Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

WERA Kerker/SIS National Endurance Series: Round 11 ROAD RA.eli 0 ~ Britt Turkington helped Team Suzuki clinch th eir sixth National Endurance Champ ionshi p in Memp his. T he win was their lOth th is season. Team Suzuki clinches 'titlewith Memphis win MILLINGTON,TN, SEPT. I ike Smith, Kurt Hall and Britt Turkington rode their Keith Perry-tuned Valvoline Suzuki Endurance GSXRllOO to win number 10 at Memphis International Motorsports Park to clinch the 1990 WERA National Endurance Championship for the team 's sixth time . As they've done most of the year, T eam Suzuki Endurance dominated the six-hour race, leading from start to finish. Hall 'N Still Racing continued their upward spiral in the sport by, ·fi n ish in g second with riders Michael Martin, Bruce Baldus and Jim Still. Veteran endurance competi tors Royale Racing fini shed a close third to Hall 'N Still. The Royale Suzuki was ridden by Doug Henry and Franklin Knight, Former WERA Champions The Human Race Team ran second most of the day , despite experiencing problems with their Yamaha FZR I000. During the final hour, the bike quit running and the team finished a lowly 20th. Team Suzuki took the lead at the drop of the green nag, with Hall turning laps in the I:II range to give his team an eight-second lead over the Humans by the third lap. Andy Fen wick chipped awa y at Hall 's lead and got it down to four seconds in the first half hour, before the HRT bike began running poorly and Fenwick dropped back. By the end of hour one, Suzuki had completed 50 laps compared to the Humans' 48. Hall ' N Still's Martin was putting in a good ride in the first hour. At one point, Martin had the O hio-based team up to second, but by the end of the first hour Hall 'N Still was in third, holding o££ a big pa ck of bikes all on lap 47. One notable ride in the first hour was turned in by Raw Racing's Kevin Rentzell . Ren tzell had the team's little Yamaha FZR400 in the top 10 on the hors epower-hungry track, before he was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop. A wasp had got into Ren tzell 's leath ers and was stinging him repeat- M edly. Rentzell got o££ the bik e look ing Iai rn , but fortunatel y h e wa s not allergic to th e stings. The race tightened up a bit in th e second hour. Team Suzuki had just comp leted their first pit stop when th e . race was red-nagged. That gave H RT and Hall ' N Still a chance to gain som e ground on the leading team . The red n ag was caused when Team Hawaii 's Honda broke a crank and spewed oil in turns one and two and Christie Racing crashed in the oil. Like Team Hawaii, Christie Raci ng was riding a Honda CBR600, and the Team Hawaiicrew loaned Christie Racin g parts o££ their bike so that they could continue. The race was restarted after a halfhour delay. Team Suzuki again raced away , extending their lead in the third hour. The Human Race Team was in the pits trying to figure out why their bike was misfiring; the unscheduled stop dropped th e Illinois team back to fourth place. Hall 'N Still and Roya le were battling for first in the Heavyweight Prod uction class and second overa ll. Royale had picked up rider Franklin Knight from Mid -South Racing for the Memphis race, and Knight was putting in a fine ride for Royale, which didn't mak e Mid -South's Doug McIntosh ha ppy . " I didn 't find out that Knight wasn 't going to ride for us until I showed up at the tra ck and he was in Royale's pits. He must have made the decision in th e last 48 hours because I just talked with him on the phone a few da ys ago," said an ira te McIntosh. MidSouth picked up John Erdrich as a replacement for Knight. At the three-hour mark, Team Suzuki had a com fortable four-lap lead over Hall ' N Still, who in turn had a lap on Royale. H RT was in fourth on th e same lap as Mediumweight Superbike leader s RKN Racing, who were fifth. T eam Mad Dog 's ru n in the top 10 came to a smokey end during the third hour. Lightweight rivals Raw Racing and Voight Brothers crashed together Team Dreaded (91) finished second in the Lightweight class, while Morlon Systems Racing (707) was second in th e Mediumweight Production class. SAS Ra cing (42) too k advantage of RKN and Team Mach ine's breakdowns to wi n the Mediumweight Superbike class. Team Lips finished second overall. during the third hour, knocking them both out of the competition. Deals Gap Racing's Rob Seneker and Greg Pruitt assumed the Lightweight class lead in the fourth hour and went on to win th e class by five laps on the team's Yamaha FZR400. As Team Suzuki conti nued to increase their lead , the Humans got back up into second place, even though their Yamaha was onl y running on three cylinders. It looked as if HRT would ' fin ish the race, but with 45 minutes remaining the sick bike quit for good. The Human Race Team crew looked understandably discouraged. The team had no chance for the championship now and was down on luck and money. . In fact, Team captain Dave Zupan spo ke of missing a few races becaus e of lack of funds. In th e last hour, Team Su zuk i cruised home to a record lOth win in a single season. Suzuki averaged 77.7 mph wh ile covering 466.2 miles. Hall 'N Still cam e fro m behind in the last hour to pa ss Royale Racing to secure second. Royale's third place was their best finish of the season, despite running out of brakes in th e last hour. SAS Racing won the Mediumweight Superbike class after early class leaders RKN Racing, then T eam Machin e, both broke. Stan Jacks, Pat Bowen and Mik e R ich a rdson rode the SAS Yamah a FZR600 to an eigh t-lap victory over Team Lip s. Honda of Niles /Force Racing with Ron Crum, T om Bickerstaff and Rick o Pagn ian o won the closely contested Mediumweight Production race. Niles passed new endurance team Mot ion Systems Racing half-way through the race an d went on to a two-lap win . Bates Racing was a close third. l:N Results O /A: I. T eam Suzuki Endura nce (SUI); 2. Hall 'N Still Racin g (Suz); 3. Royale Racing (Suz); 4. TBA (SUI ); 5. Mid-South Racin g (Suz); 6. He nshaw Racing (Han); 7. Action Suzuki Racing (Suz); 8. SAS Racing (Yam ); 9. Honda 01 Niles/Force Racing (Ha n ); 10. Motion System. Racing (Han ); 11. Bales Racin g (Han); 12. Deals Gap Racin g (Yam ); 13. T eam Li ps (Yam); 14. T eam Swin e Du des (SUI); 15. Cycle Speed Racin g (Yam); 16. The 129 Race Team (Yam); 17. T eam Memp his T oo (Ha n); 18. Team Dreaded (Yam); 19. TBA II (Suz); 20. The Human Race T eam (Yam ); 21. SO B Racin g (Han); 22Chri stie Racin g (Han); 23. Eagle Industries Racin g (Yam); 24. T eam Machi ne (Yam ); 25. RKN Raci ng (Yam); 26. Cycle Ra= (Yam); 27. Young Tush (Kaw); 28. CLASS Ra cing (Suz); 29. T eam Mad Dog (Yam); 30. Raw Racin ~ (Yam); 31. Vo;ght Bros. (Yam); 32. Team Hawaii (Ha n ); 33. Mala Libert y (Yam); 34. The Three Amigo> (Yam). HIW SIBil: 1. Team Suzuki End urance (Suz); 2. Mid-South Racing (SUI); 3. T eam Memp h is T oo (Ha n); 4. TBA II (Su,); 5. The Human Race Tea m (Yam ). HIW PROD; 1. Hall 'N Still Raci ng (Suz); 2. Royale Racing (Suz); 3. TBA (Suz); 4. Henshaw Racin g (Han ); 5. Action Suzuki Racing (Suz). MJW SIBil: I. SAS Racin g (Yam); 2. Team Lips (Yam); 3. Team Mach ine (Yam); 4. RKN Racing (Yam); 5. Cycle Racer (Yam). MIW PROD: 1. Honda of Niles/Force Racin g (Ha n); 2. Motion Systems Racin g (Hon); 3. Bates Racing (Ha n); 4. T eam Swi ne Dudes (Sua): 5. SO B Racing (Han). LlW: 1. Deals Gap Racing (Yam) ; 2. Cycle Speed Ra cing {Yam );3 . The 129 Ra ce Team (Ya m) ; 4. Tea m Dreaded (Yam); 5. Raw Racin g (Yam). WERA ENDURANCE SEltIES POINT STANDINGS: I. Tea m Suzuki End urance (994.64); 2. The Human Race Team (881.84); 3. .Royale Racing (694. 10); 4. Hall 'N Still (690.39); 5. TBA (687.93); 6. CLASS Racing (645.88); 7. Action Suzuki Racin g (605.42); 8. Honda of Nil es/Force Racing (536.54); 9. Deals Gap Racing (513.59); 10. RKN Racin g (512.15); I I. T eam Mach ine (49-1.80); 12. Mid-Sou th Racing (482.67); IS. Voigh. Bros. Racing (450.09); 14. Am er ican Spirh (448.30); 15. Raw Ra cing (443.04). 21

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