Jun 27th 2023
Ducati Duo on the Podium at The Ridge
Sunnyvale, Calif. — Round four of the 2023 MotoAmerica Superbike and Supersport Championship saw America’s fastest road racers head to the beautiful Ridge venue in Washington state with both Josh Herrin and Xavi Forés scoring some champagne for their efforts.
Herrin’s weekend in the premier Superbike division saw him suffer a nasty spill immediately after securing pole position, the Georgian native injuring his ankle and being pretty bashed and bruised all over, but still fit enough to start race one.
Herrin battled on to a pair of third places, gritting his teeth through the pain in a heroic effort given the circumstances. He will visit his doctor tomorrow for further checks ahead of two weeks’ rest leading up to Laguna Seca’s fifth round of the championship.
The MotoAmerica Supersport Championship is fast becoming the Xavi Forés show as the sensational Spaniard took his seventh race win in a row at The Ridge, making his undefeated as the series nears its halfway point.
Forés was flying in the PNW, his margin of victory of 11.9 seconds in race one and five seconds in race two a sign of his domination. Forés now leads the Supersport points standings by a massive 76 points, some three race wins clear of second-placed, Stefano Mesa.
Xavi Forés (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC – #12) "It’s been an amazing weekend. I did my first pole position of the championship and the bike worked perfectly. I love this track and today in race two it was a little tougher than yesterday’s race one. We made some fork changes that didn’t really work but it was ok to keep the gap to second place. Seven race wins in a row in so far in front of what I expected at the start of the year so now we move the focus to Laguna Seca to keep the momentum.”
Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC – #2) “For how bad Saturday was with the injures I got, I’m super excited to get two third place finishes,” Herrin said. “The V4 R was amazing this weekend. It’s the best it has felt all year, I just wasn’t able to ride it to its full potential. I’m bummed about that but happy with two podium finishes. Now I’m ready to heal up and come back to Laguna strong.”