Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne earned provisional pole position on a sunny Friday afternoon at Ridge Motorsports Park, the defending two-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion well off his lap record with tomorrow’s Q2 still to come.
Gagne, who has won the last four Medallia Superbike races at Ridge Motorsports Park, lapped at a best of 1:40.705 and that put him just .047 of a second ahead of Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier, the only other rider to win Superbike races at Ridge.
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin ended the day third to complete the provisional front row, the 2022 Supersport Champion knowing the importance of a front-row start at Ridge. Herrin’s best was .241 of a second off Gagne’s best and .140 of a second ahead of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante.
Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz and Gagne’s teammate Cameron Petersen, whose best lap came after an early session crash, rounded out the top two rows provisionally.
Supersport – Hayes Barely
Squid Hunter Racing’s Josh Hayes was the fastest of the fast in Supersport Q1 on Friday afternoon, the veteran leading a tightly knit group of five that was covered by just .3 of a second.
Hayes’s best was a 1:44.514 and that was just barely ahead of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Teagg Hobbs (.008 behind), Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Xavi Fores (.131 behind), Hobbs’s teammate Tyler Scott (.174 behind) and Disrupt Racing’s Jake Lewis (.337 behind).
Mission Super Hooligan National Championship – O’Hara Reigns
Defending series champion Tyler O’Hara led Q1 of the Mission Super Hooligan National Championship class on Friday, the Indian Motorcycles/Progressive/Mission Foods-backed Indian FTR1200 rider lapping at 1:46.957.
DiBrino Racing KTM’s Andy DiBrino came the closest to matching O’Hara’s pace with the Oregonian turning in a 1:47.450. O’Hara’s teammate Jeremy McWilliams ended Q1 in third, 1.4 seconds behind O’Hara.
REV’IT! Twins Cup – Landers On Top
Robem Engineering’s Rocco Landers put his Aprilia RS 660 on provisional pole for the two REV’IT! Twins Cup races this weekend at Ridge. Landers ended up topping Team Iso’s Dominic Doyle, the South African ending up .452 of a second off Landers’s 1:46.546.
Cycle Tech’s Hayden Schultz ended the session in third – 1.7 seconds slower than Landers. Trackday Winner/Blackmon Racing’s Jackson Blackmon and Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering’s Gus Rodio rounded out the top five on the day.
Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race – Moore Again
Maryland’s Mikayla Moore continued to hold the hot hand in Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. as she earned provisional pole position for the weekend’s races while keeping her perfect 2023 record intact. Moore, who won both races in round one at Road Atlanta, has led each and every session thus far on the two-race-old season.
Moore bested last year’s champion Kayleigh Buyck by 1.8 seconds with Aubrey Credaroli completing the provisional front row.
Superbike Q1
- Jake Gagne (Yamaha) 1:40.705
- Cameron Beaubier (BMW) 1:40.752
- Josh Herrin (Ducati) 1:40.806
- Richie Escalante (Suzuki) 1:40.946
- Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) 1:40.977
- Cameron Petersen (Yamaha) 1:41.043
- Corey Alexander (BMW) 1:41.197
- PJ Jacobsen (BMW) 1:41.197
- Ashton Yates (BMW) 1:42.365
- Bobby Fong (Yamaha) 1:42.411
