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eROAD RACE e AMAlCCS EBC Brakes Endurance Challeng,- - - eSer_ie_s:R ---.:..-n_d_~ _ _ou _ Fastii neIMCM Suzuki (1), Two Brothers Racing (21), Dutchman Racin g (3) and Team Ame rica (4) lead the charge from th e fi rst row during enduran ce action at Road Atla nta. Two Brothers Racing's Tommy Lynch and Nick Ienatsch took the GTO victory. Two Brothers makes it look .easy at Road Atlanta By Henny Ray Abrams B RASELTON, GA,JULY 17 t was the supreme endurance test for both man and machine, three hours at the limit in 98-degree temperatures on the to rtuous Road Atlanta circuit, the most severe conditions many had faced in their careers. But the Two Brothers Racing team of Tommy Lynch and Nick lenatsch mad e it look easy, taking the lead in the first hour, never relinquishing it despite having to m a ke a rear ti re change, and pulling away to win the three-ho ur endurance challenge by nearIy a minute. "I got to cruise," said Lynch, who did the bu lk of the riding, after the team had claimed their third GTO class win of the season. "I was happy we built up enough of a lead . We had a two-way radio system so I was able to pu tt th e thing around and nurse it home." I 20 Lynch and lenatsch completed 121 laps (304.92 miles) of the 2.52-mile circuit, averaging 101.835mph aboard the team's Honda CBR9OORR. They crossed the finish line 55.261 seconds in front of the Fastline/MCM Suzuki team with Scott Zampach teaming with Michael Barnes, who was making hi s return to racing after a five-week layoff. Third place went to a Canadian team racing together for the first time this year, with the bike owner in his first race of the season. Team owner Mark Brubacher enlisted Neil Jenkins to join him and the duo made it into the winner's circle on Brubacher's Yamaha. Brubacher fitted a hea vil y-m o d ified Yamaha FZR1000 engine into a YZF-SPframe. "I knew that cracking the top five would be real tough ," Brubacher said . "I can't rememb er racing in heat like this ever. This is our first AMA race. Neil and I have never raced together." Filling out th e to p five w as the Yamaha FZR1000-moun ted Keys tone/ Northstar en try of John Jacob and Gary Lenzm eier a nd Team TSBA' s Ma rk Blac k, Robert Marsh, and la te re cr uit Larry Locklear on a Suzuki GSXR wi th an 1186ccmotor. The win, Two Bro thers' seco nd in a row, allowed them to stretch their lead in the GTO championship over Fastline/ MCM Suzuki. With four races to go, Two Brothers has a 29 point lead over the defending National champions, 259-230. Dutchman Racing is third with 205. Th e GTU class win went to Moto Liberty/ Nank ai II, the Suzuki-mounted team having to overcome a stop-and-go penalty for jumping the start, as well as the heat-induced fatigue suffered by one of their riders. Lead rider Takahiro Mori was accu sed of jumping the start, then brought in on the third lap while leading. But 10 laps later he was back in the lead, a lead the team wo uld neve r relinquish even though Mori was forced to stay on longer when Mike Harth came in early due to hea t stress. The Georgia rider was making his return to AMA racing after a 14-month injury induced layoff and the heat was too much for him. He would, however, ri de a second shift and the team went on to win by 13.612 sees. "I did all I could an d I wan t to thank Mori for taking up the slack," Harth said in the winner's circle. "He's a he ll of a rider. Mori might have a little more battle in him tha n me. I jus t wanted to finish the race." Mori and Harth completed 119 laps (299.88 miles) of Road Atlanta at an average speed of 99.602 mph. Yamaha of Leesburg Racing was second, the only GTU team to finish on the same lap after team owner Jon Rober ts decided to go with Michael Tay lor and David Estok on the team 's Kawasaki ZX6. Third went to Northwest Racing' s Andy Fenwick a nd Dea n Mizdal, the Honda CBR600-mounted pa ir finishing three laps back , b ut on the same lap as FastIine/MCM Suzuki II's Craig Gleason and Aaron Yates. Keystone/ Norths tar II paired John Condron and Jim Pennington to finish fifth , one s po t u p on 4 & 6 Racing's Jonathan Cornwell and Owen Weichel. Cornwell a nd We ich el had fo rmerly teamed w ith Bill Hornblower on the Hor nblower Racin g team, b u t Hornblower retired from racing and sold his machine to Jim Rashid of 4 & 6 Cycles. The team, which led the GTU championship comirig into Road Atlanta, left the race . ti ed fo r th e lead with Mo to Liberty/Nankai II, both tearns with 204 po ints after eight of 12 races. Th ird place is a lso a ti e between American Flyers, 17th today after dropping out, and Southwest Mot orsports, who announced at Road Atlanta th a t they for financial reasons they would not complete the championship sched ule, racing only a t Mid-Ohio. Bo th teams ha ve 173 points. The heat played havoc on the fields with onl y 13 teams finishing each class from a combined s ta rt ing field of 45, though at least six of the GTO entries were from Superbike teams getting extra p ractice time. GTO The afternoon heat was near its peak of 98 w hen the th ree- ho u r rac e was green -flagged at approximately 2:00 p.m . on Saturday afternoon. Five teams immedia te ly broke free fro m the pack, Du tchman Racing's Ray Yoder leading, Fastline /MCM Suzu ki's Scott Zampach, Two Brothers Racing's Tommy Lynch, N2 Racing's John Ashmead, an d Tea m America 's Woody Deatherage. Yoder upped the pace and pulled away, leaving Lynch to fe n d off Zamp ach as Dea therage passed Ashmead and gained some brea thing room. By the half hou r mark Yoder had la pped u p to eighth place, cons tan tly having to dea l with wayward backmarkers who were unable to keep the sa me line two laps in a row. Team America was the fir st 'of the leaders to retire, Deatherage pulling in w ith an overheated engine on the team's Honda CBR9OORR. "The rad iator broke and it overhea ted ," team owner Frank Slaugh ter said. "It fried the engine. Woody wasn't looking at the temperature gauge until it was too late." Yoder came in at the 38-minute mark and the team lost valuable time, and the lead, because they weren't read y for the pit stop. "It's extremely hot out there," Yoder