Yamaha USA has unveiled announced an alteration to their MotoAmerica Superbike Championship-winning team with champion Jake Gagne joined by South African Cameron Petersen.
Gagne will take the start of the 2022 season wearing the #1 for the first time in his MotoAmerica Superbike career after a record-breaking year in 2021. The Colorado resident took 17 race wins, putting him tied on the all-time win list with Nicky Hayden and making him the active leader in Superbike wins heading into the 2022 season.
Gagne also has a pair of support class championships to his credit – the 2014 Daytona Sportbike Championship and the 2015 MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Championship.
“I know it’s not going to be as easy to pull off what we did last year, as the other guys are really going to try and not make that happen,” Gagne said. “We’re going to keep fighting and do what we can. I’m just so happy to have such a great group of people around me.”
For Petersen, his appointment comes after a solid year on the M4 Ecstar Suzuki in which he took third in the standings and scored a debut win in the torrential rain at Barber. The South African has also tasted MotoAmerica championship success after taking the 2020 Stock 1000 title for Altus Motorsports.
“I know that this is the kind of opportunity that comes around once in a lifetime, so I’m prepared and ready to make the most out of it,” Petersen said. “I’m really looking forward to the upcoming season and want to grab this opportunity with both hands and make Yamaha and everybody proud. I feel like I’ve got two good years under my belt now with positive things happening in the sport, so I’m ready to keep that forward momentum going and win some championships.”
In addition to the 10-round MotoAmerica Superbike season, the team will race the Daytona 200 aboard the Attack Performance Yamaha YZF-R6 as the series makes its debut at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on March 10-12.
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