Sunnyvale, Calif., July 7, 2023 — Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC duo Josh Herrin and Xavi Forés enjoyed mixed fortunes as MotoAmerica made its only California stop on the 2023 tour.
It was a positive day for Herrin as the Californian resident put a small crash behind him at the beginning of the second session to crank out 16 laps of the 2.23 mile venue, finishing the day a positive fifth place despite the second session being red flagged.
For Forés, the Spanish star endured a tough MotoAmerica baptism of Laguna Seca. After a crash during the Thursday tire test, Forés was determined to put in 11 laps on the Panigale V2 as the team attempts to sort out front-end issues surrounding the quick release system that must be run for the long distance Supersport race.
Despite this, Forés is in a positive mood as he attempts to keep his undefeated win streak going at a venue he’s fared well at in the past during his WorldSBK days.
Superbike Qualifying 1 Results – Top 5
P1 – Cameron Beaubier (BMW) 1:23.489
P2 – PJ Jacobsen (BMW) 1:23.833
P3 – Richie Escalante (Suzuki) 1:23.856
P4 – Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) 1:24.171
P5 – Josh Herrin (Ducati) 1:24.183
Supersport Qualifying 1 Results – Top 5
P1 – Stefano Mesa (Kawasaki) 1:27.577
P2 – Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 1:27.817
P3 – Tyler Scott (Suzuki) 1:28.053
P4 – Anthony Mazziotto (Yamaha) 1:28.070
P5 – Teagg Hobbs (Suzuki) 1:28.206
P6 – Xavi Forés (Ducati) 1:28.664
Xavi Forés (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC – #12)
“It was tough today,” Forés said. “Not because in terms of position, but I didn’t feel great with the bike. I’m missing the connection with the front-end, so it’s hard to hold the brake in the last part of the turn and even when I carry the corner speed, we are losing the front. It’s a similar problem we had in Barber because we used a different fork which I think is a bit longer for the quick-change tire, so possibly it’s something related to that. We need to work on this because we must use this fork for the long race. But the pace was ok. Low ’28s is good on used tires and we have two sets for the second qualifying to use so we will be ready.”
Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC– #2)
“Today was really good,” Herrin started. “I’m happy with how it went. In the first session, I got up to speed really quickly, but in the second session, I ran into the gravel at turn one and tipped over. It took a couple of laps to get the confidence back in the tires again because it took about two minutes to get the bike sorted so the tires lost a lot of temperature.
Once I was up to speed, things started to go good. Cameron (Beaubier) threw down a great lap time so I knew we needed to go quicker, but I spent about 13 laps just doing a race simulation. Then I went out on a second set of tires and had my best first split time, but then the session was red flagged. We left a lot on the table but it’s good to know we have the pace to run at the front.”
Saturday is a big day as on track action commences at 8:30 am with Forés taking to the track for Qualifying 2 at 9:50 am. Herrin will hit the blacktop for Superbike Qualifying 2 at 10:35 am. The first of three Superbike races will commence at 2:10 pm with the single long distance Supersport race of 38 laps scheduled for 5:00 pm PST.
