MotoAmerica

Jake Gagne’s off-season just got a little shorter with the call from the Red Bull Honda World Superbike team asking if the Californian would hop a plane to France to fill in for the injured Stefan Bradl this coming weekend.

Of course, his answer was yes.

“First of all I would like to wish Stefan a speedy recovery: I’ve been there before and it’s never nice to have stay away from racing due to injury,” Gagne said on the World Superbike home page. “Obviously, I would like to thank Honda and the team for the opportunity to come back and get a second shot at World Superbike. Laguna Seca was a dream come true for me, and the knowledge and experience I gained from the team throughout that weekend was massive. It will also be nice to have some experience with this version of the Fireblade going into FP1. Magny-Cours is a completely new track for me, but I look forward to the challenge of racing on a new circuit and continuing to learn and grow. I have also never been to France, so it will be an exciting week.”

  @jakegagne to replace injured @stefanbradl6 at Magny-Cours #RedBull #Honda #WorldSBK A post shared by Red Bull Honda World Superbike (@hondawsbk) on Sep 26, 2017 at 1:05am PDT

Bradl has been plagued with injury since the summer, but following a race-one highside in race one in Portugal, he will undergo surgery on his right wrist on Thursday.

Gagne rode Nicky Hayden’s Red Bull Honda at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, scoring points in both races. He recently completed his MotoAmerica season at Barber Motorsports Park, crashing out of race two while battling for the lead on the final lap.