After a hectic round at Road America, heavily disrupted by rain, MotoAmerica heads to Brainerd, Minnesota. At the end of the first day of driving, Loris Baz, who scored his first podium of the season two weeks ago, was already in the mix. The Frenchman confirmed it on the second day, landing his second podium of the season.
Qualification 2:
In the morning of this second day of action in Brainerd, it was Bobby Fong who took pole position, even though he had already been much faster than his opponents in Q1. The #50 Yamaha shone this time with a time of 1:30.537 in Minnesota, almost a second faster than the reference time established the day before by the same man.
However, it was Loris Baz who was promised this pole until the final moments of this Qualification. The Frenchman briefly occupied provisional pole position aboard his Panigale V4 R, but ultimately had to settle for second place on the starting grid, which nevertheless demonstrates good progress compared to Friday. , during which he slowly gained momentum to take the third time in Q1.
The three-time reigning champion, Jake Gagne, also progressed in the hierarchy after an anonymous Friday, and completed an attempt in 1:30.622 to complete the first row with another Yamaha.
Sean Dylan Kelly once again met expectations, and qualified in fourth position with BMW, Cameron Petersen, for his part, failed to get into the rhythm and finished fifth, a few tenths behind the leaders.
Baz's teammate Josh Herrin locked in sixth place on the grid for the weekend's races, half a second off the lead, but still had some surprises in store for Saturday's opponents.
As a reminder, Cameron Beaubier is not competing in this meeting due to an injury suffered at Road America after a heavy fall.
Ranking : MotoAmerica.com
Race 1:
Bobby Fong won Race 1 down to the wire, starting from pole position. An event which was not won in advance, however, since when starting the last lap, it was Josh Herrin who was defending the lead.
The Ducati rider had taken control of operations from the ninth of the seventeen laps to go, and seemed to be heading towards success. However, he had to settle for second place after an aggressive overtake from his opponent of the day.
Only two tenths behind the leading duo, we find the Frenchman Loris Baz. Starting in second position on the starting grid, the Habs managed to maintain their advantage to secure a podium. This Sunday evening (French time) victory is therefore largely possible for the Warhorse driver, who has not yet signed one this season.
Sean Dylan Kelly was in the fight for the lead positions before losing ground, eventually finishing fourth. Jake Gagne did not really take advantage of Cameron Beaubier's absence to move up in the Drivers' standings, as he finished in eighth place in this race.
Bobby Fond, winner in Race 1 at Brainerd (MotoAmerica):
“I wanted to stay clean, but I didn’t want to let this win go to waste. You never know with this guy. If you try something he fights back, he's so good on the brakes. There were areas where I felt like I could easily pass him, but I knew he was going to counter my attack. It's difficult to fight in such a tight group, because one small mistake and you miss out on a podium. You really have to drive intelligently. This guy (Josh Herrin) and I have been stepping on each other on and off the track since 2014. It's been kind of a love-hate relationship throughout our friendship, our career. We hate each other one minute, then we're fine the next minute. At the end of the day, it's racing. The paddock is too small to hate someone. One of these days we're going to have to put on the gloves and see what happens. It's love above all. We had a good race and I expect another battle tomorrow. »
Ranking : MotoAmerica.co
