{"id":19767,"date":"2020-03-12T06:37:29","date_gmt":"2020-03-12T13:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.motoamerica.com\/?p=19767"},"modified":"2020-03-12T06:37:29","modified_gmt":"2020-03-12T13:37:29","slug":"westby-racing-participates-in-motoamerica-dunlop-official-preseason-test-with-josh-hayes-filling-in-for-injured-mathew-scholtz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.motoamerica.com\/westby-racing-participates-in-motoamerica-dunlop-official-preseason-test-with-josh-hayes-filling-in-for-injured-mathew-scholtz\/","title":{"rendered":"Hayes Fills In For Westby Racing At Preseason Test"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Josh Hayes aboard the Westby Racing Superbike at Barber Motorsports Park. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>

The following is from Westby Racing…<\/em><\/p>

Despite the challenging weather conditions and the\nunfortunate fractured right clavicle that Mathew Scholtz suffered this past\nSunday in a training crash aboard a motocross bike, the Westby Racing team made\nsolid progress at the two-day MotoAmerica Dunlop Official Preseason Test held\nat Barber Motorsports Park on Tuesday and Wednesday.<\/p>

The first order of business was to find a rider who\ncould thoroughly test the #11 Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 in place of Mathew\nand deliver the valuable data and feedback to keep advancing the team\u2019s\nSuperbike program. Josh Hayes was already en route to Barber, and he was\nplanning to test the MP13 Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 that he is racing in Sunday\u2019s\nDaytona 200. Westby Racing team manager Chuck Giacchetto contacted Josh, and\nthe \u201cMississippi Madman\u201d graciously accepted the invitation to participate in\nas many of the eight scheduled Superbike practice sessions as possible, while\nalso finding the time to ride his R6 in some of the eight scheduled Supersport\npractice sessions.<\/p>

Josh not only put in a number of fast laps on the\nWestby Racing Superbike, but he spent a lot of time after the practice sessions\nwith crew chief Ed Sullivan and electronics specialist Herschel Auxier poring\nover the copious data that Josh had collected during his laps around the 2.38-mile, 17-turn road\ncourse.<\/p>

About the\ntest, Josh said, \u201cI got a call from Chuck on Sunday night, and he said, \u2018Man,\nthis thing happened with Matty and, unfortunately, he\u2019s not going to be able to\nride at the test. Is there any chance you would be interested in riding the\nbike a little bit and helping us out just to gather some data and information?\u2019\n\u2018Of course, I want to help you guys, I said. \u2018I have to work on my 600 a little\nbit, and I have my coaching to do with the boys, but I don\u2019t see why I can\u2019t\nget out a little bit and do a little bit of work and help you guys out.\u2019<\/p>

\u201cFortunately,\nI\u2019ve been doing some riding, but I was trying to remember the last time I rode\na proper Superbike. I did do a few laps on the Westby Superbike here at a test\na year and a half ago. The thing is definitely a lot of motorcycle, and stuff happens\nreally fast on that thing. Mat\u2019s setup is quite a bit different from mine, too,\nso there were a handful of things that were a challenge to me as far as the ergonomics\non the bike. But, that\u2019s not really what we were here to try to solve. With the\nupgrades and updates to the 2020 Yamaha Superbike, they wanted to make sure\nthat everything was working properly. With my experience through the years with\nthe Yamaha Factory team, it was a good opportunity to get some information and\nprovide a second opinion about where they were going with the electronics. The\nmajority of what we were working on with the motorcycle was making sure that we\ngive Mathew the best tool possible to go out and battle with the frontrunners\nwhen the season starts.\u201d<\/p>

Westby\nRacing\u2019s newest team member Cody Wyman was also in attendance at the Preseason\nTest, and he got some valuable seat time on the #34 Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R3\nJunior Cup bike.<\/p>

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