By Beth Wyse Dolgner
Tray Batey and John Jacobi dominated round two of the WERA Dunlop National Endurance Series, a four-hour race at Autobahn Country Club on Saturday, riding the Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R1000 to a four-lap margin of victory and winning in the Heavyweight Superbike class.
Batey dominated the first hour of the race, pulling away while Ben Thompson worked to put the Red Star Yamaha YZF-R6 into second overall, a position the Suzuki GSX-R600 of Bell’s Suzuki held down in the early laps.
Army of Darkness’ Ben Walters got only 11 laps in before the team’s Suzuki GSX-R600 suffered an engine problem, forcing the team to restart on a backup bike. AOD is normally a podium finisher and the top team in Mediumweight Superbike.
At the halfway point, Vesrah was two laps ahead of the rest of the field. Red Star held onto second, closely followed by Team Eclipse.
A red flag 10 minutes into the third hour for oil on the track eliminated the gap between Red Star and Team Eclipse. On the restart 35 minutes later, Ryan Gordon got the holeshot for Team Eclipse.
Thompson was able to get by Team Eclipse as the race wound down, and he and Brett Champagne gave Red Star second overall and first in Mediumweight Superbike.
Team Eclipse’s Gordon and Dale Burroughs finished third overall, winning in the Heavyweight Superstock class on a Suzuki GSX-R750. They were a lap behind Red Star.
The Mediumweight Superstock class win went to Jason Quillman and Jeff Kramer on the Royalty Racing Suzuki GSX-R600. Royalty Racing was one of the many local teams who came to participate in the race, and finished fourth overall.
Deals Gap Racing took the Lightweight Superbike class lead after leader Blue Ridge Performance crashed. Steve Green, Corey Bowen and Shane Williams finished 15th overall.
RESULTS
1. Vesrah Suzuki (Tray Batey/John Jacobi), Suz GSX-R1000, Heavyweight Superbike, 136 laps.
2. Red Star (Ben Thompson/Brett Champagne), Yam YZF-R6, Mediumweight Superbike, 132 laps.
3. Team Eclipse (Ryan Gordon/Dale Burroughs), Suz GSX-R750, Heavyweight Superstock, 131 laps.
4. Royalty Racing (Jason Quillman/Jeff Kramer), Suz GSX-R600, Mediumweight Superstock, 131 laps.
5. 5150 Racing (Justin Marm/Rich Molinaro/Mike Garafalo), Suz GSX-R750, Heavyweight Superstock, 131 laps.
6. Ed Bargy Racing Endurance (Jeff Selbert/Troy Meikle/Todd Smith), Suz GSX-R750, Heavyweight Superbike, 130 laps.
7. Bell’s ARNCHU Racing (Randy Sherman/Nathan Dressman/Rick Knuckles), Suz GSX-R750, Heavyweight Superstock, 130 laps.
8. SMP Racing (Michael Shallcross/Phil Caudill/Steve Karson), Yam YZF-R6, Mediumweight Superbike, 129 laps.
9. Team Velocity Racing (Chuck Ivey/Reuben Frankenfield/Mark Crozier), Yam YZF-R1, Heavyweight Superstock, 128 laps.
10. Team Xtreme/Maxxis (Mark Edwards/Billy Ethridge/Jeff Walker), Suz GSX-R750, Heavyweight Superbike, 128 laps.