ASRA Team Challenge Presented by Michelin Tire
LB Sports Victorious in Wet ASRA Team Challenge at 94th Loudon Classic
Loudon, NH – The American Sportbike Racing Association Team Challenge Series Presented by Michelin Tire made the trek to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the 94th Loudon Classic and series regulars made their mark on the prestigious event despite dealing with nearly constant rain from the start. After a red flag stopped the race just 10 laps into the two hour event, LB Sports (Lloyd Bayley) put his Kawasaki ZX-10R out front and slowly inched away from the field to secure the Overall Class win over Jinba Ittai (Joel Lenk) on a Yamaha YZF-R1 by one lap in the red flag shortened event. In third position was the Yamaha YZF-R1 of Barry Motorsports (James Barry) just 14.226 seconds behind Jinba Ittai (2016 GTU National Champions). The top three overall were also the top three in the GTO Class, unusual for the tight NHMS road course especially under wet conditions. The final red flag that stopped the event at the 1 hour and 47 minute mark when the GRRRIP Racing entry crashed in turn 12 leaving oil and debris on the race course.
In the GTU class, the top spot went to National Granite (Gene Buonomo, Norman Pomerleau) on their Yamaha YZF-R6 besting the Holdmybeer Racing Team (Daniel Weems, Anthony Esposito, Michael Vallante, Pedro Gondres) by four laps after both teams took turns with the overall lead early in the contest before HoldmyBeer crashed on lap 10. The team repaired their YZF-R6 but the damage was done as National Granite cruised to the checkered flag and the GTU win.
Another great battle in the GTL class, it was GRRRIP Racing (Steven Parolin) on his Suzuki SV650 with a one-lap victory over the Suzuki SV560 of the 2017 GTL Championship leader Fairfax Cycles Racing (Jason Zelibor, Xavier Zayat). The final machine on the podium was the third place Kawasaki Ninja 300 of Northern Racing (Phillip O’Donnell, Conn McQuin, Kevin Dunday). Even though the GRRRIP Racing machine caused the final red flag, the one-lap lead secured the first ASRA Team Challenge Class win for the team.
After this win, LB Sports takes the Overall Championship lead by one point over Jinba Ittai with five rounds left in the series. By their second place finish, Jinba Ittai moves into a tie with TSE/Wolfpack Racing for the GTO Championship, while National Granite moved into first place GTU by 21 points over TSE Racing. With a commanding 65 point lead in the GTL championship, Fairfax Cycles Racing is in position to take its first National Team Challenge Championship.
The next stop for the ASRA Team Challenge Presented by Michelin Tire is Blackhawk Farms Raceway on July 22, 2017. For more information visit www.ASRAracing.com and follow the links or call 817-246-1127 (9 to 5 Central Time Monday through Thursday).
The American Sportbike Racing Association (ASRA) is the parent organization to the Championship Cup Series (CCS), the largest amateur motorcycle road racing organization in the United States issuing over 2800 licenses per year. ASRA promotes eight AMA sanctioned Sprint Series and eight AMA sanctioned Team Challenge road racing events for 2017. The CCS Series sanctions 40 events at popular tracks around the United States, including Daytona International Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Road America, New Jersey Motorsports Park and Virginia International Raceway among other fine venues. In 2016 ASRA and CCS will provide riders with access to millions of dollars of sponsorship awards through participation in its sanctioned events.
For more racing information visit www.asraracing.com or www.ccsracing.us or call us at (817) 246-1127. Join CCS and ASRA in the greatest road racing experience available today!