Americans John Jacobi and Andy Deatherage, along with teammate Herman Verboven of Luxemborg, were running 13th overall and 3rd in the Superbike class, 3 hours into the 24 Hours of Liege at Spa Franchorchamps in Belgium. The trio is riding a Suzuki GSX-R750 Superbike.

At that point, the race was being led by a trio of SuperProduction Suzuki GSX-R1000s, all with a lap on the rest of the field. The first Superbike class machine was in fourth overall, one lap behind, while Jacobi and company were two laps behind.

A full 55 teams started the race. The SuperProduction class allows the use of a Superbike chassis and quick-change fittings, with a close-to-stock engine.

The start of the race was delayed by torrential rain and an oil spill from a support race, and the pace car was deployed at the beginning of the third hour following a multi-bike crash.

3rd Hour Standings
1. Mertens/Nowland/Bonhuil, SP, GSX-R1000, 51 laps
2. Christobal/Winterreiter/Bennet, SP, GSX-R1000, 51 laps
3. Linden/Jerman/Ulmann, SP, GSX-R1000, 51 laps
4. Cuzin/Donischal/Jond, SP, YZF-R1, 50 laps
5. Naveau/Aerts/Platacis, SB, RC51, 50 laps
6. Mizera/Sebileau/Lagrive, SB, YZF-R7, 50 laps
7. Lavieille/Morrison/Brian, SP, GSX-R1000, 50 laps
8. Jadoul/Balon/Kempener, SP, ZX-9R, 50 laps
9. Guyot/Scarnato/Dussauge, SP, GSX-R1000, 50 laps
10. LeGrelle/Wuyts, SS, CBR929RR, 50 laps
13. Jacobi/Deatherage/Verboven, SB, GSX-R750, 49 laps


Jacobi and Deatherage replaced Michael Barnes and Mike Ciccotto on the Herman Verboven Racing team. With both Ciccotto and Barnes currently injured, fellow Americans Jacobi and Deatherage are filling in with FIM Endurance World Championship team for the 24-hour at Spa-Francorchamps.

Barnes, the original American on the Belgium-based Superbike-class team, injured his shoulder in a fall at the Brands Hatch six-hour race June 6. Mike Ciccotto was Barnes’ teammate for the first time at Brands Hatch, but Ciccotto himself suffered injuries in a Formula USA crash at Virginia International Raceway Sunday July 1.

Knowing in advance that he would miss the July 1 World Endurance six-hour race at Nurburgring (due to conflicts with both the AMA/WERA Buell-sponsored Pro Thunder race at Portland International Raceway and his Hooters Suzuki obligations at the VIR F-USA event), Ciccotto recommended Jacobi as a replacement rider.

Jacobi, who co-rode to victory with Vesrah Suzuki in the 2000 WERA 24-hour at Willow Springs, jumped at the opportunity and nearly came away with a good result. “We were running fourth in the Superbike class until our engine blew 18 minutes before the end of the race at Nurburgring,” said Jacobi. “The team is pretty good. They run a GSX-R750 with a mild engine, nice Ohlins forks, Marchesini wheels, and good quick-change hardware. They can do a pit stop for fuel and two wheels in 18 seconds!”

With the 24-hour race at Spa looming and Ciccotto and Barnes still out of action, another rider was needed to join Jacobi on the Herman Verboven team. When Jacobi was unable to contact his former Vesrah Suzuki teammate Joe Prussiano, Jacobi made arrangements with endurance veteran “Woody” Deatherage to come to Belgium with him. Deatherage, who currently sits 18th in the AMA Superbike Championship, made arrangements from the paddock of Laguna Seca for his wife to overnight his passport to him and get a plane ticket to Miami, Florida to join Jacobi on a the plane to Belgium.

The Spa circuit, although a favorite among racers in good conditions despite being composed partially of public roads, can be intimidating at night. “The guys on the team,” said Jacobi. “They said that it gets pitch black at night because there are no lights and the track runs through the Ardennes Forest. So I called up Mark Junge and the team bought the same Baja Designs lighting system that we used to win the Willow 24-hour race for us to use at Spa.”

“The guys also told me that it rained for 23 of the 24 hours there last year. So I might get to do some rain riding, which I like pretty well,” added Jacobi. Jacobi, who currently rides for WERA National Endurance Heavyweight Superstock class leader Loudoun Motorsports, has several strong race finishes in the rain but few stronger than his 10th-place finish in the wet AMA Superbike race at Road America on his 750cc Supersport bike.

In other FIM World Endurance news, Wim Motors won the Superbike class in the Nurburgring six-hour July 1 and took a commanding, 40-point lead in the FIM Endurance World Championship standings. Second in the Superbike class at Nurburgring and second in the standings is Dap Moto91. Factory-supported Elf Honda did not race at Nurburgring and slipped to third in the Championship. All of the top three Superbike teams are riding Honda RC51s. Herman Verboven Racing is fourth in the point standings.

FIM Endurance World Championship Standings (after 4 rounds of 8 rounds):

1. Wim Motors Racing, Honda RC51, 92 points
2. Team Dap Moto91, Honda RC51, 52 points
3. Honda Elf, Honda RC51, 50 points
4. Herman Verboven Racing, Suzuki GSX-R750, 49 points
5. TIE, Ducateam, Ducati 996 / Team Free Bike Performance, Yamaha YZF-R7, 40 points

In a strange twist, only teams and riders in the Superbike class are eligible for the FIM Endurance World Championship title even though Suzuki GSX-R1000-mounted SuperProduction class endurance teams are taking most of the overall endurance race wins.

SuperProduction GSX-R1000-mounted GMT94 took the overall win at Nurburgring. SuperProduction team Zongshen Team took second overall and in class in Germany with another GSX-R1000 team, Schaefer Mo Devil Racing Team, finishing third overall. SuperProduction leaders Castrol Suzuki finished sixth in class and seventh overall.

World Championship leaders Wim Motors actually finished sixth overall in the six-hour race at Nurburgring.

SuperProduction Endurance World Cup (after 4 rounds of 8 rounds):

1. Suzuki Castrol Team, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 100 points
2. GMT94, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 97 points
3. Zongshen Team, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 67 points
4. Endurance Moto, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 41 points
5. Motomax-Derbi, Suzuki GSX-R1000, 39 points

Police Nationale won the StockSport class on a Kawasaki ZX-9R and have a huge points lead in their class.

StockSport Endurance Championship (after 4 of 8 rounds):

1. Police Nationale, Kawasaki ZX-9R, 110 points
2. PS-Schlesinger Endurance, Yamaha YZF-R1, 48 points
3. Octopus/MPC, Yamaha YZF-R1, 40 points

In qualifying for the Spa 24-hours, Suzuki GSX-R1000s were 1-2-3.

When the best qualifying lap times of Stephane Mertens, Warwick Nowland, and Bruno Bonhull were averaged, Zong Shen No. 2 earned the pole position in qualifying, the second straight pole position for team on a SuperProduction Suzuki GSX-R1000.

Castrol Suzuki rider Brian Morrison put in the fastest overall lap of qualifying with a 2:30.171 on his team’s SuperProduction Suzuki GSX-R1000, but the average time of Castrol Suzuki’s three riders put them second on the grid for the race. The third-fastest qualifier was GMT94 on yet another SuperProduction Suzuki GSX-R1000.

The fastest-qualifying Superbike class team was fourth-fastest Freebike on a Yamaha YZF-R7. Endurance World Championship leaders Wim Motors qualified seventh-fastest on their Honda RC51.

Deatherage and Jacobi helped Verboven qualify 18th overall and fifth in the Superbike class on their Pirelli-equipped Suzuki GSX-R750. Deatherage posted the fastest time for the Herman Verboven Racing team at 2:37.725.

Police Nationale was the fastest qualifier from the StockSport class on a Kawasaki ZX-9R, 11th-fastest overall.

Qualifying was held in the dry, but it poured rain during night practice.