Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.ROADRACE... R d6:" la"apaI"IS R WERA Natiomil EnduranCe Series aU" 1d"· aceway P k ar 34 CLERMONT, IN, JULY 13 earn Suzuki Endurance captured round six of the WERA National Endurance Series at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Dave Stanton and Tray Batey rpde the team's GSXRll00 Heavyweight Superbike to a three-lap margin of victory over a very exciting second-place battle between San Francisco-based Arclight Racing and TKO Rayce Team Suzuki Too of BlOOmington, Indiana. They were separated by a scant 12 seconds at the end of the four-hour event, with both teams on Suzuki GSXR750 Superstock machines. Fourth place went to Louisville, Kentucky's TKO Rayce Team Suzuki (GSXR750), with the Mediumweight Superbike entry of Excel racing taking fifth overall aboard.a Yamaha YZF600. First-lap action saw Stanton just in front of Arclight's Joe Prussiano with the Bell's Suzuki entry in third. Stanton clicked off a series of one-minute, 37-second laps over the 15-turn, 2.5-mile layout. Prussiano ran in the low 1:38 range until they both started to meet backmarkers on the seventh lap. Bell's Suzuki run at the front ended at the 14-minute mark when lead rider Roger Bell crashed in turn 15, the bike resting in the line and bringing out a red flag. The team would make repairs to aJ]ow them to finish 14th overall and fourth in class. The race restarted at the 29-minute mark. This time, Stanton had blasted clear of Joey Gilleland (TKO Too), Prussiano (Arclight), Greg Blackwell (TKO), Brian Lantz (H&H), and Lanny Allen (HP Motor Sports). At the end of the first hour of racing, Team Suzuki had a 49second lead over Arclight. TKO Too was one lap down and five seconds ahead of H&H and TKO, who came across the line side by side. HP Motorsports had its ZX6 Kawasaki in sixth, 15 seconds ahead of Mediumweight Superstock-class rivals Cycle Speed (Honda F2) and the Triple R Racing (ZX6 Kawasaki) entry. Excel Racing ran ninth overall, 10 seconds ahead of second in class and 10th overall Team Triad II / Tapewoiks (Yamaha YZF). Suzuki's run at the front was not trouble-free. A problem had developed with coolant escaping the catch-can onto Stanton. Stanton frantically signaled the crew to warn them of the problem, and . slowed the pace a bit. Stanton pitted at the one-hour, 14-minute mark, well shott of the team's usual 70-minute ontrack stints. The team had a lengthy pit stop diagnosing the problem, refueljng, replacing th.e rear tire, and changing riders. The tire change was troublesome also. An undersized rear sprocket had been installed on the wheel, and it was not discovered until the team had the new Michelin installed. Another wheel was put in place, and Batey re-entered the track. The long pit stop gave Arclight the lead on the track, with TKO Too just seconds behind. The Suzuki Endurance juggernaut appeared to be on the verge of self-destruction. Arclight then pitted for a fuel at the 1:22 mark, giving the lead to H&H Racing. This proved to be disastrous for Arclight. Within 30 seconds, the Performance Motorsports Honda blew. a motor, oiling the track in the carousel. A red flag was thrown, officially putting Arclight one lap down to H&H. Also losing a lap in the red flag was Semoff Brothers Racing, who had pitted with Arclight while running seventh overall. Pit activity during the race stoppage was furious. Arclight, H&H, and Triple R were among ·the Superstock teams that made tire changes. The Team Suzuki Endurance crew swarmed over the bike. The coolant loss was found to be a result of a hole in the radiator. Crew members theorized that a rock was the culprit. The damaged radiator was replaced just in ti.me for Batey to make the warmup lap for tlle restart at the 1:32 mark. On the restart, ArcJight's Chuck Hughes bogged down, almost getting run over by the remainder of the firstwave machines. Hughes ran for two laps before the engine fully cleared out, then charged back to the frOI\t. Now on the same lap as everyone else, Batey made a determined effort to put the field behind him. He had a straightaway lead over HP Motorsports, both TKO entries, H&H, Arclight, Triple R, Royale Racing (Honda), and Reswell Racing (Suzuki 1100) within eight laps. By the end of the second hour, .Batey had civer a minute lead on the track, but officially one lap ahead, as the hour ended just after Batey crossed the mark. HP Motorsports was eight seconds up on both TKO entries, who were running side by side. One second behind them were H&H and Arclight also running side by side. Triple R, Reswell, Team Triad/Tapeworks (GSXR750 Superbike) and Canton Racing (GSXR750 Superbike) closed out the top 10. Several teams saw problems develop during the third hour. Royale Racing started to run hot while running 12th overall, eventually retiring during the last hour with a suspected blown head gasket. Reswell Racing ran out of gas, stopping on the track just past the carousel turn and dropping to 27th place. Pit stops and strategy then began to come into play. At 2)2, TKO pitted, refueled, and changed riders in 18 seconds. At 2:33, Arclight pitted, making it in and out in 14 seconds. At 2:36, Ian McKinstray on the H&H bike slowed on the front straight as he ran low on fuel. At 2:41, both Mediumweight Superstock leaders Triple Rand HP Motorsports refueled and made rider changes. HP enjoyed more than a minute lead over Triple R while running third overall to Triple R's sixth overall. At the start of the last hour, Suzuki _ was one lap up on Arclight, followed by HP, both TKO bikes, Triple R, Excell, Team Ten 40, H&H and Triad/Tapeworks. The last hour was disastrous for boili Triple R and HP Motorsports. Mike Reed limped the Triple R bike into the pits wi th a suspected broken crankshaft. At the 3:33 mark, HP crashed in turn 15; rider Rueben Frankenfield was unhurt, but the team was put out of the ·race. Arclight and the TKO Teams continued the race in the pits as well as on the track. ArcJight was able to gain a few seconds in ilie pit-stop battle. Woes continued for H&H as the bike ran out of gas on the track with just 12 minu·tes remaining, dropping the team to 20th overall. Batey brought Suzuki Endurance across the line for the team's 115th Endurance win; Arclight's Chris Hughes had slowed a bit, conserving ilie DOT Metzler tires but always maintaining at least a 10-second lead over the TKO Too bike. Hughes later congratulated TKO for a good battle on the track, with Prussiano saying they had worked in practice to find the correct race setup. TKO's Joey Gilieland commented that the team worked all race long on fine-tuning the setup, and said he would have pulled even wiili Ar'cligh t if the race had been 20 minutes longer. CN Indianapolis Raceway Park Clermont, Indiana Results: July 13, 1996 (Round 6 of 10) ENDUR O/A: 1. Team Suzuki Endurance (Suz);.2. Arclight Racing (Suz); 3. TKO Rayce Team Suzuki Too (Suz); 4. TKO Rayce Team Suzuki (Suz); 5. Excel Racing (Yam); 6, Cycle Speed Racing (Hon); 7, Team Triad I/Tapewarks (Yam); 8. Team Ten 40 Racing (Han); 9. Team Fast Forward (Hon); 10. TBA Racing (Suz); 11. SBR (Yam); 12, Team Triad U/Tapeworks (Yam); 13, Free Bud (Due); 14. Team Bells Suzuki (Suz); 15. Team Orange Yamaha (Yam); 16. Thunder Racing (Kaw); 17. NC Express (Hon); 18. ftJmy of Darkness (Yam); 19. Eagle Racing (Suz); 20. H&H Racing/RK Motorsports (So2). Ti me: 3 hr., 59 min., 20 sec. Distance: 302.5 miles Average Speed: 76.68 mph Margin of victory: 3 laps WERA NATIONAL ENDURANCE SEIRIES POINTS 5TANDrNG5 (After 6 of 10 rounds): 1. Team Suzuki Endurance (547.83 poihts/6 wins); 2. Arclight Radng (561.9); 3. TKO Rayce Team Suzuki Too (501.62); 4. Triple R Rllcing (395.95); 5. Cycle Speed Racing (3635); 6. H&H Racing/RK MotorspoTts (349.08); 7. Team Ten 40 Racing (339.55); 8. TKO .Rllyce Team Suzuki (332.07):.9. Team Triad Il/Tapeworks (327.97); 10. Royale Racing (321.15); 11. Perfonnance Motorsports Radng (3]9.54); 12. Excel Racing (309.02); 13. Anny of Darkness (299.82); 14. HP Moto'5ports (296.n); 15. SBR (283.87); 16. Team Bells Suzuki (290.21); 17. Roswell Racing (27658); 18. Team Triad I/Tapeworks (270.26); 19. Team Fast Forward (Hon); 20. Team Fury (228.23). Upcoming Rounds: Round 7 - Mount Meridian, IN, August 8-10 Round 8 • Memphis, TN, September 9-11 WERA National Challenge Series Round 6: Indianapolis Raceway Park Batey, Prussiano top WERA sprints By George Mood CLERMONT, IN, JULY 11-14 uzuki-mounted Tray Batey and Joe Prussiano took top honors in the 1100 and 750cc Superstock classes while local great guy Reuben Frankenfield tried l:II1successfuJly to sweep ilie Middleweight classes· during round six of ilie WERA National Challenge Series at Indianapolis Raceway Park. The 125cc GP and Formula One races had weather as a factor in ilie results, but Sunday's WERA National Challenge Series $print races during Indy Cycle Jam closed out three days of competitive racing wiili a turnout of over 600 riders. Batey took the win in the 1100cc S Team Suzuki Endurance (1) claimed its 115th race win during round six of the WERA National Endurance series at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Superstock class, dashing out in front from the start with Prussiano right behind, trailed by Jamie Hackett, Grant Lopez and Brian Lantz. In the first turn Dave Stanton and John Branch tangled with Branch going down and out and Stanton having to work his way back from ilie back of the fiel.d. Batey ran a fast lap of 1:36.6 on lap tluee before settling into a consistent 1:37.4 pace. Jamie Hacking got by Prussiano on lap one and chased Batey, with Dave Stantqn gaining steadily. For the next three laps, Stanton hounded Hacking before passing him on the white flag lap. Hacking tried to get the position back, attempting a repass underneath only to slap into Stanton's fairing with his front brake lever and go over the bars, giving Prussiano a free third-place podium finish. Batey avoided the battles and cruised to a 9.22-second margin of victory to claim ilie top Suzuki dollars. On the first lap of ilie Michelin 750cc Superstock race, Prussiano was iliird in a pack of seven riders behind Branch ill and Grant Lopez and allead of Stanton, John Jacobi, Brian Bemi5derfer and Hacking, all on Suzuki GSXR750s. Branch had faded by lap two, handing the advantage to Prussiano, who managed to overtake Lopez on the fourth lap. Batey, on the charge wiili 1:37.1 lap times, was in tllird by lap four after starting from the back of the second wave. Lap six saw him challenging Prussiano at ilie line, and he hung onto the leader's tail through lap eight ilien drafted past for the lead as they rounded into lap nine. But Prussiano regained ilie lead when Batey ran wide in ilie sixili tum, and Prussiano sailed to the checkered, winning by 3:02 seconds over Hacking and pocketing $500 in Suzuki contingency money. Mark Reed grabbed ilie holeshot in 600cc Superstock class, leading for the majority of lap one. Frankenfield emerged from the large pack to pass Reed by the end of the first lap. Then Joey Gilleland got around Frankenfield and Mark Reed. A battle for iliird among Mike and Mark Reed, Scott Brown, Stoney Landers, and Robert Hutchenson raged right to ilie end. By midrace Mike Reed found his comfort level and put his head down to finish third ahead of his broilier Mark. Landers was disqualified for an equipment violation. Up front, Frankenfield's home-track advantage was apparent as there was nothing Gilleland could do to put a dent in the leader's position. Frankenfield's victory margin was large, especially considering ilie ultracompetitive 600cc field. In 125cc GP action Chris Ulrich had set ilie fastest practice time before suffering from a Supermatl complex as he led

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