With air temperatures approaching 100 degrees on Saturday at Ridge Motorsports Park, the Westby Racing team battled through the extra adversity brought on by the uncharacteristic weather and, while the results were mixed for the team’s two riders—Mathew Scholtz in Superbike and his teammate Jack Roach in Junior Cup—both men and their crew members have their heads held high and are determined to get better results on Sunday.
Mathew maintained his second-place position in the 2021 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship with a solid fifth-place finish on Saturday. He started from the middle of the second row on the grid, and he was able to move into fourth position on the opening lap, but the rest of the race was mostly processional as he went back to fifth on lap two and remained in that position for the rest of the 17-lap race.
“All in all, today wasn’t the best of days,” Mathew said. “But, I think we learned a lot, and I know where I am struggling. We kind of have an idea about where we can improve tomorrow, and we always seem to improve on Sunday I know it’s going to be extremely hot again tomorrow, even hotter than it was today. That’s something that we’re going to be looking out for, but I believe we have the potential to fight for the podium tomorrow. I’m going to give it my all, and I know the entire team will, too. I’m thankful to be racing here, and to be on this great team, and I am looking to put the Westby bike up on the podium tomorrow where it belongs.”
Sunday’s Superbike race two is at 2 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1 (FS1), as well as streamed on MotoAmerica Live+.
In Saturday’s Junior Cup race, Jack started from the inside of the fourth row, which is pretty much mid-pack, and he knew he would have to work hard, especially in the oppressive heat, to move further up in the field. He managed his way into ninth position in the early going, but as the laps started to wind down, he started to lose positions and ultimately finished the 11-lap race in 12th place.
“That was not the race I wanted,” Jack said. “I felt like I was pushing hard, but I wasn’t really capitalizing on the bike’s strengths. I’m not a rider to blame the bike, so I will be doing a lot of work on line choice and race strategy with my crew chief Shiloh (Salopek). She helps with everything, and without her, I would be lost. So, a big thank you to Shiloh for seeing my potential and working with me and as hard as possible. Also, a huge thanks to Westby Racing and Chuck Giacchetto for their support and for continuing to believe in me.”
Jack and the team will try for better results in Sunday’s Junior Cup race two, which is at 3 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 2 (FS2), streamed on MotoAmerica Live+, and then broadcast again via tape-delay on FS2 this Tuesday, June 29, beginning at 9:30 p.m. ET.
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