After Austin and Road Atlanta, the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship is packing its bags this weekend in Virginia, at the Virginia Int’l Raceway, more commonly known as VIR.
At his head, Danilo Petrucci (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC) leads with its Panigale V4 R on Mathew Scholtz (Westby Racing) who rides a Yamaha YZF-R1. The two men however had misadventures at Road Atlanta, the Italian having to retire due to an engine overheating caused by waiting too long on the starting grid and the South African crashing while fighting for second square.
But these incidents are less serious than those which penalized the reigning champion Jake Gagne (Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha) and his teammate Cameron Petersen who lined up white results in the first three races, whether these were caused by (serious) mechanical problems or crashes.
Au final, Danilo Petrucci leads by 15 points but, with two races per weekend, everything remains open, including from this third confrontation.
- Danilo Petrucci 75 Ducati
- Mathew Scholtz 60 Yamaha
- Cameron Petersen 49 Yamaha
- Hector Barbera 46 BMW
- Richie Escalante 42 Suzuki
- Jake Gagne 41 Yamaha
Friday, during the first qualification, Jake Gagne had secured provisional pole in 1’24.371 ahead of Mathew Scholtz et Danilo Petrucci to one tenth.
Unfortunately for the Italian driver, the pace accelerated by 8 tenths in qualifying 2, still under the impetus of Jake Gagne who knows the hilly circuit by heart, while Petrux only progressed by 3 tenths.
As a result, the Ducati #9 only gets 4th time on the grid, behind a front row entirely made up of Yamaha.
During race 1 which took place with 31° in the air and 46° on the track, Jake Gagne left no chance to his opponents, even though Danilo Petrucci gave everything at the start of the race by immediately positioning himself in second place.
But it was said that the Californian was untouchable on this track where he won both races last year, and the Ducati representative not only had to let the defending champion go but also bow down to the attacks of the other two Yamahas. of Mathew Scholtz then Cameron Petersen.
In @Medallia Superbike race one at @VIRNow, @Petux9 was in second with @Scholtzm20 closing fast and looking for a small opening. He got his wish and overtook Petrucci who also ran wide in the turn, which prevented the Italian from making a counter-move. #GreatRacing pic.twitter.com/ZTQ4Va9ms0
– MotoAmerica (@MotoAmerica) May 21, 2022
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Yamaha hat-trick all the more resounding as the Panigale crosses the line more than 15 seconds late!
In the championship, Danilo Petrucci still leads, but only 8 points ahead of Mathew Scholtz and 22 on Jake Gagne which fills little to have had its delay…
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