Danilo Petrucci defended his overall MotoAmerica lead in Virginia, but the Italian flew off his Ducati after crossing the finish line at over 280 km/h and injured himself. Jake Gagne (Yamaha) won both races.
Ducati star Danilo Petrucci came to Virginia for the third MotoAmerica.Event with a lead of 15 points. The Italian won three out of four Superbike races this season and he was looking to attack again at Virginia International Raceway. But already in qualifying, Petrucci found it a little harder than last time.
He drove his Panigale V4R from fourth place on the grid, a little over six tenths of a second behind the current US Superbike Champion Jake Gagne, who set the best time on his Yamaha R1 with a time of 1:23.567 minutes on the 3.6-kilometer circuit. Mathew Scholtz and Cameron Petersen completed the front row.
In the first race on Saturday afternoon, Gagne immediately put himself in the limelight. The 29-year-old won the 20-lap race almost three seconds ahead of his nearest rival, Mathew Scholtz of South Africa. Third place went to Cameron Petersen, who has also been riding a Yamaha since this year, so all the podium places went to the Japanese manufacturer. “Petrux” did not get past fourth place. Despite setting the fastest lap of the race, he lost 15 seconds to Gagne over the race distance.
In the second race it was again last year’s champion who delighted the fans. Although not as dominant as last year when he sometimes finished by 15 seconds, Gagne on Sunday secured his second win of the weekend and third of the year. It was his 20th victory in the MotoAmerica Superbike class. He crossed the finish line 3.2 seconds ahead of Scholtz. In turn, he had a tough fight with Danilo Petrucci to the finish line. In the end, the Yamaha rider finished 0.020 seconds ahead of Petrucci in 2nd place, the Italian took 3rd place and 16 important points for the championship.
It only got really strange after Petrucci had crossed the finish line. The Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC rider crashed at around 170 mph on the corner after the finish line. He then had to go to the medical center for medical treatment. «I crashed at 280 km/h at the start and finish. It is a corner that is taken in sixth gear and I had to avoid another driver. I flew through three sponsor boards and suffered some burns and bruises as a result,” Petrucci wrote on Twitter. “I had to have five stitches on my ankle.”
The former MotoGP rider was then ignored by the track safety. “I slipped over a hundred meters, definitely one of the worst falls of my career. Unfortunately, I lay on the floor for more than two minutes without getting any help. I only heard the bikes racing past me until I got up on my own and walked to the medical center,” complained the 31-year-old.
Result MotoAmerica Virginia, Race 1:
1. Jake Gagne, Yamaha, 20 laps
2. Mathew Scholtz, Yamaha, + 2,960 sec
3. Cameron Petersen, Yamaha, +4.867
4. Danilo Petrucci, Ducati, + 15,565
5. Jake Lewis, Suzuki, + 25,080
6. Hector Barbera, BMW, + 30,729
Result MotoAmerica Virginia, Race 2
1. Jake Gagne, Yamaha, 20 laps
2. Mathew Scholtz, Yamaha, + 3,244 sec
3. Danilo Petrucci, Ducati, + 3,264
4.Cameron Petersen, Yamaha, 4.778
5. PJ Jacobsen, BMW, + 18,914
6. Richie Escalante, Suzuki, +19,184
Status after six races:
1. Petrucci, 104 points
2. Scholtz, 100
3. Gagne, 91
4. Petersen, 78
5. Barbera, 63
6. Lewis, 56
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