LRRS Ran Modified Course At Loudon Last Weekend, With More Run-off In Turns 3 And 10

LRRS Ran Modified Course At Loudon Last Weekend, With More Run-off In Turns 3 And 10

© 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc. From a press release issued By LRRS.

From a press release issued by LRRS:

September 4, 2004
LRRS Round 7
‘Tight 10’ Returns

The 7th round of the LRRS series began with a bit of controversy as track officials decided to run the ‘Tight 10’ configuration. Many grumbled, some signed a petition to put the track back to normal, but the configuration remained and the racers adjusted. It would prove to be an interesting litmus test of which racers could adapt more quickly and added a little excitement as championships began to be decided.

The hotly contested GP Singles class was much talked about with the new change. Many speculated that the additional 2.5 turns and the associated short acceleration areas would favor the higher torque motards. Joe Kessler nailed the start on his YZ450F, but Zach Courts quickly took the lead and put a solid gap over Eric Yoo who moved into second. Paul Duval worked by Kessler by lap 4 and made a run to Yoo but fell short in the end, leaving three RS125 Hondas on the podium.

By mid-day Saturday, most of the racers were getting more comfortable with the new track configuration. The ‘Tight-10’ layout adds a right hand dogleg to the course at the bottom of the turn 9 hill. This hard right turn loops the racers onto the Nascar oval towards Nascar turn 3 before taking another hard left to head back onto the standard LRRS configuration towards T-11. This left-hander is tight enough, however, to require a slight tip to the right as you merge back into the ‘normal’ track. The reasoning behind experimenting with this configuration is to allow a shared open runoff area for turns 3 and turn 10. Turn 3 is where racer Bryan Paquette was killed after losing his brakes earlier this season.

The premier weekend race, the Middleweight GP, Michelin MotoRace Dash for Cash, was delayed due to an oil cleanup from the race before. The riders were given two warm-up laps as a result. Scott Greenwood and Eric Wood were attending the AMA races at Road Atlanta leaving Jeff Wood the favorite. John Scheehser and Steven Giacomaro were tied in points for the championship entering this round.

Wood took the hole shot on his Bettencourt Suzuki followed closely by Mike Martire on his GMD Computrak Kawasaki. Giacomaro passed Martire into turn 3 on the first lap aboard his R6, while Scheehser worked hard to make up for a bad start in 6th position on his Bocarossa/Michelin CBR600RR.

By the end of the lap 3, Scheehser had made his way to fourth behind Martire and the two got tangled up in T12. Martire lost 3 positions to go to sixth bringing the GSXR-600 of David Fett into fourth place behind Scheehser. Mike Niksa moved to fifth spot on his Suzuki GSXR.

Wood amassed a lead of 8 seconds by lap 8 and Martire diced with Fett for fifth. Martire got by Fett and put a small gap between them by the finish.

“They had me nervous in practice,” said Wood of his competitors. Giacomaro had been running one of the fastest paces all day. “But I did some 1:14’s so I feel like I was on a 1:11 pace, which is where I wanted to be.”

Saturday evening gave host to the much-anticipated Bryan Paquette memorial auction. LRRS racers, vendors and workers donated various pieces of motorcycle gear and accessories, memorabilia and even household appliances. The most notable items were photographic prints from John Owens bringing in over $4000, an Aprilia RS250 racebike donated by Bill McMartin for $5000 and a Michelin BobbleHead dog for $425. Some fantastic memorabilia acquired by Eric Wood from the AMA teams landed some great bids as did a date with Shandra Rubchinuk which went for over $3000. By the end of the night, the auction and BBQ had raised over $40,000 for the Paquette family.

The first race on Sunday and likely the most well attended race from a spectator standpoint was the renewed ‘Mizz Race’. This was a ladies-only 5 lap exhibition race, and let me tell you, if you though the male machismo was bad, you haven’t seen a good women’s race. Jackie Halpa took the holeshot on the CRF-450 but Shandra Rubchinuk quickly passed for the lead in turn 1. Katelyn Hurton followed in third.

Rubchinuk jumped out to put a sizeable gap over Hurton after 1 lap, with Corien DeJong, Halpa, Carol Remond and Deborah Dworkin in pursuit. In the end, it was Rubchinuk over Hurton and the crowd was pleased to watch a fun race.

Sunday proved to be more strenuous for the corner workers as the Middleweight Supersport and Unlimited GP races were plagued by long delays and multiple red flags.

For Middleweight Supersport, Scott Greenwood was not present and Mike Niksa did not grid, leaving Fett, Giacomaro, Scheehser and Martire to run a repeat of the MWGP. Fett was first into T1, but Scheehser lead out of T2. Giacomaro then passed Scheehser for the lead out of turn 3. Half way through the second lap, however, Dana Stanley crashed out of turn 6 and went over the barrier and into the fence. The delay brought out the tire warmers while the ambulance crew tended to Stanley. After the restart, Fett crashed out on the 1st lap while battling for 2nd place. On the third start, the positions quickly took shape with Giacomaro leading Scheehser followed by Peter Kimball, Jason Yelk and Michael Jaques. Yelk passed Kimball and left Jacques to dice with Kimball a short gap back. On the last lap, Jacques crashed out leaving Kimball to take the fourth spot.

The Unlimited GP was also soured by red flags. A red flag in the race prior involving 2 riders caused a lengthy delay to the ULGP start. Not hampered by the red flags, however, Rick Doucette on his Plaistow Powersports Suzuki GSXR-1000 was determined to give a good show. Off the start Niksa took the early lead over Doucette, Chris Rockwell, Jason Carter and Jesse Sandoze. Sandoze passed Carter for fourth by lap 2, and Doucette made a move towards the front. For the last 4 laps, Doucette hounded Niksa crossing the line mere feet behind Niksa each lap. On the last lap, though, Niksa would used lapped traffic to his advantage and beat Doucette by 0.9 seconds.

Podium Results among the Championship classes:
Michelin Dash for Cash, by:
Motorace/Goldfren, GMD Computrak,
BCM Ducati, Dunbar Eurosports,
New England Performance, VP Fuels,
Street n Comp, Robs Dyno Service
(pays to 8th)
1. Jf. Wood, GSXR-600
2. S. Giacomaro, R6
3. J. Scheehser, CBR600RR
4. M. Niksa, GSXR-600
5. M. Martire, ZX636
6. D. Fett, GSXR-600
7. J. Yelk, R6
8. J. Carter, GSXR-600

GTO
1. M. Niksa, GSXR-750
2. C. Rockwell, Duc 998
3. J. Carter, GSXR-1000

GTU
1. S. Giacomaro, R6
2. T. Rinaldi, R6
3. P. Douvris, CBR600RR

GTL
1. Jf. Wood, Duc 900SS
2. D. Hudson, SV650
3. T. Temple, SV650
4. R. Doucette, SV650
5. B. Obara, SV650

HW Superbike
1. S. Giacomaro, R6
2. M. Niksa, GSXR-750
3. D. Ruocco, GSXR-750
4. M. Martire, ZX636
5. C. Sandoze, Apr 1000

125 GP
1. Z. Courts, RS125
2. E. Yoo, RS125
3. P. Duval, RS125
4. J. Kessler, YZF450
5. T. Henshaw, RS125

LW GP
1. J. Routhier, TZ250
2. R. Doucette, SV650
3. T. O’Connor, TZ250
4. A. Timpano, SV650
5. B. Obara, SV650

LW Supersport
1. R. Doucette, SV650
2. M. Niksa, SV650
3. B. Obara, SV650
4. P. Kolodziej, SV650
5. T. Temple, SV650

LW Sportsman
1. J. Kessler, YZF450
2. Jf. Wood, CRF450
3. B. Poetzsch, MZ720
4. B. Chamberlain, EX500
5. B. Worsham, EX500

UN Superbike
1. M. Niksa, GSXR-750
2. D. Ruocco, GSXR-750
3. J. Carter, GSXR-1000
4. C. Sandoze, Apr 1000
5. M. Silva, GSXR-750

Thunderbike
1. R. Doucette, SV650
2. J. Wood, Supermono
3. D. Hudson, SV650
4. A. Timpano, SV650

HW Supersport
1. M. Niksa, GSXR-750
2. T. Bibeau, GSXR-750
3. K. Peterson, GSXR-750
4. B. Blanchette, GSXR-750

Supertwins
1. C. Rockwell, Duc 998
2. R. Nigl, Duc 996
3. C. Sandoze, Apr 1000
4. B. Guyer, Hon RC1000
5. T. Fournier, Duc 996

UltraLite Superbike
1. J. Wood, Supermono
2. C. Bruno, Apr RS250
3. J. Kessler, YZF450
4. T. Barry, Hon Hawk650
5. V. Buchakjian, Duc 750SS

Production Twins
1. B. Worsham, EX500
2. T. Babcock, EX500
3. M. Curry, Duc 620
4. D. Eldredge, EX500

Super Singles
1. Jf. Wood, CRF450
2. J. Kessler, YZF450
3. B. Poetzsch, MZ Skorp 720
4. M. Martire, CRF450

MW Supersport
1. S. Giacomaro, R6
2. J. Scheehser, CBR600RR
3. J. Yelk, R6
4. P. Kimball, ZX636

LW Superbike
1. Jf. Wood, Duc 900SS
2. R. Nigl, Duc 900SS
3. R. Doucette, SV650
4. D. Scheer, SV650
5. A. Timpano, SV650

UN Supersport
1. R. Doucette, GSXR-1000
2. M. Niksa, GSXR-750
3. B. Guyer, Hon RC1000

Formula 40
1. D. Fett, GSXR-600
2. R. Kessell, GSXR-750
3. B. Blanchette, GSXR-750
4. D. Dalzell, R1
5. N. Garvin, GSXR-600

Formula Forty Light
1. A. Timpano, SV650
2. J. Wood, Supermono
3. B. Poetzsch, SV650
4. B. Kent, SV650
5. P. Kolodziej, SV650

UL GP
1. M. Niksa, GSXR-750
2. R. Doucette, GSXR-1000
3. C. Rockwell, Duc 998

Complete results can be found at lrrsracing.com

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