Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128155
across the line for a well-deserved second place. Neves jumped the start and was black-flagged. He returned to the track with a vengeance after serving his penalty. "I looked behind me," Hanford noted, "and all I saw was a giant number 50, and thought, 'No friggin' way - Carlos had a stop-and-gol How'd he get back there?'" Neves won the GP Star Hollywood Hard Charger Award (a new Pattern Kit exhaust system) after this blazing tear through the grid. Before lap one ended, Herrera lost the front end coming down the Cyclone. In a postrace interview, he admitted he was still baffled as to the cause; he'd run the same pace in practice without any problems. Herrera was the only crash casualty during the race, and it was a shame to see him toss the BPS-clad, Ian E-tuned Honda that had run so fast all weekend. Last year's National Champion, Stewart Aitken-Cade, started on the third row and worked up to third before he was black-flagged. Series favorite and former 125cc GP National Champion Jackson-Bell crashed in Saturday's practice. Her team struggled for the rest of the weekend to get the bike back together, but they couldn't pull it off in time for qualifying, relegating her to the back row for the start. She put in a stellar effort just getting to the grid, but she couldn't complete a lap before her motor gave up, forcing her to retire from the race. The best race on the track was between Wilson, Hanford, Willard Ivins, Nick Moore, Ito and AitkenCade, who all ran nose to tail for the first six laps, during which lead changes were a regular occurrence. On lap five, Aitken-Cade passed Hanford on the brakes into turn 12, destroying Hanford's line and allowing both Wilson and Ivins to pass on the exit. That was it for Aitken-Cade, though; his Honda was belching volumes of smoke from under the fairing and he was black-flagged. Stewart found oil leaking over his pipe from a failed clutch-cover gasket - knocked out of the race by a $3 part. Fifteen-year-old Scott Jackson finished 16th in his third weekend racing 125s1 "This was the highest-quality racing I've had in a long time," said USGPRU newcomer James Smith. "Tons of track time with just 125s on the grid. There's nothing like racing purebred GP bikes!" eN TII JiIiU Pert ll8cewey WI Celif8m1a ....Its: ApriJ 28, ZUUZ lRouad 11 O/A: 1. Nob; Iso (Apr); 2. Wil Morton (Hon); 3. Carlos Neves (Hon); 4. Quentin Wilson (Hon); 5. Jeff Hanford (Hon); 6. Willard Ivins (Hon); 7. Nick Moore (Hon): 8. Tada ~o (Apr): 9. Mike Jerrerd (Hon): 10. Meliss8 Shimmin (Hon); 11. Phil Krenn (Hon); 12. Jam.. Smith (Hon): 13. Dorrell Baker (Hon): 14. Jell Urn (Hon); 15. Marcus Henderson (Hon); 16. Scott Jackson (Hon): 17. Doug Moore (Hon): 18. Tillany Rega.. (Hon); 19. Herb Wagner (Hon); 20. Stewart Aitken-Cade (Hon); 21. Sean McNew (Hon). WERAI&MD Computrack National Endurance series Round 3: Putnam Park Road Course Vesrah Wins Big at Putnam Four-Hour BY LARRY LAWRENCE MOUNT MERIDIAN, IN, MAY 4 esrah Suzuki won its third WERA/GMD Computrack National Endurance race in as many starts on May 4 at Putnam Park Road Course. Vesrah, the Wisconsin-based team, with riders Mark Junge, Tray Batey and John Jacobi, dominated the four-hour event. The defending series champion rode a Vesrah Brakes/Suzuki/Watahan/Nielsen Enterprises/Pirelli/Fujico-sponsored GSXRI000 to a four-lap margin of victory. Their only serious challenge came early from former factory AMA Superbike rider Mike Smith. Team Xtreme's Smith and Batey traded the lead for much of the first hour, but when Smith handed the Team Xtreme Suzuki GSX-RI000 over to his teammates, they fell from the lead lap. Xtreme later dropped out of the race due to transmission problems. V 68 MAY 22, 2002' e: U e: I e Vesrah completed 193 laps on the 1.8-mile Putnam Park circuit, covering just under 350 miles in four hours. Army of Darkness finished second overall on its Suzuki GSXR600, with Mark Crozier and Jim Williams doing the riding. The Army finished with 189 laps. Vesrah Suzuki II made it a clean sweep for Suzuki on the podium. Vesrah II crossed the finish line 25.7 seconds behind Army of Darkness to finish third. Junge performed double-riding duties, teaming with David Yaakov and Brian Stokes on the Vesrah II GSX-R600. The race began with Smith and Batey pulling sharply away from the rest of the 44-team field. The leading duo were turning in blazing laps in the one-minute-and-ll-second range, more than a second faster than any other team. "That was a real blast," said Smith of his first-hour stint. "I'd never been to this track before, so I sat back and n e _ so Putnam Park Road Course: Former factory Superbike rider Mike Smith of Team Xtreme (2) and Tray Batey of Vesrah Suzuki (1) traded the lead several times in the opening hour of the four-race race at Putnam Park, site of the third round of the WERNGMD Computrack National Endurance Series. Xtreme's bike broke, while Vesrah went on to take its third victory of the season. watched Tray for a few laps. I passed him, but I found out that the pace he set was pretty solid, so we just ran together there for a long time. This track has a real neat little layout. I had a good time out there." Batey said it was hard to contain himself with Smith on the track. "I've raced endurance for a lot of years, and the key is to not let yourself get too excited early in the race: Batey explained. "But with Mike out there, it was tough to keep from riding probably a little harder than I should have. When you have someone as talented as that on the track, you tend to want to get up there and show you can run with him." The pace was so hot that by the end of the first hour, only four bikes were on the lead lap. Cycle Therapy, on another GSX-R 1000, ran third, with Scott Harwell riding. Army of Darkness' Crozier did an outstanding job of keeping the team's GSX-R600 on the lead lap in the first hour. "Our bike was running so well that I seemed to be able to get through traffic pretty easily: said Crozier. "I think that's how we kept the big 1000s in sight during the early part of the race." In the second hour, Army of Darkness moved up to second but dropped a lap down to Vesrah. Cycle Therapy continued to run third. Without Smith at the controls, Team Xtreme started losing positions. In the second hour, the team slipped to sixth overall. In the fourth hour, the team dropped out due to transmission problems on its Suzuki. In the final hour, Vesrah was able to put the bike on cruise control, having built up almost a three-lap lead. But the final podium positions were not quite set. Vesrah II, Vesrah Suzuki's Middleweight Superb ike entry, had moved to third overall and was closing in on Army of Darkness. In the final hour, Junge took over the controls in an effort to catch the Army, but he came up 25 seconds short at the end of four hours. "We chose a wrong front tire on the Vesrah II bike: explained Junge after the race. "It cost us an extra pit stop, and I think that was the differ- ence." For Army of Darkness, second overall and a win over Vesrah's middleweight team was sweet. "I decided to let Mark [Crozier] and Jim [Williams] go the distance: said Army of Darkness manager/rider Sam Fleming. "They were faster than me in practice, and I wanted to do what it took to beat Vesrah II. Those guys are heavily factory-supported, and we're a true group of privateers, so it's quite an accomplishment for our small team to beat those guys (Vesrah II)." Army of Darkness won the Middleweight Superbike class. Cycle Therapy finished the day fourth overall, and Northern Getaway rounded out the top five. eN eau... PlItn... P8rtI: lINd Mouat M.ridian, Indiana Results: May 4, ZOOZ [Round 3 at 91 0/ A: 1. Vesreh Suzuki (Suz); 2. Army of Darkness (Suz); 3. Vesrah Suzuki II (Suz); 4. Cycle Therapy Racing (Suz); 5. Northern GetewllY (Suz); 6. Jeff Wyler Cycle World (Suz); 7. 14K the Movie (Suz); 8. Neighbor of the Beast (Suz): 9. Velocity Crew (Suz); 10. Teem Chicago (Yam). l/W: 1. Tight Squeeze RZlcing (Suz); 2. Tellrn Charm (Suz); 3. Deals Gap Racing (Suz); 4. Ogre Racing (SOl): 5. Team Infotech (SU1). fiI/W S/BK: I. Army of Darkness (SU1); 2. Vesrah Suzuki II (Suz); 3. 14K the Movie (Suz); 4. Velocity Crew (Sut); 5, Lightsmith Racing (Suz). H/W S/BK: I. Vesrah SUluki (SU1): 2. Cycle Therapy Racing (SU1): 3. Northem Getaway (SOl): 4. Team Xtreme (Suz); 5. Twisted Melon (Suz). fillW S/STK: 1. Jeff Wyler Cycle World (SOl): 2. Neighbor of the Be8st (Suz); 3. Team Chic ego (Yam); 4. Team Ufe (Yam): 5. Nuke Em (SOl). H/W S/STK: 1. P~Hemount Recing Pit Crew (SU1): 2. Leaning lliard (Kaw): 3. J&J filotorsporls (SOl): 4. WFO (Yam): 5. Team HMR (Hon).