WERA Cycle Jam Draws Large Turnout, Surprise Winners
BRASELTON, Ga. The annual WERA Cycle Jam at Road Atlanta had all of the expected elements: large grids, close competition and fast lap times. Last weekend’s racing also included some surprise winners, as new faces appeared at the top of the podium.
Cycle Jam featured WERA’s Michelin National Endurance Series, Bridgestone National Challenge Series and most regions in the Pirelli Sportsman Series. During the busy three days of racing, there were 1082 sprint entries and 39 endurance teams.
It was the endurance racing that got things underway on Friday. Ben Walters and Brett Champagne battled the heat and avoided numerous on-track incidents during the six-hour race to give Brand X the overall and Heavweight Superbike win on a Suzuki GSX-R1000. It is the first win for the team, who made their series debut just four rounds ago.
Vesrah Suzuki, who led early on and has won each round prior to Cycle Jam, had a rear shock failure on their Suzuki GSX-R1000. Nevertheless, Tray Batey, Lee Acree and John Jacobi rallied to finish second overall.
Suzuki Rider Development took the Mediumweight Superbike win on a Suzuki GSX-R600. Martin Cardenas, Chad Lewin and Morgan Broadhead also claimed third overall.
The Mediumweight Superstock win went to fourth-place finisher Dalke Motorsports. The team’s Yamaha YZF-R6 was piloted by Brian Dalke, Wrenn Smith, Giovanni Rojas, Skip Salenius and Ryan Clay.
Team Moe’s/TVR overcame an early crash to win Heavyweight Superstock on a Yamaha YZF-R1. Chuck Ivey, James Stroud and Joshua Day were seventh overall. Touring Sport Ducati earned their first Lightweight Superbike win, with Pete Friedland, Frank Shockley and Brad Phillips riding a Ducati SS1000DS.
Sunday’s National Challenge Series also had some new names on the leader board. In the expert ranks, AMA privateer Cory West won 600 Superstock, while Jeff Walker became only the second winner in Heavyweight Twins Superstock this year. Tommy Aquino won 600 Superbike, and Chad Hermann led the 750 Superbike field.
Dane Westby and Robert Jensen each earned two wins: Westby won Lightweight Twins Superstock and Formula 2, while Jensen earned the top spot in Open Superstock and Formula 1. Lee Acree added a 750 Superstock win to his multiple podiums during the weekend.
In the novice division, Chris Vanover took his first Open Superstock win of the year. Russell Wikle continued to impress, winning 600 and 750 Superstock, and 600 and 750 Superbike.
Josh Reed won both Lightweight Twins and Formula 2 novice, and the Heavyweight Twins victory went to John Brasfield.
The next round for the WERA Michelin National Endurance Series and Bridgestone National Challenge Series will be at Michigan’s Grattan Raceway from July 13-15.
Complete results for the WERA Cycle Jam at Road Atlanta and more can be found at www.WERA.com.
More, from a press release issued by GoBigRacing:
Millson/Glenn 3rd in ST Class at Road America 500K
HAMILTON ON, – July 11, 2007 Go BIG Racing team-mates Ross Millson and Paul Glenn found themselves in third in the ST class after a tumultuous conclusion to the SunTrust MOTO-ST Road America 500k, held this past weekend at Elkhart Lake, Wis.
Millson started Sunday’s three-hour, Road America 500k, from the 16th row on the grid and rode like a man on a mission until the first full course yellow flag came out on lap 19. Glenn took over the controls of the No. 79 Go BIG Racing Suzuki for the next stint and rode with intensity until the next yellow flag flew, where he brought the bike into the pits for fuel and to change riders.
Hamilton, Ontario native, Millson once again resumed his place on the Go BIG Racing Suzuki and began dropping laps times and pushed hard to catch the bike in second place.
In an attempt to clear some of the slower GST bikes, Millson lost the front-end of the No. 79 machine going off the back straight and crashed at speed. Millson determined that the bike didn’t appear to be damaged too badly. Although it was missing a right side footpeg, everything else seemed to be in working order. With the help of a corner worker Millson was able to get the bike out of the gravel trap and back on track.
Millson headed back the pits for repairs, however as he sat up to brake for the last corner before pit entrance, the brake lever snapped off in his hand, leaving him no choice but to run off track and dive away from the bike.
“I was headed for a wall without brakes, so I had to bail-off the right side of the bike “¦ everything happened kinda fast, but I knew I had to get off.” said Millson, about his off-track adventure. “Paul, Blaine, Mark, and myself had the bike fixed in less than five minutes. It was truly a team effort.” he added.
Keene, Ontario native, Glenn remounted and rode tenaciously for the remaining 30 minutes in an attempt to reclaim at least a few of the lost laps. By the end of the 65 lap, three-hour endurance race, Glenn would bring home the wounded No. 79 Go BIG Racing Suzuki SV650 fourth in class.
With the race over, the team began to close shop for the weekend, however a post-race technical disqualification of a team that had originally crossed the finish line ahead of them, moved Millson and Glenn up to third in the ST class.
Go BIG Racing now sits just six points out of first in the ST Class point’s race, well within striking distance of the first place No. 9, Pair-A-Nines team.
The legendary Mosport International Raceway, is the team’s next stop for Rounds 3 & 4 of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship – Doubleheader Weekend – July 12-15, 2007. This classic roadracing circuit is Paul Glenn’s favourite track and where he also currently holds the 2006 Suzuki SV650 Cup lap record. Millson has also had some outstanding races at this famous track, most notably last year’s AM600 battle with 2006 International Motorcycle SUPERSHOW Amateur 600 Sport Bike National Champion, Karl Daigle.
More, from a press release issued by Speed Tech Racing:
Speed Tech Racing put in a great weekend during the CCS/ASRA Event at Road America. Speed Tech Racing’s riders Jason Farrell, Brian Hall, & A.J. Krause rode exceptionally well in their races. Team mechanics did an excellent job keeping the bikes from overheating and making sure the setups were spot on.
Jason Farrell put in a few good rides and even finished his best ever during an ASRA event placing an overall 2nd in the ASRA Sportbike event. Riding on teammate Sven Bugge’s 07 ZX6R during the Sportbike race he road a consistent & smooth race which kept him in the top 5 positions. Robert Jensen & Cory West unfortunately crashed out in front of Jason which moved him up 2 positions. On the post race ceremonies Jason was 3rd but after dyno results he ended up 2nd after Scott Greenwood went over in HP during the post race dyno runs. “It was a lucky finish for me for sure but I’ll take it. I’ve had my share of bad luck around this place plus this weekend I didn’t even think I would be racing. We had a few problems with the bike so I stayed back on Friday at the shop with Jake one of my mechanics and put my bike back together. I kept saying to myself during the race to just hang in there cause you never know what might happen up their. I guess a little Irish luck went my way this time!”
Jason also put in two fourth place finishes during the MWSS & MWSB races starting from the 8th row. Jason said, “I got some killer holeshots like I usually do, but these starts were awesome. I mean I hit the reaction time on the head and ended up 4th by turn 5 both races. These Kawasaki ZX6R’s just pull off the line like a rocket! Unfortunately I didn’t have anything for Jeff Wood or Cory West. Robert Jensen put a gutsy pass on me in Turn 7 and put me about off the track in the weeds. I held on and kept him in my sights but couldn’t catch back up.”
Jason also finished the ASRA Superbike race in 5th behind his teammate Brian Hall. “I had another great start and was able to pass for the lead in turn 5. I eventually got passed by Wood, West & Jensen & I had a lonely race going on by myself and I thought I had 4th place in the bag when I turn around going into the last lap I saw Brian on my tail! I tried every move I had but couldn’t shake him. It was a drag race to the line up the front straight and Brian got me by half a bike length. Hats off to him for riding hard. It made for a great last lap!”
Brian Hall had another great weekend this season by placing 1st 4 times and several top 5 finishes during the CCS races. Brian also ran the ASRA Superbike race where he finished 4th beating out his teammate Jason to the line. “I’m really getting the hang of 07 ZX6R’s this season. The bike is working great & my shoulder is feeling much better since my crash here during the AMA supersport race in June. Were still working on keeping the bikes running cooler but we were just able to finish out the weekend with the temps right on borderline hot. I’d like to thank my father & brother for keeping my bike in good shape & always ready to race. I look forward to the rest of the season. The first half of the season has been great & I look forward to the last half for sure. I like to thank Speed Tech for keeping these bikes working great all season!
A.J. Krause also ran some exceptional races this weekend at Road America on his 06 ZX6R. A.J. is a Speed Tech supported rider and has been coming through the ranks as an amateur CCS racer. A.J is a Wisconsin native out of Berlin, WI who now resides in New York, and flys out to race the Midwest CCS series this season. He won his first races last race weekend at Blackhawk Farms Raceway. He has continued the streak here at Road America with 6 first place finishes and several more top 5 finishes! A.J came into Road America not really sure about how his results might be having only raced here once before last season. “With the extra track time through NESBA prior to the races I was able to learn the track better and bring my times down which gave much more confidence in my riding” said A.J. “My team coach Jason was able to ride with me in a few sessions and showed me some lines and critique my riding. My bike was working really well and I was able to put my head down and go pretty quick. I got some great starts starting from the back and made my way to the front pretty quick. I want to thank my dad for helping me out all weekend and helping me finish well. I can’t wait for the rest of the season.”
Hopefully the team can carry on this success the rest of the season. Speed Tech will be contesting in the CCS Midwest Regional races along with several ASRA races the rest of this season. Brian Hall who has the #1 plate in CCS Midwest region is currently leading in points this season.
Team manager Scott Markel says, This weekend was a huge success for us a whole and were only getting better each race we go to. Our pits are organized and we have a great system going to keep these bikes going strong. Hats off to the whole team this weekend. Running the NESBA track time prior to the race rounds really helps us get our set up closer before the races. Hats off to Garth Cloyd for putting on a great organization in the Midwest series.
Jason Farrell is owner/racer of Speed Tech Racing of which is a division of Speed Tech Motorsports in Oshkosh, WI. Speed Tech is a high performance motorcycle shop of which tunes & repairs race & street bikes.