Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Beth Wyse

Mark Junge starred in the first event of the 2002 WERA National Challenge Series, held Sunday at No Problem Raceway Park in Belle Rose, Louisiana.

In the first 10-lap sprint race of the day, Junge took the win in Open Superstock on his Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R1000 after getting past Scott Harwell on an Arclight Suzuki GSX-R1000. Chris Rankin on a Suzuki GSX-R750 got past Harwell to finish second, with Harwell taking third. The race was red-flagged on the final lap when a rider crashed in turn 14 going onto the front straight.

Junge took his second win of the day in the Dunlop 600cc Superstock race, taking the lead from Harwell on lap two and maintaining a comfortable gap. Just after the halfway point of the race, John Jacobi on another Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R600 also passed Harwell, taking second place. Harwell finished third.

David Yaakov took a convincing win in the Lightweight Twins Expert race, winning by a big margin on his CAD Racing Suzuki SV650. Bradley Champion was second on his Suzuki SV650, while first-year expert Robby Card took third on his Suzuki SV650.

Defending Champion Jason Peters won the 125cc Grand Prix race on his Honda RS125 after a fierce race-long battle with Brian Kcraget on another Honda RS125. Peters and Kcraget swapped the lead a couple times, but Kcraget crashed on the last lap. John Hjelm wound up in second, with young Nicky Wimbauer in third.

Vesrah Suzuki’s Jacobi took the win in the 750cc Superstock Expert race; Harwell ran in second for the first half of the race, but was passed by Tray Batey on another Vesrah Suzuki, which relegated Harwell to third place for the third time in one day.

The 600cc Superbike Expert race saw a good battle between winner Adam Coco and second-place finisher Ken Snyder, both on GSX-R600 Suzukis. After a battle for position early in the race, Ricky Ford took third on another GSX-R600.

Keith Holleman won the Formula One race on his Suzuki GSX-R1000 after recovering from running off the track and into pit lane during the early part of the race. Billy Etheridge on a Team Xtreme Suzuki GSX-R1000 held off young gun Logan Young on a Honda RS250R to take second.