BREA, CA, August 20, 2023 — Suzuki Motor USA and Team Hammer continued to stack up trophy-winning weekends with another podium performance in the MotoAmerica Supersport race on Saturday at Pittsburgh International Race Complex in Wampum, Pennsylvania.
Race Highlights:
- Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki
- Supersport
- Tyler Scott scored his fifth-consecutive podium with a competitive third-place finish.
- Teagg Hobbs closed on the leaders late to earn a hard-charging fifth.
- Superbike
- Richie Escalante qualified fourth before collecting an eighth-place result.
- Brandon Paasch showed impressive speed in the opening half of the race and ended up in ninth.
- Supersport
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott continued his recent tear aboard the team’s next-generation Suzuki GSX-R750, again challenging for victory en route to an eventual third-place result in the day’s Supersport contest. Despite starting from the outside of Row 2, Scott launched into third at the start. After going back and forth with teammate Teagg Hobbs, Scott consolidated third and then tracked down the leaders to make it a three-way fight for the win.
A red flag put a temporary halt to that battle, which resumed with an even more intense four-way fight for glory, with Scott again running in third. The rising star harried the leaders relentlessly but could not find a way through. Scott ultimately crossed the line in third, less than a half-second off the win, securing his fifth consecutive podium finish in 2023.
“It was a tight race and a good one,” Scott said, “but it was very hard. My competitors were very good on the brakes, and it was hard to get beside them to make a move. I was happy with the bike and the team’s performance, and I thought everything was positive. We may adjust some things in the Sunday morning warm-up to see if we can improve, but we are in good shape for the next race.”
After qualifying second fastest aboard the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R750, Teagg Hobbs was in a race-long melee himself. With a race chocked full of runs and momentum shifts, Hobbs was as high as third and as low as sixth. Hobbs managed to claw his way back up to fifth late in the contest, where he charged on the leaders before finally taking the checkered flag in fifth. Team Hammer’s results led the charge once more, as Suzuki GSX-Rs continued to dominate the Supersport results, earning 50% of the top ten results in Pittsburgh.
Hobbs said, “I made a few mistakes at the beginning of the race, and we made some changes to the setup during the red flag that made things better. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race. The goal is to stay in the top five – and we did that again – but I am trying to get closer to the leaders. The main thing for tomorrow is to clean things up and change my approach a little.”
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante reminded the Superbike field of his front-running speed aboard the squad’s Suzuki GSX-R1000R with an impressive fourth-place showing in qualifying. Unfortunately, Escalante was unable to capitalize on that strong start in hopes of notching his tenth top-five race finish of the year. Escalante was shuffled down to ninth on the opening lap, and then struggled to find a way back up through the field, finally coming home with an eighth-place result.
“It has been a difficult weekend, honestly,” Escalante said. “I’ve been working hard with the crew to feel more comfortable on the bike, especially on the exits. We made progress and got P4 in qualifying, but it was a very difficult race. I found my position at the start and thought it was time to start moving forward, but in the different temperature conditions, we needed more grip. I kept pushing and got points, but we are looking forward to getting two more chances tomorrow.”
Coming off another top-five outing with the team in the premier class, Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Brandon Paasch flashed the speed to repeat that feat early in the Superbike race. After starting on the outside of Row 3, Paasch slotted into seventh early and then applied heavy pressure on sixth place until approximately half-distance. Paasch – who is both adapting to the Superbike class and working back to full fitness – lost ground over the second half of the race before collecting ninth at the checkered flag.
“I’m happy with what we were able to accomplish in the race,” said Paasch. “I had a good start and moved up. We’re surely making progress, but I made a mistake and ran off track in Turn 1. Then, trying to catch up, I ran off again in the chicane. By then, I had killed my tire and I struggled the last few laps. I’m fired up for tomorrow. The competition is tough, but we got 17 more race laps in as I am trying to learn and improve.”
The team will have an opportunity on Sunday to turn podiums into wins and top tens into top fives when the MotoAmerica weekend at Pittsburgh International Race Complex concludes with another Supersport race and two more Superbike races.
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