Ducati domination on day one at The Ridge for the 2024 Steel Commander MotoAmerica Superbike Championship

Sunnyvale, Calif., June 28, 2024 — Loris Baz and Josh Herrin painted The Ridge Motorsport Park red on the opening day of action for round five of the 2024 Steel Commander MotoAmerica Superbike Championship.
 

The Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati duo produced a dominant performance in Washington, Baz leading the charge with a 1:40.034 lap time of the 2.5-mile venue in Qualifying 1. Baz’s growing confidence was clear as the Frenchman delved into the Ducati Panigale V4 R’s electronics for his time attack, and after 18 laps across the day, he’s confident of grabbing a first-ever MotoAmerica victory this weekend.
 

Josh Herrin’s run of excellent form continued at The Ridge as he looks to further the Warhorse HSBK team’s podium streak. Herrin completed 17 laps across the day and finished with a best time of 1:40.197 for second overall.
 

All eyes will now be on the ultra-important Qualifying 2 session, which will start at 10:25 a.m. CDT on Saturday, June 29.
 

2024 The Ridge Superbike Qualifying 1 Results – Top 5
P1 – Loris Baz (Ducati) 1:40.034
P2 – Josh Herrin (Ducati) 1:40.197
P3 – Bobby Fong 1:40.304
P4 – Cameron Petersen 1:40.382
P5 – Jake Gagne 1:40.809
 

Loris Baz (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati–#76)
“It's been a good day for sure,” Baz said. “FP1 was tough as I was still relearning the track. I had ridden here in 2021, but that was a long time ago, so I had to refamiliarize myself with the layout and get all the references correct because the corners are so blind here.
 

“This morning, I think we all made the same mistake of using the soft tire in the cold weather for FP1, but I was confident we could do the lap times. For qualifying, we made some electronic changes, and I did a lot of laps on the hard tire in case we needed to use that for the race. Then we put the softer tire in, and I felt great. The times came, and so did the confidence. I can ride more and more like I want, and this is a great feeling.”
 

Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati–#2)
“Obviously, I want to be the guy in first, but to see our team finish the day one-two like that was really cool,” Herrin said. “It’s been a long time since Ducati had a one-two in American Superbike like that. It’s got to be at least since the early 2000s, so to do that is huge for this team.
 

“I’m happy to see Loris stepping up the pace because now we are close enough in terms of speed that we can use each other’s data and information to help each other. So, I’m really happy and I think we’ve got something for the pack come race one and two.”
 

Qualifying 2 is set for 10:25 a.m. CDT on Saturday, June 29. Race one is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. CDT that same day, and race two is set for 3:10 p.m. on Sunday, June 30.