Qualifying
The Superbike pack might want to start paying attention as Jake Gagne is beginning to look like the Jake Gagne of old as he rode his Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha YZF-R1 to provisional pole position on a cloudy and cool Friday afternoon at Ridge Motorsports Park.
It was close at the top as Gagne’s best of 1:39.997 was just .084 of a second quicker than Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin with the defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion a mere .094 of a second faster than Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim on the provisional front row.
Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier led the provisional second row, with the five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion just .996 of a second slower than three-time champ Gagne. Both Gagne and Herrin did their fast laps on their seventh lap.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante was fifth-fastest, marginally ahead of his teammate Sean Dylan Kelly.
Bobby Fong ended up seventh, just a tad over a second slower than his teammate.
FLO4LAW/SBU Racing’s Benjamin Smith, Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates, and BPR Racing’s Bryce Kornbau rounded out the top 10.
Race One
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin emerged from a race-long battle with Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier with his third straight MotoAmerica Superbike victory. The win on Saturday at Ridge Motorsports Park was Herrin’s third MotoAmerica Superbike win in a row, a career first for the defending series champion.
The win didn’t come easy as what initially was a three-rider battle between Herrin, Beaubier, and Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne, turned into a two-rider fight between the top two in the championship – Herrin and Beaubier.
Herrin did the majority of the leading and even gapped Beaubier by a second-and-a-half mid-race, but Beaubier fought back to take the lead on the 12th of 16 laps. The five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion held the lead for three laps before Herrin struck back, taking the lead on the 15th lap and holding off the determined Beaubier.
At the finish line, it was Herrin by .194 of a second over Beaubier. With the win came a five-point swing in what is shaping up to be a nail-biter of a championship as Herrin now leads Beaubier by three points.
The win was the 19th of Herrin’s career, and it puts him ninth on the all-time AMA Superbike win list.
Gagne, meanwhile, lost touch with the Herrin/Beaubier battle, with the pole-sitter finishing 2.4 seconds adrift in third place. The top three raced three different brands of motorcycles to the podium – Ducati, BMW and Yamaha.
Some three seconds behind Gagne came his teammate Bobby Fong with the Californian fending off the advances of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante.
Escalante’s teammate Sean Dylan Kelly crossed the finish line some 13 seconds behind in sixth place. BPR Racing’s Bryce Kornbau was a lonely seventh. Ditto for eighth-placed JD Beach and his Stock 1000-spec Real Steel Honda CBR1000RR-R SP.
Edge Racing’s Jason Waters and Thrashed Bike Racing’s Max Flinders rounded out the top 10.
Notable among the non-finishers was Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim, the Kentuckian involved in a bump and run with Ashton Yates in the first corner. Yates crashed and Gillim didn’t, but the melee put him well back in the pack. He went on a charge that saw him climb to seventh before a crash ended his day.
FLO4LAW/SBU Racing’s Benjamin Smith only completed a lap before a mechanical issue knocked him out of the race.
Superbike Race One
Quotes
Jake Gagne – Third Place
“Just foreign territory up there going into turn one not behind a bunch of guys. Compared to how slow I’ve been this year, it’s just good to be up there and finish a few seconds off those guys, and at least that first half kind of be sniffing them. I don’t even remember what happened in turn one. I think we were in there in third. Josh (Herrin), I think, was leading it. Those guys got off to a really good start. It was just a lot for me to learn, to kind of try running with those guys, see what they were doing better, see where we stacked up. It had been a long time, besides the rain stuff, that I’ve ran even close to these guys. So, it’s just good to be up there. I think we can learn a lot and try to make some improvements for tomorrow and see if we can get a little closer. Everybody is going to step it up tomorrow. It’s tough, though. This track with these tires, that second half of the race it was greasy and slippery. That’s where those guys really kind of were able to take off. I’m happy enough to be on the podium. It’s been a long time.”
Cameron Beaubier – Second Place
“Honestly, just to be in the race for the win was a win in itself. Yesterday it was a pretty tough day. We were struggling pretty bad with the bike, mainly on the front end. The guys stayed really late last night kind of looking everything over. They had to rebuild me a bike after I threw it into the fence at Road America. So, a completely new bike. We had a couple things that we were struggling with that we don’t normally struggle with. Big thanks to those guys for working so hard and giving me a good bike that I could fight with today. We definitely have some stuff that we need to go back and improve to really put up a good fight with Josh (Herrin). I felt like I was there in the middle of the race. He started pulling on me a little bit. I went into this race, and I was like, ‘I need to get some points. I need to keep this thing on two wheels.’ I knew how fast Jake (Gagne) was going and Josh this weekend. That was the main target. When Josh started riding away from me, I was like, ‘let’s just be patient.’ Then he started coming back a little bit. I got a sniff and kept going. We had a little battle at the end, but I couldn’t get close enough. He was really good off all the short corners getting that thing hooked up onto the straights. I just wasn’t close enough to make any kind of move.”
Josh Herrin – Winner
“It was fun. Like you guys talked about there, in the middle of the race I saw a plus 1.1 and I think I let it get to my head a little bit. I honestly thought about it a little bit too much. I didn’t know if he (Cameron Beaubier) made a little mistake and I got that gap, or if I earned it. I kind of let off that little bit and you’re not supposed to do that. Just keep looking forward. I felt good. I honestly did get a little bit tired there. I haven’t been feeling great today, but I don’t know if that’s why or if it’s just this track is physical and I’m not there. I just gave it my all there the last three laps. Just held my breath and just went for it and tried to put as many good laps together as I could. I’m happy. The bike feels great. Today, even though we got the win, I feel like I disappointed myself a little bit by letting that lead go away. I know I can do it. I‘ve just got to grind it out a little bit better. The guy’s got a great bike underneath me. I think for sure this is the best bike on the grid and everybody knows it. I’m just trying to take advantage of it while I have it. Thank you to the whole Warhorse HSBK Racing team. I love coming to the Ridge. It’s been a good bike for the Ducati since I got on the Supersport bike. Happy to be up here. Never had three Superbike wins in a row in my life, so that feels good. We got the two for Palmer and Ava last weekend, and I left Griffin out, so I had to get one more at least. Happy to do that. It’s cool. To have three kids and be winning Superbike races – Rachel is obviously the one doing 90 percent of the work at home, but it’s mentally just insane. It’s cool to be able to be up here and to be getting wins with kids. It’s such a special feeling to do that.”
Race Two
Prior to Saturday’s Superbike race one at Ridge Motorsports Park, Josh Herrin had never won three Superbike races in a row. On Sunday, he made it four straight, with a dominating victory in the Pacific Northwest.
If Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Herrin was good on Saturday, he was even better on Sunday as he rode away from his challengers, never put a wheel wrong, and cruised home with five seconds in hand. The win was Herrin’s 20th career AMA Superbike victory, a win that puts the defending class champion in a tie for eighth with two-time World Superbike and three-time AMA Superbike Champion Fred Merkel.
For the second straight day, second place went to Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier with the five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion pleased with what he felt was the result he could get with the package he was dealing with. Although Beaubier’s two second-place finishes cost him the lead in the championship, he goes to his home track of WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in two weeks with high hopes.
Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne was third for the second straight day, making for identical podiums on both days in the Superbike class. Gagne is getting closer to being the Gagne of old and he turned in another solid ride on Sunday, finishing 2.8 seconds behind Beaubier.
Richie Escalante was fourth, one spot better than his Saturday result as the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider showed good speed all weekend and ended up slightly less than 10 seconds behind race-winning Herrin.
Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim was fifth for his best finish of the season thus far as his Honda CBR1000RR-R SP continues to improve.
Gillim was well clear of BPR Racing’s Bryce Kornbau with sixth also a high-water mark for the Californian and his Yamaha YZF-R1. Real Steel Honda’s JD Beach was seventh, which earned him the win in the Superbike Cup for those racing Stock 1000-spec motorcycles in the Superbike class.
Gagne’s teammate Bobby Fong struggled with mechanical ills on his Yamaha YZF-R1, and he barely topped Thrashed Motorcycles’ Max Flinders and BPR Racing’s Deion Campbell at the finish line with half a second covering the threesome that rounded out the top 10.
The top-five finishers were mounted on five different brands of motorcycles: Ducati, BMW, Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda.
Notable non-finishers were Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates, with the Georgian crashing for the second straight day, and FLO4LAW/SBU Racing’s Benjamin Smith failing to score a point over the course of the weekend as he also crashed out on Sunday.
After four rounds and eight races, Herrin leads Beaubier by eight points, 159-151. Gagne is third with 125 points, eight more than his teammate Fong. Escalante sits fifth with 81 points.
Superbike Race Two
Quotes
Jake Gagne – Third Place
“It was good progress for me, just like my riding. Obviously, Bobby (Fong) has been showing that the bike is capable of running up there. He’s been smoking me. I feel like I kind of am getting closer to trying to remember how to ride after farting around all last year. Honestly, I’m happy with how I rode because I feel like I haven’t ridden that hard in a while. I had a lot of moments out there, especially today. Hats off to Josh (Herrin). He was railing. Cam (Beaubier) too. I kind of just tried to keep them in sight. At least Cam for a little while. I had a few moments out there. Hats off to the team because they’ve stuck behind me after last year and even these first couple rounds where we haven’t been so fast. But we’re trying to be smart about it. Like I said, I’m happy with how I rode. I got to ride hard. It’s going to be tough to beat these boys, but I’m ready for it and excited to go to Laguna and have a little bit of momentum.”
Cameron Beaubier – Second Place
“Coming in, I knew this was going to be one of the tougher tracks we are going to come to this year. All said and done, two second places… I’m stoked with. Especially being able to even fight for the win yesterday. Honestly, after yesterday I was hoping for a little more out of myself today. But I can say I rode as hard as I could. I didn’t have anything for Josh (Herrin). I was taking a lot of risks on the front, just trying to stay with him. There came a point he was probably seven-tenths up the road, and I just stopped lunging forward on the brakes. I was like, ‘I need to bring this thing home.’ He was on another level today. It was a tough race, though. I had Jake (Gagne) only one second, 1.5 behind me pretty much the whole race. So had to keep my head down. Big thanks to the team, Tytlers, for just putting in so much work this weekend. They flipped my bike upside-down. Especially this year, we haven’t really changed too much on the thing. It’s been working really good since we rolled it off the truck at all three of the first races. We made some big changes, and we learned a lot this weekend. So, thanks to those guys for working so hard. Laguna up next, one of my favorite places to go race. I’m looking forward to it.”
Josh Herrin – Winner “It was weird yesterday. I don’t know what was going on after that win. I just was feeling down in the dumps. The only thing I can think of is I wasn’t feeling great, but then today it was like the same point in the race. I saw the exact same number, plus 1.2. As soon as I saw that yesterday, I just lost focus and slowed down too much. I thought I had a good cushion, and I just over-slowed and Cam (Beaubier) caught up. It was weird. I was obviously happy for the win, but not anything like today. Today I felt like I rode good. The team did a lot of work last night to try and think of anything we could get to just help me feel more comfortable on the brakes because Cam obviously was catching me a lot on the brakes. I’m stoked. Four wins in a row is huge. I’m going into Laguna with more momentum than I’ve ever had on a Superbike and more confidence than I’ve ever had. To have it be Laguna is just special. TJ Dillashaw was in our pit today so I couldn’t back down like I did yesterday. I had to fight to the end and not show him that I was weak like I was yesterday. So, I’m stoked. Happy to go to Laguna and happy to get home and see my kiddos. That’s for sure.”
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