VOLUME 58 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 21, 2021 P75
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRAIN J NELSON
T
he final round of the 2021
MotoAmerica Superbike
Championship, in par-
ticular race one, will go down
as one of the strangest in the
championship's history.
At the gorgeous Barber
Motorsports Park in Alabama,
torrential rain across Saturday
and Sunday turned the form card
on its head, and for once Jake
Gagne failed to sweep all the
races before him, taking "only"
the race-three victory.
But it was race one that had
everybody talking. In blinding
rain, Gagne swept to the lead
early but crashed out in turn nine
on lap two, handing the lead
to the battling trio of Cameron
Petersen (M4 Ecstar Suzuki),
Mathew Scholtz (Westby Racing
Yamaha) and Loris Baz (HSBK
Warhorse Ducati New York).
On lap six, Baz crashed at the
same place as Gagne, remount-
ing but dropping to ninth in the
vastly spread-out field. That left
the two South Africans miles out
in the lead, and then it was Cam-
eron Petersen's turn to fall at
turn one on lap nine. Such was
his gap over Kyle Wyman (One
Cure Ducati) that he remounted
to remain in second place, hand-
ing a 21-second lead to Scholtz.
With five laps to go, Wyman
crashed out at the final corner,
remounting in 19th, but the final
drama was saved for Scholtz,
who crashed with two laps
to go leading into Charlotte's
Cameron Petersen
crashes out of the lead
at turn one. Incredibly,
he remounted and
still won the race after
Mathew Scholtz (11)
also crashed.
