2023 MotoAmerica Medallia SuperBike Racing

[p6x]

@Joe

I watched live yesterday.

Beaubier got very lucky twice; I believe that will affect today's rides.

I can see Gagné gagner (sorry, I could not resist;) both races today.

PJJ waited too long to try that pass yesterday. Both bikes null themselves out, with sectors where both BMW and Yamaha are better than the other.

Its down to the pilots then. I think Jack Gagné has the situation under control.

[Joe]

4 hours ago, p6x said:

@Joe

I watched live yesterday.

Beaubier got very lucky twice; I believe that will affect today's rides.

I can see Gagné gagner (sorry, I could not resist;) both races today.

PJJ waited too long to try that pass yesterday. Both bikes null themselves out, with sectors where both BMW and Yamaha are better than the other.

Its down to the pilots then. I think Jack Gagné has the situation under control.

I agree completely with one addition, Josh Herrin in 3rd, he has quite a podium streak going.

[Joe]

 

[p6x]

Beaubier did not make it to race 2;

PJJ had a better strategy this time.

Although I thought Gagne had a late overtake planned in the last lap, but the back marker unfortunate encounter failed his attempt.

[GuzziMoto]

Good for PJ. He has been at this a long time, this is his first win in ages. It has to feel good.

Beaubier needs to get his head on straight. That was a costly mistake. He has the talent, but he needs to ride smart.

[Joe]

Competition….

 

 

 

[p6x]

I just finished watching Race 2, waiting for Race 3;

It seems to me that Jake Gagné has it under control. Nobody can get close to him on this track.

A bit like Pecco Bagnaia in Austria.

[p6x]

Beaubier launches himself on Yates' bike... scary!

 

[audiomick]

What the hell went wrong there? It looks like he just wasn't looking where he was going.

[p6x]

23 minutes ago, audiomick said:

What the hell went wrong there? It looks like he just wasn't looking where he was going.

We will know when Yates explains what caused him to suddenly slow down. Beaubier was not expecting it, could not avoid rear ending him.

If I am not wrong, racing bikes gear boxes no longer have false neutrals, so it's something else.

[GuzziMoto]

On 8/20/2023 at 5:32 PM, audiomick said:

What the hell went wrong there? It looks like he just wasn't looking where he was going.

When you are on a racetrack you expect everyone to be doing roughly the same thing. At that point everyone should have been accelerating. One guy, for whatever reason, didn't. Cam was on the gas, as you would be coming out of that chicane. When Yates didn't go there was no time to do anything but hit him. Why Yates didn't go I don't know. But that was not Cams fault in my opinion. It may have been a bike issue with Yates bike. I heard his electronic throttle connection pulled out and he basically had no throttle. The bike was in limp mode or idling.

[GuzziMoto]

On a different note, Kayla Yaakov is going to ride the Tytlers Supersport bike of Stefano Mesa in the last two rounds of the season. Mesa is filling in for Cameron Beaubier, leaving his 600 supersport seat open. As Kayla had issues in the early part of the season and isn't in the championship chase she is free to move up from the twins class to the supersport class.

Kayla has been having a good season overall, with several wins in Spain in the Yamaha R7 Cup series.

https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/yamaha-r7-cup-kayla-yaakov-wins-race-two-at-circuit-de-navarra/

[GuzziMoto]

Some crazy news from MotoAmerica involving Jake Gagne and his Yamaha.

https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/motoamerica-gagne-dqd-from-cota-superbike-race-two-for-non-compliant-fuel/

MotoAmerica: Gagne DQ’d From COTA Superbike Race Two For Non-Compliant Fuel

and

https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/motoamerica-disputes-yamaha-statement-on-gagne-penalty/

MotoAmerica Disputes Yamaha Statement On Gagne Penalty

It sounds like Yamaha got caught running illegal fuel. It seems that MotoAmerica had not checked fuel in a while, so it is hard to say how long they had been running illegal fuel. Yamaha is trying to brush it off by saying that they simply ran fuel from last year. But MotoAmerica pointed out that last years fuel would have been legal, in fact any fuel since 2019 would have been legal. It seems the fuel sampled from the Yamaha contained a "foreign chemical component".

The rumor mill seems to think that the fuel Yamaha were running was oxygenated. As in contained MTBE. To add to the confusion, Yamaha was in possesion of a drum of VP fuel that was supposedly mis-labeled, with the label indicating it contained fuel that had MTBE in it. VP says that the actual fuel in the drum was the correct MGP formula.

So, it seems Yamaha was caught cheating. How long they have been cheating I don't know. But it seems unlikely that the first time they ran the illegal fuel was the race they were caught.

[GuzziMoto]

Here is another link on the story that has good background info, including that apparently MotoAmerica hasn't tested fuel since the current spec fuel was introduced. It also points out the the team owner of the Yamaha team seems to have a serious dislike of the MGP fuel that VP supplies.

https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/motoamerica-fresh-n-lean-progressive-yamaha-fails-fuel-test-from-cota/

Someone isn't telling the truth. And it sounds like it is the Yamaha team.

 

 

[p6x]

If it is proven that Moto America Yamaha team used an illegal fuel, they should be disqualified.

I remember some fuel issues in F1 back in the days. I can't remember what it was off the top of my head, but trying to cheat the rules is not new.

I also remember Femke van den Driessche, a Belgian cyclist who had an electrical motor hidden in the frame of her bicycle. The cylindrical motor was inside the seat tube, and directly drove the crankshaft completely hidden from the view. It could be activated via wireless. As ever, she was not aware of the contraption stating she had borrowed the bike from a friend.

It is sad if the Moto America Yamaha team used illegal fuel. It would ruin Jake Gagné's efforts and may also affect his reputation. Even if he claims that he was unaware of it.