racing paddock area this race weekend, so be sure to stop by to say hello and learn about some of the companies that support the team.

For more updates about Westby Racing, including news, photos, and videos, visit http://www.WestbyRacing.com

Also, follow “Westby Racing” on your favorite social media sites.

More, from a press release issued by MotoAmerica:

It’s Josh Hayes Day At VIRginia International Raceway

Four-Time AMA Superbike Champion Wins Again In Supersport Thriller

DANVILLE, VA (May 21, 2022) – Old age and treachery may not always beat youth and exuberance, but it certainly did on a scorching hot Saturday at VIRginia International Raceway when 47-year-old Josh Hayes beat 16-year-old Tyler Scott and 17-year-old Rocco Landers to win the Supersport race for the 84th win across all classes of the four-time AMA Superbike Champion’s stellar career.

It was the seventh Supersport victory of Hayes’ career and it puts him just two behind all-time win leader Miguel Duhamel and it took every bit of his experience to win the race. Will he do more races this season and take a shot at breaking Duhamel’s record? Who would be stupid enough to bet against it?

YUASA Stock 1000 – Gillim Gets It Done

Yuasa Stock 1000 race one started the day at VIR, and on-track incidents led to the race being red-flagged and shortened in length. With a nine-lap sprint to the finish line, Disrupt Racing Suzuki rider Hayden Gillim showed his prowess and racecraft by taking the victory in dominant fashion. The Kentuckian crossed the finish line more than four seconds ahead of second-place finisher Geoff May, who was aboard his VisionWheel/DiscountTire/KWS Honda. Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing BMW’s Travis Wyman completed the podium in third.

“It was a good race,” Gillim said. “Like Geoff (May) said, everybody is going so fast. You have to be on top of your game every single weekend, every single session. Luckily, the Disrupt Racing guys are making me go really fast. They’ve given me a really good bike. Having the Stock 1000 bike and the Superbike to kind of compare data and notes from is helping a lot. We’ll just keep pushing. It’s going to be a long season. We’ve got 12 more races left, or something like that. It’s a lot of racing, a lot of laps, a lot of little mistakes that are going to be made. In the past, I’ve been one of those guys to make mistakes. I’ve just to keep those to a minimum and try to be here for the long haul.”

Supersport – How Sweet It Is

Supersport race one at VIR was also red-flagged and restarted with 18 laps instead of 19. The event was quite literally one for the ages, as 47-year-old road racing legend Josh Hayes showed that he’s still got something left in the tank. The four-time AMA Superbike Champion went up against riders who are a third of his age, and he battled throughout the 18-lap event to emerge as the winner by a little over .7 of a second.

Racing for Squid Hunter Yamaha, Hayes held off the challenges of both 16-year-old Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider Tyler Scott, who finished second, and 17-year-old Landers Racing Yamaha rider Rocco Landers, who was third.

“I’ll tell you what,” Hayes said. “About five laps in, I thought, ‘Well, I’m getting fourth today. I’ve got nothing. I’ve got nothing anywhere on the track.’ Honestly, I felt like there was a point in the race where it kind of started to turn my way. I just focused on making one pass. I finally got some position on Rocco (Landers), which was really, really hard to do. When I got through, it seemed like Tyler (Scott) kind of came back to me not too crazy hard, and Josh (Herrin) was still right there, too. I can’t remember if that was before or after Sam (Lochoff) went off the track. When he came back on, it was a little scary. I kind of just missed him. That next lap, there were a few key pieces of racetrack where I was maintaining my speed and was able to bring him back to me a little bit. Then it was just a matter of positioning. I would put myself in a spot where I thought it was the right spot for a few laps, and then I’d make a mistake and couldn’t get there. But, eventually, I kind of was able to get to all the right places and then lead. It seemed like, when I led, we got into the 27s and I was just knocking out 27s, which I felt like were pretty hard to do. I felt like anybody that could make a move, there was a decent chance of mistakes, and I’d try to take advantage of those. I’m ecstatic. Squid Hunter did an incredible job. I was laughing on the podium. I said, ‘Hunting was good today.’ These guys are riding incredible and really, at the beginning of the race, it was almost like panic, like, ‘This is my station in life.’ Talking before the race, I said the second half of the race will be the key, and it came true. It’s going to take a while to wipe the smile off my face. 2017 here, and I did race a few other races, and I really wasn’t even that close. Part of it was back then and 2019 I couldn’t do race distance. I did a little bit of work, and in coaching Rocco, I got to spend quite a few laps riding at pace in-between Daytona and Atlanta, which kind of helped keep me sharp. I’m still, I think, getting better. I still think I can perform a little better tomorrow.”

SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup – Van, Again

As was the case with Yuasa Stock 1000 race one and Supersport race one, SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup race one was also red-flagged and restarted, which created a five-lap dash to the checkered flag. Road Atlanta Junior Cup race winner Max Van won his second race in a row aboard his SportbikeTrackGear.com Kawasaki. His teammate Joseph LiMandri Jr. finished second and just a little over .010 of a second behind Van. Bad Boys Racing Kawasaki’s Avery Dreher earned his first Junior Cup podium and became the first rider to move up from MotoAmerica’s Mini Cup and finish on the podium in one of MotoAmerica’s “full-size” race classes.

“It’s been a great start to my season,” said Van. “But to be honest, this has been a dream. I’ve worked so hard for this. I lost 25 pounds over the off-season. Working nine hours a day, trying to graduate high school, working out for three hours a night is really paying off. I can’t wait for the rest of the season. I’m happy because yesterday in qualifying one, I said I was going to be on top of the box and guess where I am? And I did it today. So, definitely a lot of momentum going for the rest of the season and tomorrow. I can’t wait for it.”

Twins Cup – Barely Barry

The day concluded with Twins Cup race one, and as usual, MotoAmerica’s middleweight, twin-cylinder class did not disappoint. Polesitter Jody Barry won his second race in a row, but it was far from easy. The Veloce Racing Aprilia rider battled all the way to the finish line against a hard-charging James Rispoli aboard his Cycle Tech/Speed Weaponry/Mydigitalli Yamaha, and Barry beat Rispoli in a photo finish by just .020 of a second. Rispoli’s teammate Hayden Schultz finished a close third.

“Coming up to the last turn I was definitely all about it, because I knew I could get past him before the line,” Barry said. “Lappers were, like he (Rispoli) said, he was just stuffing them and they were getting in my way a little bit. We had to do what we had to do. Thankfully just put us in the right position. Coming up to the line, though, I was quivering in my boots a little bit. I was like, ‘Uh oh. Did I not play this right?’ The whole cooldown lap, I thought that he got it. I totally thought that. Amazing riding with these guys. All the passes were clean. The pace was fast. I am toasted. It’s definitely good racing out there.”

More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:

SUZUKI GSX-R750 PODIUMS AT VIRGINIA MOTOAMERICA

Jake Lewis: GSX-R1000R – 5th

Sam Lochoff: GSX-R750 – 12th

Tyler Scott: GSX-R750 – 2nd

Liam Grant: GSX-R750 – 10th

Richie Escalante: GSX-R1000R – DNF

Team Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki played a lead role in a day of drama as the 2022 MotoAmerica AMA/ FIM North American Road Racing Championship resumed at Virginia International Raceway on Saturday.

16-year-old prodigy Tyler Scott was the headliner for the squad, earning his first-career MotoAmerica Supersport podium in only his third race and his first on the Suzuki GSX-R750.

Scott was joined in a spirited multi-rider battle for victory by his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki teammate, Sam Lochoff. The two opened the race from Row 1 aboard their Suzuki GSX-R750s and immediately jostled for position in a five-rider fight for the lead.

Despite recovering from a recently broken leg, Lochoff took the lead on lap five but was pushed off into the grass by another rider moments later, recovering back in fifth position. Scott picked up the fight and the rookie found himself sandwiched between two former premier-class champions while running second at one point.

Scott dove into the lead with three to go but lost a pair of positions when he was forced to make a miracle save of a near highside just to stay upright with a little over two laps remaining.

Lochoff, who fought his way back into contention, took up the challenge in second at that point, only to crash out of the position on the race’s final lap. That handed the runner-up result back to Scott to secure his maiden class podium.

“It was an incredible race,” Scott said. “It was really hot and the tyres were sliding all over the place. I’m really happy to get some decent points after a tough opener, and it feels really good to be on the podium.

“I’m super excited to be on the GSX-R750 – the bike feels great. Overall, it was a great race, and I couldn’t have done it without the entire Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki team.”

Lochoff managed to rejoin the fray to finish in 12th. He said, “It was very hot, but I felt amazing in the race. It’s disappointing that the team and I worked so hard but did not get a good result. There were a lot of positives about the race. We qualified well and I was able to work into the lead. Another rider then sent me off into the grass. It is concerning how someone rode so irresponsibly because this sport is dangerous enough without that type of riding. If I crash or run off, that’s on me and I always take full responsibility for my mistakes but, in my opinion, that is not what happened earlier in the race. We’re looking forward to seeing how well we can do tomorrow.”

Even with Lochoff’s misfortune, Team Hammer-built next-generation GSX-R750s accounted for two positions in the top five, and three in the top ten with Altus Motorsports Suzuki’s Jaret Nassaney finishing fifth and Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Liam Grant taking tenth.

Saturday’s MotoAmerica Superbike race was a similarly mixed affair. Premier-class rookie Richie Escalante battled inside the top five aboard his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000R before an early crash knocked him out of the race.

Teammate Jake Lewis registered a measured ride in sweltering conditions, ultimately earning a lonely fifth. The result was the Kentuckian’s fourth finish of sixth or better early in his Superbike return as he continues to return to top form.

Team Hammer will be back in action on Sunday at Virginia International Raceway with the aims of fulfilling its race-winning potential.