From a press release issued by LRRS:

LRRS: Round 4

Round 4 marked the half-way of the 2004 Loudon Road Racing Series Championships. Class points were posted and teams had their calculators working probabilities. Increasing the stakes, it was also a manufacturer contingency date for Suzuki, Honda and Kawasaki motorcycles. Since LRRS stars Eric Wood and Scott Greenwood were racing at Laguna Seca, the purses seemed a little deeper. The absolute highlight race of the weekend, however, came out of nowhere on Saturday and paid no money. It was Expert GTL.

Highlight Race-
Ordinarily, the GT races at Loudon are a snooze. They run first and riders typically use them for practice. GT events don’t heat up until the last two rounds when championship points tighten. It started out that way in GTL, but steadily took on characteristics of some of the great AMA Superbike battles witnessed earlier this year.

Rick Doucette (nicknamed ‘Elvis’) nearly always wins GTL. On Saturday, he was still developing his new Plaistow/Dunlop Suzuki SV650 Superbike and GTL was his laboratory. He took the holeshot and quickly stretched out a gap, while the pack sorted out. Meanwhile, with a poor launch on the only 125GP bike in the field, Eric Yoo went right to the back off the green flag. After 5 laps, Doucette put it in cruise with nobody close. On lap 10, Eric Yoo finally broke free on his Dunlop shod Honda RS125, but by then he was looking at Doucette from 6 seconds back. The race appeared over, but Yoo had his head down. The gap steadily closed as apparently Doucette didn’t know he was coming. By then they were thick in lappers, which confused the pace even more. On lap 17, Yoo surprised and passed Doucette for the lead and the battle was on. The pace quickened as Doucette repeatedly attempted to set up the little 125 for a power move down the front strait. Yoo knew it was coming and ran the slow turn 12 wider and wider each lap trying to carry enough corner speed to offset his drive and top speed handicap. As the laps ran down, Doucette stepped it up, but Yoo responded. On the last two laps, Doucette was showing him a wheel everywhere while they split traffic right and left. Coming out of the final turn heading to the checker, Yoo skimmed the outside airfence in the widest and fastest exit yet and held the advantage to the stripe by a tenth. Both set their fastest times on the final circuits with Yoo setting his all time best at a 16.8. Doucette set the fastest race lap at a 16.4, which was just a harbinger of new speed he would find later on his new race bike. But in GTL, one might say Elvis got Zemke’d… Dave Hudson, Mike Niksa and Dan Bergeron rounded the top five on Suzuki SV’s.

Dash for Cash-
Saturday’s feature was the Michelin Dash for Cash, sponsored by Motorace/Goldfren, BCM, Dunbar Eurosports, New England Performance, Street&Comp, VP Fuels and Rob’s Dyno Service. The race paid to 8th.

Jeff Wood led the first lap on his Dunlop equipped Bettencourt’s GSX-R600 and put it on cruise after gaining a comfortable gap. Meanwhile Steve Giacomaro pushed into 2nd on his Pirelli equipped R6 with the GMD/Dunlop Kawasaki of Mike Martire running close. By lap 3, John Scheehser had his Boccarossa Insurance/Michelin CBR600 in 4th and on the charge. On lap 6, Scheehser took Martire for 3rd and they held formation to the flag. David Fett, Jason Carter, Neal Garvin and Peter Kimball rounded out the top eight money winners.

Strange Grid-
Ultra Lightweight Superbike was an interesting race with an odd collection of front runners. Jerry Wood took the lead early on his rare Ducati 570 Supermono, with defending champ, Vahan Buchakjian in tow aboard his modified early Duc 750. Joe Kessler followed on his Yam YZ Motard with Bob Poetzsch on a MZ Skorpion in 4th. Meanwhile Chris Bruno was a coming from the back on his Sliderule Racing Aprilia RS250 with his sole objective to beat Buchakjian. At the half, Kessler ran 2nd while Bruno passed Poetzsch for 4th and later caught Buchakjian. At the stripe it was Wood’s Supermono over Kessler’s Motard with Bruno coming up a half second short on Buchakjian for 4th. All set fast times, with both Buchakjian and Bruno setting personal bests in the low 18’s.

Contingency Battles-
The first big contingency race was Middleweight Supersport. Riding with a recently fractured foot, Gus Holcomb took the holeshot and led the first lap aboard his Concord Honda Dunlop shod CBR. Meanwhile, Jeff Wood was coming from the back of the grid and took the lead on the 2nd lap. On lap two, Steve Giacomaro took over 2nd with Wood on cruise a few seconds ahead. On the penultimate lap, John Scheehser pushed past Holcomb into 3rd where they finished in order.

After winning Lightweight Supersport, Rick Doucette rolled out his Plaistow GSX-R 750 for more Suzuki money in Unlimited Supersport. He took the lead off the start, but John Scheehser was also running for money on his CBR1000. After battling Doucette for several laps, Scheehser settled for 2nd with Jason Carter and Tom Bibeau filling out the last two Suzuki paying slots aboard their Suzukis.

With Honda paying the Superbike classes, Sheehser showed again in Middleweight Superbike aboard his CBR600. Mike Martire took the holeshot aboard his ZX6 and held off Holcomb in 2nd with Scheehser running 3rd. On lap 3, Scheehser pushed into 2nd, but was re-passed by Holcomb. After contact Scheehser re-took 2nd and then took the lead from Martire on lap 5. Meanwhile Holcomb claimed 2nd a lap later and they finished in that order with all three riders claiming prize money from their manufacturers. David Fett and Peter Kimball rounded the top 5. Complete results are posted on lrrsracing.com

Bryan Paquette-
The LRRS paddock was devastated to learn Bryan Paquette had succumbed from injuries suffered in a practice crash Friday afternoon. After a long layoff from racing, Bryan was preparing a track-bike to contest a few F-40 races for fun when he suffered a catastrophic brake failure entering turn 3.

A New Hampshire homeboy, Bryan Paquette was a much admired figure in the Loudon racing community. Following his retirement from professional motorcycle racing several years ago, Bryan kept his connection by working the Dunlop garage with long-time friend, Steve Guinard. In that capacity, he mentored many Expert and rookie racers alike. Through ‘Bryan’s Sportbike Painting,’ he maintained much of the paddock’s bodywork to keep them looking good. But mostly, Bryan was a loyal and trusted friend. He watched over his riders and went the extra mile to help them overcome the obstacles of competition. Whether it was scoring a needed tire, providing encouragement, or helping to repair a damaged racebike in time for 3rd call, Bryan was there for his friends. He thrilled in their victories and suffered their defeats right alongside them.

Bryan Paquette was 46. He is terribly missed.