Ya ya I know I'm late but seriously the team has not had time to come down off the fluffy cloud we have been on since the Barber test. Please let me give you the quick version as I need to be up early to finish the trailer load and get heading towards VIR for the third round of the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship.

   After 30 plus years in the paddock I have seen lots of teams come and go, some due to budget and others simply burn out. Our team seems to strengthen every season. Call it skill, luck or what have you, I consider our success to be the the team players, everyone pulling on the same rope in the same direction.

  Rolling into Atlanta (our home race) we felt confident coming off great tests over the winter, From the start Mat was fast and more determined than ever to shine. Mat never really stops pushing, ever. His feedback is like no other, his comments virtually replicate every millisecond of data we record, this makes a bit easier for the crew chief and suspension tech to keep getting the most out of the bike and Mat.

     From pole right to the end of the weekend it was one for the books, excitement galore I'll say ! For Mat to lead part of the race on Saturday was a massive accomplishment and a testament to our lead technician Dustin Meador who with assistant Frank Shockly has prepared the perfect beast to run alongside and in front of Yoshimura Suzuki's Toni Elias. Did I mention Toni is a former World Champion ?! With a strong second place finish on Saturday the chips were all tossed on the table when it got wet on Sunday, meanwhile I'm quietly licking my chops because let's face it The Scholtz Kid aint bad in the wet.

    Oh man was I let down right when the lights went out for race 2, Mat had to use his ninja like evasive skills to make sure he didn't run Jake Lewis over ! Jake was fine and Mat managed to get back on track......in last position. From that point on school was in, the clinic had begun. Mat was amazing on every lap right until the end of the race, It was a joyous occasion for all but especially Mat's parents, Peter and Colleen Scholtz, who would only be in town for the first two events. Tryg was obviously thrilled as a team owner could be, we left with everything in one piece and P2 in the Superbike points, amazing.

   COTA, for some reason I felt this place owed us a little something but to be honest, shes a bitch with sharp teeth ! Practices were limited because of running along side of MotoGP but we did turn a good amount of solid laps heading in towards the qualifier. When qualifying started I was surprised because I really felt Mat would have gone better on the first Q tire. Come to find out the first one he rode on was simply a feeler as to how the second Q would come in. With just about three minutes left Mat popped into pit lane for the Q ball willy tire, yup the old softy ! Watching the splits click away it was green, green,(which indicates Mat's personal best sectors) then suddenly in the third sector the front end just washed out with zero warning. Bummer for Mat as it looked like it would have been a front row start, still an amazing time compared to last year so we were all pretty darn happy.

      It was calling for 100% rain on Saturday but the warm up was dry and the day was rain free, right until the five minute horn went off ! As they say in Europe it was bucketing rain, like massive rain. It came in so fast there was no time to switch the bike to it's "wet" set up which obviously works pretty darn good. Mat didn't get a great start but he did feel his way around the first few laps to do some recon work, once he had the situation sorted it was absolutely lights out for the rest of the field. Mat once again came from behind picking rider off one at a time, along the way he was not only seconds faster in a total lap but, he was averaging over a second faster per sector ! Mat went on to win with about 8 second margin, The team was elated as was Mat ! Looking around the podium really wasn't any different than it has been in the past except for two things, This is Superbike (whoa) and Freddy and Eleanor were in attendance, this was extra special for all of us. 

  After everyone had some champagne it was straight back to work for the team, Dustin and Frank would do the ole scrub a dub dub on the race winners Yamaha R1 and Mat, Ed and Corndog would review data and make things even better for the am session. 

   Ah the last day of the weekend and it was to be dry, warm up went well and it seemed the race would be dry something Mat wanted badly. Off the start Mat didn't really get a good jump, and the following laps were good but the lead group seemed to break out early but we just couldn't get it going soon enough. Mat found himself locking horns with Josh Herrin, RL Hayden and eventually Jake Lewis came in and joined the fight. From what we could see the battle was epic but after the checkered flag came out it was a very disappointed Mat. It seemed that he was experiencing some issues with the riders aids not initiating properly and it really seemed to have an effect on his tenacious performance. I gotta be honest a win a sixth and P2 in the Superbike class is more like time to party than time to frown. Once we got back to the shop it was later revealed and backed up by component testing that in fact Mat did not have riders aids for a while in the race at COTA. Well at least the team got to the bottom of it and it's all better now !

   Heading into VIR we are very pleased as Mat has tested here earlier in the season and the test went very well. Mat's confidence is very high and so it the teams confidence, we are hoping for a dry weekend to show off our stuff, but yet there is naturally an 80% chance of rain Saturday and Sunday :) Go figure ! If you haven't come to a race you should check out VIR, there are some spectacular viewing spots and it makes for great racing. If you do make it out stop by and see Mat, he will be giving away 150 shirts at the autograph signing and the only way to get your FREE shirts is to attend the race!

  I would like to personally thank all of our sponsors and supporters for always showing up with smiles on. I would also like to that our entire crew and owner Trryg Westby for having the faith in his team of Wing Warriors to get the job done, 

     Wanna be like Mat Scholtz ? Well you can start by building your Yamaha R1 just like ours with all the parts available through Superbike Unlimited, if they don't sell it we don't use it!

                                                    Until next time,

                                                                  Peace from the luckiest guy ever

Photo by Brian J Nelson