Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Beth Wyse

Tray Batey and John Jacobi rode the Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R1000 to a three-lap margin of victory in the Dunlop/WERA National Endurance Series 4-hour at Talladega Gran Prix Raceway Saturday. The race marked the halfway point of the season, and Vesrah has won every round so far.

Mark Crozier and Jeff Walker gave Army of Darkness the team’s fifth consecutive Mediumweight Superbike win, finishing second overall on a Suzuki GSX-R600.

George Gentle, Mark Edwards and Billy Ethridge finished third overall and first in Heavyweight Superstock on the newly acquired Team Xtreme II Yamaha YZF-R1. Gentle passed, then held off, Velocity Crew Racing in the final hour, finishing 17.295 seconds ahead of Velocity Crew’s Suzuki GSX-R600.

Batey took the lead at the start of the race and built a small gap, which was lost when the race was red-flagged for fluid on the track, with just 24 minutes on the race clock.

Crozier followed Batey after the restart, and eventually passed for the lead. Vesrah pitted just before the second red flag, which came 90 minutes into the race. Jacobi on the Vesrah bike took the lead on the restart, and Army of Darkness had to pit several laps later, allowing Vesrah to pull almost a lap ahead. Batey rode the final stint for Vesrah, opening the gap from one lap to three.

Bradley Champion and Nicky Wimbauer put the Team InfoTech/Valter Moto Yamaha YZF-R6 at the top of the Mediumweight Superstock podium, finishing fifth overall.

In the Lightweight Superbike class, Robert Hutchinson, Michael Killingsworth and Travis Stewart won on the Rapid Transit Suzuki SV650. The team finished 13th overall, one lap ahead of second-in-class Deals Gap Racing.

OVERALL RESULTS

1. Vesrah Suzuki (Tray Batey/John Jacobi), Heavyweight Superbike, Suz GSX-R1000, 203 laps.

2. Army of Darkness (Mark Crozier/Jeff Walker), Mediumweight Superbike, Suz GSX-R600, 200 laps.

3. Team Xtreme II (George Gentle/Mark Edwards/Billy Ethridge), Heavyweight Superstock, Yam YZF-R1, 195 laps.

4. Velocity Crew Racing (Paul Youngman/John Joseph/Kevin Perkins), Mediumweight Superbike, Suz GSX-R600, 195 laps.

5. Team InfoTech/Valter Moto (Bradley Champion/Nicky Wimbauer), Mediumweight Superstock, Yam YZF-R6, 193 laps.

6. Northern Getaway (Tim Kephart/Jamie Miller), Heavyweight Superbike, Suz GSX-R750, 192 laps.

7. Neighbor of the Beast (Melissa Berkoff/Sam Fleming/Jeff Walker), Mediumweight Superstock, Yam YZF-R6, 191 laps.

8. Team Velocity Racing (Chuck Ivey/Steven Breckenridge/Reuben Frankenfield), Mediumweight Superstock, Suz GSX-R600, 190 laps.

9. Team Chicago (Dan Schmidt/Phil Caudill), Mediumweight Superstock, Yam YZF-R6, 189 laps.

10. JLR Racing (Larry Dulaney/James Stroud/Ricky Ford), Mediumweight Superstock, Hon CBR600F4i, 189 laps.