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WERA National Endurance Series Round 4: Virginia International Raceway T.., Balet', on the Vesnoh Suzuki (11. ~ the""'s Suzuki II Honda 600RR (1141 en route to the ovenlll win at round four of tile WERA National Endurance Series. track, but the race continued. This was the first wet race of the 10-race series, and the racers faced a driving rain and a few streams of water that ran across the track. At the one-hour mark, Army had not only passed Team Xtreme, they had put a lap on them. Ridge Racing, on their new Kawasaki 600, and Northern Getaway, on the 750cc Suzuki, both passed Tight Squeeze II. This team held a two-lap advantage on their closest rivals, SVPerformance.net, as they continued to lead the Lightweight Superbike class. Spanky Racing ran seventh, with Neighbor Of The Beast in eighth, Team Xtreme II in ninth and Ricochet Racing in 10th. A few minutes into the second By DAN SCHMITT PHOTOS BY STEVE STARNES/ ADRENALINE SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC ALTON, VA, MAY 23 ast year, it was the drought that severely affected the middle Atlantic states; this year, the rains have come. On Wednesday, the day of the Ed Bargy Roadrace School, it rained, and on Thursday, the day of the open practice, it rained some more. Friday morning, the day of the fourth round of the Dunlop-WERA National Endurance, it was raining. One hour before the 12:30 start time, it stopped raining - and everyone was scrambling to the tire vendors to mount another set of tires for the start. But 10 minutes before the flip of the green flag, the rains began again. As the teams negotiated the first five corners and headed back toward the bridge, it was Tray Batey taking the lead on the Vesrah Suzuki, with Team Xtreme in second, Army of Darkness third, and Tight Squeeze II flying on the SV Suzuki in fourth place. Thirty-one more teams splashed their way around this 2.3mile roadcourse in south-central Virginia. Hard-charging Chuck Ivey, on his Team Velocity Racing GSX-R600, was the first to hit the deck, as he slid down the track into the wet red clay. The yellow flags flew. but the race continued. During the first hour of racing, a few more teams ran off the L 60 JUNE 11. 2003' cue • TIght Sque_ U took tile LI"htwelght SUperbike win In Alton, VIrginia. e neVIl's .,.., of JIll......... lW911eads Teem VeIoc"" "-lng (1311. Team Info Tecil (311, NeIghbor of the Beeat n"ht Squeeze U (961 end RIcochet Racing (42111lrough VIrgInia ~ ~. tum four. ."7), hour, Shawn Romano dropped the SoSueMe Racing'SV, and the bike lay in the middle of the track. This brought out the red flag, and the action came to a brief halt. During the first hour, 10 teams crashed most of them in the "hog pen" outside of turn 17 - and they were off the racing line. This restart created a new grid, and the 68-second advantage Vesrah had over Army evaporated. Richochet Racing moved ahead of Tight Squeeze II. Velocity Crew Racing and Team Trahyon moved into the top 10. At the two-hour mark, Army took the lead when Vesrah pitted for fuel.