Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eROAD RACE e WERA SIS/Performance Machine National Endwance Series: Round 2 Team Suzu ki En durance won its second straight WERA Endurance Series Six Hour race of th e season at Talladega Grand Prix Raceway. Team Suzuki takes Talladega By Larry Lawrence TALLADEGA A , I.,MAR. 30 or the second straight week T eam Suzuki Endurance won a WERA National Endurance Series Six Hour. With the WERA Series moving abou t 200 m il es west from Road Atlanta to Talladega Grand Prix Ra ceway, T eam Suzuki again used four riders - Kurt Hall, Brill Turkington , Micha el Martin and Donald J acks - rid in g th e Keith Perry-tuned Valvoline-backed Suzuki GSXRllOO Superbike to win for th e thi rd straight year at Talladega. Hall N ' Still Racin g's Bruce Baldus, Mike Reed and Tray Batey finished seco nd (first in Hea vyweight Production ) o n th eir Dunlop/Bieffe/RESspo nso red Suzuki GSXRllOO, eig h t lap s beh ind the winners. Ohio-based DAK Racing had th eir fin est -ever National Endurance fin ish, tak ing third o verall on a Suzuki GSX RIIOO sp o nso red by B.G. Motorcycl e Accessori es. T he end urance team s had to make a big adj us tment from the wid e-o pen , high -speed Road Atlan ta circuit to the I.3-mile Talladega co urse, a tigh t and twist y track wh ere man y bikes never get beyond fourth gear. F 20 It is highly unusual for an end urance team to use four rid ers in a sixhour en d u ra nce eve nt, but T eam Suzuki did so mainly in prep arat ion for the upcom ing Will ow Sp rings 24 Hour race on April 12. T eam Captain John Ulrich al so wanted his riders to run 9O-minute stints. That amo unt of ti me o n a racing bik e at Talla dega is highl y demanding. "T he riders moaned a little when th ey were told th ey needed to ride an hour and a half sessions," Ulr ich said. " I told th em th ey were suppo sed to be training so th ey sho uld be ready for th is task." In order to run at race speeds for 90 minutes o n th e th irsty Suzu ki, Perry installed an enormous cus tom-bu ilt fuel tank that held over eig ht ga llo ns of ga s. With a full tank of gas th e Valvolin e Suzuki weighed over 50 pounds more than when th e tank was d ry. Thi s cha nged the handling cha racteristics of the bik e drasticall y during th e race, making riding even mor e cha lle ng ing for the riders. T eam Suzuki led almost th e ent ire six-ho u r event except for a bri ef time during th e middle of the race. That is when H a ll N ' Still's Tray Ba tey put in a tremendous effort and held off Suzuki's Turkington fo r 30 m in utes. Turkington, running with a full ta nk, ran off the track once while pursuing Ba tey. As the Team Suzuki bike used gas and lost weight, Turki ngton got faster and eventuall y repassed Ba tey. T eam Suzuki then pulled away from Hall N ' Still, ru nning one minute flat lap times. The team went o n to co mp lete 324 laps despite two short red ' flag delays caused both times by an ambulance parked in a dangerous spot whil e helping a downed rider. . DAK Racing 's Steve H eilman and T om Wil son had never ridden a t T all adega. Th e tw o Ohi o r id er s learned q u ickly and ran th ird mo st of the day. During the fifth hour DAK actua lly passed Hall N' Still whil e they were pitting. In the last hour DAK's Heilman was chased down by Batey as Hall N' Still regained second pl ace. T he n ew ly-f orm ed Ehl erd ing Mot orspo r ts tea m won th eir fir st Mediumwei ght Superbike race o n th eir Arai/ Red Line O illTsubakil PBI/Factor y Products/E&H Racingl Dunl op/Works Perfo rmance/Schnitz Racin g-sp onsor ed Yam ah a FZR600. The win was handed to Ehlerding after T eam Dread ed was disqualified for keeping rider Dean Hayes o n the bik e . lon ger than th e two-hou r limit. T eam Sw ine Dudes held off a cha l- lenge by Co lumbus Cycle to win the Medi umweight P rod uction class. The New York-based team rode a Honda CBR600 that is backed by Vanson, Works Performan ce. Shoei, Zero Gravity Camelback, RK Chain and North Country Honda. The Ligh tweight cla ss was won by 129 Racing. It was th e first win for th e team wh ich derives its name from a highway in the Smokys where the riders learned to go fast. The Seymour, T ennessee-based team with Ra y Hickman, Russ Townsend and fill-in rider Buddy H arvel battl ed with Road Atlanta class winner F&S Racing. This tim e it was 129 Ra ce T eam 's turn to tast e th e cha mpag ne. The 129 Race T eam held off F&S by just o ver two miles after six hours of racin g. 01 Resu lts OVERALL: I. Team Suz uki End urance (Su z);2. Hall N ' Still Racing (Suz): 3. DAK Racin g (Suzr. 4. Fo rce Ra cin g (Ya m ); 5. Roswell Racin g {Suz}; 6. Eh lerding Mc torspcrts (Ya m); 7. Team SWine Dud es Racing {H on): 8. T eam R ush 'N Raci n g (Yam); 9. Colu mb us Cycle (He n ): 10. Tea m Lips (SUI). H /W SBK: I. T ea m Suzuki End ura nce: 2. DAK Racin g; 3. T eam Li ps. H / W PR O D: I. H all N' Sti ll; 2. Force Raci ng ; ' 3. Roswell Racing. MIW SBK: I. Eh lerd ing Mot c rsports: 2. T earn Rush 'N Raci ng; 3. Red HOl Racing . . MlW PROD: 1. T eam Swine Dudes: 2. Co lumbus Cycle; 3. Mo tio n Systems Racin g. U W : I. 129 Race Tea m; 2. "'&5 Racing; 3. Deals Gap Racin g. A.mag. S"..d: 70.2 m ph . Margin ol Viaory: 8 laps. e'SHIP POINT STANDINGS: I. T eam Sun. ki Endurance (238) 2. Hall N' Still ( 181); 3. Force Ra cing (159); 4. OAK. Ra cing (158): 5. Roswell Racing (154).

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