JOLIET, Ill. The WERA National Series braved a cold and rainy weekend at Autobahn Country Club in Illinois, but round three of the season proved that it takes more than bad weather to slow down the competition.
Mark Junge, Tray Batey and John Jacobi gave Vesrah Suzuki the win in the four-hour WERA/Bridgestone National Endurance Series race on Saturday. The trio won by two laps for a decisive overall and Heavyweight Superbike class victory on their Suzuki GSX-R1000. TVR II took second overall and the Mediumweight Superstock class win with James Stroud and Andrew Nelson on a Yamaha YZF-R6. The team beat Red Star at the line by just 1.148 seconds. Brett Champagne, Ben Walters and Ben Thompson rode the Red Star Yamaha YZF-R6, winning Mediumweight Superbike with their finish of third overall. Team Velocity took another Heavyweight Superstock class win with a finish of fourth overall. Chuck Ivey and Reuben Frankenfield rode the Yamaha YZF-R1. In Lightweight Superbike, Ghetto Customs came out on top with a long three lap lead over the rest of the class. Cale Swiger, Russ Stoddard and Chris Parrish finished seventh overall on a Suzuki SV650. The endurance race was especially difficult thanks to intermittent rain that kept teams guessing what the track conditions would be like. Although there were brief periods of dry skies, the track never completely dried and some teams opted to run rain tires for the entire event.
On Sunday, the rain stopped early and competitors in the WERA/Michelin National Challenge Series and the WERA/Pirelli Sportsman Series had the daunting task of racing on a track that was only partially dry. The tricky conditions were no match for Vesrah Suzuki’s Tray Batey, who came away with wins in both Open Superstock and Heavyweight Twins Superstock. Mark Junge gave Vesrah another first-place trophy with a win in 750 Superstock. Butler Machinery’s Robert Jensen took the 600 Superstock win, while the 600 and 750 Superbike victories both went to Andy Feuersthaler. Jeff Walker continued his strong run in Lightweight Twins Superstock, and the Formula 2 win went to Suzuki’s own Morgan Broadhead.
In the novice class, just two riders walked away from the day with first-place trophies. Seth Starnes dominated in every race he entered, running away with the victories in Open, 750 and 600 Superstock, 600 and 750 Superbike, and Formula 1. Drew Brenner was the top twins rider of the day, winning the novice class in Heavyweight and Lightweight Twins Superstock as well as Formula 2.
The WERA National Series has a month-long break before the competition begins out west with the series’ first visit to the new Miller Motorsports Park in Utah from June 9-11. More information about WERA, including a season schedule and updated championship points, can be found online at ~http://www.WERA.com~
More, from a press release issued by ARNCHU Racing:
ARNCHU Racing Builds Momentum With 2nd Place In Class, 5th Overall In WERA National Endurance Series
On May 13th at round three of the Bridgestone/WERA National Endurance Series, ARNCHU Racing took the 2nd podium position in the Heavyweight Superstock Class and 5th overall in a 29 team field.
The race weekend was caught in a circulating weather system and the track surface never completely dried during the 3-day event. Cold temperatures, rain and wind kept lap times relatively high. The May 10th Pirelli tire test aided ARNCHU in finding a direction for future reference, but most teams were on their own in regards to a wet suspension set-up.
The team started the race in row 6 with Nathan Dressman as pilot. The first corner brought out a red flag as 5150 Racing crashed in a trickle of water running across the track. “My plan was to get to the inside and to avoid any problems because I knew guys would charge up and get caught out. After the restart it took a while for the intermediates to grip as the rain subsided,” said Dressman. Riding the 3rd fastest team lap of the race, Dressman rode into second place overall and pitted for fuel after over an hour.
Randy Sherman boarded the Pirelli-shod ARNCHU GSX-R1000 and again rode competitive times, even with a wrist injury sustained in a sprint race at the last national event at Talladega GP.. Sherman was forced to pit as the rain picked up during the last minutes of his planned stint for full rain tires.
Troy Meikle also rode, despite a similar wrist injury sustained during a sprint race, showing his dedication to the team. Troy’s quick initial laps were offset by later laps plagued by numbness and he pitted so that Rick Knuckles could take control. Rick rode consistently, though was called in early so Sherman could maintain the lead over a chasing team and take 2nd in class.
The ARNCHU team has attained higher finishing positions as they sort the issues holding them back. From dedicated tire tests, to practicing consistent pit stops late into the evenings, and specialized equipment designed to make the pit stops fast, the team looks set on success.
For a complete story and pictures, visit ~http://www.arnchu.net~
More, from a press release issued by Team Velocity Racing:
Team Velocity Racing Wins Two Classes in WERA Endurance at Autobahn JOLIET, Ill. Team Velocity Racing continued their two-class dominance in the WERA National Endurance Series last Saturday, winning both the Heavyweight and Mediumweight Superstock classes during round three at Autobahn Country Club. Chuck Ivey and Reuben Frankenfield rode the Team Velocity Racing (TVR) Yamaha YZF-R1, while James Stroud was joined on the TVR II Yamaha YZF-R6 by Andrew Nelson. Nelson started the race on the 600, and the Canadian rider had no trouble turning fast laps despite rain that kept the track wet throughout the entire four-hour race. Stroud took over from there, and although the rain had lulled, the team made the choice to keep the Pirelli rain tires on the Yamaha. The choice turned out to be the right one, and when the rain started again Stroud was able to keep up his pace around the slippery circuit. Nelson rode the final stint, and when he climbed on the bike TVR II was in third overall behind Red Star. Nelson began to close the one-lap gap to the second-place team, but just as he caught up to them he had to duck into the pits for a splash of fuel. Only ten minutes were left in the race, and Nelson had 28 seconds to make up between TVR II and Red Star. As the clock neared four hours, Nelson not only caught up to Red Star, but he made the pass for second overall just before entering the front straight and crossing the start/finish line for the final time. The second-place finish marks the first overall podium for TVR II, who have now won the Mediumweight Superstock class for two consecutive rounds. “It was different than anything I’ve done in the rain,” commented Stroud. “There were different levels of traction in each corner. Andrew was really good in the rain and the pit stops worked really well. We were very consistent and we stayed out of trouble. It was the first time for both of us on that track.” “I didn’t even know I was passing for second,” said Nelson. “When I got off the bike the team was ecstatic. We weren’t sure if the rain tires would be able to last, but we did the whole race on one front, which was really great for our pit stops.” Frankenfield handled the first stint on the Heavyweight Superstock Yamaha, and with the slowed pace in the rain he was able to run for over an hour with the stock gas tank. He handed off to Ivey, who ran in drying conditions for a while before the rain began again. For the last stint, Frankenfield went back out on the wet track and cruised to the class win, crossing the finish line in fourth overall with a two-lap lead on the fifth-place team. “Reuben ran good consistent times in the first stint. He’s great in the rain,” said Ivey. “Our plan from the beginning was to run a consistent race and to keep the bike up in such bad conditions. Even when the track was drying there was still a lot of water in the turns so it was hard to judge. Keith Barnett was the only experienced crewmember we had this weekend, and he did a great job coordinating things in the pits.” “The hardest part was knowing what pace to run,” added Frankenfield. “We missed on our setup, but I was able to keep up a decent pace. If I had sped up I would have come off the bike, I think. Most of the teams that came by me fell down at some point. For what we had to deal with I think we did a decent job.”
More information about Team Velocity Racing can be found at ~http://www.TeamVelocityRacing.com~
More, from a press release issued by LOC Racing:
Joliet, Illinois, May 13, 2006 – On a cold and rainy day in Northern Illinois, the L.O.C. recorded it’s first ever podium with a third place finish in the Mediumweight Superstock class of the WERA/Bridgestone National Endurance Series. Using a single set of Bridgestone rain tires for the entire four-hour race, the team relied heavily on its number one rider, Jimmy Vanderhaar, who seemed unfazed by the adverse conditions. “I was just trying to not fall down,” remarked Vanderhaar after an outstanding hour-plus stint that saw the team riding as high as 9th in the overall standings. The number two rider, Dan Carr, then carried the team with a solid performance during the second hour before handing the bike over to Joe Hayes for the third stint. Hayes was happy to be riding again, but struggled to get up to pace during the race. “I just couldn’t get into a good rhythm,” he said after a shortened stint on the bike. (Hayes has just recovered from a broken left wrist and right hand sustained in the team’s first race) The final hour saw Vanderhaar back on the bike to finish off with another strong ride to secure the third place trophy. With today’s third place finish, LOC Endurance moves into second place in the Mediumweight Superstock championship points standings behind last year’s winner, Dalke Motorsports.
More, from a press release issued by Dalke Motorsports:
Dalke Motorsports debuted the team’s 2006 equipment under the ominous skies of Joliet, Illinois. The third round of the WERA National Endurance Series at Autobahn Country Club proved to be a real test of man and machine. Enduring a steady misty rain and 40-degree weather and various sealer in the turns was more than some teams could manage.
Dalke’s lead-off rider Gio Rojas was knocked off the bike by another crashing rider in the first turn of the race. Several other bikes went down in the ensuing melee bringing out a red flag before lap one was even complete. Damage to the “A” bike was not repairable at the track so Dalke used the red flag time to get the “B” bike ready and re-entered the race four laps down.
Team riders Giovanni Rojas, Daniel Parkerson and Josh Smith-Moore put in some very fast wet laps to work the team back into a respectable 4th place in class and 19th overall. This finish is enough to put Dalke in the points lead for the MediumWeight Superstock class and sixth in overall standings.