Rave Yamaha Racing’s Jason Perez, Shane Turpin and Jay Tanner rode a YZF-R1 to a 4.791-second margin of victory over Vesrah Suzuki in round four of the Bridgestone/WERA National Endurance, a 6-hour event held Sunday at Miller Motorsports Park, in Tooele, Utah. The race was run on the same course configuration as will be used during next weekend’s AMA Superbike National.

Although Vesrah Suzuki’s Tray Batey, Lee Acree and John Jacobi had longer range and slightly faster pit stops, Rave Yamaha Racing was faster on the racetrack.

Rave Yamaha Racing was close to lapping Vesrah Suzuki in the fourth hour when the second, and final, red flag of the race came out, erasing Rave Yamaha Racing’s large lead.

Vesrah Suzuki gained a significant advantage when Rave Yamaha Racing had to pit immediately after the restart, but the race would be decided by the final pit stops and riders.

Perez, Rave Yamaha Racing’s final rider, started turning the fastest laps of the race. But even with Perez’s pace, Vesrah Suzuki still looked like it would be able to hold its lead to the finish line as long as its final pit stop was clean and quick. It wasn’t. Rave Yamaha Racing passed Vesrah Suzuki in the final 10 minutes and held on to win.

One of the more interesting things about Rave Yamaha Racing’s effort was that the team used both Dunlop and Michelin tires during the race. Perez and Tanner rode on Dunlop slicks, while Turpin, a contracted Michelin rider, used Michelins during his stint.

Vesrah Suzuki used Pirelli slicks on its Suzuki GSX-R1000.

ARNCHU Racing’s Randy Sherman, Nathan Dressman and Troy Meikle came back from a crash early in the race to finish third overall and first in Heavyweight Superstock on a Michelin-equipped Suzuki GSX-R1000.

Fourth overall and first in Mediumweight Superbike went to Matsushima Performance Suzuki with riders Danny Eslick, Blake Young, Kim Nakashima, Garry Combs and Liko Miles, the team using three sets of Dunlop scrub tires on its GSX-R600 during the race.

L.O.C. Endurance’s Joe Hayes, James Van Der Haar and Dan Carr) rode on one set of Bridgestone DOT-labeled tires en route to the Mediumweight Superstock class win and 11th overall.

Neighbor of the Beast’s Melissa Berkoff, Scott Fisher and Bruce Stanford) took their second Lightweight Superbike class win of the season (and 13th overall) on a Michelin-slick-equipped Suzuki SV650.

40 teams entered the race, but only 39 took the start. Yamaha factory rider Jason DiSalvo opted to sit the race out at the last minute. DiSalvo had planned to ride his personal Yamaha in the race.