Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE Grattan Raceway WR E ANATIONAL ENDURANCE SERIES TKO Racing su ffered cra sh es and mechani cal problems in the two previous round s; however, the team bounced back by taking the last podi um spo t at Grattan. Dean Hayes, John Branch and Chad Bynum all shared sad dle time on the Suzuki 750. "We go t the bike wor king well yesterd a y a fter las t week ' s problems," Bran ch said. "It is a little tricky d ialing in th e suspe ns io n beca use Dean a nd Chad weigh more tha n me, but Steve Doolin d id a terri fic job finding a balance so all of us can ride it competitive-ly." Byn u m rides for the TKO Raci ng team when a third rider is needed , and he fulfilled his role by turn ing in lap times nearly identica l to those of his teammates. "Dean and I ra n consiste n t 1:27s," Byn um said. "John also d ropped his times to 1:27s. The key to roday's success was that all three of us ran consistentlv in the same times. As other teams crashed themselves out or suffered mechanical problems, we kept our pace on the Suzuki GSXR750 and worked our way up to third ." TKO Racing was as far back as eighth place during the second hour, b ut By Aaron Mintz Photos by Andy Chadwell GRAITAN, MI, JULY 5 hil e Team Su zuki Enduran ce had its 19-eon. secu tive-win strea k end ed at the last round in Indiana, it was business as usual a t Michigan 's Gra ttan Racewa y. The ever -d om in ant GSXRI100-mou n ted tea m redee med itself by totally d ominat ing round six and lea din g th e o n ly eig h t- hou r W (Abo ve) Team Suzu ki Enduraoce quickly got back on fonn after Its crash at the last round . The team won with a five-tap margin. (Righi) Arcllghl Racing continues its cons istent season with a second· place finish Inthe season 's onty eighthour endurance race. endurance race of the season all the w ay, 32 finishing five laps ahead of second-place Arcligh t Racin g. It was Team Suz u ki End urance's 126th victory - a nd so the new streak begi ns. Last-round winners Arclight Racing, benefactor of the TSE crash in Ind iana, settled for second place this time, but finis hed with a comfortable one-lap margin over TKO Racing. Team Suzuki Endurance rode with its usual speed and consistency, though flawless pit stops certainly contribu ted to its victory. Tray Batey mounted the GSXRllOO first, with Grant Lopez and Josh Hayes following . "Since the race is eight hou rs long, you don 't need to go quicker than a 1:25 lap time, because it's a long day ," Batey said . "Unfortunately for us, during the first two hours, it seemed every time we built a lead there was a ' red flag, which brought the field back together for a restart. Each restart I kept dropping the lap times to stay ou t in front. Eventually the lap times dropped to 1:23." Team Suzuki Endurance applies the same strategy to every endurance race: Go out and build a comfortable lead and then rid e safely and consistently. Assisting Bate y a nd Lopez was the o t her Team Valvoline Emgo Suzuki rider, Hayes . "All I know is: Don't crash," Hayes said. 'The Team Suzuki Endurance bike is a missile. Tray and Grant were both flying. The power of the Suzuki and the grip of the Michelins made my job easy. I just went ou t and rode consistently, tu rn in g the lap ti mes th at the team expected from me." All three riders kept the lap times between 1:23 and 1:25, a pace that simply couldn't be met by the competition. Arclight Racing may have fallen five laps behind Team Suzuki Endurance, but it had no problem cruising into second place a lap ahead of TKO Racing. Arclight's success came from a number of factors. Foremos t were the team riders' la p times - all basically the same ov e r t he eight ho u rs . Also a grea t advantage for Arclight was the fact that the team can execute a pit stop in under 20 seconds, a feat which most teams are not capable of. Finally, for mer Tea m Suzuki Endurance ride r Dave Stanton joined Ardight Racing for the second time this season. 'Tm back at a track I like and one that I have had a lot of track time on," Stanton said. "It feels great to be back on the Arcligh t Racing GSXR600, and Chuck Warren has done an excellent job preparing the bike. Traffic is predictable and I' m having a good time." Joe Prussiano III rode the Arcl ight Racing Suzuki first and pushed right into second place, a spot the team held for the rest of race. "Basically, today we have the complete package to work with," Prussiano said . "There is not one th in g that is pulling us. I have to th ank Dave a nd Chris Hughes; they set up the suspension on the bike perfectly . The new Metzeler compound is incredible a nd the Arclight Suzuki is so easy to ride." steadily climbed through the pack un til it took possession of third place during the fourth hour. Nielsen Racing has had a great season thus far and commands the Middleweight Superstock-elass points race; howeve r, during the first hour, while running th ird, Ma rk Ju nge low-sid ed exiting the off-camber tum seven. The team would finish 19th. "I was tryi ng to set u p a guy for a pass in th e bowl and I we n t wide," Junge said. "As I was wide I hit some ripples and a bump, then the front tire tucked and I lost it." Veteran end urance racer Darryl Saylor jumped on the Nielsen Racing Suzuki and charged like a man possessed as he passed Lopez in his quest to regai n the laps his team lo s t as a result of Junge's cras h. "I went out and rod e a sprint pace to get us back up," Saylor said. "We were

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