2023 MotoAmerica Superbike and Supersport Championship Round 7 – Herrin and Forés Optimistic Following a Good First Day at PittRace
Sunnyvale, Calif., August 18, 2023 — The Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC dynamic duo of Josh Herrin and Xavi Forés are both optimistic of their chances of race success at round seven of the MotoAmerica Superbike and Supersport Championship at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex.
Herrin and the stunning factory-built Ducati Panigale V4 R completed 16 laps of the picturesque 2.8 mile PittRace venue, and was looking good for a top five finish to the day until he ran off at the chicane and had his previous lap time (which was his fastest of the day) scratched from the timing screen as a result. The number 2 Ducati would eventually finish the day in 10th overall, but Herrin notes there’s still plenty of time left in Q2 to get onto the front row for the two scheduled races.
For Forés, PittRace marked yet another new track to his growing list for 2023 despite it being the home round for the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC team. With limited chances to get his bearings, Forés punched out 22 laps over the two Supersport sessions and finished an impressive sixth overall, less than a second behind class pacesetter, Stefano Mesa.
Forés will now turn his attention to Q2 where he feels a front row position is ready and waiting for the taking before race one commences on Saturday afternoon.
Superbike Qualifying 1 Results – Top 5
P1 – PJ Jacobsen (BMW) 1:43.061
P2 – Jake Gagne (Yamaha) 1:43.228
P3 – Cameron Beaubier (BMW) 1:43.339
P4 – Bobby Fong (Yamaha) 1:43.477
P5 – Richie Escalante (Suzuki) 1:43.789
P10 – Josh Herrin (Ducati) 1:44.691
Supersport Qualifying 1 Results – Top 5
P1 – Stefano Mesa (Kawasaki) 1:46.110
P2 – Tyler Scott (Suzuki) 1:46.745
P3 – Jake Lewis (Suzuki) 1:46.918
P4 – Teagg Hobbs (Suzuki) 1:46.987
P5 – Anthony Mazziotto (Yamaha) 1:47.015
P6 – Xavi Forés (Ducati) 1:47.100
Xavi Forés (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC – #12)
“It was a positive day,” Forés enthused. “I’ve never been on this track before but the feeling is similar to The Ridge in regards to the bike. We improved some things between FP1 and Q1 and got the bike working in a better way, but in Q1 I got stuck behind some traffic on my fastest lap and lost maybe half a second, but the lap time was still quite good. Hopefully, tomorrow we will get onto the first row in Q2 and be ready for the fight in race one.”
Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC– #2)
“Today was a good day, honestly,” Herrin said. “I struggled all day to get the bike working how I wanted and then in the last outing for the day, we did a good time. We were fourth or fifth, and was another half second up on the next lap, but I cut the chicane because I ran wide and the rule is the race control takes the previous lap time away, so the fast lap didn’t count. That’s a bummer, but we have the data, the bike is working well, and we have another qualifying session tomorrow to get it done. The times today don’t show what we had, we should have been top five, but we’ll be ready for tomorrow.”
Saturday sees track action commences at 8:30 am EDT with Herrin hitting the black top for Superbike Qualifying 2 at 9:50 am EDT. Forés will follow shortly afterwards for Supersport Qualifying 2 at 10:35 am EDT. The first Supersport race will commence at 2:10 pm EDT, with race one for Superbike scheduled for 3:10 pm EDT.
