ROUND #1 – MICHELIN/WERA NATIONAL CHALLENGE SERIES WERA Motorcycle Roadracing took the show to Roebling Road Raceway outside of Savannah, GA this past weekend and had some of the best racing! Saturday was the Pirelli/Sportsman Series which saw 165 riders take to the track over the 16 eight-lap sprints. Results for all the Sportsman Races are on the web site at www.wera.com.
Sunday was Round #1 of the Michelin/WERA National Challenge Series. Riders from across the US showed up to compete for those coveted podiums. The day began with the Open Superstock Race, where three riders fought for the win. Reese Wacker on his #78 Suzuki 1000 came out on top with Chris Steele on his Kawasaki 1000 only 0.717 behind and then Francois Dumas on his BMW 1000 rounded out the podium 0.032 behind second. Jesse James on his Honda 1000 took the Novice win. Palmer Kling took the F3 win on his Moriwaki 250. Robert Woodworth on his Yamaha 600 took Novice wins in 600 Superstock, 750 Superstock, 600 Superbike and 750 Superbike.
Californian Tucker Lancaster on his Yamaha 600 took the win in the 600 Superstock Expert, with Jimmy Merck on his Suzuki 600 second and young gun Gavin Elstad on his Yamaha 600 took 3rd. Matt Carr on his Ducati 1198 took the win in Heavyweight Twins Superbike Expert with Giovanni Rojas taking second on his Triumph 675 and rounding out the podium Scott Brown on his KTM 1190. Lancaster continued with his winning ways in the 750 Superstock Expert Class followed by Nick McFadden on his Suzuki 600 and then Merck took third. Merck swapped places with Lancaster in the 600 Superbike taking his Suzuki to first, Lancaster on his Yamaha 600 only 0.497 behind and Rojas came in third.
Xavier Zayat back from racing over the pond took the win in Lightweight Superstock Expert on his Suzuki 650 with Darrell Emerson behind him 0.196 on his Suzuki 650 and third went to Garry Owen on his Suzuki 650. The Novice winner was Robert Rosacker on his Suzuki 650. 750 Superbike Expert saw Merck take the win over Joe Melendez on his Suzuki 600 followed by Nathan McDonald on his Yamaha 600. Formula 2 Expert was Kling on his Moriwaki 250 followed by Zayat on his Suzuki 650 and Emerson on his Suzuki 650. Rosacker took the Novice win on his Suzuki 650. The premier WERA Superbike race saw the closest action on the 2.2 mile Roebling Circuit with Wacker, Tim Hunt on his Suzuki 1000 and Tim Bemisderfer on his Suzuki 1000 battling for the win – throw in Sean Dwyer on his Suzuki 1000 and Luie Zendejas on his Suzuki 1000 and you get a gap from 1st to 2nd of 0.001 to 0.674 to 5th place – total excitement on the track for 8 laps with the finish being Wacker, Hunt and Bemisderfer.
On Saturday WERA Motorcycle Roadracing held a new rider’s school for 5 new riders and two lucky riders got a surprise when they received a race credit from fellow racer Chris Broome. Micah Barron and Aaron Strohm were the lucky winners!
Round #2 of the Michelin/WERA National Challenge Series moves on to Talladega Gran Prix in Alabama on April 26/27/28 along with Round #1 of the WERA National Endurance Series.
WERA Motorcycle Roadracing was founded in 1973 and remains the foremost place to develop talent in the sport of motorcycle Roadracing. The legacy of Pro riders on a National and World level is legendary. All events are run by WERA Motorcycle Roadracing and they go coast to coast offering entry level racing with the Pirelli/WERA Sportsman Series as well as a Pro-Am Series with the Michelin/WERA National Challenge Series which includes the only traveling Endurance Series in the US using the World Endurance platform for most of the rules.
For further information contact WERA Motorcycle Roadracing or check the web site at www.wera.com or visit www.ridersdiscount.com.