Updated Post: Acree, Harwell, Bilansky, Eric Wood Win Formula USA Races At VIR

Updated Post: Acree, Harwell, Bilansky, Eric Wood Win Formula USA Races At VIR

© 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Lee Acree, Scott Harwell, Dan Bilansky and Eric Wood each won a Formula USA feature event Sunday at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia.

Triad Powersports’ Acree won the twice-red-flagged, 28-lap Sportbike main event on his new, Pirelli-sponsored Yamaha YZF-R6. Bettencourts/Argo Cycle’s Jeff Wood chased Acree the entire race, but when victory seemed out of his grasp, Jeff Wood began short-shifting his Honda CBR600RR to ensure that he finished the race with enough fuel to complete his mandatory, post-race dyno run. Kneedraggers.com Yamaha’s Matt Wait, who rode in pain due to a two-week-old broken shoulder blade, was happy to finish several seconds back in third.

The Sportbike race was stopped first when Eric Wood crashed his Kosco Buell in VIR’s turn 16. Wood’s Buell slid back across the track at turn 17 and knocked Andrew Nelson off his Z Tech Cycle Honda CBR600RR.

Eric Wood and Nelson were running fourth and fifth, respectively, in the lead pack at the time of their crashes.

Argo Cycles/Bettencourt Suzuki’s Scott Greenwood crashed on the next lap in debris left on the track by the Wood/Nelson crash.

Greenwood was uninjured and, after repairs, was able to continue in the restarted race.

Eric Wood’s Buell was essentially broken in half, and he suffered relatively minor injuries to both feet and ankles that kept him from continuing on his back-up bike.

Nelson and his Honda were both too battered to return to action Sunday, but neither bike nor rider suffered permanent damage.

The 100-kilometer Sportbike race was stopped a second time, near the halfway point, when David Rose lost the rear of his Yamaha and spun out on the racetrack. Rose restarted the final leg of the race from the back of the grid but retired before the end due to damage from the crash.

Arclight Suzuki’s Dave Stanton finished fourth in Sportbike in front of Greenwood, Formula USA Grand National Championship point leader Nate Wait, Mike Hale (who was hampered by transmission troubles), Celtic Racing’s Des Conboy, Shaun Fields on his new Yamaha and Smith Brother Harley-Davidson’s Jason Smith.

Arclight Suzuki’s Scott Harwell, who is still nursing a two-week-old broken right hand, sat out the long Sportbike race to concentrate his energy on the Superbike final, and the strategy paid off. Harwell swapped the lead several times with former teammate Acree until the final run to the line. Harwell, riding a Superbike-spec GSX-R600, powered past Acree and his new Supersport-spec Yamaha in the last dash to the flag to take the win.

Acree finished second well ahead of second-row-starter Jeff Wood, Matt Wait, Stanton, Hooters Suzuki’s Michael Himmelsbach (who also rode at the front of the Sportbike field until a rearset broke mid-race), Greenwood, Hale, Conboy and Tripp Nobles on a Tilley Harley-Davidson/Buell X1 ex-AMA Pro Thunder machine.

Nobles and Kosco Harley-Davidson/Buell’s Dave Estok raced nose-to-tail for all 14 laps of the Thunderbike final with Nobles taking the checkered flag first by half a bikelength over Estok. However, Nobles and Estok each disregarded meatball flags calling them in for stop-and-go penalties during the race, and each were docked one lap in the final results.

Nobles had lined up in the wrong grid spot, and Estok had jumped the start.

Nobles and Estok each protested the scoring of the Thunderbike race, each protest was denied and each rider appealed.

The Thunderbike race win went to Hal’s Performance Advantage Buell’s Dan Bilansky over Cyco Cycles’ Derek Keyes and Hovey Performance Engines’ Steve Keener. Both Keyes and Keener rode 700cc Suzuki SV650 Superbikes.

Harding Harley-Davidson’s Bryan Bemisderfer ran with Nobles and Estok early-on but retired while running third when his fuel tank overflow catch bottle spilled, causing smoke and motovating officials to give Bemisderfer a black flag.

Earlier in the day, Woodcraft/Barden Bearing’s Eric Wood won the Expert Unlimited Grand Prix race on his Dunlop-equipped Suzuki GSX-R750. Wood won the 14-lap race by 16 seconds.

Joe Spina and Scott Carpenter raced for second in Expert Unlimited Grand Prix until Carpenter got pinched off by a slower rider late in the race. Spina took the runner-up position with Carpenter salvaging third.

Euro Shop of Waco’s 16-year-old Ryan Andrews rode his Aprilia RS125R to victory in the 14-lap USGPRU final over NESBA.com’s Brian Kcraget and Kneedraggers.com’s Scott Moxey.

Race Results:

Sportbike:

1. Lee Acree, Yamaha YZF-R6, 28 laps
2. Jeff Wood, Honda CBR600RR
3. Matt Wait, Yamaha YZF-R6
4. David Stanton, Suzuki GSX-R600
5. Scott Greenwood, Suzuki GSX-R600
6. Nate Wait, Kawasaki ZX-6R
7. Mike Hale, Yamaha YZF-R6
8. Des Conboy, Suzuki GSX-R600
9. Shaun Fields, Yamaha YZF-R6
10. Jason Smith, Kawasaki ZX-6RR

13. David Rose, Yamaha YZF-R6, -7 laps, DNF, mechanical
14. Brett Champagne, Honda CBR600RR, -15 laps, DNF, crash

16. Chad Simons, Yamaha YZF-R6, -15 laps, DNF, crash
17. Michael Himmelsbach, Suzuki GSX-R600, -16 laps, DNF, mechanical

19. Nicky Cummings, Honda CBR600RR, -19 laps, DNF, crash

22. Eric Wood, Buell XB9R, -23 laps, DNF, crash
23. Andrew Nelson, Honda CBR600RR, -23 laps, DNF, crash

Sportbike Point Standings:

1. Jeff Wood, 97 points
2. Greenwood, 82 points
3. Matt Wait, 62 points
4. Conboy, 52 points
5. Nate Wait/Stanton, TIE, 33 points
7. Robert Jensen/Acree, TIE, 26 points
9. Harwell/Smith, TIE, 20 points

Superbike:

1. Scott Harwell, Suzuki GSX-R600, 14 laps
2. Lee Acree, Yamaha YZF-R6
3. Jeff Wood, Honda CBR600RR
4. Matt Wait, Yamaha YZF-R6
5. David Stanton, Suzuki GSX-R600
6. Michael Himmelsbach, Suzuki GSX-R600
7. Scott Greenwood, Suzuki GSX-R600
8. Mike Hale, Yamaha YZF-R6
9. Des Conboy, Suzuki GSX-R600
10. Tripp Nobles, Buell X1
11. Dave Ebben, Suzuki GSX-R600
12. Shaun Fields, Yamaha YZF-R6
13. Jason Smith, Kawasaki ZX-6RR
14. Ryan Andrews, Yamaha YZF-R6
15. Marcus Winfree, Suzuki GSX-R600, -1 lap
16. Adam Vella, Suzuki GSX-R600, -1 lap
17. John Lemak, Suzuki GSX-R600, -5 laps, DNF

Superbike Point Standings:

1. Matt Wait, 64 points
2. Jeff Wood, 63 points
3. Harwell, 61 points
4. Greenwood, 46 points
5. Conboy, 38 points
6. Acree, 28 points
7. Himmelsbach, 24 points
8. Robert Jensen, 20 points
9. Stanton, 19 points
10. Craig Connell, 16 points

Thunderbike:

1. Dan Bilansky, Buell XB9R, 14 laps
2. Derek Keyes, Suzuki SV700
3. Steve Keener, Suzuki SV700
4. Ray Bowman, Suzuki GSX-R750
5. Ray Silika, Suzuki SV650
6. Walt Sipp, Buell X1
7. Arthur Wagner, Honda CBR600F2
8. Jeff Johnson, Buell X1
9. Joseph Rozinski, Buell X1
10. David White, Suzuki SV650
11. Nate Kern, BMW R1100S
12. Tripp Nobles, Buell X1, -1 lap
13. Dave Estok, Buell XB9R, -1 lap
14. Jeff Harding, Buell X1, -1 lap
15. Greg Avello, Buell XB9R, -1 lap
16. Rhiannon Lucente, Honda CBR600F2, -1 lap
17. Jason Rice, Suzuki SV650, -2 laps
18. Patrick Wakefield, Buell X1, -2 laps
19. Sam Rozynski, Buell X1, -4 laps
20. Randy Rega, Suzuki SV650, -5 laps
21. Bryan Bemisderfer, Buell X1, -6 laps, DNF, mechanical
22. Darren Danilowicz, Suzuki SV650, -7 laps, DNF, crash

24. Dave Yaakov, Suzuki SV650, -14 laps, DNF, crash

Thunderbike Point Standings:

1. Estok, 67 points
2. Bemisderfer, 44 points
3. Bilansky, 41 points
4. Wagner, 39 points
5. Rozynski, 36 points
6. Keyes, 31 points
7. Johnson, 27 points
8. Ed Key/Bowman, TIE, 25 points
10. Rick Doucette, 21 points

Expert Unlimited Grand Prix:

1. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R750, 14 laps
2. Joe Spina, Suzuki GSX-R750
3. Scott Carpenter, Suzuki GSX-R750
4. John McGarity, Suzuki GSX-R1000
5. Russell Masecar, Suzuki GSX-R1000
6. Arthur Wagner, Suzuki GSX-R750
7. Thomas Eckfeldt, Ducati 996
8. Joe Ribeiro, Suzuki GSX-R750
9. Jason Moss, Yamaha YZF-R1
10. Mark Morgan, Suzuki GSX-R600, -1 lap

15. Chris Rankin of Maryland, Suzuki GSX-R750, -10 laps, DNF, crash
16. Andrew Nelson, Honda CBR954RR, -10 laps, DNF

Expert Unlimited GP Point Standings:

1. Eric Wood, 52 points
2. Michael Barnes/Robert Jensen/Alex Barrera, TIE, 26 points
5. Wagner, 25 points
6. McGarity, 24 points
7. Brian Stokes/Eric Gulbransen/Shawn Conrad/Spina, TIE, 20 points

USGPRU 125cc Grand Prix:

1. Ryan Andrews, Aprilia, 14 laps
2. Brian Kcraget, Honda
3. Scott Moxey, Honda
4. Dale Greenwood, Honda
5. John Klaras, Honda
6. Reet Das, Honda
7. David Deggendorf, Honda
8. Frank Guadagnino, Honda, -1 lap
9. Samantha Cotter, Honda, -1 lap
10. Mark Johnson, Honda, -1 lap

Amateur Unlimited Grand Prix:

1. Hector Jimenez, Honda CBR600
2. J. Michael Branson, Suzuki GSX-R750
3. Donny Kelley, Honda CBR600
4. Brian Logan, Yamaha YZF-R6
5. William Meyers, II, Kawasaki ZX-7
6. Ned Brown, Yamaha YZF-R6
7. Jason Lewis, Honda CBR600
8. Stephane Reynolds, Honda CBR600
9. Stuart Vernon, Yamaha YZF-R6
10. Geoff Gray, Honda 1000

Amateur Unlimited GP Point Standings:

1. Jimenez, 56 points
2. Meyers, 37 points
3. Henry Chin, 26 points
4. Mark Nelson/Kevin Ruopp, TIE, 25 points
6. Michael Shallcross, 21 points
7. Branson/David Loikits, TIE, 20 points
9. Bruce Villerup, 17 points
10. Kelley/Robert Collins/Brian Shaw, TIE, 16 points

More, from a press release issued by Proforma:

LEE ACREE WINS FORMULA USA SPORTBIKE RACE AT VIRGINIA

Lee Acree won the feature 28-lap Sportbike event during round four of the Formula USA National Championship Series at Virginia International Raceway, and he also finished a close second to Scott Harwell in the Superbike event that followed. Lee was the fastest qualifier in both classes after qualifying sessions held Sunday morning. Acree rode his nearly-stock Triad Powersport-sponsored 2003 Yamaha R6 on Pirelli DOT race tires in both events.

The Sportbike event was red-flagged twice for incidents on the VIR course. Acree ran with early leader Jeff Wood after the original and first re-starts. “I was content to let Jeff lead,” said Acree. “I didn’t want to push too hard early on.” On the second re-start, Acree led the entire race, except once when Wood passed in turn four and Acree re-passed immediately in turn six. After that, Lee pulled out to win by almost five seconds at the end. Acree’s bike made 110.4 horsepower in the mandatory post-race inspection, safely within the 115 horsepower limit for the class.

In the 14-lap Superbike race, Acree led most of the laps across the finish line, but he knew it was going to be difficult to shake Scott Harwell. “On the last lap, I went into turn one first,” said Acree. “Scott passed me back, then we caught a lapper going under the bridge (turn seven). I passed Scott going into the rollercoaster, but he followed me through the last few corners and passed me right before start-finish.

“This new Yamaha is incredible,” said Acree after both races. “I hadn’t even started it before last Thursday. The motor is still bone-stock, I put on the Graves pipe and the Dynojet box. Ohlins installed a standard fork kit last Monday and I put one of their shocks on it. Even the brake lines are stock, but the Vesrah pads were really good. This all came together in a very short amount of time, my sponsors really came through with getting me product in a hurry.”

More, from a press release issued by USGPRU:

In a race as hot as the Virginia weather, Ryan Andrews set an incredible pace aboard his Aprilia and held off Brian Kcraget for the win in the USGPRU 125cc race at VIR. Andrews got a great start from pole position with Kcraget hounding him for most of the race. As the laps wound down Ryan used lappers to his advantage and pushed the pace faster than his qualifying time to secure the win. Scott Moxey was close to the leaders early but ended up running a lonely race for third ahead of Dale Greenwood. The battle for 5th was contested until the end with John Klaras able to hold off Reet Das and David Deggendorf to take the position.

The USGRPU race was run in conjunction with the F-USA “Festival of Speed” at VIR.

USGRPU is sponsored by: CCS/F-USA, Motion Pro, Braking USA, Silkolene, VP fuels, EBC, GPStar, Bridgestone tires, and Hjelm Motorsports.

For more information, visit our website at www.USGPRU.org.

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