Going into the 2022 MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Championship, not many would have placed money on Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne not winning until the fourth race of the season. But that’s how it played out with the defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion finally notching his first victory of the 2022 season on Sunday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Thus far in 2020, Gagne’s record looks like this: DNF (mechanical), third, DNF (crash), victory. Gagne’s start to his title defense was dismal: Saturday’s crash, combined with Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC rider Danilo Petrucci’s third-straight win, left Gagne 59 points behind the Italian.

But Gagne is Gagne and the ever-eternal positivity never wavered. Today he came out and did what he needed to do. He dominated from start to finish, despite two red flags (one for Jeremy Coffey’s crash on the opening lap and again when the TV truck lost power, forcing the race to be stopped) and ended up winning by 14.028 seconds over his teammate Cameron Petersen, the South African also bouncing back from a Saturday crash to bring smiles back to the Yamaha camp.

To make things even better for Gagne, the two riders at the top of the point standings both failed to finish. Petrucci’s Ducati Panigale V4 R blew up on the opening lap of the second restart and Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz crashed, remounted, pitted, and finally gave up on the 11th lap.

So, with his first win of the year and the 18th of his MotoAmerica Superbike career, Gagne now finds himself 34 points behind Petrucci and 26 behind Scholtz with the VIRginia International Raceway round a month away.

Third place today went to Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Kyle Wyman, who was riding the team’s BMW M 1000 RR as a replacement rider for PJ Jacobsen. Jacobsen failed a COVID-19 test on Thursday and Wyman, who was at Road Atlanta to ride his factory Harley-Davidson in the Mission King Of The Baggers race, was called on to replace his fellow New Yorker. He said yes and a few days later he had given the team its first-ever MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike podium.

Wyman’s teammate for the weekend Hector Barbera was fourth and Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante fifth with those three fighting it out for the final podium spot for the duration of the race.

Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing’s Corey Alexander came out on top of a battle with Aftercare Hayes Scheibe Racing’s Ashton Yates, and the two were separated by half a second at the finish. Alexander’s teammate Travis Wyman ended up eighth with ADR Motorsports’ David Anthony ninth and Vision Wheel/Discount Tire/KWS’s Geoff May rounding out the top 10 finishers.

After two rounds and four races, Petrucci leads Scholtz by 15 points, 75-60. Petersen is third with 49 points, three better than Barbera’s 46. Escalante is fifth with 42 points, and Gagne is a point behind him and 34 points behind Petrucci.

The day started with the 12-lap Twins Cup race, which was red-flagged on the first lap due to a group of riders who crashed out unhurt, and the race was restarted with a seven-lap sprint to the finish line. Polesitter Jody Barry got the holeshot and led the first four laps aboard his Veloce Racing Aprilia, but Robem Engineering’s Teagg Hobbs was in hot pursuit. Hobbs overtook Barry on lap five and held the lead until the seventh and final lap when Barry got around Hobbs and held off the New Hampshirite’s strong challenge to take the checkered flag by just seven one-hundredths of a second.

Hobbs’ Robem Engineering Aprilia teammate had his own battle with Jackson Blackmon Racing Yamaha rider Jackson Blackmon, but he managed to get around Blackmon on lap four and maintain his third-place position all the way to the checkers.

In the eight-lap Mission King Of The Baggers race, defending class champion Kyle Wyman returned to form after a tough day on Saturday, in which he crashed out of the three-lap King Of The Baggers Challenge. Ironically, Challenge winner Bobby Fong, who earned the pole for today’s race based on his victory in the Challenge, mimicked Wyman and crashed his Roland Sands Design Indian.

That opened the door for Wyman, who went on to get the win. Second place went to Vance & Hines Racing Harley-Davidson’s James Rispoli, the two-time AMA SuperSport Champion returning to MotoAmerica after an eight-year hiatus. Mission Foods/S&S Cycle/Indian Challenger Team’s Tyler O’Hara rounded out the podium in third.

The only double win of the weekend was delivered by Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC rider Josh Herrin, who followed up his dominant win in Saturday’s Supersport race with another dominant win is Sunday’s race. Starting from the pole, just like yesterday, the former Superbike Champion got another great jump off the line and led the 18-lap race from start to finish, stretching his lead our to nearly five seconds by the time he took the checkers.

Finishing second and also holding his position for the entirety of the race was Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider Sam Lochoff, who was aboard the only GSX-R750 in the field. Third place went to Landers Racing’s Rocco Landers, the young, but talented rider notching his 50th podium in MotoAmerica competition.

The 11-lap SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup race two got off to its usual rousing start, with nearly 20 of MotoAmerica’s youngest riders racing in close formation aboard their lightweight 400cc motorcycles. But it was the ending of the race that brought the most attention. After the race concluded, the podium result ended up being changed due to a MotoAmerica rule about passing in a corner where there is a standing yellow flag.

As a result, Altus Motorsports Kawasaki rider Kayla Yaakov unfortunately rode an emotional roller coaster where she went from the thrill of victory to the agony of defeat as her race win was nullified and she was moved from first to third. That handed the victory to SportbikeTrackGear.com’s Max Van, with second place going to Calishine Racing’s Aden Thao, and the aforementioned Yaakov completing the podium.

Also adding to the drama of the final lap was the fact that a couple of riders crashed out just before the final run to the finish line.

The MotoAmerica race weekend at Road Atlanta concluded with Roland Sands Design’s Super Hooligan race two. The series features naked bikes with up to 125 horsepower, which include everything from Harley-Davidsons and Indians, to KTMs, Ducatis and a BMW. Roland Sand Design Indian rider Tyler O’Hara won the eight-lap event over his teammate Jeremy McWilliams, who passed for the lead on lap six, but couldn’t make it stick.

JLC Concrete/KTM/DiBrino Racing’s Andy DiBrino stalked Saturday’s Hooligan race winner Cory West, who was in third place until the final lap. DiBrino finally made his move and overtook West to snatch the final spot on the podium.

Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne looked to be having the same sort of race that he had 17 times last year in the first of two MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike races at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Saturday. He’d started from pole position after breaking the track record in qualifying, he led into turn one, and he looked to be settling into the sort of pace no one else was going to match. Everything was going to plan. Right up until the point that it wasn’t. Gagne crashed his Yamaha YZF-R1 out of the lead on the sixth lap in turn five, handing a third-successive victory to Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Danilo Petrucci.

Petrucci, though, didn’t have it easy as Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz piled race-long pressure on the Italian former MotoGP winner. Once he passed South African countryman Cameron Petersen, Scholtz was able to put a dent in Petrucci’s lead and even whittled it down to within a second. But he couldn’t quite get close enough to strike and championship points leader Petrucci was able to close it out with another near flawless performance.

Petersen, meanwhile, added to the Yamaha team’s Saturday misery in Georgia when he crashed out of third place just two laps after Gagne’s miscue.

Scholtz knows Petrucci has a bit of an edge at this point and he’s hoping a few tweaks to his Yamaha YZF-R1 overnight will get him closer to the front on Sunday. Still, he’s off to a good start to the season with three second-place finishes.

Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis made a return to the Superbike podium after a four-year hiatus, the non-defending MotoAmerica Stock 1000 Champion keeping his nose clean and holding Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW’s Hector Barbera at bay by 1.2 seconds. Road Atlanta was also the site of Lewis’ first career MotoAmerica Superbike podium when he finished third in 2015 on a Yoshimura Suzuki.

With Barbera fourth, fifth went to Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante with the former Supersport Champion fighting back after an off-track excursion on the opening lap.

Kyle Wyman found out on Friday that he would be replacing PJ Jacobsen on the second Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW when Jacobsen was forced out of the weekend after testing positive for COVID-19. Wyman made the most of the opportunity and finished sixth, barely besting pseudo-teammate Corey Alexander on another Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing BMW.

Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim was eighth with Aftercare Hayes Scheibe Racing BMW’s Ashton Yates and Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing’s Travis Wyman rounding out the top 10.

With his third-straight victory, Petrucci now leads Scholtz by 15 points going into Sunday’s race two. Lewis is third in the title chase with 36 points, three better than Barbera’s 33. Escalante rounds out the top five with 31 points. Gagne, the defending series champion, is now 59 points in arrears of Petrucci after three races.

The top four in the first of two Medallia Superbike races at Road Atlanta were mounted on four different makes of motorcycle: Ducati, Yamaha, Suzuki, and BMW.

Saturday’s feature races got off to a rousing start with Corey Alexander winning from the pole in the weekend’s only Yuasa Stock 1000 race, but it certainly wasn’t easy. The Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing Kawasaki rider had his hands full from start to finish, first with veteran rider Geoff May, who crashed out, and then with Cycle World/Octane/Chuckwalla Racing’s Michael Gilbert. Alexander and Gilbert battled it out, particularly in the closing laps, and the pace increased, which made the final lap a barn burner. Looking for a way around Alexander and into the lead, Gilbert made a brave inside pass in the final turn and almost held on to take the checkers. Instead, Alexander prevailed in a photo finish and took the victory by .001 of a second.

Former Georgia resident Josh Herrin had the best kind of reunion with the Peach State on Saturday at Road Atlanta. The Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC rider, who returned to the Supersport class after several years racing in Superbike, got his first win in the middleweight class since 2015. The polesitter got the holeshot in the 18-lap race and led from start to finish to notch the world’s first professional road racing win for the Panigale V2. Meanwhile, Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sam Lochoff, who is the first professional road racer to compete aboard the GSX-R750 under the FIM’s and MotoAmerica’s “Supersport Next Generation” rules, finished second. North East Cycle Outlet Racing Benjamin Smith completed the podium in third.

In Saturday’s SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup race one, Belgian rider Levi Badie, who is a rookie in the class, started on the pole in his very first MotoAmerica race. The BARTCON Racing rider didn’t get off to a good start and had to settle into third on the opening lap. Max Van got the holeshot and was in the lead, but Badie overtook him on the first lap, but then he crashed out on lap two. After that, the battle was on for who was going to take the win. The lead swapped hands several times during the 11-lap event, and Alpha Omega Kawasaki rider Cody Wyman emerged victorious, notching his second Junior Cup win in as many years. SportbikeTrackGear.com rider Van finished, while his teammate Joseph LiMandri Jr. rounded out the podium.

Saddlemen/Lloyd’z Garage’s Cory West turned the tables on JLC Concrete/KTM/DiBrino Racing’s Andy DiBrino on Saturday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with the Indian-mounted West besting DiBrino after the KTM-mounted Oregonian had come out on top of a similar battle at Daytona.

Third place went to Roland Sands Design’s Tyler O’Hara, who was forced to start from the back row, with the Californian topping his Ulsterman Jeremy McWilliams.

Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha’s Jake Gagne suffered through a difficult weekend in the season-opening round of the MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike series at Circuit of The Americas two weeks ago and on the Friday in Texas, his qualifying session was aborted with mechanical problems before it really started. But that was then, and this is now. Gagne and his Yamaha YZF-R1 were up to their normal tricks at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with the defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion ending opening day as the fastest of the fast with his 1:24.247 in Q1 to put himself on provisional pole position.

“It was a good day,” Gagne said. “Honestly, the bike is feeling really good and, after a weird weekend at the first round, we’re back in shape. Kinda of like always, we’re focusing on getting ready for the race, doing some longer runs, and just seeing what lap times come. Just getting ready for the race, that’s the priority and being in good shape there. It’s pretty good. When it gets hot in the afternoon, it gets a little greasy so I think most guys would agree that there’s a little bit better grip when we ride in the morning. It’s the little things and not a big deal. Yeah, we can go faster tomorrow. I think everyone will go faster soi I think we’ll get a softer Dunlop in the morning. Like I said, the race is what matters. We’ll do our job and focus on what we need to focus on and be ready to go.”

Gagne led Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz by just .223 of a second under sunny Georgian skies with Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Danilo Petrucci third-fastest in his Road Atlanta debut. Scholtz’s best lap was a 1:24.470 on his 13th lap with Petrucci, on form after winning both races at COTA in his MotoAmerica initiation round two weeks ago, lapping at a best of 1:24.585. Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis was 1.2 seconds off Gagne’s best with the fourth-fastest time, the Kentuckian half a second ahead of Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Hector Barbera with the Spaniard fifth on his BMW M1000 RR. Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante, Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing’s Corey Alexander and ADR Motorsports’ David Anthony rounded out the top eight. The Wyman brothers were next with Travis leading Kyle by just .001 of a second for ninth on the provisional grid on his Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing’s BMW. Kyle Wyman, meanwhile, is riding in place of PJ Jacobsen with the New Yorker testing positive for COVID-19.

Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing’s Corey Alexander threw down a 1:26.470 to lead Q1 in the YUASA Stock 1000 class with Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gilim second and Vision Wheel/Discount Tire/KWS’s Geoff May third. Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Josh Herrin had a big crash during Supersport Q1, but still managed to hold on to provisional pole by virtue of his 1:29.430, which put him .110 of a second ahead of North East Cycle Outlet Racing’s Benjamin Smith. Landers Racing’s Rocco Landers ended day one in third with class rookie and non-defending SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup Champion Tyler Scott fourth fastest. In post-qualifying tech inspection, however, Smith’s Yamaha was DQd, moving everyone up a spot. Twins Cup Q1 was tight at the top on day one with Veloce Racing’s Jody Barry topping Robem Engineering’s Teagg Hobbs by just .003 of a second with the top six on the same second – Cycle Tech’s Hayden Schultz, Robem Engineering’s Benjamin Gloddy, Rodio Racing/Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Anthony Mazziotto and MP13’s Cory Ventura. In SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup action it was Cody Wyman in control, the Alpha Omega-backed rider leading Max Van by .928 of a second in Q1.

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Rennie Scaysbrook | Road Test Editor Rennie Scaysbrook is our Road Test Editor. A lifetime rider, the Aussie made the trek across the Pacific to live the dream in the U.S. of A. Likes puppies and wheelies.

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