VOLUME 59 ISSUE 31 AUGUST 2, 2022 P67
into a million pieces, the entire
front end of his bike flung into
the next county. Luckily, Gagne
was uninjured in the fall but was
obviously disappointed having
suddenly found himself having
to again catch back up in the
championship.
"I got off to a great start and
ran a great first part of the race,"
Gagne said. "The bike was
working great, but unfortunately,
I made a little mistake and split
that bike in half. I apologize to
my team; it was on me because
we had that win in the bag."
The beneficiary of Gagne's
mishap was Warhorse HSBK
Racing Ducati NYC's Danilo
Petrucci who went on to take the
win and the championship lead
by 14 points with three rounds
and six races left in the champi-
onship. Despite the positive out-
come for Petrucci, it was a brutal
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J. NELSON
H
ow quickly things can
change, as it did at Brain-
erd International Raceway
for round seven of the 2022 Mo-
toAmerica Superbike Champion-
ship. One minute Jake Gagne
is rolling along nicely, winning
everything in sight (including the
last few rounds) and stretching
out his points lead, the next min-
ute he's trailing Danilo Petrucci
by 13 points in the champion-
ship. Crashing will do that.
After dominating the first
leg on Saturday, Fresh N Lean
Progressive Yamaha Racing's
Gagne was again streaking
away and headed to another
certain win when, on unlucky
lap number 13, Gagne suddenly
threw it all away spectacularly,
his factory Yamaha R1 cartwheel-
ing on the grass and breaking up
