Weather Wreaks Havoc On Buttonwillow Superbike Test

February 23, 2023 2 min read

Inclement weather stopped the two-day Superbike test at Buttonwillow Raceway Park early and it was Jake Gagne who ended the test on top of the timesheets. Photos by Brian J. Nelson

Inclement weather cut short the second of two days of MotoAmerica Superbike testing at Buttonwillow Raceway Park with rain finally putting a stop to the proceedings at the racetrack in California’s central valley by 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

With even the most diehard of the seven Superbike testers only turning in 18 laps, it was again Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne with the fastest lap of the day, though his 1:42.179 lap was almost a second slower than his best from Tuesday when the weather cooperated – well, at least until the wind showed up in the late afternoon.

“It was windy right away in the morning and we got like two or three sessions in,” Gagne said. “Then it started sprinkling on us and we were just waiting around to see if it was going to stop raining and then it rained again in the afternoon. There was no time for the track to dry after that.”

Cameron Beaubier ended up second quickest over the two days on his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000 RR.

It was again Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Cameron Beaubier who was second best to Gagne with his 1:43.645. Beaubier was also off his best from Tuesday, lapping 1.532 seconds slower with the limited amount of dry track time.

Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz was third fastest today – 1.8 seconds off his best from Tuesday with Wednesday’s 1:44.151. Then came Beaubier’s teammate PJ Jacobsen with his 1:44.529 and almost two seconds slower than Tuesday though he did move up a spot to lead Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante. Escalante’s best on Wednesday was a 1:45.038, a day after turning in a 1:42.918.

Toni Elias had his second day on the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki and ended it with a best lap of 1:45.064.

Corey Alexander, meanwhile, battled mechanical woes and only completed three laps on his Tytlers Cycle Racing BMW M 1000 RR.

Overall Best Times

Jake Gagne (Yamaha) 1:41.274

Cameron Beaubier (BMW) 1:42.113

Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) 1:42.322

Richie Escalante (Suzuki) 1:42.322

PJ Jacobsen (BMW) 1:43.813

Toni Elias (Suzuki) 1:43.962

Corey Alexander (BMW) 1:45.824

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