Millville, NJ - September 11, 2017 –

In less than two years, Mathew Scholtz has won national motorcycle road racing championships in two different countries that are located nearly halfway around the globe from each other. In 2016, Durban, South Africa-born Mathew won his home country’s SuperGP National Championship aboard a Yamaha YZF-R1. And, this past Sunday at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, New Jersey, USA, the “Durban Dynamo” wrapped up the 2017 MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Championship, once again aboard a Yamaha R1.

 

With one round and two more Superstock 1000 races left in the season, Mathew has already collected enough Championship points to make his lead insurmountable by any other competitor in the class. And he did it in style by clinching the title with a victory in Sunday’s Superstock 1000 Race 2 at NJMP.

 

“After the 2015 season back home (in South Africa), I nearly hung up my boots because it was just costing my family too much money (to race),” Scholtz said. “In 2016, we took one more final dig at it, and I won the South African SuperGP Championship on an R1. Then, I came over here. We ended up winning this MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Championship, and I couldn’t be happier. It’s like a dream come true for me. The Yamalube/Westby Racing team has had a real struggle the past few years, and I’m really happy to bring the championship home to them. They’re like a second family to me.”

 

Yamalube/Westby Racing was originally formed as a father-son racing team, with Tryg Westby as the team owner and his son Dane Westby as the rider. The team was very successful in the AMA’s middleweight road racing classes, and just as they were stepping up to race in MotoAmerica’s Superstock 1000 class in 2015, Dane lost his life when he was struck by a car while riding a motorcycle in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tryg decided to continue with the team as a tribute to Dane, and to honor his son’s legacy. Mathew’s Championship represents the completion of “unfinished business” that Dane began when he became a professional motorcycle road racer. And, with the 2017 MotoAmerica title now realized, Mathew and the team will move up to MotoAmerica’s premier Superbike class in 2018.

 

When asked which Championship means more to him--his 2016 South African SuperGP title or the MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 title that he won on Sunday, Mathew said. “Last year’s Super GP Championship was really special because it was my first national road racing title, and it was in my home country. But, MotoAmerica is a well-known racing series around the world, so this title also means a lot to me, especially now that I live in the U.S. (near Atlanta, Georgia, and close to the Yamalube/Westby Racing team’s race shop). America is my home now, and to win an American national professional road racing championship with Yamalube/Westby Racing, is very, very special.”

 

The Yamalube/Westby Racing team will now travel to Birmingham, Alabama, for the Championship of Alabama this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, which is the final round of the 2017 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship.

​

For more updates on Yamalube/Westby Racing, including news, photos, and videos visit “Westby Racing” on your favorite social media site.

​

​

​