WESTBY RACING
NEWS AND UPDATES
Mathew Scholtz Takes The Fifth In Saturday’s Superbike Race One At New Jersey Motorsports Park
Millville, NJ – September 7, 2019 – After a pair of fifth-place finishes two weeks ago at Pittsburgh International Race Complex, Mathew Scholtz matched his PittRace results with another fifth-place finish aboard the #11 Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 in Saturday’s Superbike race one at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP).
The day started out well for Mathew and his Westby Racing crew as he qualified on the front row for the afternoon’s feature event. Unfortunately, though, he got a bad start off the line in Superbike race, and was shuffled back in the pack. He raced behind Toni Elias for several laps, and then he withstood being passed by Jake Lewis and got back around him in short fashion. By that point in the race, he started to lose grip in his tires, and he hung on to finish fifth behind Elias.
“It was good to get to the track with a bike that was already pretty close when he took it off the truck,” Mathew said. “In the first practice, we were fifth and then, in the second practice, we ended up third. So that was a really good start for us. We were pretty confident with the bike. It was nice to be on the front row again.
“My start was terrible, as usual. So I had to make up a few places. I got past (Josh) Herrin and (Travis) Wyman. Then Toni (Elias) had a little bit of a gap. I caught up to him. Toni rides very different lines on the Suzuki. It’s obviously what suits that bike best, so it’s very difficult to plan a pass. I was kind of getting sucked into his groove. My lap times dropped off, and then we kind of got to the halfway point, and the bike was just moving around a lot more than it had previously. So, I just really wasn’t able to ride how I wanted to. I also don’t think I was on top of my game there. So, I think we have a lot of work for tomorrow. Obviously we want to be closer to the front, but it’s been our best first race in a long time. Always, the second race, we make big jumps forward. So with such a positive first race, I’m very hopeful for the second race.
“The Westby guys have been working hard. (Data technician) Herschel (Auxier) and (crew chief) Ed (Sullivan) have been really looking at the setup in different points, where to make the bike better to suit me and my riding style better. So the team is working really well. I feel like things are coming together nicely. They’re shaping up nicely for these final two rounds for us. That also really puts us in good shape for 2020. So I’m very, very happy with how things are working out, and I’m looking forward to the second race.”
Superbike Race Two goes green at NJMP on Sunday at 3 PM Eastern Time.
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