Updated Post: Vesrah Suzuki Wins WERA 4-hour At VIR, AOD 2nd Overall

Updated Post: Vesrah Suzuki Wins WERA 4-hour At VIR, AOD 2nd Overall

© 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Beth Wyse

Vesrah Suzuki’s Mark Junge, Tray Batey and John Jacobi won the 4-hour WERA National Endurance Series race Friday at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) in Danville, Virginia, battling extreme heat and a huge grid of 57 teams on their Suzuki GSX-R1000.

Army of Darkness’ (AOD) Sam Fleming took second place overall in the final three minutes of the race, winning the Mediumweight Superbike class on the Suzuki GSX-R600 he shares with Ben Walters and Scott Brown. AOD was four laps behind Vesrah at the finish.

Mark Reeser, Michael Garafolo, Tommy Heath and Matthew Vojvoda finished third overall and first in the Mediumweight Superstock class on the D&D Racing Yamaha YZF-R6. D&D Racing was second overall until AOD came past.

Team Velocity Racing’s Steven Breckenridge, Bradley Champion and Reuben Frankenfield won in the Heavyweight Superstock class on a Yamaha YZF-R1, finishing fourth overall. Team Velocity Racing suffered a setback in practice the day before the race, when team owner Chuck Ivey crashed and broke his hand and several ribs.

Bells Suzuki II took a Suzuki SV650 to the Lightweight Superbike class win. Roger and Myron Bell finished 10th overall, two laps ahead of the rest of the Lightweight Superbike field.

At the start of the race, Vesrah Suzuki took the lead with Batey at the controls. Team Velocity Racing was in second, but Vesrah Suzuki wasted no time in building up a long lead. By lap three, Vesrah Suzuki was encountering lapped traffic.

The only red flag of the day came 10 minutes into the second hour for a crash that left debris on the track. The race was restarted 22 minutes later.

Temperatures near 90 degrees F and high humidity made racing tough for many riders, who chose to ride shorter stints to compensate.

RESULTS

1. Vesrah Suzuki (Mark Junge/Tray Batey/John Jacobi), Heavyweight Superbike, Suz GSX-R1000, 135 laps.

2. Army of Darkness (Ben Walters/Scott Brown/Sam Fleming), Mediumweight Superbike, Suz GSX-R600, 131 laps.

3. D&D Racing (Mark Reeser/Michael Garafolo/Tommy Heath/Matthew Vojvoda), Mediumweight Superstock, Yam YZF-R6, 131 laps.

4. Team Velocity Racing (Reuben Frankenfield/Steven Breckenridge/Bradley Champion), Heavyweight Superstock, Yam YZF-R1, 131 laps.

5. Canton Racing #1 (Dale Davenport/David Davis/Rob Palmieri/Sean Dillon), Heavyweight Superbike, Yam YZF-R1, 131 laps.

6. CherokeeChallenge.net (Scotty VanScoik/Chris Normand), Mediumweight Superstock/Yam YZF-R6, 130 laps.

7. Taylor Knapp/Ray C’s Racing (Taylor Knapp/Fritz Kling/Jason Temme), Mediumweight Superstock, Yam YZF-R6, 130 laps.

8. B&S Roadracing (Brian Dalke/Josh Smith-Moore), Mediumweight Superstock, Suz GSX-R600, 130 laps.

9. Velocity Crew Racing (Kevin Perkins/Paul Youngman/Josh Joseph/Larry Goldstein), Mediumweight Superbike, Suz GSX-R600, 129 laps.

10. Bells Suzuki II (Roger Bell/Myron Bell), Lightweight Superbike, Suz SV650, 128 laps.

More, From a press release issued by Team Velocity:

TEAM VELOCITY RACING WINS HEAVYWEIGHT SUPERSTOCK IN WERA ENDURANCE AT VIR

ALTON, Va.- Team Velocity Racing overcame a crash during practice to win the Heavyweight Superstock class of the four-hour WERA National Endurance Series race at Virginia International Raceway, finishing fourth overall on their Yamaha YZF-R1.

Team owner Chuck Ivey crashed during practice on Thursday, May 20, the day before the race. Ivey suffered a severely broken hand, a bruised hip and he was knocked unconscious. In addition to being unable to race the next day, Ivey will also have to have surgery on his hand.

Despite the setback, Team Velocity Racing made repairs to the Yamaha and prepared for the race. “I went out in practice and everything felt good on the bike,” explained Ivey. “I had made four or five good laps. Going into turn one, everything felt normal, and that’s the last thing I remember. My Arai helmet really saved my head. Everybody seemed to pull together to the best of their ability. First place in class is definitely where we wanted to be, and overall finishes are just a bonus.

“Our crew doesn’t get much credit,” added Ivey. “They really come together for nothing; just for the fun of being out here. They pull us through this. Without them, there’s no reason to even try this stuff.”

Frankenfield started the race, taking second overall and first in class off the starting line. The team had pulled a significant gap over the rest of the field when he pitted and handed the bike over to Breckenridge. Champion rode the third stint, and Frankenfield rode an additional half hour at the end of the race.

Frankenfield said, “I just got into my own pace. By lap five we had a pretty big gap on everybody and I did my entire first stint in second overall, doing what I thought was a pretty easy pace.”

“I got settled in and just clicked off laps,” said Breckenridge. “I got the red flag. I’ve never started that bike before and it has a really tall first gear, but the power of the 1000 made up for that.”

“I’m still sore and hurting from my crash at Nashville,” said Champion, who is usually the starting rider for Team Velocity Racing. “I don’t know if I would have been able to put my head down like Reuben did at the start. I ran a comfortable pace.”

The next endurance race for Team Velocity Racing will be a six-hour event at California Speedway on June 12.

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