MotoAmerica, Gagne Quickest In Tightly Knit Q1 At Brainerd International Raceway

Sprinkles of rain, dark clouds and prep-storm conditions put a damper on Friday’s Q1 session for the Medallia Superbike class at Brainerd International Raceway but not before Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne put his YZF-R1 on provisional pole position despite sitting out the end of the session.

Gagne’s best lap was his sixth of the session, the 1:31.492 putting him just .018 of a second ahead of Tytlers Cycle Racing’s PJ Jacobsen with a tightly knit group of 10 within the same second.
 
Ageless four-time AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes completes the provisional front row in third and just .026 of a second off Gagne’s best. Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier was fourth fastest and only .140 of a second from the top of the timesheets.
 
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch continued to impress in his second outing in the class. Paasch was fifth fastest with his 1:32.072 and just half a second from the top with his time coming late in the session. Wrench Motorcycles’ Bobby Fong had his best session since returning to the class with his 1:32.120 putting him sixth and just ahead of Paasch’s teammate Richie Escalante.
 
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati’s Josh Herrin, Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Corey Alexander and Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz rounded out the top 10 on Friday. Alexander’s session ended early with a high-speed crash in turn one. Alexander emerged unscathed. The bike wasn’t as fortunate.

Supersport – Landers Is Back
 
With a break in the REV’IT! Twins Cup Championship, Rocco Landers opted to wipe the dust off his Yamaha YZF-R6 and give the Supersport class another shot. And why not, especially since the youngster won both Supersport races here a year ago?
 
Landers started his weekend off on the right foot, earning provisional pole position on Friday afternoon with the Landers Racing Yamaha rider lapping at 1:33.254 to best Squid Hunter Racing’s Josh Hayes by just .061 of a second. Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Teagg Hobbs was third fastest on the opening day at Brainerd.
 
Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Xavi Forés, the championship leader with a perfect eight wins in a row coming into Brainerd, ended the session sixth and 1.4 seconds off Landers’ best in what is his first visit to BIR

Photo courtesy MotoAmerica by Brian J. Nelson