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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1504789
ing in his first Superbike race since 2017. "After a couple of laps, I could see PJ's pit board come out," said Gagne. "Then there was one point after maybe five or six laps, I saw a Beemer on the side of the track, and I think I saw Cameron. I recognized the helmet. I didn't know what happened. [The track] was really greasier and slicker than I think most of us expected, so right from the get-go I was just trying to hit my marks and not make any mistakes. It seemed like it would have been really easy to throw it away today. "PJ was there. I knew Josh [Herrin] was in third. There were a couple of laps I could see PJ's pit board, and I could see that Josh was maybe getting a couple of 10ths back. We got a little lucky today. It sucks to and walked away. However, nei- ther he nor his motorcycle were in good enough shape to contin- ue. Unfortunately, Beaubier was later ruled out for Sunday's race having suffered a concussion in the crash. It was a huge disap- pointment for Beaubier and his team, but the team would have something to get excited about come Sunday. Meanwhile, Gagne went on to win the race but had com- pany the whole way. Beaubier's Tytlers Cycle Racing teammate PJ Jacobsen tailed him lap after lap. However, Gagne held steadfast and crossed the finish line just 0.195 seconds ahead of Jacobsen and another couple of seconds ahead of Josh Herrin and veteran Josh Hayes, who was filling in for Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha's injured Cameron Peterson and compet- SUPERBIKE How about at the start? The race for the 2023 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship took a giant swing toward Jake Gagne in Saturday's race one when his close rival, Cameron Beaubier, crashed out on lap two. Beaubier was also involved in a first-lap incident that saw him run off the track after slamming into the back of race leader Gagne. During the melee, Mathew Scholtz ran into the back of Petersen and went down. The race was red-flagged and Scholtz was unable to make the restart. Two laps into the re-started race, Beaubier's BMW stepped out in a right-hand turn while he was running third. It catapulted him into the air in a classic and ugly high side. Fortunately, Beaubier got up—albeit slowly— ROUND 6 / JULY 29-30, 2023 BRAINERD INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY / BRAINERD, MINNESOTA ROAD RACE I FIM NORTH AMERICAN ROAD RACE CHAMPIONSHIP P68 (Left) PJ Jacobsen celebrates his first career Superbike win after a straight up battle with Gagne. (Right) Josh Hayes is now the winningest AMA road racer after topping Saturday's Supersport race.