Ducati on the Podium at VIRginia International Raceway

 Round two of the 2021 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship was a fine one for the Bologna boys as Loris Baz (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York) clinched the first podium of his MotoAmerica career with second place in race two behind Yamaha’s Jake Gagne, who took out both races in Virginia.

Baz, who finished fourth in Saturday’s race one, used all his experience to fend off the attack from Mathew Scholtz and Josh Herrin, the Frenchman holding a gap of just over one second at the flag to the Yamaha duo.

It was a similarly great race from Panera Bread Ducati rider Kyle Wyman, who after finishing seventh in race one, changed the set up on his green and black Ducati to come home sixth in race two. The result saw Wyman seven seconds closer to winner Gagne at the flag, and optimistic of a good result next time out at Road America on June 25-27.

2021 MotoAmerica Superbike Standing – Top 5
P1 – Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) 81
P2 – Jake Gagne (Yamaha) 75
P3 – Josh Herrin (Yamaha) 61
P4 – Bobby Fong (Suzuki) 46
P5 – Cameron Petersen (Suzuki) 46
P6 – Kyle Wyman (Ducati) 40
P8 – Loris Baz Ducati 33

Loris Baz (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York – Ducati #76)
“I wanted more coming into this weekend but, honestly, it’s been a tough weekend for us,” Baz said. “We had to guess the set-up of the bike a little bit—we got the guess right in Atlanta but we missed the mark in VIR. We changed the bike a lot from Friday to Saturday, a lot of electronics, which made the straight line speed less than we’d hoped for in race one. I had to fight really hard to stay in front of the guys and I lost the podium.

“Today we improved the bike a lot in the warm-up, and we had a really good race. I had to fight so hard to bring it home. I kept increasing the gap until I was 4.5 seconds in front, then I just tried to manage it to the flag and we got our first podium, which I’m so happy about. Thank you very much to Ducati and my team who have worked so hard and hats off to Jake Gagne on an excellent ride today.”

Kyle Wyman (Panera Bread Ducati – Ducati #33)
“Race one was a struggle as we were trying to get to some edge grip out of the bike and we really struggled to find our way,” Wyman said. “I thought we had a set up but it turned out not to be, and I couldn’t do much back in seventh.

“But, we got some good data and tried some stuff overnight that got us a lot closer in the morning. Then this morning’s data was pivotal for us to make a decision for the race to go a little bit softer in the rear, and race two was awesome.

“I had so much fun out there. It felt so good to be up towards the front and battling with the with the podium guys. That put us back where I know we belong. We ended up sixth but it was such a positive takeaway for us to realize we can be up there at the front and fighting for it.

“I’m really looking forward to our two-day test and in about a week and half at Pittsburgh. It's going to get us even closer to the front. We haven't tested yet this year so this is really good for us moving forward and I can't wait to get to Road America and fight up the front.”