BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J. NELSON
T
he signs now appear ominous
for the MotoAmerica Superbike
field. The steamroller that is
Jake Gagne (Fresh N Lean Progressive
Yamaha Racing) appears to at last be
firing up, his lap-record pole position
and dominant double race wins at The
Ridge looking very much like the man
who blitzed all before him last year.
The 2022 season hasn't quite gone
to plan for the Colorado resident so far,
but we're now only half way through
the championship and Gagne's closed
to within 11 points of series leader,
Danilo Petrucci (Warhorse HSBK Rac-
ing Ducati NYC), with Petrucci admit-
ting the series effectively starts from
zero at the following round at Laguna
Seca on July 8-10.
The Ridge's undulating 2.5-mile
venue saw Gagne unleash the full
championship fury, taking a double
reg-flagged race-one win and the race
two victory in similar fashion to his 17
wins last year—get to the front from the
off, crack out five uber-fast laps no one
else can hang with, and maintain that
gap to the finish for his 21st and 22nd
career Superbike wins.
ROUND 5 / JUNE 24-26, 2022
THE RIDGE MOTORSPORTS PARK / SHELTON, WASHINGTON
P72
ROAD RACE I MOTOAMERICA / FIM NORTH AMERICAN ROAD RACE CHAMPIONSHIP
Jake Gagne out for
a Sunday stroll. The
defending champion
was in a league of his
own at The Ridge.
A SUNDAY
JAKE GAGNE GOT HIS TITLE DEFENSE
AND TRULY BACK ON TRACK WITH A
PERFORMANCE AT THE RIDGE.
