Heckles Fastest at VIR
CCS MidAtlantic/SE and ASRA Team Challenge
VIRginia International Raceway – Alton, VA
September 14-15, 2019
by Lisa Theobald
Greg Melka was the winningest racer of the two day Championship Cup Series Featuring the AMA Sanctioned ASRA Team Challenge Presented by Michelin Tire race weekend at Virginia International Raceway. Melka won five of his classes on board his pair of Yamaha YZF-R6’s, finishing first in the GTU, Heavyweight Supersport, Middleweight Grand Prix races on Saturday. He was back out front on Sunday to claim additional victories in the Middleweight Superbike, and Heavyweight Superbike races.
Malka claimed a personal best lap time of 1:28.9 during the Middleweight Superbike race which he credited to his new Michelin Power Performance tires. He is sponsored by Michelin, ProFlow, Arai, EBC, and JRI Suspension.
Mark Heckles was the second winningest rider of the event with four first place finishes, including the hotly contested Unlimited Grand Prix race. He dominated the unlimited classes with his Ryders Alley NYC Yamaha YZF-R1, taking early leads in all four of his races, winning two-for-two each day. On Saturday, Heckles nabbed the holeshot lead in the GTO race and never looked back, taking his first win of the event with Gregory Ludt and Paul Scalph rounding off the podium. Heckles was back out front again later in the day during the Unlimited Supersport race, where he ran the fastest lap of the weekend with a 1:27.446 during lap three. He went on to take his second podium of the weekend with Ludt finishing second and William Gawler third.
Sunday afternoon, Heckles followed Ryan Jones through the first several corners of the Unlimited Grand Prix race before taking over the lead and another victory with Jones finishing second and Scalph third. Heckles’ final win of the weekend was during the Unlimited Superbike race with yet another early lead and a gap over the rest of the field. Scalph and Ludt rounded off the top three. Heckles thanked Donny Kelley for all his help during the event as well as Dunlop, Ryders Alley, Arai, SBS, and Woodcraft Technologies.
Team J&J Farrell won both the Overall and GTU classes of the ASRA Team Challenge endurance race on Sunday afternoon, with Jason Farrell and Jessica Capizzi on board the Farrell Performance Kawasaki ZX-6R. J&J Farrell was the first of only three teams to complete all 89 laps of the race. They were followed by Team Jinba Ittai Motorsport and Team Grease Monkey, both in the GTO class. The race was completed in 2.75 hours with one delay for a red flag incident. J&J Farrell led the majority of the race, after taking over the front spot from Lloyd Bayley, riding solo on his LB Sports BMW S1000RR. Bayley was knocked back one lap after the restart with a brief mechanical issue that caused his machine to shut off.
Team Jinba Ittai Motorsport won the GTO class with Joel Lenk on board his Yamaha YZF-R1. And, Team Racing 101 won the GTL class with Doug Stufflebeam and Mark Evry on a Ducati 1100.
The next event scheduled for the CCS MidAtlantic, SE, and ASRA Team Challenge is the 36th Annual Race of Champions at Daytona International Speedway October 18-20th. The event will include ASRA Sprint race finals and as well as CCS National Championship Sprints for all CCS regions.
Full race results, lap times, points standings and remaining 2019 season schedules for the Championship Cup Series, ASRA sprint races, and ASRA Team Challenge Series are available online at: www.ccsracing.us.
RESULTS:
ASRA TEAM CHALLENGE COMBINED OVERALL:
1. J&J Farrell (Kaw ZX-6R)
2. Jinba Ittai Motorsport (Yam YZF-R1)
3. Grease Monkey (BMW S1000RR)
4. LB Sports (BMW S1000RR)
5. Fast Lane Racing (Kaw ZX-6R)
6. Barry Motorsports (BMW S1000RR)
ASRA TEAM CHALLENGE COMBINED GTO:
1. Jinba Itai Motorsport (Yam YZF-R1)
2. Grease Monkey (BMW S1000RR)
3. LB Sports (BMW S1000RR)
4. Barry Motorsports (BMW S1000RR)
5. Slopoke Rodriguez (Kaw ZX-10R)
6. Gawler Motorsports (Suz GSX-R1000)
ASRA TEAM CHALLENGE COMBINED GTU:
1. J&J Farrell (Kaw ZX-6R)
2. Fast Lane Racing (Kaw ZX-6R)
3. Birch Racing/B&D (Suz GSX-R600)
4. Hazardous Racing (Yam YZF-R6)
5. National Granite (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Not All Who Wander (Yam YZF-R6)
ASRA TEAM CHALLENGE COMBINED GTL:
1. Racing 101 (Duc 1100)
2. Two Man Group (Suz SV650)
3. 1-833-CJKNOWS (Duc 1100)
4. Ready-to-Rip (Suz SV650)
5. LWT 61Hadcore (Suz SV650)
EXPERT UNLIMITED GRAND PRIX:
1. Mark Heckles (Yam YZF-R1)
2. Ryan Jones (BMW S1000RR)
3. Paul Scalph (Yam YZF-R1)
4. Gregory Ludt (BMW S1000RR)
5. Ricky Clemons (Yam YZF-R1)
6. Vincent Spivey (Yam YZF-R1)
7. Matt DiLorenzo (Suz GSX-R1000)
8. Antonio Rodriguez (Kaw ZX-10R)
9. Lloyd Bayley (BMW S1000RR)