From a press release issued by WERA Motorcycle Roadracing:
NO RED FLAGS DURING WERA NATIONAL SERIES RACES AT TALLADEGA
OXFORD, Ala.- The WERA National Challenge Series and the Dunlop/WERA National Endurance Series held round seven at Talladega Gran Prix Raceway the weekend of August 21-22, completing all of the racing with no red flags.
On Saturday, August 21, the Dunlop/WERA National Endurance Series four-hour race got underway with 42 bikes on the grid. Tray Batey and John Jacobi rode to the win on the Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R1000, also earning the Heavyweight Superbike victory.
Army of Darkness finished four laps behind them in second, taking the Mediumweight Superbike win, with Ben Walters, Scott Brown and Sam Fleming on a Suzuki GSX-R600. Chuck Ivey, Steven Breckenridge, Bradley Champion and Reuben Frankenfield won Heavyweight Superstock on the Team Velocity Racing Yamaha YZF-R1, finishing third overall.
Neighbor of the Beast beat CherokeeChallenge.net by just 41 seconds to win Mediumweight Superstock. Melissa Berkoff, Chris Pyles and Scott Fisher rode the Neighbor of the Beast Yamaha YZF-R6 to a finish of seventh overall.
Derek Keyes and Bo Morgan rode the Dixie Mafia Suzuki SV650 to the Lightweight Superbike win, finishing sixth overall.
During the 12-lap National Challenge Series sprint races on Sunday, August 22, Vesrah Suzuki’s Tray Batey won four expert-class races. He rode to the victory in Open Superstock, 750 Superstock and Formula 1 on his Suzuki GSX-R750. Batey also won Heavyweight Twins, both the Superstock division and overall, on his Suzuki SV1000.
Josh Hayes worked his way up from the back of the grid to win 600 Superstock on his Attack Kawasaki 636. Craig Montgomery also had his Kawasaki 636 at the front, winning 750 Superbike.
Vesrah’s Matt Furtek won 600 Superbike on a Suzuki GSX-R600, while Bo Morgan won both Formula 2 and Lightweight Twins on a Suzuki SV650. Morgan’s win gave him the Superbike-division victory in Lightweight Twins, while Craig Montgomery won Superstock on a Suzuki SV650. Jim Elias rode his Honda RS250 to the Heavyweight Twins Superbike division win.
In the novice class, Ryan Gordon won both 750 Superstock and 750 Superbike on his Suzuki GSX-R750. Brandon Parrish rode his Yamaha YZF-R6 to the 600 Superstock and 600 Superbike wins.
Ross Ryals won Formula 2 and the Superstock division of Heavyweight Twins on his Suzuki SV650. Kenny Duval won Heavyweight Twins Superbike on a Honda RC51.
In Lightweight Twins novice, Daniel Parkerson took the Superbike win and Van Salt won Superstock. Both riders were on Suzuki SV650’s.
Round eight of the WERA National Series will be held at Nelson Ledges in Ohio, September 11-12.
More information about WERA, including complete results from the National Series weekend at Talladega Gran Prix Raceway, can be found at www.WERA.com.
More, from a press release issued by Pirelli:
PIRELLI RACE REPORT:
DOMINATES WERA TALLADEGA ROUND,WINS WORLD ROAD RACE ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP, HOSTS CANADIAN SUPERBIKE MONT-TREMBLANT RACE
(Rome, GA) Pirelli’s most recent racing efforts took on an international flavor with events in Canada, Europe, and the U.S.
The WERA National Endurance and National Challenge series went to Alabama’s Talladega Gran Prix Raceway over the weekend, where Pirelli racers swept the podiums in three National Challenge expert-class sprint races, and took first and second places in two others. Pirelli-mounted Team Vesrah Suzuki, the reigning WERA National Endurance champions, padded its 2004 championship points lead with the overall win in Saturday’s four-hour endurance race.
Vesrah’s Tray Batey was the big hitter in Sunday’s sprint races, winning four of them. In the 750cc Superstock race, he led a Pirelli sweep down to sixth place on his Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R750 (Pirelli racers captured eight of the top 10 spots). Joining Batey on the podium were Brian Stokes in second, and Reuben Frankenfield in third.
It was Batey and Stokes one-two again in the Formula One final, with John Jacobi and Frankenfield giving Pirelli a sweep down to fourth. And Batey, yet again with Stokes as his shadow, led a stream of five Pirelli racers across the line in Open Superstock, Logan Young taking third, followed by Vesrah’s Mark Junge and Jacobi.
Pirelli-mounted Roger Bell followed Batey home in the Heavyweight Twins race, while Matt Furtek and Giovanni Rojas gave Pirelli a first and third respectively in 600cc Superbike.
In Saturday’s endurance race, Team Velocity Racing gave Pirelli two steps on the podium, its third-place overall going with Team Vesrah’s win.
Speaking of endurance racing, the Yamaha GMT94 team gave Pirelli the 2004 FIM World Endurance Championship. The team clinched the title with one round remaining after its win at a 24-hour race at Germany’s Oschersleben on August 15 when arch rival Castrol Suzuki unfortunately crashed out. Pirelli also claimed the number-two spot on the box with the Yamaha Austria team.
Pirelli has greatly increased its presence in Canadian racing this year. It stepped up its sponsorship participation as well, sponsoring last weekend’s Parts Canada Superbike Series round at Quebec’s Mont Tremblant. A Pirelli spokesman said that the company is pleased with the expanded effort that has seen its tires gain a 40+% fitment among the series’ privateers this season.
More, from a press release issued by Team Velocity Racing:
TEAM VELOCITY RACING WINS HEAVYWEIGHT SUPERSTOCK AT TALLADEGA
OXFORD, Ala.- Team Velocity Racing continued their winning streak during round seven the WERA National Endurance Series, held at Talladega Gran Prix Raceway on August 21, with their third consecutive victory in the Heavyweight Superstock class.
Chuck Ivey, Reuben Frankenfield, Bradley Champion and Steven Breckenridge shared the Team Velocity Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 during the four hour endurance race, finishing third overall among the 42 teams entered.
Frankenfield started the race for the team, taking the lead at the green flag. Eventual race winner Vesrah Suzuki got past on the second lap, but Frankenfield held onto second throughout his entire stint.
“They gridded me on the outside,” said Frankenfield of the start. “I looked over at (Vesrah Suzuki rider) Tray Batey to see what he was going to do. He hesitated, so I just went ahead. It’s fun to lead a lap or two at the start of a race.”
Champion rode the second hour, and at the halfway point of the race Team Velocity Racing was still in second overall. The front tire of the R1 was beginning to fade, and when Champion pitted to hand over to Breckenridge, the team changed both tires. Because tire changes take much longer with Superstock machinery than with Superbike-spec equipment, the team dropped back to third.
“The front tire was just gone and there was nothing I could do,” said Champion. “I almost crashed at least 20 times. It was horrible. It didn’t hinder the team in relation to losing multiple positions or anything, but it would have been nice to be able to run a faster pace.”
“I picked the pace up a little bit and went faster than I did in practice,” said Breckenridge. “I just reeled off lap after lap. I had a lot of fun. The team really did a great job with the pit stops.”
Ivey rode the final stint for the team, crossing the finish line in third overall and securing Team Velocity Racing’s Heavyweight Superstock victory. The team’s lead in the class championship has been extended to 69.942 points.
“I’m happy with third overall and first in class,” said Ivey. “We had to pull Bradley in a little early to get the front tire changed so we wouldn’t risk anybody falling down. I went out fourth and was still doing the competitive times even though the front tire was going again.”
The next endurance round for Team Velocity Racing will be at Nelson Ledges in Ohio on Saturday, September 11.
Fans can keep up with Team Velocity Racing at www.TeamVelocityRacing.com .