Xavier Zayat, an 18-year-old from New York, won the Yamaha bLU cRU R3 Cup Expert race Sunday at the 45th WERA Grand Nationals Finals at Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Alabama.
Zayat fought with Chris Parrish, Joshua Jovi, Damian Jigalov, Ashton Yates, Nathan McDonald and Toby Khamsouk throughout the eight-lap, winner-take-all race. On the final lap, Zayat was able to take the lead and get his Pirelli-shod RBoM Racing YZF-R3 across the finish line 0.068 second ahead of 40-year-old veteran Parrish and his YamahaR3Racing.com machine. Jovi, age 17, earned the final podium position with third place on his Bridgestone-backed YZF-R3.
After the race, Zayat’s motor was protested by another competitor in the field. WERA and Yamaha officials confiscated Zayat’s camshafts so they could be compared with stock parts at Yamaha’s facilities in Georgia. As a result of the protest, WERA and Yamaha decided not to hold a winner’s circle ceremony or give out any prizes, including the grand prize of a brand new 2017 Yamaha YZF-R6, to the Experts.
In the Novice race, K&N Yamaha’s Erica Muse won over runner-up Damon Luchette and Nicole Karamichael. For taking first place in the Novice race Muse won a large Yamaha pop-up canopy, Luchette won a $500 voucher for Yamaha parts and accessories, and Karamichael won a $250 voucher for Yamaha parts and accessories.
45th WERA Grand National Finals
Yamaha bLU cRU R3 Cup
Barber Motorsports Park
Birmingham, Alabama
November 5, 2017
Provisional Expert Race Results (all on Yamaha YZF-R3s):
1. Xavier Zayat, 8 laps, Best Lap Time 1:39.784
2. Chris Parrish, -0.068 second, 1:39.564
3. Joshua Jovi, -0.549, 1:39.683
4. Damian Jigalov, -0.582, 1:39.770
5. Ashton Yates, -0.726, 1:40.291
6. Nathan McDonald, -1.512 seconds, 1:39.966
7. Toby Khamsouk, -5.968, 1:40.443
8. Tyler Freeman, -30.450, 1:43.935
9. Joseph Blasius, -30.476, 1:43.280
10. Blake Davis, -62.635, 1:47.543
11. Samuel Wang, -73.822, 1:48.584
Provisional Novice Race Results (all on Yamaha YZF-R3s):
1. Erica Muse, 8 laps, Best Lap Time 1:46.783
2. Damon Luchette, -7.396 seconds, 1:46.669
3. Nicole Karamichael, -54.751, 1:53.396
4. Hadley Roche, -1 lap, 1:53.914
5. Heather Hunter, -1 lap, 1:55.973
6. Steven V. Thurlo, Jr., -1 lap, 2:01.087