Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Broken bones be damned. Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz showed that he could put the pain of his recently broken left wrist behind him to earn provisional pole position for this weekend’s two Medallia Superbike races that will headline the Superbikes At Pittsburgh, Presented by LaRoche Aviation Services, round at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex.
Scholtz lapped at 1:40.927 to lead Q1 with the South African the only rider to dip into the 1:40s on a warm, sunny day out the outskirts of Pittsburgh, despite riding with the broken wrist suffered three weeks ago in Minnesota.
Though he said the wrist wasn’t that bothersome when riding, Scholtz knows that one lap isn’t the same as race distance, which in this instance is 17 laps for each of the two races.
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Danilo Petrucci came the closest to Scholtz with the Italian a scant .303 of a second off provisional pole just .041 of a second ahead of the man he is fighting for the championship – Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne. Petrucci’s best, a 1:41.230, came on his 12th lap with Gagne’s 1:41.271 coming on his seventh lap.
Gagne’s teammate Cameron Petersen was on the same second as Scholtz in fourth as was Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Hector Barbera in fifth, .768 off Scholtz’s best.
Yuasa Stock 1000 – Alexander Strikes First
Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing’s Corey Alexander ended Friday on top of the timesheets in the class in which he leads the championship – Yuasa Stock 1000. Alexander ripped off a 1:43.171 to lead his teammate Travis Wyman by just .077 of a second.
Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim, meanwhile, is the man chasing Alexander in the point standings and he was only .198 of a second behind his rival in third place. Cycle World/Octane/Chuckwalla Racing’s Andrew Lee ended up fourth fastest as he continues to fill in for the injured Michael Gilbert.
Mesa37 Racing’s Stefano Mesa was fifth fastest on opening day and just a tick over a second off Alexander’s best.
REV’IT! Twins Cup – Davis On Top
N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s Blake Davis led the way in the first qualifying session for the REV’IT! Twins Cup class at Pitt Race, the 16-year-old barely besting defending class champion Kaleb De Keyrel in a Yamaha vs. Aprilia duel. The difference between the two? A mere .083 of a second.
Robem Engineering’s Ben Gloddy and Veloce Racing’s Jody Barry rounded out the top five on day one.
Barry, who is one point behind Anthony Mazziotto in the battle for the REV’IT! Twins Cup title, ended day one with the advantage as Mazziotto was 10th in Friday’s session after a difficult day with mechanical ills.
Supersport – Landers Over Herrin
Landers Racing’s Rocco Landers is doing everything he can this weekend to prevent Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Josh Herrin from wrapping up the title at Pittsburgh International Race Complex.
Although Herrin winning the title is a foregone conclusion, Landers would like to make him wait and he started the weekend on the right foot by leading Q1 on Friday. Landers lapped at a best of 1:43.906 – .288 faster than Herrin.
Four-time AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes ended the day third fastest on his N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha YZF-R6, but a tick over a second slower than Landers. North East Cycle Outlet Racing’s Benjamin Smith and Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott rounded out the top five in Q1.
SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup – Wyman On Top
Alpha Omega’s Cody Wyman showed why he’s leading the SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup Championship as he led Q1 by almost half a second on Friday at Pitt Race.
Wyman logged a 1:55.863 to best Rodio Racing/Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Gus Rodio and Bauce Racing/JL62 Team’s Joe LiMandri Jr. Bad Boys Racing’s Avery Dreher and SportbikeTrackGear.com’s Max Van rounded out the top five.
Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race – On Your Buyck
Championship points leader Kayleigh Buyck was the best of the women racers in the Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. second practice session on Friday with her 2:11.892.
Buyck led Jennifer Chancellor by .430 of a second with Chloe Peterson ending the session third to complete the provisional front row for Sunday’s race.
