That means two of the most iconic tracks on the MotoAmerica schedule each year will have brand-new race surfaces for 2023. And WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca will also repave their entire road course as the 2022 racing season concludes. That’s, of course, an exaggeration, but as was duly noted after our round at Road America, that track is repaving their entire road course for the first time since the 1990s. Speaking of fast lap times, it seems that MotoAmerica is going so fast that it’s ripping the surface right off the tracks where we race. Also, Roland Sands Indian rider Tyler O’Hara set a new class record and race lap record of 1:29.966 during Sunday’s Roland Sands Design’s Super Hooligan National Championship title-clinching race. In REV’IT! Twins Cup final qualifying, defending class champion and Veloce Racing Aprilia rider Kaleb De Keyrel broke Rocco Landers’ two-year old class track record with a fastest lap of 1:30.142. Then, teammate and brother Kyle Wyman broke Travis’s new track record in the three-lap Challenge, and Kyle finally broke his own record during Sunday’s Mission King Of The Baggers race with a 1:29.486, which is the new track record, as well as the race lap record, for Baggers at Laguna. First, it was H-D Screamin’ Eagle’s Travis Wyman, who broke the record in practice 1, provisional qualifying, and final qualifying. Mission King Of The Baggers was especially notable because the class lap record was broken every time the bikes were on the track. There were no new class records or race lap records set in Medallia Superbike, Supersport, Junior Cup, nor Yuasa Stock 1000 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, but the other three of the seven race classes that competed last weekend at WRLS did set some new, all-time low lap times. On the lap just prior to THE LAP, the one where Petrucci and Petersen elbowed and slam-banged their way through Corkscrew, Petrucci went 159.3 mph, the highest top speed that anyone had gone or would go over the entire weekend at Laguna Seca.

Regardless, Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC rider Danilo Petrucci did manage to go 159.3 miles an hour on the penultimate lap of Medallia Superbike race one on Saturday. WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca is a twisty, technical track that produces a lot of great racing, but with nary a straightaway, the 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course is not known for producing jaw-dropping top speeds. We got to see hard racing followed by genuine joy instead of anger in the aftermath. And, just as I quietly lamented that Petrucci and Petersen were angry with each other for what transpired, Petrucci rolled up alongside Petersen, and both riders started high-fiving and praising one another with “you the man” and “no, YOU the man” gestures. Petersen had just survived a last-lap skirmish with Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC rider Danilo Petrucci where contact was made several times in the Corkscrew. Instead, Petersen had his head down and wasn’t looking at Gagne. Gagne looked over and expected to exchange high-fives with his Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing stablemate. Random notes, comments, statistics, musings, and bits of trivia from the GEICO Motorcycle MotoAmerica Superbike Speedfest at Monterey:Īt the conclusion of Medallia Superbike race one at WeatherTech Raceway, second-place finisher Cam Petersen rode past his teammate Jake Gagne, who had just won the race. Petersen and Petrucci get cozy in the Corkscrew.

Duly noted