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/146660
~ ROAD RACE WERA VansonIPM National Endurance Series: Round 6 e Force Racing won the Heavyweight Production class at Seattle International Raceway, ~d finisI,ed fifth overall. The overall victory went to championship leading Team Suzuki. Team Suzuki rem-ains unbeaten By Brent Plummer KENT, WA, JUNE 13 m Suzuki Endurance's Michael Martin and Kurt Hall put in another shinning performance to keep Team Suzuki Endurance unbeaten in the 1992 season. But at the Seattle International Raceway round, Team Suzuki got a good scare from the Cycle Sport/Evertt Suzuki team of Doug Renfrow and Ouis Callan, who led the first hour and a half of the race until a red flag temporarily halted the race, removed Cycle Sport's lead, and forced them to restart from the sixth row. And a new challenger has l'I!I!Iltered WERA endurance racing in the Heavyweight Superbike class; the wily Team Pasta Marin is back for '92, and they brought ace pilot Cal Rayborn Jr. out of retirement to lead their team. And when combined with Joe Brett Williams, the Pastas are a tough team to beat and they finished third overall today. "I'd like to congratulate second place finishers Cycle Sport, they really ran well today, as did the Pasta Marin Team," co-winner Martin said. "It's great to see them (Pasta Marin) back in racing, and doing so well. And Team Suzuki rider Kurt Hall was adamant about the fact·that this team is indeed beatable: "In endurance racing, it comes down to how prepared the crew and how prepared the bike is. We've got the best crew and the most prepared bike that is ready to go off the truck while eveIYone else is still running TI 18 around trying to get their setup down, and Michael and I just have to go out, keep our noses clean, stay out of trouble, and continue to do good pit stops. We win the races with the crew in the pits." Indeed they do. A stopwatch tells the truth, and Team Suzuki has been clocked at 13 seconds for both a whi!el change and gas (and the team insists they can do it faster), whereas most other teams are looking at 25 to 30 seconds just to gas up. And nowhere was this more evident than at Seattle. Cycle Sport's Doug Renfrow was turning some of the fastest lap times of the race, and remained on the lead lap until the bitter end. With only 20 minutes to go, Cycle Sport still had a shot at winning, but the front ra in tire that they had used throughout the soggy event wore out, and they would have certainly lost too much time changing it. Hall managed to finally put Renfrow down a lap in the final few laps, and led by one lap and three seconds at the fourhour mark with Team Pasta Marin three laps down in third overall, and Heavyweight Superbike contenders DAK Racing fourth overall. Due to this win - and their dominance of the season - Team Suzuki Endurance rules the series points chase with 672. Their closest competitor, Heavyweight Production contenders Force Racing, have 450 points, and just displaced Mota Sport Racing out of second overall at this event. Moto Sport has been plagued with mechanical problems for the last few rounds, and Seattle was no exception. The team was unable to purchase the Michelin rain tires that had been arranged for earlier in the week, was told that none were available, and later found out that was not the case. But team captain Peter Christensen remained undaunted: "We are sti1l close to Force Racing, so it's no big deal. As long as we keep going to the races and doing well at each event, we should get second overall. And as long as it's not us screwing up, you can't really get discouraged." Force Racing was anything but discouraged; they have won every Heavyweight Production event this year. "It was a good race for us," Renfrow said. "Mark McDaniel started the race for us, and pulled ahead. The only problem came after the red flag (caused by spewed oil on the track) when McDaniel went back out. Two laps after the restart, in turn three, he came out, lost the back end, got it straightened, and ran off into the mud. He brought the bike in, we took the steering dampner off, send Mark back out, and he went faster than before he fell!" McDaniel's speedy riding helped Force take fifth overall behind DAK Racing, first in class. Added Force's Crum when he heard what happened to class competitors Motion Systems: "They are a bunch of good guys, I hate to see them having a year like they are." It seems that Motion Systems' luck has not turned any better this year (the last unofficial tally had them at seven crashes). At Seattle, rider Tony Rauseo had problems with, "the gasket around the shield of my helmet, and over the course of time, after spraying soapy water on it, the gasket absorbed some. And when I was out in the rainy first hour, I rode with the shield partially open, the gasket got wet, wind blowing over it blew soap bubbles, and I couldn't do anything with it. It was the most ridicuIous thing I've ever heard ofl" Rauseo struggled with the helmet problem for the better part of an hour, and lost a ton of ground on Force Racing. They finished 22nd overall, but sti1l remain second in the Heavyweight Production points standings. Sixth overall was earned by the Control Tech Racing team, seventh - and first in Middleweight Superbike - went to Motorcycle Unlimited's Mike Krynock and James Randolph. In Middleweight Production, the class win went to Honda CBR600mounted Arclight Racing II's Chuck Warren and Nader Aghajani. The pair finished eighth overall. Qll Results VANSON/PM NATIONAL ENDUIlANCE: I. Team Suzuki EndurazlC"; 2. Cyele Spon/E~u Suz; 3. T.P.M.; 4. DAK RlIcing; 5. Force RlIcing; 6. Control Tech Racing; 7. Motorcycle Unlimited; 8. Arelight Racing 11: 9. Nilsen/Ruedebusch; 10. R J R Racing; II. Orange Express; 12. Northern Boys Racing; 13. Brothers Racing 2; 14. Team Low Budget; 15. Royale Racing; 16. Team Terrific; 17. Team No-Rek RCG; 18. ArcJightRacing; 19. Brothers Racing; 20. Out or Pocket Racing. POINT STANDINGS: I. Team Suzuki Endurance (Suz IIOO-HS)(672.93); 2. Force Racing (Yam lOOO-HP)(450.55); 3. Moto Sport Racing (Suz 1100HS)(438.54); 4. Team SO/PEARLS (Hon 600· MP)(363.30); 5. Royale Racing (Hon 600MS)(320.18): 6. Roswell Racing (Suz 1100· HS)(308.31); 7. Arc.light Racing II (Hon 600MP)(306.87); 8. OAK Racing (Suz 1100-HS)(29I.68); 9. Knee-On Racing (Kaw 750-HS)(287.87); 10. Northern Boys Racing (Hon 6OQ-MP)(275.27); II. Motion Systems (Kaw 750-HP)(268.31); 12. Virginia Breeze Racing (Yam IOOO-HS)(2i9.69); 13. AJ-elight Racing (Hon 6OO-MP)(238.23); 14. Anduson/ Jan:line (Suz 750-HP)(22 1.1 6): 15. TKO Racing (Yam 6OQ-MS)(202.56).