Before the second Superbike race of the weekend, the sky opened up over the 2.25-mile track in Millville, New Jersey, and it was declared a wet race. Gagne didn’t get the start he was hoping for and found himself fourth. He advanced to third on the second lap when the rider ahead went down, and then around the halfway mark, he was passed by fellow Yamaha rider Mathew Scholtz. In the final laps, the rain picked up again, catching many riders out, including his teammate. Gagne advanced to third, where he would comfortably finish, scoring some valuable points for his title defense.
After topping the timesheets in the morning warmup, Petersen got a good start and slotted into second behind his teammate’s championship rival. The South African was running a good pace, but on Lap 9, he found himself locked in another battle with Scholtz and was shuffled to fourth. As they approached three laps to go, Petersen made the pass for second, and the duo traded positions, with his countryman ultimately reclaiming the runner-up spot. Unfortunately, as the rain began to fall again in those final stages of the race, the tricky conditions proved challenging, and Petersen crashed on the penultimate lap. He rejoined the race in fourth and soldiered on with damage to the bike to secure fifth and preserve his third spot in the point standings.
The Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing team gets a weekend off before heading to Leeds, Alabama, for the MotoAmerica season finale at the Barber Motorsports Park on September 23-25.
