WERA National Challenge Series: Stefano Mesa Wins Michelin/WERA Superbike Race At VIR

WERA National Challenge Series: Stefano Mesa Wins Michelin/WERA Superbike Race At VIR

© 2018, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

WERA Motorcycle Roadracing AT VIR RE-CAP!

On Sunday, August 5th the track was dry and the temperature was hot – the racing was intense! The Pirelli/WERA National Challenge Series combined with the WERA Sportsman/Vintage Classes ran 14 Races putting on a great show for everyone!

The 600 Superbike Race kicked off the day with 28 riders set to grid and 26 taking the grid – #484 Joseph Giannotto brought his Yamaha 600 out and took the top of the podium with #131 Charles Ivey on his Yamaha 600 taking 2nd and #710 Ryan Christian on his Yamaha 600 rounding out the top three. Then is was the 600 Superbike Novices taking the track with #74 Doug Royce on his Yamaha 600 taking 1st place followed by #275 Robert Noe on his Yamaha 600 with #11 Dean Bosch taking 3rd on his Yamaha 600. The Formula 1 Race saw #99 Geoff May on his Kawasaki 1000 come out on top followed by 0.058 seconds #37 Stefano Mesa on his Kawasaki 1000 over #33 Samuel Tyler Smathers on his Kawasaki 1000. Novice riders were #265 Joshua Goodrich on his BMW 10000 followed by #164 Dan Hawkins on his Yamaha 1000 and #474 Zachary Parker on his Yamaha 1000. The V8 riders have #371 John Hvizdak on his Kawasaki 1000 followed by #28 Randy Edwards on his Suzuki 750 with #38 James Roth on his Suzuki 600.

The Lightweight Twins SS, D Superbike and E Superstock Race saw returning rider #60 Bradley Champion on his Suzuki 650 take the win followed by #621 Chris Bays on his Suzuki 650 and #315 David Stauffer on his Suzuki 650 for the Lightweight Twins SS Experts and #200 William Nash followed by #84 Matt Spicer both on Suzuki 650 taking the Novice podium. D Superbike Expert went to #144 Argee Cardenas with the Novice win going to #31 Kayla Yaakov both on Hondas, Cardenas a 125 and Yaakov a 250. The E Superstock finish saw #122 Blake Davis on his Yamaha R3 take the win followed by #270 Ryan Snooks on his Kawasaki 300 then #124 Heather Hunter on her Yamaha R3. Novices saw #15 Isiah DeBusk take the win on his Yamaha R3 followed by #312 Gus Rodio on his Kawasaki 300 and #931 Joseph Limandri, Jr. on his Kawasaki 300.

Up next were the 750 Superbike Expert and Novices joined by the V7 HWT riders. The Expert win went to #710 Ryan Christain followed by #20 CJ LaRoche then #111 Steven Dietz all on Yamaha 600 machines. The Novice win went to #74 Doug Royce followed by #11 Dean Bosch both on Yamaha 600s and #63 Nathan Seethaler on his Suzuki 600. V7 HWT winner was #127 James J. Bonner on his Yamaha 250 followed by #996 Greg Reisinger on his Yamaha 250 with #32 Jeff Johnson on his Yamaha 600. The Lightweight Twins Superbike top three was a repeat of the Superstock Race with Champion, Bays and Stauffer. This time Yaakov took the win with Spicer and Nash rounding out the Novice Podium in the Lightweight Twins SB Novice Class. D Superstock Expert winner was #122 Davis followed by #124 Szymanik and #15 DeBusk with #931 LiMandri, Jr. and #312 Rodio taking the Novice Podim. V 6 Lightweight winner was #9 Mark Morrow.

The Michelin/WERA Superbike Race was next on tap and this time #37 Mesa got the better of #99 May with #33 Smathers rounding out the top three all on their 1000 Kawasakis. Novice saw #307 Jon Satori take the top honors followed by #164 Hawkins and #474 Parker all on Yamaha 1000s.

Clubman with F SS, V4, V3 and 500GP came up next. Expert #122 Davis with #144 Cardenas only 0.369 behind and then #9 Morrow took the Clubman Expert Podium. Noivice was #31 Yaakov over #931 LiMandri, Jr. then #15 DeBusk. FSS winner was #73 Kevin Netto on a Honda 250 with V3 going to #507 Richard Oldakowski on his Yamaha 500 and 500GP was #795 Jack Houman on his Honda 335. The big bikes came next with Open Superstock repeating the Kawasaki sweep with #37 Mesa, #99 May and #33 Smathers. Novice top three were #307 Satori, then #266 Josh Goodrich with #164 Hawkins taking 3rd.

Heavyweight Twins saw #10 Brian Healea on his Duc 1299 take the win with #245 James Eberhart on his Duc 1199 in second and #117 Stephen Tsotsoros on a borrowed Suzuki 650 taking 3rd.. Novice win went to #31 Yaakov with #101 Craig Wickersham on his Tri 675 2nd. V7 Mediumweight winner was #32 Johnson with #942 Dann Clark on his Honda 600 taking 2nd.

600 Superstock Expert had #683 Ryan Jones on his Kawasaki 600 take the win followed by #131 Ivey then#710 Christian on their Yamaha 600s. The Novice win went to #38 Steven Roth followed by #275 Robert Noe with #63 Steethaler taking third Formula 2 Expert was #315 Stauffer followed by #592 Jon Crawford then #728 Jerry Reeves all on Suzuki 650s. Novice saw #31 Yaakov takes another win followed by #74 Travis Hankey on his Mor 250. V5 went to #9 Morrow on his Yamaha 400. Over 40 Senior Superbike Heavyweight and Mediumweight was next with #816 John Dunham on his Yamaha 1000 followed by #678 Steven Zoumaras on his Kawasaki 1000 with #245 Eberhart on the Heavyweight Expert podium. Novice was #413 Mike Kuhno on his Yamaha 1000 followed by #418 Eli Narramore on a BMW 1000 and then #142 Ali Vaughn on another Yamaha 1000. Mediumweight Expert saw #174 William Posse on his Yamaha 600 with #760 Timothy Wilson on his Kawasaki 600 with #28 Ron Perel on his Yamaha 600 taking the Novice podiums Novice Mediumweight was #282 Lee Johnson on a Suzuki 600 followed by #421 Patrick McMillan on a Kawasaki 600 with #27 Edwin Cosme on his Yamaha 600 taking 3rd.

The final race of the day – 750 Superstock and V8MW took the track and #20 LaRoche took the Expert win followed by #62 Brandon Salyer on a Yamaha 600 and #666 Brian Grossman on his Yamaha taking 3rd. Novice saw #74 Royce on top #63 Seethaler next with #252 Andrew Allen on his Yamaha 600 in 3rd. The V8MWT win went to #38 Roth on his Suzuki 600.

WERA Motorcycle Roadracing was founded in 1973 and remains the foremost place to develop talent in the sport of motorcycle Roadracing. The legacy of Pro riders on a National and World level is legendary. All events are run by WERA Motorcycle Roadracing with a co-sanction by the AMA and they go coast to coast offering entry level racing with the WERA Sportsman Series as well as a Pro-Am Series with the WERA National Challenge Series, WERA Motorcycle Roadracing also offer Vintage Racing and limited Endurance Racing with Track Day Partners N2 and Sportbike Track Time. WERA Motorcycle Roadracing was voted the 2017 AMA Track Organizer of the Year.

For more information on WERA Motorcycle Roadracing please check out our web site at wera.com! 

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