“This is the culmination of our relationship with Jake,” RoadRace Factory Team Principal Danny Walker said. “We’ve been with him since his Red Bull Rookie Cup days, and we know he is one of the most talented riders in the US.” Photography by Brian J. Nelson

“Jake Gagne should be on a factory Superbike,” Ben Spies told me last fall. “He’s fast enough, and he’s old enough.” Turns out, the former MotoGP star isn’t the only person to arrive at that conclusion. RoadRace Factory Team Principal Danny Walker announced today that he is promoting Gagne, who dominated the Superstock 1000 class in 2015, winning 13 races and the title, to Superbike for the coming MotoAmerica season. Gagne will campaign a RoadRace Factory-prepared Yamaha YZF-R1. “At times last year Jake was running near the factory Superbikes,” Walker said. “It was hard to tell him that he didn’t need to race those guys. Jake is a racer, and he wants to beat anyone in front of him.” Superbike and Superstock 1000 race together but are scored separately. The 23-year-old Gagne knows he will face stiff competition from Monster Energy Graves Yamaha riders Cameron Beaubier and Josh Hayes, as well as Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden and Jake Lewis—the top four finishers in last year’s Superbike title chase.

“I’m so stoked,” Gagne said. “The whole crew has been working incredibly hard this off-season to do everything we can to get us on a Superbike, and we got the green light. “Our first year on the new Yamaha R1 was pretty amazing, and I’m really excited to swing a leg over an R1 with more juice. We have a lot of work to do, but I have the strongest crew around.” Because Superbike is more expensive than Superstock 1000, Walker has pared down his team and will focus solely on Superbike. Scott Jensen (chief engineer), Danny Anderson (chassis engineer), and Evan Steel (chassis engineer) will make up Gagne’s crew. “We will no longer be running in the Supersport class,” Walker said. “We will, however, retain a Supersport bike if we see an opportunity to help a rider who we feel has the right potential and can represent our program correctly.”

Seen here at Indianapolis leading 2015 MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier, Gagne didn’t hesitate when asked to step up to the premier class. “We approached Jake about running a Superbike,” Walker said, “and he was all in.” Photography by Brian J. Nelson