Tooele, UT - June 26, 2016 – New team rider Mathew Scholtz wasted no time acclimating to the Yamalube/Westby Racing team and its gold-and-black Yamaha YZF-R1 at round 7 of the 2016 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Motorcycle Road Racing Championship, which took place this past weekend at Utah Motorsports Campus (UMC).

 

The 23-year-old South African phenom “shocked” the fans with a second-place result in Superstock 1000 Race 1, then “awed” them with a third-place finish in Superstock 1000 Race 2.

 

This past Thursday, Mathew climbed aboard the #720 R1 Superstock 1000 for the very first time, and immediately felt comfortable. Then, he got down to the business of laying down fast laps around UMC’s 3.048-mile, 15-turn Outer Course. In fact, in the very first practice session on Thursday, Mathew was the fastest Superstock 1000 rider on the track, instantly validating Yamalube/Westby Racing’s decision earlier in the week to sign him to the team for the remainder of the 2016 MotoAmerica season.

 

On Friday morning, the Yamalube/Westby Racing crew made a couple of adjustments to the bike, and Mathew lowered his fastest laptime even more in the second free practice session of the weekend. Continuing to improve, Mathew knocked even more time off his fastest lap in the third and final free practice, as the team concentrated on race pace and the upcoming Superpole session.

 

In Friday afternoon’s Superpole, he lowered his fastest lap time yet again (for the fourth session in a row), which gave him a fourth-row starting position for the two combined Superbike/Superstock 1000 main events on Saturday.

 

Both of Saturday’s Superbike/Superstock 1000 races yielded podium results for Mathew and his Yamalube/Westby Racing team, and both races proved to be “bLU cRU battles” as Yamaha bLU cRU R1 riders swept the Superstock 1000 rostrum. Mathew diced throughout each of the two 18-lap events with long-time Yamaha rider Josh Herrin and Josh’s storied rival Danny Eslick.

 

You could practically toss a checkered flag over the three fearless combatants as they diced for the two race wins, as Mathew finished second in Race 1 and third in Race 2 to complete a hugely successful weekend in his debut with the Yamalube/Westby Racing team.

 

After the champagne celebrations had concluded, Mathew summed up his Utah weekend by saying, “Over the weekend, we developed a really fast pace, so we felt really good going into Saturday’s two races. I couldn’t be happier with how things went for my first weekend with the Yamalube/Westby Racing team, I’m really glad to get them some good results in Utah. I thought I could get to the top step of the Superstock 1000 podium in both races, and I was right in it till the end. We were all racing really hard for the wins. From my days racing in World Supersport, I’m used to banging bars out there. Both Josh (Herrin) and Danny (Eslick) race really, really hard, and we even touched a few times, but that’s how racing goes. I love it. I’d rather be battling for wins than out there racing all by myself.

 

“So, overall, a second and a third…I really couldn’t be happier, and I can’t thank my team enough for everything they did this weekend. They’ve done a brilliant job. The bike’s brilliant, and I hope we can finish off the season with weekends like this.”

 

Mathew and the Yamalube/Westby Racing team will be on track in two weeks when the MotoAmerica Championship takes part in the FIM Superbike World Championship weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, CA, on July 8-10.

 

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

 

About Yamalube

Located in Kennesaw, GA, under Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A.’s (YMUS) Customer Support Group (CSG), Yamalube formulates the only oil “built around” the unique demands, operating characteristics, and applications of the various motorsports engines produced. In 1967, after more than a decade of racing and countless wins, Yamaha set off to conquer a new arena--racing oil. Collaborating with Yamaha engine designers, Yamalube's global oil engineers formulate each oil from scratch, to be engine- and application-specific. Yamalube also makes lubricants, quality care products, maintenance products, fork oils, fuel additives, and adhesives. To find out more, visit http://www.shopyamaha.com

 

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