Round six of the 2022 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship starts this Friday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California.

The legendary, 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course is home to the famous “Corkscrew,” a breathtaking sequence of turns unlike anywhere else in the world. The Corkscrew drops 59 feet from the entrance of Turn 8 to the exit of Turn 8A–the equivalent of a five-and-a-half-story drop–in only 450 feet of track length. And then, from Turn 8 to Turn 9, the elevation falls 109 feet, or just over 10 stories.

This weekend is the second leg of a two-round West Coast swing for the MotoAmerica series, and the Westby Racing team and its premier rider Mathew Scholtz Racing are looking to close the gap in the championship to current leader Danilo Petrucci, as well as defending champion Jake Gagne, who leap-frogged Mathew and now sits in second, just six points ahead of Mathew. Meanwhile, Petrucci is only 17 points ahead of Mathew, which means that the championship is still very much within reach for the rider of the #11 Westby Racing Yamaha Racing YZF-R1, with 10 races left in the 2022 Superbike season.

Without question, Mathew and his highly experienced Westby Racing crew are very much up for the challenge.

“Laguna Seca is one of my favourite circuits on the calendar,” Mathew said. “It was a very positive round for us last year, and I think it was a turning point in our season. We have a lot better package this year, and I feel really good on the bike. I just want to show that we are a frontrunning team. The Ridge was a tough round for us, and we slipped further back in the championship, but I think we’ve proven this year that we are capable of running up front in every single race. We have the team, the package, and the rider to do so. The weather looks like it will be cooler, which usually suits us a little better. I’m excited to be with my team again. I know everyone’s been working hard, and we will continue fighting for the championship.”