Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eROADRACE SBS/PM WERA Endurance Ser Round 11 ies: ~ T eam Suzuki's Kurt Hail passes a lapped rider en route to the win in Georgia. Suzuki takes title in Georgia By Brent Plummer FAULKVILLE. GA, SEPT. 14 . iders Ku rt H all an d Michael Martin comp leted 264 laps (580.80 miles) o n the only T eam Suzuki Endurance en try to avera ge a bit over 96.80 mph in the six-hour race aro und the 2.02-mile Roebling Road Ra ceway circu it in southern Geo rgia. The point to all these numbers is quite .sign ificant, in two respects: Fir st, T eam Suzuki Enduran ce too k the overall win fro m the H all 'N Still Heavyweigh t Pr oduction team , who fini shed three lap s in arrears. Seco nd, and more im portantly, the team clinch ed i ts seven th - o u t of the last n ine cha mp io nship ti tle with two ro unds to spare. Hall 'N Still riders Bruce Baldus and Tray Batey stalked T eam Suzuki for the majority of the race, hoping for a timely err or which would never materializ e. This relegated Hall ' N Still to second overall; which th ey were very conte nt with, especi all y considering that arc h-rivals Force Racing were pushed back to fifth overa ll in the final laps by Mike Reed and Bobb y Von Nessen on th e Hall 'N Still T oo mach in e, which again fulfilled its stated rol e 'o f beating Force. So wh at abou t third overall? That spo t went to the craft y DAK Racing sq uad - sponsored by Kinko's, BG Mo torcycle Accessories, and Spectro Oils of Ohio - who again proved that it is still possible to win without mu ch of a budget to speak of. DAK Racin g has mas tered the art of extendi ng tire life - which can be a heinous expense for a non -tire manufactu er spo nso red team - and, o nce agai n , ran the entire race on one set of slicks. Even more impressive is that the final tall y shee t sho ws the Steve H eilman , T om Wilso n, Sco tt Sefer ia n -r idde n DAK mach ine o nly five laps down on T eam Suzuki at th e six-ho ur finishing mark. Heavyweight Production con tenders T eam Machine - ridden here by Dan Mil eika,. Bob Wrublevski, and Brian Gristick - dutifully chased class rivals H all 'N Still and Force all day and, in the end, they finished sixth overa ll and fourth in class. The Hall ' N Still/Force Racing duel was only one of three battles to be decided in the closing stages, as the R 26 ultra-competitive Mid dleweigh t class teams were fighting a vicious race for not on ly th e day's class victory, but overall points domin an ce. Eh lerdi ng Racing - led by Doug H en ry of Royale Racin g Fame, with teammate Jim East - had an excellent afternoon, taking seventh overall, but more sig nificant ly, first in Middleweight Su perbike. Ehl erdi ng nudged a crew-less Rush 'N Raci ng sq uad (Doug Arter, Chris Evans, and Dean H ayes) o u t of first in class by 59 seconds, though they did everythi ng possible to help the str uggling Ru sh 'N guys, who were grateful to Ehl erding "for loaning us the starter dr ive cover. They loaned us this cover so we could race with them all day." As for cla ss points leaders T eam Pasta Marin, things went qu ite well, all things considered . In the midst of Friday 's practice, Pasta 's Yamah a FZR600 sp it a valve clear th ro ugh the head . The resultant gr in d is not hard to imagine - th e to p end was eaten - but that 's no t all. In addition, the metal shavi ngs in the head blew back thro ugh the carburetors causing many of th em to stick. Luckily th e team was able to keep the bik e upright, bu t come Friday night, the Pasta peop le were blazi ng off to a j unk yard north of Atlanta over a four-hour drive, each wa y. Eventuall y, a mo tor was brought back to the ir hotel room , where th e chassis sat amongst a slew of rui ned motor pa rts , two double beds, and countless su itcases. With the junkyard special motor in pl ace, Pasta Marin fough t up to ninth overall, third in Middleweigh t Superbike, immediately beh in d Ru sh ' N Racing,a nd slightly ahead of the tu ssle in Middl eweight Production . T enth overall, first in Middleweight Pr oduction, was Arclight Racing, wh o mad e a last -hour dash to edge Moti on System s Racing across the lin e by less than a wheel length . This was a very timel y win for Arclight, as the points standings in Middleweight Production (and Superbike ) is a close jumble of team s. In said class , Motion System Racin g leads San Francisco based Arclight Ra cing, 1060- 970, though such a gap is misl eading. Arclight has on ly com pe ted in seven events, .while Motion has on e more to thei r credit. As on ly th e best nine even ts count - ma de up of either th e T wentyFour Hours East or West, the on ly eight hour, an d the best five six' hour events - if Moti on's wor st race is dropped , they would now have 972 points, a measly two ah ead of Arclight. I nciden tally, i n Middl ew ei ght Superbike, Pasta Mar in leads Ehl erd ing Racin g , 920-897.6 1, Red H ot Racing is th ird with 897.37 and T eam R ush ' N Racing has 886 points in anot her class that is coming down to the wire. Arclight too was sho rt ha nded. After rider and crew perso n Tony Tugwell was relegated to the doldrums of the scoring roo m with a heal in g ap pendix, Arclight was lucky to get crew help from Pasta Marin, witho u t which, the diminished Arclight team consisting of riders Chuck Warren and Ben Ro eder - along with crew ch ief Susan Warren ' - would hav e been in a terr ible predicament. Foll owers of the close Middl eweight Superbike battle will notice th e unusual absence of Red Hot Racing. The . Red H ot crew was once again demoted to ri ding their Yamaha FZR400 in Middleweight. In Friday's practice, the team broke a throttle return cable on its FZR600, causin g the throttle to lock wide open at the end of the front stra ight, with predictable results: The bike went ballistic through the 30-yard recessed trees, taking out a few before com ing to a halt, . the motor still revving. Luckily, rider Pat Kenney got away mostly intact - a broken ankle the worst of his pains. The machine . was not nearly as lu cky. It looked like it had go ne halfway through a car compactor. Although Friday's practice was a mad assortment of wrecks and bu sted motors, Saturday's race went exceptio na lly smooth: No red flags and on ly o ne semi-se rio us get-off. At the start of the race, Kurt Hall - aboa rd the Team Suzuki Endurance bike - nailed the holeshot as years of racing experience paid off. The two H all ' N Still bikes follo wed, wit h upstart Cycle Nuts And 'Bolts ride r Billy Quinn sticking a wheel in with the top runners. Quinn had grander plans than just running near the top, as evidenced wh en he passed first the Hall 'N Still guys, and then Team Suzuki as well ; but soon the number 24 Nu ts and Bolts bike Slopped circu lating, a si tuatio n clarified by eye witness Hall: " Billy was go ing well, until he ran off the track." Quinn 's problems got wors e after the off-trac k excu rsio n, as the exha ust pi pe - from the collector back fou nd a new home on the outside of turn seven. Not o n ly wa s th e bi ke loud, bu t it must not have been running as strong without the muffler, as Quinn bega n d ropping back . Eventually, Cycle Nu ts and Bolt s would eat all the teeth off the rear sprocket, and finish un lucky 13th overall. T h e fir st cas u a l ty of the race occu rred o n onlythe second lap, wh en Swine Dudes rid er Jim Roth coas ted into the pits, their Honda CBR600 F2 over hea tin g bad ly. After a qui ck diagn osis, team cap tain Peter Jones ruled the bik e as being definitely iII, and done for the day. The spare bike was sent o u t, still wearing the Metzeler tires from the last race. Needless to say, the tires were cooked, and the resu lt was some slow lap times and the Swines reaso nable hopes of a class title fading with them. On a better note, they seem to have third locked up tightly. After Cycle Nuts and Bolts lost its muffler and faded back, Hall opened up a slight lead o n the two Hall 'N · Still bikes. At th e one-hour mark, the three aforementioned teams - along wi th Ro swell Racing - were all running on the same lap. Force Racing headed up the slew of bikes th at were o ne lap down. This was a bit surprising, as th e For ce team - with riders Ron Crum, 'rom Bickerstaff and Rick Pagniano - had been bu sy gettin g th eir motor into top sha pe. During th e Memphis round, the riders th ought the bike was down on power, and ind eed it was - the dyno would prove so. After di savowing a leaky valv e, it was found that an intake manifold was cracked lengthwise. The pesk y part was replaced, and the bike was runnin g well . DAK Racing was also off to a slow start, and wa s running abo u t 10 seconds behind Force at th e end of the firs t hour; they were holding to the steady and quick strategy that works so well for them . In Middleweight Superbike, Rush 'N Racing was leading - in seventh overall - over riva l Eh lerding, who was 17 seconds back in ninth overall. The good times would not last long for Rush 'N Racing, as th ey would soon begin fading with spoiled tires : "We ma y have cooked them in this morning's practice with too little p ressure, or could be th e compound," sai d R ush ' N captain Doug Art er, who chose th e harder compound DO T Metzelers. Slightly after th e first hour, everyone began pitting. Down in th e im macu late T eam Suzuki Endurance pits, th e headaches were just beginning. They - like most everyo ne else - had chosen a hard " co m po und (Dun lop slick) tir e. Roebling Road is known as an abra sive tr ack , though not necessarily a sticky one. This day it was a bit slick, ca us ing the hard co mpound tires to slide a lot , wh ich resulted in th e track chewing up slick afte r slick in rapid successio n - wh en you run at the sustained high speeds that Team Suzuki does', things hap pen quickly . Suzuki Endurance was for ced to change rears at all five pit stops. The second hour saw Michael Mar tin put the Valvoli ne/Dun lop/Emgo/ S B S / Ara i / Ba te s /P erforman c e Machine/F &: L Fue ls /S u nstar/ KerkerlTsubaki /Fox Shox/Cosworthsponsored Su zuki Enduran ce bike a lap ahead of T ray Bat ey, on the Hall 'N Still bike. DAK Racing was also o n th e move, passing Roswell and Hall 'N Still T oo for third overall , second in Heavyweight Superbike. Force Racing had closed the ga p o n the second Hall 'N Still bike down to 10 seconds, and was runnin g in sixth. Rush 'N Racing's tir e problem was gett in g worse, and they slid down in the ra nk in gs, behind Ehl erding. • Motion System s held steady throughout the first two hours in l l th , while the Pasta peo p le were on th e move, hounding Moti on from 12th after a dismal first hour that saw them on the bad end of the scori ng sheets. Also relevant to the Middleweights at this point was Arclight's position in 13th, a lap and then some down on Moti on Systems. This order remained constan t until the midd le of th e fourth ho ur, when Roswell Racing's David Harman lost' control of the ir big Suzuki, wrenching an ankle in the mishap. Roswell would reenter the race, on ly to retire after a few laps, their day done, 193 lap s completed. Force Racing upped the pace in the same hour, making up the lap lost to Hall ' N Still Too, and in the process, rider Ron Crum p ut Force up by 10 seconds.

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