Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126985
.. r$-I ~ ..0 o ... u o Solmax Racing Scott.Ruuell wes at home in the foul Ca~ weather as he led the teem to the win. Teem Suzuki maintained the series point lead with its second piece finish at Shannonville. WERA/EBe Brakes National Endurance Series: Round 12 Solniax Racing wins Shannonville Six-Hour By Cindy Bowen SHANNONVILLE, ONTARIO, CANADA, SEPT. 19 Fresh from their victory the previous weekend at Pocono, Solmax Racing USA's Terry Bailey and Scott Russell took their second overall win in a row at Shannonville 14 Raceway in Canada. Riding the team's Dunlop/EBC/Bell/ I Tsubaki/Easy Living Yarnaha/Vanson/KaJ-Gard/Bar- nett-sponsored Yamaha FZR I000, Bailey and Russell finished two laps up on the overall series points leader • Team Suzuki. Foul weather and rain greeted WERA racers for their first-ever National Endurance race outside of the United States. This bad weather didn't seem to phase Solmax as they had won the previous endurance round in the rain also. Forty-nine teams from across the United States and Canada prepared for the start of the race by equipping themselves with rainsuits, rain tires and RainX. The Solmax Yamaha used Dunlop KR455 radials front and rear, while Team Suzuki fitted their Superbike with Michelin radials. At the drop of the green flag, it was Solmax Racing's Scott Russell with the holeshot leading into turn one, followed by Team Suzuki, Human Race Team and Team Gamma. Russell immediately began pulling out a lead and his smooth but aggressive riding style made him an instant hit with spectators and photographers as he would drag his knee through turns on the rainsoaked tratk while waving at photographers. Russell continued to hold Solmax in the lead through the [jrst hour while Team Suzuki's Thomas Stevens and Human Race Team's Kun Hall bauled for second. The most impressive first hour action was from the Lightwei~ht entry of Team Hondamove WIth rider Denis Royer moving the team's Honda NS400 into second place early in the first hour and holding ontO second until a crash in the second hour took them out temporarily. At the completion of the first hour SoLmax maintained the lead with 24 laps, followed by Team Hondamove, Team Suzuki, the Middleweight Superbike entry of the French Connection, and Human Race Team also with 24 laps each. In the second hour Team Suzuki pitted for fuel and an apparent rider change, but Stevens went back out on the Suzuki GSXRIIOO. Rider Jeff James had been summoned to the race track by team captain John Ulrich at the last mintue on Friday as rider Russ Paulk had not shown up. Paulk .showed up late on Friday and James (known for his excellent wet riding ability) was asked to sit out the race. ... Russell pitted the Solmax Yamaha at the one hour, 45 minute mark to . turn the controls over to team captain Terry Bailey. Bailey continued in the lead until shortly before the third hour mark when Team Suzuki passed him. Stevens' lap times were 2:23s while Bailey's were 2:26s. MBeM Racing moved thelr Suzuki 750 into third place in the second hour, two laps down on leader Solmax. They were running two laps ahead of the next HeavyweightProduction entry of the Human Race Team's Ben Martinez, now in seventh overall MBeM's luck ended in the fourth hour and the Human Race Team's Kurt Hall moved them back up to fourth overall by the fourth hour. Cycle Speed Racing's Bob Evans and Grant Foster ran a consistent, trouble-free race on their Ontario Honda Be Yamaha FZ750 pressuring MBeM, Human Race Team and Darotune Racing Ottawa for fourth. They eventually finished [jfth overall and second in the Heavyweight Superbike class. Darotune was also going strong and running as high as third overall at times. Their luck came to an end in the fifth hour when Bugs Green crashed in tum 14 on the team's GSXRllOO. Damage was minor, but they lost enough time in getting the bike back to the pits to drop them down to finish 10th overall, third in class. Prior to the three-hour mark, Solmax's Bailey pitted the FZR for fuel and rider change, and Russell reentered the race one lap down on Team Suzuki. Russell promptly dropped his lap times to 2:15 on the wet pavement. Team Suzuki finally gave Stevens a rest and put Russ Paulk on the bike. Paulk (who has a reputation as one of the country's top endurance racers) was turning astonishingly slower lap times than Russell and within 20 minutes Russell had put the Solmax Yamaha back in the lead to. stay. Ulrich blamed lack of sleep for Paulk's lap times, but still did not put James on the bike, forcing Stevens to ride all but a half of an hour of the six-hour race. Slowly making their way up in the standings was the Red Strip Racing