ALTON, Va. — The heat is on another level for MotoAmerica Superbikes at Virginia. Low-90s temperatures and a windless blanket of humidity locked in a punishing afternoon at VIR, one of the most physically demanding circuits on the MotoAmerica calendar.
The circuits relentless run of blind crests, off-camber sweepers, and elevation changes already asks everything of rider and machine — add in a game-changing level of heat, and Friday became an equalizer, calling only the fittest riders and best-prepared teams to the top of the time sheets. Free Practice and Qualifying 1 across all four classes set the tone for a weekend where survival may matter as much as speed.
Quad Lock Superbike riders opened Friday’s VIRginia festivities with Free Practice in the morning and a 40-minute Timed Practice session in the afternoon to set the fastest 21 riders into tomorrow’s Final Qualifying session. The morning session produced lap times in the low 1:25s before Strack Racing’s Mathew Scholtz set the pace in Timed Practice with a 1:24.764 — the only rider to crack into the 1:24s.
Behind the South African ran a train of 1:25s with OrangeCat Racing’s Sean Dylan Kelly (-0.340 seconds) in second.
Wrench Motorcycles’ Cameron Petersen (-0.351 seconds) rounding out the top three.
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante logged a 1:25.382 to take fourth in the timed session ahead of Warhorse HSBK Ducati Flo4Law’s Benjamin Smith in fifth.
Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Bobby Fong was sixth fastest (-0.692 seconds), followed by teammate and third-in-points JD Beach in seventh (-0.710 seconds). Beach, however, turned only three laps before crashing and was unable to continue the session, missing valuable track time ahead of Final Qualifying.
Real Steel Honda’s Hayden Gillim was the remaining rider within a second of the leader. The Kentucky native sat 0.855 seconds off the pace at a 1:25.619.
Riders and teams will be doing their homework tonight before the grid is set in the short 15-minute Final Qualifying session prior to Race 1 of the triple-header weekend.
In Superbike Cup, BPR Racing Yamaha’s Deion Campbell set the fastest time of 1:27.249 to take the top Cup time on day one.
Supersport Q1 saw Rahal Ducati Moto with Desnuda Organic Tequila’s Josh Herrin steal the top spot in a tightly contested session where the top nine were separated by under a second. The 36-year-old led the latter half of the session, securing the top spot with a 1:27.581.
