Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eROAD RACE WERA VansonlPM Endurance Series: Round 2 ~ T eam Suzuki Endurance (1) leads Moto Spo rt Racin g (14) an d Force Ra cin g (3)early in the WERA 6-Hour endurance race at Talladega Gran Prix Raceway. Ohio-based DAK Racing finished second overall , seven laps behind T eam Suzuk i. Team Suzukiwins second straight atTalladega By Clair Franks Photos by Tammy Schroder and Tiny Franks TALLADEGA, AL, MAR. 29 eam Suzu ki Endurance did it again today, winning their second straight endurance race as the series comp leted its second ro und at Talladega Gran Prix Raceway. Led by riders Kurt Hall and Michael Martin, th e all-dom inant Suzuki GSXRllOO superbi ke-rnoun ted team com pleted 348 laps of the 10-tum, 1.3mile road course, averaging 75.4 mph in comp leting 454.5 miles in the sixhour race. Second overa ll went to th e Bowling Green , Ohio-based team o f DAK Racing. Riders Dean Hayes, And y Deatherag e and Steve Heilman combined to turn in 341 laps on their Suzuki GSXR, trailin g T eam Suzuki by seven laps at the fini sh. Fin ishing third overall was California 's Moto Sport Racing wit h Lee Shierts and Pete Christen sen handlin g the ri di ng chores for the Suzukimounted team. Moto Spo rt finished r 18 fourth overa ll at th e series opener at Roebl in g Road. Class win ners includ ed Force Racing in H eavyweight Production , Team Swine Dud e/Pearls in Medi um weigh t Production , and Red Hot Racin g in Mediumweight Superbike. T eam Suzuki Endurance now lead s Force Racin g in the cha mpions hi p , 244.13-180.45. Moto Spo rt is third in total po ints with 180.24 poi n ts. A total of 29 team s mad e their way to the T alladega Gran Prix trac k for the second race of the 13-race .series, and a two-wave start was used to help sort the numerou s riders. As th e green flag flew, Hall forced th e Keith Perry-tuned Su zuk i GSXR II 00 into the lead as the first wave negotiated tum one. The second green flag soo n fell, sending the ent ire field out on the trac k wit h Team Suzuki alrea dy opening up a slight lead over DAK Racing. Ohio-based T eam Su zuki pi ts en route to winning their secon d strai ght 6-hour race. Fo rce Racing held third on th eir p roducti on class Yam aha FZRIOOO with team Moto Sport in fourth. Five laps into the race, MOIO Sport moved their hi gh-powered Su zuki past Force Racing to take over third place. The only real challenge to Team Suzuk i's domin an ce at Talladega came just pas t the one hour mark. DAK Racin g's Dean H ayes set h imseJ£ up perfectly as backmark ers clogged the raci ng line and boxed Hall in . H ayes' celebra tion, though. was sho rt-lived as Hall jumped back in front goi ng into turn one the very next lap to regain his lead . By the end of th e first hour, T eam Suzuki still led DAK Racin g wi th th e battlin g du o a lap ahea d of th e entire field. H eavyweigh t Prod uction class leader Force Racin g also had a lap adva ntage over Motion Systems. Meanwh ile, Middleweig h t Production leaders Team Swine Dude/Pearl s and Mid dl eweigh t Superbike leaders Fl yin Dots wen t at it beh ind them. H all brou ght the big Suzuki in for the first pit stop to tak e on fuel, a new Dunlop rear tire and Michael Martin. Mart in sho t out of th e pits without losin g the ir one-lap lead. " Everything is going grea t," H all said after getting off the bik e. "T he bik e is handling great , and I'm riding a comfor table pace." La p times for ' T eam Suzu ki had dipped as low as 59 secon ds, wit h a consistent race pace of on e minute and change. When asked abou t DAK's pas s, Hall commented th at H ayes is a very fast an d intelligen t racer who saw hi s ope ning and went for it. Some m in or glitches caused th e normally low-keyed, con fident Suzuki team to pi ck up their pace in the p its. When Martin brou ght the bike in after his first tum behind the bars for a rider cha nge an d new front and rear tires, a problem developed with the front tire change. It appeared the left front lower fork leg was turned sligh tly, causing the front axle to line up improperl y an d thus stripping th e axle's threads. Hall came in on th e Valvoli ne/ Dunlop/EMGO/Kerk er/ AraiiTsu bak iiSunst ar/D ynojet/Fox Sh ox / PowerMist Fuels/SBS/Keih in-backed Suzuki for what th ey thought was to be their last p it stop: Martin took over with a fresh rear tire, a tank fu ll of fuel and the previous problem up front corrected. Bu t Martin was forced to pit a few laps later with a front brake lever that was coming all the way back to the grip. Perry rep lenished ;I. low brake fluid reservoi r and Martin returne d to the ra ce turning one minute and lower lap times. Except for a sh uffling of the second place pos ition, Team Suzuki lapped the field at least on ce an hou r un til th e checkered fl a g . DAK Racing emerged from the ba ttl e for second on top , a lap ahead of Moto Sport. Force Racin g fini shed fourth overall while co llecti ng th e H eav yweight Production win. New Yor k-ba sed T eam Swine Dude/Pearl s rode their Honda CBR 6OOF2 to an impressive sixth pl ace overa ll and first in the Mediumweight P roduction class. Mediumwei ght Superbike class winner Red H ot Ra cing fin ished seventh overall aboard their Yamah a Cl( FZR600. Results 0 / A: I. Team Suzuki Endurance (Suz); 2. DAK Racing (Suz); 3. Mota Sport Racing (Suz); 4. Force Racing (Yarn); 5. Roswell Racing (Suz); 6. Team Swine Ducks/Pearls (Hon); 7. Red Hot Racing (Yarn); 8. C&:M Raci ng (Yarn); 9. Motion Systems Racing {Kaw ); 10. Virgi nia Breeze Racing (Yam); II. F1yin' Dots (Yam); 12. TKO Racin g (Yarn); 13. Royale Racing (Ha n); 14. Bates Racing (Ha n); 15. 129 Racing (Yam); 16. TS BA (Suz); 17. Northern Boys Racing (Ha n); 18. VOA Racin g (Yarn); 19. Progressive Racin g (Suz); 20. F8cS Racing (Ha n). HIW SIB'" I. Team Suzuki (Suz); 2. DAK Racing (Suz); 3. Mo ta Sport Racin g (Suz); 4. Roswell Racin g (Suz); 5. C&:M Raci ng (Yam ). HIW PROD: I. Force Racing (Yam); 2. Motion Systems (Kaw); 3. Progr essive Racin g (SUl); 4. Anderson /Jardine Racing (Suz). MIW S/B'" I. Red Hot Racin g (Yam); 2. Flyin ' Dot>(Yam); 3. T KO Racing (Yam); 4. Royale Racing (Han ); 5. 129 Race Team (Yam). MIW PROD: I. Team Swine Dudes/Pearl s (Han); 2. Bates Racing (Ha n ); 3. Northern Boys (Ha n); 4. O n the Edge Raang (Yam). C'SHIP POINT STANDING!>: J. T eam Suzuki End urance (244.13); 2. Force Raci ng (180.45);3. Mota Spon Racing (180.24); 4. Roswell Racing (162.11); 5. Team SO/ Pealls (158.90); 6. Motion Systems (156.81); 7. Royal Racing (148.68); 8. C&:M Racing (145.34); 9. TKD Racin g (144.56); 10. DAK Racing (143.78. .

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