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/127381
~ ROAD RACE SBSIWERA National Endurance Series: Round4 e Team Suzuki (1) gets the jump on Hall 'N Still Racing (3), Roswell Racing (6) and th e rest of the pack at the start of the Nelson Ledges six-hour endurance race. . Dutchman Racing nips Team Suzuki at Nelson Ledges By La rry Bell GARRETISVILLE, OH, MAY 4 u tchman Racin g sent a ga lvanizi ng mes sage of exci tern en t throug h the WERA En d urance Series by crafting a meticulous sixhour race wit h Andy Deatherage, in his first and pro bably on ly ride wit h the team , an old member, Tom Kip p , wh o return ed to revitalize the magi c, and some good old-fashioned luck en route to th e overall win at Nelson Ledges Road Course. Finish ing second, o nly 32 seconds beh ind, was current seri es leader Team Suzuki, whi ch suffer ed an ago nizing amo u nt of bad lu ck - for them - in terms of a brok en muffl er hanger and a flat front tire in the dwindling moments while they were ho lding off the charging Dutchman . Walking off with third place was the pheno menal OAK Racing, a lso aboard D 14 a GSXR II 00. T h is tea m of , sa lty WERA vetera ns and one very fast young man too k the racing right to the Iront-runners.Trequentlv being as h igh .as second pl ace, and all wit h a near stock mach in e. T he Oh io-based team finished with 257 laps and is starting to come into its own in the series. A single lap off tha t at 256 was the Hall 'N ' Still Racing team. T he team marked its 13th strai gh t Heavyweig ht Prod uctio n class win by run ning a we ll-prepared m ach in e, a we llschoo led team of riders an d a faulty steering damper wh ich was easi ly fixed during a red flag situation . Red Hot Racing's J eff Wood, Pat Kenn ey and Paul Black rounded out the to p five with o ne of the on ly two Mediumweights in the to p 10 and finis hing with 253 laps. The team had a br ief problem as it was forced offthe tra ck whi le trying to avoid the carnage of the crash whi ch stopped th e race. " It 's nice to get the win," said an exubera nt Dave Schlosser mo me n ts after the race ended . H e should hav e been happy beca use he almost didn' t get it. No rmally team rider Fabian Cortez is paired wi th New Zeala nder Chris Halda ne as the staples of the team , but o n Thursday H aldan e was pra cti ci ng w i th h is Supersport machine and cras hed. "I was on an unfa m il iar track and got a little h.t on cold tires and went down be tween tu rns 10 and 12," Haldane said. The cras h resu lt ed in a b roken collarbone and a threeweek va ca t io n from the sadd le. Deatherage was pressed in to service and settled right into the rhythm with Cortez. Suzuki showed up with its highly co mpetent Kurt Hall, Britt Turkington and Michael Martin. But th is wasn 't to be their weekend. First-ho ur results had local team and to p-ra nked For ce Ra cing lead ing the entire 50-bike field (largest in recent memory and also with teams on a wai ti ng lis t) with 47 laps. The nex t five teams were all a lap back and just secon ds a part. Th e Oh io lo ca ls, thoug h, would end their day wit h a crash as the second hour began when one of the calipers stuck in the fro nt brake. Rough ly 40 min utes into the race, wi th Hall ridin g, the exha us t pipe hanger on the Team Suzuki bike broke and was dragging. "I went into the pi ts