Austin, TX - April 25, 2017 – Yamalube/Westby Racing rider Mathew Scholtz had never stepped foot on Texas soil prior to last month when he and the team participated in the Official Preseason Test at the Circuit of The Americas. And, this past weekend at COTA, with the 2017 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship under way, Mathew, who is from Durban, South Africa, did the Texas Two-Step with two solid second places finishes in Saturday’s and Sunday’s Superstock 1000 Race 1 and Race 2. “Not bad for a greenhorn,” as they say in the Lonestar State.

 

Actually, “not bad” is an understatement because Mathew finished fourth overall on Saturday in the combined Superbike/Superstock 1000 results, and he backed that up with a solid seventh-place overall finish on Sunday.

 

“In Saturday’s race, I didn’t get as good of a start as I wanted,” Mathew said. “But I managed to get up to about sixth or seventh spot, and among the Superbikes. There were quite a few incidents with the front guys crashing out, so I was actually in good position to avoid all that. I got behind Bobby Fong, who was going really well, and I was about 1.5 seconds back of him. Chasing Bobby helped me gap all the other Superstock 1000 riders, and I rode the rest of the race mostly by myself and brought it home in second, which we were happy with for my very first race at COTA.

 

“After Race 1, we made a few changes to the bike overnight, and I was doing laps that were about a second faster than anyone else in Superstock 1000. In Race 2, again, not the best start for me, butvI got past Kyle (Wyman) and Josh (Hayes), and Bobby was going good again in front of me. From Lap 5 to 10, I was struggling a little bit, and I almost lost the front a couple of times, so I kind of had to back it off a little bit. Herrin passed me, and since he’s on one of the Superbikes, I tagged onto him for three or four laps, which helped get me even closer to the front. So, I finished in second place again, which we were really happy with. Coming here to race for the first time, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to battle at the front. Our preseason test here was a little bit difficult, but obviously, I’m really, really happy with two second-place finishes. Also, we figured out where we need to work on the bike to make it a little more comfortable and suit my riding style better. I’m feeling really confident heading to Road Atlanta, especially since that’s a home race for a lot of our guys.”

 

The Yamalube/Westby Racing team will now travel to Road Atlanta for Round Two of the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship, which is this weekend.

 

For more updates on Yamalube/Westby Racing, including news, photos, and videos, visit “Westby Racing” on your favorite social media site.

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