Tryg Westby – father of the late Dane Westby and principal of the Yamahlube/Westby Racing team – has “found the right guy” to pilot the #00 Yamaha YZF-R1 for the remainder of 2015 MotoAmerica.
The rider? Josh Day, who piloted the Yamahalube/Westby Racing YZF-R1 during the Superstock 1000 races last week at Road Atlanta. Day put in quite the performance, taking the top qualifying position for his class, and earning the race-one win. Unfortunately, he crashed out of race two.
Day, 25, has been racing for over a decade in various classes, including the FIM European Superstock 600 and Superstock 1000 classes. He is also an AMA SuperSport Championship.
“Dane and Josh raced against each other, and they were friends. Josh is a talented rider, and we were fortunate to be able to put him on the #00 Yamalube/Westby Racing Yamaha R1 at Road Atlanta. He immediately clicked with the bike and the team, and it showed in his results. Earning the pole and winning Race 1 were solid evidence that we found the right guy. We’re looking forward to the rest of the season,” Tyrg Westby says.
Day also commented: “I can’t thank the whole Yamalube/Westby Racing family enough for this great opportunity. I’m really looking forward to riding with them for the rest of the year. I’m very grateful for this opportunity, and I am going to always do my best to keep the “00” Yamaha R1 where it belongs. It felt so good last weekend to see how much Tryg enjoyed being up on the podium, and I want to get him up there more this year, so he can experience that feeling again. Thanks to everyone involved and for believing in me.”
Yamaha reports that Day started out on 125cc two-stroke GP bikes in USGPRU and WERA, won the AMA Pro Supersport East Championship in 2009 aboard a Yamaha YZF-R6, competed in AMA Pro Daytona SportBike in 2009 and 2010, and raced in both the FIM European Superstock 600 and Superstock 1000 Championships over the past couple of years.
The next round of MotoAmerica takes place May 15-17 at Virginia International Raceway.