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/127137
Team Suzuki (1) leads Solmax Racing (4) and the Human Race Team (2 ) during the f irst hour of competition. WERA Tsubaki/GS Battery National Endurance Road Race Series: Round 5 Rockingham Six-Hour win to Team Suzuki By Larry Lawrence ROCKINGHAM, NC, MAY 28 Team Savannah's George Fox, Bo Shruptine andR . Chamser rode their Honda CBR600 Hurricane to the Mediumweight Production class win. Fifth place Li g h t w eig h t Rabbit Racing (78) and second place Mediumweight Superbike PDQ Racing (8) side by side on the banking. 24 Team Suzuki endur ance r id er s Jamie. James, Mike Harth and Russell Paulk rode a nearly flawless race, completing 357 miles on the treacherous 1.5 mile circuit to win the fifth round of the WERA . National Endurance Series. The Ill inois-based H u ma n 'R ace Team finished a scant 20 secon ds behind the winners after losing nearl y a lap lead because of ' th e last of four red flags . Series leaders Solmax Racing USA finished third overall, handicapped some what by the inability of Scott Russell to perform to his normally hi gh standards du e to a broken collarbone, and having to use a backup machine after bl owing the engine on th eir main bike. The race was plagued by red flags -'- two for crash and burn acci den ts on th e banking and two for relatively minor spills. The total tim e for red flag race delays amounted to an hour and a half. . T eam Suzuki's Harth battled with Human Ra ce Team pi lot Kurt H all for the entire first hour. Ru ssell sta yed close on th e Solmax Racing USA Suzuki for a dozen or so laps before dropping off the pace. "The collarbone doesn 't hurt that much but I can't move as quickly as I usually do," explained Russell. • Hard Core Ra cing hel d on to a solid fourt h pl ace after the first hour. The Dave Miller- tu ned H ard Core Suzuki G SXR l l OO ran extremely we ll on the horsepower-hungry track. Series regulars Kayo Racing held on to fifth place by a mere 12 seconds over locals Team Elephant. Shortly after the one hour mark, Kayo Racing's Tony DeSimone had a terrible crash. While attempting. to pass a slower rider on the banking, , DeSimone lost contro l, crashing at l over 120 mph. The Kayo Yamaha i burst into flames when it hit the wa ll, leaving a wall of fire as the bike slid down the steep banking. DeSimone lay helplessly on the track and was lu cky not to have been hit by the ma chines passing at high speed. He escaped with a broken wri st, but the machine burned so hot that eight fire extinguishers were needed to put out the fire. Kayo entered another bike and ' eventually finished a disappointing 41st place, After a one hour cleanup, the race