Title In Hand, Gagne Heads To Circuit Of The Americas Ready To Battle

The Eighth Round Of The Medallia Superbike Championship is Ready To Roll At The Circuit Of The Americas, September 8-10
 

IRVINE, CA (September 6, 2023) – With Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne wrapping up his third straight MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Championship a few weeks ago at Pittsburgh International Race Complex with two rounds and four races left to run, it begs the question: Will he be more dangerous with the championship clinched and the freedom of having the title already in his back pocket?

What Gagne closed with at the end of the post-race press conference at PittRace might have his rivals lying awake at night and collectively thinking, “Oh, oh.” With an ear-to-ear grin, Gagne ended the conversation in the media center with this nugget: “I’m looking forward to going to the last couple of rounds and just duking it out with these guys with nothing else to worry about.”

Oh, oh is right.

Gagne heads to the Circuit of The Americas in Austin this week with an insurmountable Texas-sized championship lead of 101 points after nine wins and a total of 15 podiums thus far in 2023. He also arrives in Texas with 38 career AMA Superbike wins on his resume. If there really is such a thing as having “nothing else to worry about,” Gagne has found it.

Gagne has been beaten a total of seven times in 2023 and one of the three other winners is Cameron Beaubier, who won’t be racing at COTA. After three massive crashes, including the most horrific of the three coming in race two at PittRace, Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Beaubier has opted out of the two remaining rounds of the championship to “look at the bigger picture” after sustaining concussions and some knee trouble from his crashes at the Brainerd and PittRace rounds.

The two other men who won when Gagne didn’t are Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Josh Herrin and Beaubier’s Tytlers teammate PJ Jacobsen. Herrin won the sixth race of the year at Road America with Jacobsen winning his lone race at Brainerd International Raceway. Those two will be at COTA and will be ready to attack.

Herrin is second in the title chase after posting 11 podium finishes (including his victory) thus far in 2023 and he’s also a former Superbike race winner at COTA. Herrin is 32 points ahead of Jacobsen in the battle for second in the championship, so any wrong step could cost him the runner-up spot.

Jacobsen comes to the Lone Star State with seven podiums and that 32-point deficit to Herrin. The New Yorker leads his teammate Beaubier by just a single point, but with Beaubier out of action for the final two rounds Jacobsen will be out to not only catch Herrin but also be wary of keeping Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz behind him

Scholtz, who has also tasted Superbike victory at COTA, is 20 points behind Jacobsen after landing on the podium seven times in the first 16 races. Scholtz has come alive in the past two rounds with three podiums and a fourth-place finish in the four races.

Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante almost ruined his perfect run of finishing every Medallia Superbike race this season at PittRace when he crashed in the closing laps of race one. Escalante, however, was able to remount and score two points for finishing 14th. Thus, he and Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim, who is seventh in the championship, remain the only two riders in the top 10 without a DNF.

The third of the Tytlers Cycle Racing Superbike men in the championship is Corey Alexander with the New Yorker sitting eighth in the point standings and six points adrift of Gillim. Alexander has had it difficult of late with three non-finishes in the last five races. He will be hoping to reverse that trend in the final four races of the season.

Aftercare Scheibe Racing’s Ashton Yates completes the top 10 as the series heads to COTA with the Georgian nine points ahead of Thrashed Bike Racing’s Max Flinders. Those two are under threat from Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch, with the New Jersey resident scoring solid points in seven of the eight races since joining the team at the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca round in July. Paasch is eight points behind Flinders and 17 behind Yates.

Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong has also inserted himself in the mix after joining the David Anthony-owned team at Laguna Seca with three top-five finishes in the past five rounds. Fong is 10 points adrift of Paasch.

With Beaubier opting to sit out the final two rounds of the season, the Tytlers Cycle Racing team has announced that its Supersport rider Stefano Mesa will forego the rest of the middleweight series to take over Beaubier’s BMW M 1000 RR for the final two rounds of the Medallia Superbike Championship. COTA will be the site of Mesa’s Superbike debut, though the Colombian does have big-bike experience as he has competed in Stock 1000.

Speaking of replacement riders, JD Beach will get another two rounds on the Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing YZF-R1 vacated by the injured Cameron Petersen. Beach finished seventh, fifth and sixth on the Yamaha in the tripleheader round at PittRace.

The two 12-lap Medallia Superbike races at the Circuit of The Americas will be held at 3:10 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.

COTA Pre-Race Superbike Notes…

Although the facility is called the Circuit of The Americas, Americans haven’t fared so well in the MotoAmerica rounds held at the immaculate facility on the outskirts of Austin. Twelve MotoAmerica Superbike races have been held at COTA and non-Americans have won nine of them. The all-time win leader at COTA is Toni Elias, the now-retired Spaniard winning six races in Texas. The rider with the second most victories at COTA is Danilo Petrucci with the Italian winning both races last year. The third foreigner to win at COTA is Mathew Scholtz with the South African winning race one in 2018 for Westby Racing. The last American to win at COTA was Josh Herrin, who got the victory in race two in 2019 on a Yoshimura Suzuki.

The first-ever MotoAmerica Superbike race at COTA was won by four-time AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes in race one in 2015. Race two in 2015 was won by five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier.

Danilo Petrucci copied Toni Elias in winning in his MotoAmerica debut last year at the Circuit of The Americas. Elias won both Superbike races in his MotoAmerica debut in 2016 on his Yoshimura Suzuki and Petrucci won the first two races of his MotoAmerica season last year on the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC Panigale V4 R.

MotoAmerica Live+ commentator Roger Hayden is still the Superbike lap record holder at the 3.4-mile, 20-turn Circuit of The Americas with his lap of 2:08.184 set in 2019 on his Yoshimura Suzuki.

Jake Gagne earned pole position for both of the Medallia Superbike races at COTA last year with a lap of 2:08.450.

While Petrucci won both races last year at COTA, it was Mathew Scholtz who was second best in both. Cameron Petersen was third in race one with Jake Gagne filling the podium in race two.

Suzuki is the manufacturer with the most MotoAmerica Superbike wins at COTA with seven. Yamaha has three victories in Austin with Ducati earning its first two wins in Texas last year.

Jake Gagne’s two victories at Pittsburgh International Race Complex a few weeks ago were the 37th and 38th of his MotoAmerica Superbike career. Gagne is fourth on the all-time AMA Superbike win list behind Mat Mladin (82), Josh Hayes (61) and Cameron Beaubier (59).

About MotoAmerica

MotoAmerica is North America’s premier motorcycle road racing series. Established in 2014, MotoAmerica is home to the AMA Superbike Championship as well as additional classes including Supersport, Stock 1000, Twins Cup, Junior Cup, and King Of The Baggers. MotoAmerica is an affiliate of KRAVE Group LLC, a partnership including three-time 500cc World Champion, two-time AMA Superbike Champion, and AMA Hall of Famer Wayne Rainey; ex-racer and former manager of Team Roberts Chuck Aksland; motorsports marketing executive Terry Karges; and businessman Richard Varner. For more information, please visit www.MotoAmerica.com and follow MotoAmerica on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube.

Kayla Yaakov switches to Supersport with immediate effect  – first race at COTA

Tytlers Cycle Racing is delighted to announce that Kayla Yaakov will join their Supersport program with immediate effect, competing in her first race in the upcoming MotoAmerica event at COTA. She will also compete for the squad at the season finale in New Jersey.

Yaakov, who finished third overall in last year’s Junior Cup series after a stunning season that saw her stand atop the podium four times, currently sits seventh overall in the MotoAmerica Twins Cup series having achieved a maiden podium in the class at the Barber Motorsports Park round.

She has also previously had success in Europe, racing to the podium in the bLU cRU finale at Portimao in Portugal, a support race to WorldSBK last year and has recently achieved success in Spain, winning several races in the R7 Cup!

Tytlers Cycle Racing are understandably excited to have been able to secure Kayla’s talents for the final two rounds of the Supersport season and look forward to seeing her on track in their colours for the first time later this week.

Michael Kiley: “It’s a privilege to have Kayla take the Supersport seat for Tytler’s Cycle Racing and to have her close out the season with us.  Our intent was to allow Stefano to concentrate on Superbike and to give an opportunity to someone upcoming in the final rounds of the season. I know all of us will be watching and supporting her on track. Her accomplishments speak for themselves, and so it’s great to work with her and her family. After what she has already achieved, I am sure she is destined for more success.”

Michael Godin – Crew Chief for the Tytlers Racing Supersport Program: “Firstly, I want to wish Stefano the best of luck on the BMW M 1000 RR Superbike. We’re coming off our best weekend of the year and look forward to keeping up the momentum with Kayla on board as we finish out the season. I’ve been watching Kayla’s racing for many years and look forward to getting her acclimated to our program and watching her at work in the Supersport class.”

Kayla Yaakov: “I am extremely excited to be joining the Tytlers Cycle Racing Team for the final two rounds of the MotoAmerica Supersport season. This opportunity came completely out of the blue and I am so thankful for this chance to try the Supersport bike in this stacked class. Next weekend won’t be easy, learning a new track and a new bike but I know I have a strong team around me, and I am ready for the challenge and what lies ahead. The decision to jump off the Twins Cup bike and pursue Supersport so late in the season was difficult, but after a lot of thought about my progression and my future in the sport, myself, The WagBar MP13 Racing Team and Yamaha have come to a mutual decision in allowing me to dedicate the rest of the year to the Tytlers Cycle Supersport program. I want to thank everyone that has made this possible. See you all at COTA!”

Dave Yaakov: “Kayla and I are extremely excited to be joining the Tytlers Cycle Racing team for the remainder of the MotoAmerica Season. Supersport has been her goal and something she’s been aiming for. This opportunity will allow her to acclimatise to the class a little early. I want to personally say a big thank you to Michael for giving Kayla this opportunity and seeing potential in her. I look forward to formally meeting the entire Tytlers team this weekend and having a great time at the track. I would also like to thank MP13 and Yamaha for allowing Kayla to take advantage of this opportunity. Yamaha has and still does play a key role in Kayla’s success so it was with only their approval that we could take part in joining Tytlers Cycle Racing to finish out the MotoAmerica season.”

WAGBAR MP13 RACING AND KAYLA YAAKOV PART WAYS

Oceanside, CA — The WagBar MP13 Racing Team and racer Kayla Yaakov have terminated their 2023 contract agreement amicably. The team would like to wish Kayla much success as she pursues a new competitive opportunity in a different class on another motorcycle brand for the remaining two rounds of the 2023 MotoAmerica Series season at Circuit of The Americas and New Jersey Motorsports Park.

After successful preseason tests with Yaakov, the WagBar MP13 Racing team looked forward to attacking the seven-round, 14-race MotoAmerica REV’IT! Twin’s Cup Championship with the promising 16-year-old Pennsylvania native riding its proven, race-winning Yamaha YZF-R7.

A testing crash one week before the season-opening round at Daytona International Speedway dashed title-winning hopes for Yaakov and the team. Yaakov recovered from her injuries and returned to the series two rounds later at Barber Motorsports Park. In her return, she scored an astonishing two podium finishes in her first competitive outing on the Yamaha R7.

“While we always hope to finish what we start, the goal of my team has been to give opportunities to up-and-coming racers,” said Melissa Paris, owner of the WagBar MP13 Racing Team. “Kayla feels this is a chance she can’t pass up, and we don’t want to stand in her way.”

Paris continued, “Even though we will be watching and cheering for Kayla from the Supersport sidelines, the WagBar MP13 Racing Team will be back to business as usual at New Jersey Motorsports Park. We will field our Yamaha YZF-R3 in Junior Cup and our YZF-R7 in the REV’IT! Twins Cup. As always, we aim to be fighting at the front. The team will announce a replacement rider for the final round soon.”

The WagBar MP13 Racing Team would like to thank all of its partners for their support throughout the 2023 season: WagBar, Great Lakes Supply, CSU One Cure, Yamaha, bLU cRU, Spears Enterprises, Beringer, Yoshimura, Capit, Ohlins, GHD Designs, Vortex, Attack Performance, SBS Brakes, Maxima, Dunlop, and J4rce.