Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Beth Wyse

WERA’s Cycle Jam at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) included round four of the WERA National Challenge Series on Sunday. Vesrah Suzuki’s Tray Batey was the only rider to win two races during the day, although he suffered disappointment in Heavyweight Twins.

Batey’s first win was in 750cc Superstock on his Suzuki GSX-R750. John Jacobi, also on a GSX-R750, was right behind him for the entire race, but Batey was able to hold Jacobi off to the checkered flag.

Batey later won the shortened Formula One race on his Suzuki GSX-R750. Batey pulled away from Team Embry’s Matt Lynn and Brian Stokes, both on Suzuki GSX-R1000s, and was in the lead when the red flag came out on lap five. Army of Darkness’ Ben Walters was riding a 300-horsepower turbo-charged Suzuki GSX-R1000 when the motor blew up on the front straight, dropping oil on the track.

Bill St. John rode his Ducati 996 to the win in Heavyweight Twins, finally breaking Batey’s long win streak in the class. The combined Heavyweight Twins Superstock and Superbike race had a revised grid, but Batey was unaware of the change and gridded his Suzuki SV1000 in the wrong position. Batey had to pull off of the grid, start behind the field and was not able to reel in St. John. The Superstock division was won by Roger Bell on a Suzuki SV1000. Bell finished second overall in the combined race.

Mark Junge took the lead in Open Superstock on his Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R1000, but his teammate Jacobi caught and challenged him. Jacobi got his Suzuki GSX-R1000 in front of Junge, but Junge drafted by Jacobi late to take the win.

In 600cc Superstock, Mike Smith held an early lead over Junge. The two battled until Junge crashed on lap four. Smith rode on to victory on his new Yamaha YZF-R6. A battle for second between seven bikes finally went to Vesrah Suzuki’s Jacobi.

Brian Kcraget started from the back of the Formula Two grid on his NESBA.com Honda RS250, but by the end of the first lap, he was already leading the field and pulling away. He won the race with a 9.487-second margin of victory.

Chris Normand got the holeshot in 600cc Superbike on his Kawasaki ZX-6R and led the first nine laps. XT Racing’s David Weber, riding a Suzuki GSX-R600, followed Normand closely before taking the lead and the win on the final lap.

In the combined Lightweight Twins race, Bo Morgan fought off a charge from Dave Yaakov to take the overall and Superbike class wins. Finishing less than a second behind Morgan, Yaakov was credited with the Superstock class win and second overall. They were both on Suzuki SV650s.

Michael Garafolo led all 10 laps in 750cc Superbike on a Suzuki GSX-R750. Keith Marshall, also Suzuki GSX-R600-mounted, finished second.