By Beth Dolgner
Vesrah Suzuki’s Tray Batey and John Jacobi won their third consecutive race in the 2005 WERA Dunlop National Endurance Series, riding a Suzuki GSX-R1000 to the overall and Heavyweight Superbike class wins during the 4-hour event at Virginia International Raceway on Friday.
Chuck Ivey, Reuben Frankenfield and Mark Crozier finished second overall, winning in the Heavyweight Superstock race on the Team Velocity Racing Yamaha YZF-R1. They were two laps behind Vesrah Suzuki.
Third overall went to Ben Walters and Scott Fisher on the Army of Darkness Suzuki GSX-R600. They also won in the Mediumweight Superbike class, making a strong comeback after breaking in the previous round.
Vesrah led the entire race, but Batey and Jacobi had a difficult time building up their typical multi-lap lead because of the timing of two red flags. The first red flag came just before the completion of the first hour when a crash resulted in an oil spill. There was a long break in racing while the spill was cleaned up, and the race did not restart until halfway through the second hour.
The second red flag was for a crash 20 minutes into the third hour, and the green flag waved again after just 20 minutes. On the restart, Vesrah still had only a one-lap lead over the field. By the checkered flag, though, the gap was up to two laps.
Team Velocity Racing and Army of Darkness had tough competition throughout the race from Red Star, Team Eclipse and Dalke Motorsports. Red Star’s William Lindsay, Brett Champagne and Ben Thompson finished fourth overall on a Yamaha YZF-R6 despite a stop for gas just before the checkered flag.
Dale Burroughs, James Farber, Ryan Gordon and Chip Mayfield completed the top five overall, riding the Team Eclipse Suzuki GSX-R750.
Finishing sixth overall and first in the Mediumweight Superstock class were Josh Smith-Moore, Keith Marshall and Gio Rojas on the Dalke Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R600.
Ghetto Customs had an early challenge from Blue Ridge Performance for the Lightweight Superbike win, but Chris Parrish, Cale Swiger and Russell Stoddard were able to hang on to the top spot to win the class on the Ghetto Customs Suzuki SV650. They finished 13th overall.
OVERALL RESULTS 1. Vesrah Suzuki (Tray Batey/John Jacobi), Heavyweight Superbike, Suz GSX-R1000, 116 laps.
2. Team Velocity Racing (Chuck Ivey/Reuben Frankenfield/Mark Crozier), Heavyweight Superstock, Yam YZF-R1, 114 laps.
3. Army of Darkness (Ben Walters/Scott Fisher), Mediumweight Superbike, Suz GSX-R600, 113 laps.
4. Red Star (Ben Thompson/Brett Champagne/William Lindsay), Mediumweight Superbike, Yam YZF-R6, 112 laps.
5. Team Eclipse (Dale Burroughs/James Farber/Ryan Gordon/Chip Mayfield), Heavyweight Superstock, Suz GSX-R750, 111 laps.
6. Dalke Motorsports (Josh Smith-Moore/Gio Rojas/Keith Marshall), Mediumweight Superstock, Suz GSX-R600, 111 laps.
7. Velocity Crew Racing (Kevin Perkins/Paul Youngman), Mediumweight Superbike, Suz GSX-R600, 110 laps.
8. Racers of Deal’s Gap (Rob Seneker/Jacob Hendrix/Noah Hendrix/Greg Pruiett/Brad Elder), Heavyweight Superbike, Hon CBR600RR, 110 laps.
9. Four Feathers Racing (Scotty Van Scoik/Chris Normand/Steve Sherman), Mediumweight Superstock, Yam YZF-R6, 110 laps.
10. Team WFO Racing (Chris Lake/Kirk Downs/Geoff Doyer), Heavyweight Superbike, Yam YZF-R6, 109 laps.
More, from a press release issued by Team Velocity Racing:
Team Velocity Racing Wins Class; Second Overall in WERA Endurance at VIR
ALTON, Va. Team Velocity Racing got back to their winning ways during round three of the WERA National Endurance Series, taking the Heavyweight Superstock win in a four-hour race at Virginia International Raceway on Friday, May 20.
The Team Velocity Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 was piloted by Chuck Ivey, Reuben Frankenfield and Mark Crozier to a finish of second overall in the most competitive race of the season.
Crozier started the race and moved into second as he and the race leader pulled away from the rest of the field. As the laps wore on, Crozier had some challenges from other riders, but he was able to hang onto his position until the first red flag began just before the end of the first hour.
“The start was like a drag race to turn one,” Crozier said. “I put my head down and started doing some good laps. We started getting into lappers and I was able to get a gap. I stayed consistent the whole time and didn’t have any issues. It was tough with the traffic here. I’m glad to be back on the podium.”
Ivey took the restart and held down second for Team Velocity Racing. When he pitted to hand the Yamaha over to Frankenfield, another red flag came out. On the restart, Frankenfield got the holeshot.
“I knew it was going to be fun because John Jacobi was on the Vesrah Suzuki bike, and we always like to go out and play together,” said Frankenfield of the restart. “I out-braked him into turn one and led for a few laps. He showed me a wheel a couple of times. He finally got by me and I let him go. They needed to run their race, and we needed to run ours.”
Crozier rode the final stint, crossing the finish line in second overall and first in Heavyweight Superstock with a one-lap lead over third place.
For Ivey, winning at Virginia International Raceway had a special meaning for him since he had to miss last year’s race after breaking his hand in a crash during practice. Ivey said that “we were short on help because two of our normal crew members weren’t here. We had some new crew members who filled in and did a great job. The bikes were set up great from the moment we pulled them out. We managed to stay focused near the end of the race when it looked like it was going to rain, and we came away with a win. We put in good lap times and everyone did a good job.”