Anthony and Lancaster Win Races At Michelin/WERA National Challenge Sprints During Cycle Jam 2013
David Anthony dominated his races and Tucker Lancaster grabbed four podiums in the Michelin/WERA National Challenge Series sprints Sunday, June 9, 2013, on the final day of WERA’s Cycle Jam event at Road Atlanta. The weekend wrapped up with large sprint grids, 80-degree temperatures, high humidity and the threat of a storm front moving in. Fingers were crossed that the race day would finish before the weather broke, but even the threatening skies didn’t deter the competitors from putting forth their very best efforts, and great racing action ensued.
Anthony took command in the very first race of the day, A Superstock Expert, turning a blazing fastest lap of 1:28.522 with his Dunlop-shod Suzuki GSX-R1000. He outpaced the field, crossing the line for the win over 3 seconds ahead second place.
The next race for Anthony was Sunday’s headline race, WERA Superbike, the last race of the day. The race was shortened to 8 laps due to storm cells in the area creating rain delays earlier in the race schedule. Conditions were intermediate to slick in spots, and traction was definitely compromised. As the 18 bike grid lined up under a darkening sky, everyone was hoping this race would finish before the downpour began. The green flag dropped, and Anthony took off with Sean Dwyer aboard his Dunlop-shod Suzuki GSX-R1000 hot on his tail. Luis Zendejas, also riding a Suzuki GSX-R1000, trailed behind Dwyer in third. Anthony held Dwyer off, but Dwyer stayed with him, and their ferocious momentum opened up a 16 second gap over the rest of the pack. Zendejas stayed in third, but with no one pushing him, backed off the pace a little, dropping to 8 seconds behind Dwyer. Traction was sketchy and a few competitors pulled off early. Despite the conditions, Anthony turned an amazing fastest lap of 1:29.020 on lap 7, and Dwyer stayed with him, also turning an impressive fastest lap on lap 7 of 1:30.234. However, Anthony was not to be denied – he held a .621 second lead over Dwyer to the checkers for the win. Dwyer and Zendejas crossed next for second and third, with Reese Wacker, Chris Steele, James Rispoli, Oleg Pianykh, Brian Mullins, Colin Gast, and Jon Foy rounded out the top ten.
Young Tucker Lancaster made his mark on the middleweight grids with two wins in 600 Superstock, 750 Superbike, and second place finishes in 600 Superbike, 750 Superstock, aboard his Pirelli-shod Yamaha YZF-R6. 750 Superbike was shortened to 3 laps because of the weather, so Lancaster jumped out to an early lead, turning a fastest lap of 1:33.093 on lap 2 of the race, and holding a very thin margin of .351 seconds over Jimmey Merck for the win.
Lancaster, traveling from northern California for this event, said this: “It was my first time at this track, and I’m glad I got some seat time in the endurance race to learn it. The competition level was really high, and I had a lot of fun racing. Jon Tyus From CTR SUspension helped get the bike dialed in, and it felt gerat. I’m very happy with my results and my effort. I’d like to thank my sponsors for all their help and support: Pirelli tires, Chris and Corey at CT Racing, Leon from Competition Motorsports South, Jason Pridmore’s Star School, Mike Pascarella, Motorex, EDR Performance, Pacific Track Time, Classic Powder Coating, Cortech, Shoei, FMF, Full Spectrum batteries, K-tech Suspension, Zero Gravity, The Lighting Geek, Drippin’ Wet, GB Racing, and Rider’s Discount.”
Sunday also wrapped up WERA’s weekend fund raising event for the Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charity. Charity laps for $5.00 per person were done on both Saturday and Sunday at lunch time, and a silent auction raised helped to raise over $2000 dollars for donation in memory of race director Ed Bruner’s nephew.
WERA’s CEO Evelyne Clark said, “The 2013 WERA Cycle Jam at Road Atlanta was met with some weather challenges, yet it turned out to be one of the most awesome Cycle Jam’s in recent memory! We had over 300 riders between the Series, and our Vintage Riders had the biggest challenge on Thursday with on and off rains. 22 Endurance teams ran a great 6 hour race keeping competition close and putting on a really good show. Saturday’s Pirelli/WERA Sprint riders saw a perfect day from Mother Nature and the racing was intense! Sunday the Michelin/WERA National riders gave us a good show when the talent of the WERA Racers was in full view. It was such a safe weekend with only one ambulance transport, and he was back by the end of the day! Thank you to our great sponsors, our great riders for putting on the show for, and their fans in the infield. Thank you also to all the Corner Workers and Officials who gave their time to make WERA such a great sanctioning body. Road Atlanta needs a big shout out as a great facility that offers challenges to the riders and is still a safe circuit. We hope to see everyone again in 2014!”
For a complete list of results and standings, please visit the website: www.wera.com. The next Michelin/WERA Challenge Series sprints will be a Double-Header event at Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, UT, on July 27-28, 2013.
SPRINT RESULTS
OPEN SUPERSTOCK EXPERT 1. David Anthony (Suz GSX-R1000) 2. Sean Dwyer (Suz GSX-R1000) 3. Francois Dumas (BMW S1000RR) 4. Luis Zendejas (Suz GSX-R1000) 5. Bobby Stoker (Suz GSX-R1000) 6. Mark C. Junge (Suz GSX-R1000)
OPEN SUPERSTOCK NOVICE 1. Andrew Fahsholtz (Yam YZF-R1) 2. Robert Woodworth (Hon CBR600RR) 3. Chris King (Suz GSX-R750) 4. Jesse James (Hon CBR1000RR) 5. Peter Nicolosi (Kaw ZX-10R) 6. Matt Burdett (Suz GSX-R750)
HEAVYWEIGHT TWINS SUPERBIKE EXPERT 1. Joel Spalding (Duc 1199) 2. Aaron Borello (KTM 1190) 3. Chad Lintner (Duc 848) 4. Alex Rata (Tri Daytona 675) 5. Brian Mullins (Buell 1125) 6. Ben Napier (Duc 848)
HEAVYWEIGHT TWINS SUPERBIKE NOVICE 1. Caleb N. Farrell (Duc 848) 2. Stephen Tsotsoros (Buell 1125) 3. Michael L. Sanders (Tri Daytona 675)
600 SUPERSTOCK NOVICE 1. Robert Woodworth (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Ryan Dickerson (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Gillis Glidewell (Yam YZF-R6) 4. Brian Ray (Suz GSX-R600) 5. Heather Szymanik (Hon CBR600RR) 6. Dominiquie Green (Suz GSX-R600)
600 SUPERSTOCK EXPERT 1. Tucker Lancaster (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Jimmy Merck (Suz GSX-R600) 3. Curtis Murray (Suz GSX-R600) 4. Giovanni Rojas (Tri Daytona 675) 5. Ian F. Tetrick (Kaw ZX-6R) 6. Nick McFadden (Suz GSX-R600)
KENNY ANDERSON FORMULA 3 1. Palmer Kling (Mor MD250H) 2. Caleb Smith (Mor MD250H) 3. Matthew Wallace (Hon RS125) 4. Nicholas Swensgard (Mor MD250H)
750 SUPERSTOCK EXPERT 1. Jimmy Merck (Suz GSX-R600) 2. Tucker Lancaster (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Nick McFadden (Suz GSX-R600) 4. Gavin Estad (Yam YZF-R6) 5. Patrick Jernigan (Suz GSX-R750) 6. Thiago Leal (Yam YZF-R6)
750 SUPERSTOCK NOVICE 1. Robert Woodworth (Hon CBR600RR) 2. Brian Ray (Suz GSX-R600) 3. Matt Burdett (Suz GSX-R750) 4. Heather Szymanik (Hon CBR600RR) 5. James W. Stewart (Suz GSX-R750) 6. Jessica Butel (Yam YZF-R6)
LIGHTWEIGHT TWINS SUPERSTOCK EXPERT 1. C. Brian Kcraget (Suz SV650) 2. Christian Crosslin (Suz SV650) 3. Darrell Emerson (Suz SV650) 4. Ray Hofman (Suz SV650) 5. Kevin Boda (Suz SV650)
LIGHTWEIGHT TWINS SUPERSTOCK NOVICE 1. C. Jordan Strange (Suz SV650) 2. William Coats (Suz SV650) 3. Joe Barton (Suz SV650)
600 SUPERBIKE EXPERT 1. James Rispoli (Suz GSX-R600) 2. Tucker Lancaster (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Jimmy Merck (Suz GSX-R600) 4. Tim Hunt (Suz GSX-R600) 5. Curtis Murray (Suz GSX-R600) 6. Giovanni Rojas (Tri Daytona 675)
600 SUPERBIKE NOVICE 1. Robert Woodworth (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Caleb N. Farrell (Duc 848) 3. Ryan Dickerson (Yam YZF-R6) 4. Brian Ray (Suz GSX-R600) 5. Heather Szymanik (Hon CBR600RR) 6. Dominiquie Green (Suz GSX-R600)
FORMULA 2 EXPERT 1. C. Brian Kcraget (Suz SV650) 2. Ray Hofman (Suz SV650) 3. Palmer Kling (Suz SV650) 4. David Stauffer (Suz SV650) 5. Darrell Emerson (Suz SV650) 6. Kevin Boda (Suz SV650)
FORMULA 2 NOVICE 1. C. Jordan Strange (Suz SV650) 2. William Coats (Suz SV650) 3. Matthew Wallace (Hon RS125) 4. Nicholas Swensgard (Mor MD250H) 5. Joe Barton (Suz SV650)
750 SUPERBIKE EXPERT 1. Tucker Lancaster (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Jimmy Merck (Suz GSX-R600) 3. Patrick Jernigan (Suz GSX-R750) 4. Christian Crosslin (Suz GSX-R600) 5. Brian Mullins (Buell 1125)
750 SUPERBIKE NOVICE 1. Robert Woodworth (Hon CBR600RR) 2. Chris King (Suz GSX-R750) 3. Kendrick Kirk (Suz GSX-R750) 4. Jessica Butel (Yam YZF-R6) 5. Matt Burdett (Suz GSX-R750) 6. James W. Stewart (Suz GSX-R750)
WERA SUPERBIKE EXPERT 1. David Anthony (Suz GSX-R1000) 2. Sean Dwyer (Suz GSX-R1000) 3. Luis Zendejas (Suz GSX-R1000) 4. Reese Wacker (Suz GSX-R1000) 5. Chris Steele (Kaw ZX-10R) 6. James Rispoli (Suz GSX-R600)