Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ ROADRACE WERA Power-MistlPerformance Machine National Endurance Series: Round 7 I The last-ever 24 Hours of Nelson Ledges got underway with Team Suzuki Endurance (1) leading Team Pearls Suzuki (3). Force Racing. an Ohio-based team that fielded a Yamaha FZR1000, won the grueling race, first taking the lead in the 21st hour. had jettisoned on the track, and Vintage Ventures, an Ohio-based team fielding a Yamaha RD350, came in on the third lap with a seized motor. As th e field so rted itself out in the early stages, Tea m Su zu ki Endurance, Hall N' Still Kinko' s and Virginia Breeze Racing occupied the top three spots. . As the third hour came and went, the rough track surface began to exact its toll on riders and machinery. Arclight Racing was in the pits with a loose muffler cannister . The pounding would eventu ally shake loose another baffle on the Arclight entry as well as cause the battery box to fall into the rear wheel!swingarm assembly. Team Suzuki Endurance lost a lap . with a slow pit stop caused by an axle that threatened to cross-thread. Most notably, however, was the retirement of the Hall 'N' Still-Kinko team. With Fritz Kling at the controls of the Yamaha FZRl000, the bike crashed when it reportedly suffered a tire failure. Kling suffered a broken ankle in the crash and the bike was damaged so extensively that it had to be carried off of the crash truck . To the surprise of many, the team retired from the race rather than attempt repairs. In doing so , they walked away from an opportunity to earn the large amount of points (based on finishing position and mileage covered) awarded by the WERA in this season's only 24-hour race a nd thus all but totally eliminated any chance they had of knock in g Team Suzuk i End urance off its seri es championshi p throne. With th e untimel y ex it of H'N 'S Kinko, Force Racing mov ed into third behind leader Team Suzuki Endurance a nd Virgin ia Breeze Racin g . Shortly before the top of the fourth hour, Virginia Breeze crashed at the exit of tum 13, the tum leading on to the front straigh t. That brou ght out the red flag. The restart resulted in another red flag as North ern Boys Racing was involved in a start line crash that sent the riders back to the pits while debris was cleared from the grid area. On ce the race was u.nderway again, Team Suzuki End ura nce resumed their spot up fron t, followed - on track - by Tea m Indy Cycle 'N ' Ski, Tea m Pearls Suzuk i and Team 20/20 Track 'N' Trail. In the standings, though, Virginia Breeze still held second as a result of laps completed . Team Suzuki Endu ran ce' s race plan ap peared to be on schedule and it was apparent that the team's riders - Kurt Hall, Michael Martin, Chuck Gra ves, Steve Patterson and David Stanton intended to circulate smoothly and quickly around the track. If the team's strategy was a study in disciplined riding, Team Pearls was involved in a demonstration on how to make time around a track. Saylor was charging on the team 's Suzuki GSXR600 and he passed Graves and the big 1100 to move Pearls a lap closer to the leaders. Ulrich had made it clear that Team Su zuki Endurance approached the event with the big picture clearly in focus. The plan was to circulate quickly and at the end of the 24 hours to emerge with their fifth straight Nelson Ledges victory. But he made it clear that they weren't there to get involved in a sprint race, at least not in the early and middle stages of the race. However, you could not help but feel the elation in th e Pearls' pit every time Saylor came by the start/finish line with Team Suzuki's larger and more powerful bike trailing in his wake. As night settled over Nelson Ledges, the lights came on and the mosquitoes came out. At the top of the eighth hour, Team Suzuki Endurance was first, four laps up on Virginia Breeze with Team Pearls running in third. Then Team Suzuki Endurance's plan began to unrav0 24 Hours of Nelson Ledges taken by Force By Chris Kallfelz Photos by Ed SavoylERS Photography and Kallfelz WARREN,OH,jULY3-4 orce Racing won the 25th and fmal running of the 24 Hours of Nelson Ledges, finishirig nine laps ahead of Team Pearls Suzuki and 17 laps up on Team Suzuki Endurance. Force Racing's Jeff James, Dean Hayes, Chris Hughes, Ron Crum, Mark McDaniel, Shawn Higbee and Rick Pagniano rode the team's Yamaha FZR1000 to victory in a race that saw many of the front-runners fall victim to the bumpy surface of the Nelson Ledges road course.' Prior to the start of the race, the track's rou gh surface was a major topic of discussion in the pits as each team searched for the right setup that would allow their equipment and riders to withstand the 24 hours of pounding that the event is notorious for. The final running of this event was shaping up to be a war of attrition. Team Suzuki Endurance, the unprece- F 26 dented four-time winner of the event, opted to mount stock wheels in lieu of the lighter aftermarket wheels they usually run on their Suzuki GSXRlloo . The stock wheels employ a massive cush drive assembly that decreases the driveline lash to the big Suzuki's transmission. What the stock wheels added in unsprung weight would hopefull y be made up for by the added durability they would provide as the powerful GSXR searched for traction on the bumpy surface. "(Crew chief) Keith Perry built this bike to finish the race,n said Team Suzuki Endurance Captain John Ulrich. "It's 50 pounds heavier than the GSXR we normally ra.ce. I don't know why this track is so bumpy - perhaps it's because Goodrich tests tires here - but we know it will take its toll." Team Pearls Suzuki was experiment- ing with a new D.O.T.-approved radial tire design produced by Metzeler. Team Pearls had been chosen to test the design and Jim Vick, Metzeler product specialist, was on hand to monitor tire temperature and wear throughout the race. The team, which had placed third overall in last year's 24 Hours of Nelson, was looking for another strong finish and their initial impressions of the new 9lHIegree, steelbelted tire were quite favorable. Dave Kubik had recently been added to the team's rider roster - joining Darryl Saylor, Jim Roth, Marty Lentz, Tim Taylor and Joe Maier - and his knowledge of the track would prove helpful as the night wore on. The green flag had barely dropped before problems arose for some of the entrants. The Pittsburgh Yamakawboys were into the pits to replace a chain they o

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