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Two MotoAmerica rounds ago, the winner of the 2023 Supersport Championship seemed to be a fait accompli.
Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC rider Xavi Forés had reeled off eight consecutive wins, and it looked like he was head for a perfect season. But things changed for the Spaniard in Minnesota and the bumpy Brainerd International Raceway wreaked havoc on the handling of his Ducati Panigale V2, as well as on his win streak. He left the Land of 10,000 Lakes without a win, and it continued in Supersport race one at Pittsburgh.
The story of the race, though, was not who didn’t win, but who did.
Tytlers Cycle Racing Kawasaki rider Stefano Mesa notched his first Supersport victory of the season and the second of his career. Mesa also earned the pole position for both of the weekend’s races, so clearly, Pitt Race is a very good track for the Colombian. It was also Mesa’s 29th birthday.
Second place went to Forés, who commented in the post-race press conference that he is doing everything he can to keep up with the other bikes. The only Ducati rider in the field, Forés thinks the balancing measures mandated for his bike are too extreme.
Third place went to Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider Tyler Scott, which was his seventh podium result of the season.
“The whole weekend, we’ve been very fast off the get-go,” Mesa said. “I think, after race two in Brainerd, we found a little something on the bike. We’ve been dealing with a lot of chassis issues with the new B bike, what we call the B bike, since I broke the (A bike at) Ridge. I broke it in half. Been battling a lot of chassis setup. But I think we finally hit the nail where it was. I think we’re in the window for the bike. My hats off to the team. They gave me a great bike since we rolled it out of the truck. We’ve been fast all weekend. The race was great. My hats off to these guys. This is great battling with them. It's great trying to pass Xavi (Forés) on the brakes. I think first clean race I got to actually battle with Xavi and try and go for the win. I think I had the pace. Tomorrow we’re going to try and find a little bit more and see if we can get the win again.”
