Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Team Suz uki regu lar M ike Harth teamed with Jeff Atwell to win t he Summit Point. West Virg inia. WERA six-hour endurance race .' 5150 Rac ing pits for fuel on thei r way to a third-place overall finish . Riders Jay Denham and Craig Renck won Heavyweight Production . WERA Tsubaki/GS Battery National Endurance Road Race Series: Round 14 Suzuki socks'em at Summit.Point By Larry Be ll SU MMIT POI N T , WV , O CT . 15 Kurt Hall and local rider Bruce N ield raced for the lead. but settled for second place when the Human Race Team Yamaha had brake problems. Royale Racing's Doug Henry and Terry Bailey f inished f irst in the Mediumweight Production class and fourth overall. 6 T eam Suz uki's Mike H arth and J eff Atwell overcame brake p roblem s an d a closing Human Race T eam to wi n the red flagsh ortened Summi t Poin t six-hour endura nce ra ce . Th e duo ed ge d '. Zoomm H umans Kurt H a II . Id b £ an d Bru~e Ni e y o ur laps, co m p leting 233 laps .0£ th e two-mile ci rcu it (466 miles) o n th e Arai /Mi ch el in /Bel - Ra y/EMGO I Fox z'Tsubak i-spon sored Suzuk i GSXR I IOO. Seri es points leaders H uman R ace T eam completed 229 laps, running wi th th e lead ers until the fin al h our wh en th eir Yamaha FZRIOOO bl ew a front brak e lin e, dren ching rid er Hall with brak e fluid. " I noticed h e d idn 't co me arou nd o n time," sa id tuner Da ve Zupan . " He sq uee zed th e brak e lever a nd it g us hed. I elected to insta ll the en tire bra ke system from o ur backu p bike a nd cha nge th e rear tire." Hu man Race T eam is sponsored by Fox Racing , Klot z, Merzel er, Mega cycle, Tapew orks an d Tsu ba ki. H all a nd Atw ell swa p pe d posi tions back a nd fo rt h before running i nto backrn arkers barel y a dozen la p s into th e race, crossing th e stri p e barely seconds a pa rt fo r much o f the race, The last half-h our was p ivota l beca use whi le Suzu ki's Atw ell had to use the eng ine for braking , H all was ,a ble to recoup severa l seco nds pe r la p . It a ppeared th at he m ight ca tch th e lea de r u nt il hi s brak es fail ed . Bo tI1 A twe II a n d N' Id fac ed t h e ie sa me si tua tio n _ si tt ing as tride a m otorcycl e n eith e r h ad ridd en befo re. Suzu ki tabbed Atw ell to ride th e Sum mi t Point round, despite his relative inact ivit y this year (he was co m pe ting in just his third end u ranee race of the season ), because he knows th e track (he co nsiders it his home tra ck ). The Humans chose Ni eld because th ey wanted an expe ri en ced rider who wa s acc usto med to th e slick S u m mi t Po int su rface and who co u ld co m p lement th e fastpaced H all without cra sh ing. Atw ell sa id he th ought th e Suzuki machine m ad e mu ch less g u t -wre nc h i ng ho rsepo wer th an he 'd previousl y th ought, a nd Ni eld was stepp ing o ff a V4 H onda o n to th e Hum an 's inline Ya ma ha FZRlOOO. Th e fini sh le av e s th e o verall cha m p io nsh ip up for g ra bs with 'o n ly on e round rem ain in g . Th e Human s have a 23.09-point lead , an d must fini sh ah ead of Suzu ki to clinch . the cha m p io nsh ip. If not, it reverts ' to mi les accu m u la ted th rough eac h team 's nine best fin ishes . Tu rni ng i n a nothe r flawless ride wa s H ea vyweigh t P roducti on cla ss w in ners 5 150 Racing wi th 224 laps.

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