To say that Cameron Petersen likes Barber Motorsports Park would be a gross understatement. Petersen, who won his first career MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike race here a year ago in a rainstorm, arrives in Alabama every year brimming with confidence. Well, that confidence level just skyrocketed today with provisional pole position and a new lap record of the 2.380-mile circuit.
Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Petersen was fast from the get-go, breaking the lap record in Free Practice 1 this morning before bettering that effort in Q1 with his 1:22.323 lap on his 18th go-around. The lap put him .595 of a second ahead of Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz.
“As long as I keep breaking it, I’m happy with that,” Petersen said when reminded his first lap record didn’t last long. “Honestly, I’m pretty damn surprised by that. Obviously, the track was a little bit more greasy this afternoon, but this bike is working so good. It’s crazy. I can’t take all the credit. The bike isn’t doing anything wrong and it’s allowing me to push to that level. I’m having fun.”
While Petersen had a perfect day, Gagne did not. With just a few laps under his belt in Q1, Gagne’s Yamaha YZF-R1 gave up the ghost and denied the defending MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Champion any chance of a quicker lap.
Still, he was third fastest with his best lap coming on lap four, his 1:23.310 some two-tenths quicker than Tytlers Cycle Racing’s PJ Jacobsen, the New Yorker 1.5 seconds slower than Petersen’s best.
Fifth went to Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Danilo Petrucci with the Italian having a dreadful day on the Panigale V4 R. Although the bike had the same setup as when he’d run at lap-record pace during a test here in May, Petrucci was left scratching his head and in fifth with a best of 1:24.177 – 1.8 seconds slower than Petersen.
SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup – Yaakov Leads ‘Em
Altus Motorsports’ Kayla Yaakov picked up where she left off with the fastest lap of Barber Motorsports Park in Friday’s SportbikeTrackGear.com Q1 session. Yaakov, who dominated a wet race two at NJMP a few weeks ago, lapped at 1:36.243 to best Bauce Racing/JL62’s Joe LiMandri Jr. by .140 of a second and championship points leader Cody Wyman on his Alpha Omega Kawasaki Ninja 400 by .199 of a second.
The top nine Junior Cuppers completed the session within a second of Yaakov.
Supersport – The Champ On Top
Newly crowned MotoAmerica Supersport Champion Josh Herrin earned provisional pole position on his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC Panigale V2, besting Landers Racing’s Rocco Landers by just .106 of a second with both riders doing their best on their 13th laps of Q1.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott was third fastest, half a second off Herrin’s best.
Unfortunately, four-time AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes was knocked out of the season finale after just the sixth lap of Free Practice 1 when he was highsided from his Squid Hunter Yamaha YZF-R6 and suffered a broken left ankle. Hayes was set to go for a record-setting 87th AMA race win this weekend.
Yuasa Stock 1000 – Alexander!
Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Corey Alexander wrapped up the Yuasa Stock 1000 Championship a few weeks ago in New Jersey. Today, in Alabama, Alexander was again on top – this time in Friday’s Q1.
Alexander’s best was a 1:24.712 and that put him .393 of a second faster than his teammate Travis Wyman. Third fastest was Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim.
REV’IT! Twins Cup – De Keyrel’s Friday
Veloce Racing’s Kaleb De Keyrel won’t get the chance to run the number-one plate in 2023 after losing out in this year’s championship. But he’s trying to squeeze the most out of that number one while he’s still got it as he earned provisional pole position for the REV’IT! Twins Cup season finale.
De Keyrel’s 1:29.398 topped Robem Engineering’s Teagg Hobbs by .483 of a second with Hobbs’ teammate Ben Gloddy ending the day third fastest.
