DANVILLE, Va. – Jake Gagne turned in a very Cameron Beaubier-esque performance Saturday in the first of two MotoAmerica HONOS Superbike races at Virginia Int’l Raceway, the Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha rider leading from start to finish to earn his second win of the season and his second in a row.
Gagne, who broke five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Beaubier’s lap record earlier in the day during final qualifying, shot from pole position to the lead and was never headed, topping Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz by 11.8 seconds.
“Everybody likes to get a win every now and again,” Gagne said. “I’m just thankful for the Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance team. Having a year under you on the same bike with the same team coming back the next year, I just feel really comfortable. I worked a lot in the off-season on my riding and my thought process when I’m out there. Like I said, hats off to my team because these guys work so hard. They were up late swapping another motor last night. It seemed like one thing after another, but to make it and pull it off here today is awesome. Obviously, I wanted to get off to a good start. I’ve been struggling with my starts and I think that was one of my better starts.
“I was surprised that I didn’t see Mat (Scholtz) or Loris (Baz) or Josh (Herrin) or somebody come up the inside. I just wanted to get out front and try to throw down consistent laps. I knew this would be a long, hard race on these tires. These Dunlops are holding up well for how hot it is out there. Hats off to the team. Hats off to all these boys again. We’ve got a Yamaha and a sweep for Yamaha, so that’s really nice. We’ll go back and try to work on a couple little things. Try to make the bike a little easier to ride. I know Mat, Josh, the Suzukis, probably the Ducati, they’re all going to be on it tomorrow. So, hats off to the team and hats off to the fans for being out here. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”
Scholtz didn’t win, but he was the next best thing and it kept him at the top of the points table with his 65 points leading Gagne and his 50 points. Josh Herrin, third Saturday, is third in the title chase with 48 points. Herrin was 15.478 seconds behind his teammate.
The battle for third was a good one with Herrin, Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York’s Loris Baz and M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Cameron Petersen swapping the spot for the majority of the race. It came down to the final laps with Baz pushing Petersen wide in turn one and Herrin ultimately taking full advantage. The trio crossed the line in formation and with just .8 of a second separating Herrin from Petersen with Petersen just .006 of a second behind Baz.
Scheibe Racing BMW’s Hector Barbera continued to show progress, the Spaniard having his best result of the young season with a sixth-place finish. Barbera led Panera Bread Ducati’s Kyle Wyman across the line by some five seconds.
FLY Racing ADR Motorsports’ Jayson Uribe, Altus Motorsports’ Jake Lewis and Travis Wyman Racing’s Travis Wyman rounded out the top-10 finishers. Lewis, who earlier won the Stock 1000 race, earned full Superbike Cup points for his top finish among those riding Stock 1000-spec motorcycles.