With the first round of races at Pittsburgh International Race Complex complete. The championship standings have shifted a bit across all of the classes. There were ups and downs and one champion was crowned. Here are the events as they unfolded.
Medallia Superbike
Bobby Fong who pulled off a surprise pole position was not able to convert that pole into a win. Fong lost out at the beginning of the race with a poor launch seeing him drop back as the riders entered turn one on the first lap. Fong seemingly was going to make a charge for third but the pace of Cameron Beaubier (Tytlers Cycle Racing) and Mathew Scholtz (Westby Racing) saw them pull away by mid race. The left Fong in fourth with a charging PJ Jacobsen (Tytlers Cycle Racing) behind him. As the tires started to fall out Jacobsen was gaining ground but ultimately fell just short finishing 4 tenths behind Fong.
Jake Gagne (Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha) won the race with a very large gap behind. He finished 3.698 seconds ahead of Beaubier. Beaubier’s championship hopes dwindled further after the win. He sits third in the championship one point behind Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Ducati) and 84 points behind Gagne. Herrin had a race to forget. After two laps he’s was already well behind the lead pack and never recovered. Herrin finished P6 which did not help his championship hopes either. If Herrin or Beaubier can’t find the pace to win in Race 2 and or 3. Gagne may be able to run away with the championship with possibly a more than 100 point lead this weekend. There are two races and 50 points up for grabs today.
Supersport
Stefano Mesa breaks his dry spell and wins in Pittsburgh! Mesa secured his first Supersport win of the season. Mesa has been on the podium multiple times this year but due to Xavi Fores’ (Warhorse HSBK Ducati) early season dominance Mesa has had to settle for P2/P3 on the box. Not this time though. A late red flag opened the door for Mesa as the originally planned 16 lap race was red flagged and restarted as a 5 lap sprint race. Mesa seized the opportunity and it came down to the line as Mesa won by 0.180 seconds ahead of a closing Fores.
The whole weekend, we’ve been very fast off the get-go. I think, after race two in Brainerd, we found a little something on the bike. We’ve been dealing with a lot of chassis issues with the new B bike, what we call the B bike, since I broke the (A bike at) Ridge. I broke it in half. Been battling a lot of chassis setup. But I think we finally hit the nail where it was. I think we’re in the window for the bike. My hats off to the team. They gave me a great bike since we rolled it out of the truck. We’ve been fast all weekend. The race was great. My hats off to these guys. This is great battling with them. It’s great trying to pass Xavi (Forés) on the brakes. I think first clean race I got to actually battle with Xavi and try and go for the win. I think I had the pace. Tomorrow we’re going to try and find a little bit more and see if we can get the win again.”
Rev It Twins Cup
The title race in Twins cup tightened with Rocco Landers (Rodio Racing – Powered By Robem Engineering) making up ground to leader Blake Davis (N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto) and teammate Gus Rodio (Rodio Racing – Powered By Robem Engineering. Landers is 10 points behind Blake Davis. Rodio is 1 point behind Davis. Depending on how race 2 finishes we could see a shuffle at the top of the table. Today’s race is a must win for Landers if he wants to create cushion in the points heading into the next round.
Landers had the following words for the MotoAmerica media. “It’s a good track for the bike. It’s a good track for the team. The Aprilia is handling absolutely amazing. The start I kind of got shuffled back there a little bit. I just tried to basically pick up the pieces after the first lap and do what I could to get back past these guys. They were riding amazing, obviously killing it. I knew if I could lead a few laps at least through the esses, I could maybe start to stretch out a gap and then hold it there. So, that’s what I did. It went to plan today. Doesn’t always go to plan, but today it did. We’re hoping to do at least that or even better tomorrow.”
Junior Cup
Avery Dreher (Bad Boys Racing) bounces back and wins Junior Cup race 2 in a heart breaking finish for Rossi Moor (Fairium NGRT- Gray Area Racing). The win came at a margin of 0.036 seconds at the line. Moor moved up to second place behind Dreher who now holds a 39 point lead in the championship. There are 3 more races left for Junior cup this year. 75 points are up for grabs and the story is far from over. A race 2 win will be crucial ahead of the next race round for the soon to be crowned champion. Who that is, only time will tell.
Royal Enfield BTR
Mikayla Moore solidified her dominance this weekend by clinching the BTR champion with a still perfect season. Moore has won every race this year in the class. Win one more race to go its just a formality for Moore but we all know she is a competitor at heart and will definitely be going for the win to complete her perfect season. There is a heated battle for 2nd and 3rd between Sonya Lloyd, Crystal Martinez and Kayleigh Buyck. With one more opportunity to race the ladies will need to leave it all on the track one last time to improve/hold their current championship standing.