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JAKE LEWIS
VIRGINIA!
VIRgInIa InternatIonal
Raceway
LEWIS
Lewis managed one of his best qualifying performances of the season as he put himself eighth on
the grid after making his way into the Superpole session. The Kentuckian clocked a 1:25.01 aboard his M4 Ecstar Suzuki, firmly placing him in the middle of the third row ahead of the Superbike championship leader, Toni Elias. Lewis was shuffled back a couple of spots on the start and found himself stuck in behind the #11 Yamaha of Mathew Scholtz. The Suzuki rider stuck to the rear fender of his Superstock 1000 rival and the two of them did their best to work their way forward. He was promoted a couple of spots due to mistakes from riders further up the field, eventually settling into seventh position overall. Lewis worked his way to the back of Jake Gagne and clung to the tailpipe of the Californian’s CBR1000RR, pacing him for a number of laps in succession. He was able to force his way past into sixth position at the midway point of the race, but shortly thereafter he found himself fending off the Yamaha of Josh Hayes. On the next lap, the four-time champion worked his way past Lewis and the Kentuckian tucked in behind him, attempting to grab a tow towards the front of the pack. A couple of riders hit the deck in the battle at the front and the Suzuki rider found himself in fifth place, under ten seconds off the leader. In the waning laps of the race, Lewis was forced to concede a position to Cameron Beaubier who was on a late charge, but he
still managed to hold on for sixth position, third place on the Superstock 1000 podium. On Sunday, Lewis fell back a couple of positions as the pack came through the first corner yet again, but he quickly regrouped and moved up to ninth place behind Scholtz. He attempted to follow the South African forward through the pack, but he lacked the pace of the Yamaha rider and settled into his own rhythm behind Gagne. Lewis clicked off consistent, calculated lap times as he circulated in ninth place for the entirety of the race. The Kentuckian held down third position in the Superstock 1000 class from start to finish, wrapping up another successful weekend with two podium finishes.
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