Chester Auto Repair, RNR Repsol, Old Glory Speed Shop Top Team Challenge Podiums

Summit Point, WV – August 28, 2011 After Round 6 of the Michelin Team Challenge the points race looked as exciting as the races themselves. In the Overall points only eight points separated Scotty and Meghan Ryan’s Stiles’ Racing Yamaha R6 from Eric Helmbach’s BMW, with another eight points back to Tim Ivanoff’s Buell. Even tighter was the GTO points chase with Helmbach and Ivanoff deadlocked at 182 points each.

As riders poured into Summit Point for Round 7 the weather on Friday was excellent. Saturday weather had its wet spots with the spillover from Hurricane Irene, but Sunday was clear again with blue skies, a steady breeze and not a drop of moisture to be found. Summit Point’s track length is 2.02 miles, so the two-hour time limited event Team challenge was set for 75 laps.

From the green flag Eric Helmbach used the power of the Chester Auto Repair BMW S1000RR to motor away from the field and led at the end of lap one by two seconds over Lloyd Bayley on the LB Athletics Suzuki 1000 and Walt Sipp aboard Tim Ivanoff’s Thrashed Bike Racing Buell 1125RR.

By lap four Scotty Ryan had driven the Stiles Racing R6 out of the field and past Sipp to grab third place. Helmbach continued to lap the circuit in the mid 1:17’s building a gap to Bayley of 7 seconds by lap five.

By lap seven Ryan was nose to tail with Bayley looking for a way to move into second position. Bayley was equally determined not to let him by. Still Ryan prodded for eight laps until Bayley’s shift linkage failed sending him off course in turn one. As Bayley nursed the Suzuki back to the pits for repairs Ryan set his sights on Helmbach. Bayley never retired from the race, electing to find parts and get back on track and score as many laps as he could muster.

By lap 19 the gap from Helmbach to Ryan was 11 seconds and from Ryan to Sipp 20 seconds. Rick Beggs was in fourth place although 19 seconds behind Sipp. This order continued for some time. On lap 30 Helmbach had lapped much of the field and caught Beggs, still running in fourth.

On lap 31 pit stops commenced with the Hawaiian Racing Suzuki 750 coming in for fuel. On lap 33 Martinez Motorsports ZX10R came in for fuel and a rider change. On lap 35 Premier Racing’s Yamaha R6 came to the pits for repairs after an agricultural incident in turn one. Also pitting on lap 35 were the leaders Helmbach and Ryan. Helmbach made quick work of his stop taking on fuel. Ryan took a little longer as his scoring transponder had to be replaced having come off sometime in the early laps of the race. Sipp also pitted for fuel on lap 35 putting all the front runners on equal footing to finish the race.

After pit stops Helmbach was on autopilot as lap after lap he guided his BMW ever closer to checkered flag.

On lap 63 Walt Sipp exited turn eight and the front end of the Buell 1125RR just kept pushing. Sipp hung on all the way to the grass trying to bring the bike’s front tire back up, but it was no use. The crash dislodged the clutch controls. Sipp brought the bike into the pits and the crew set to work replacing the parts. They would not return to the race before the final flag dropped, but had enough of a cushion to rescue third place in GTO. Team owner Tim Ivanoff remarked, “we didn’t have enough time in practice with this new bike to really determine how hard the front end setup would allow us to push. We just found the limits of front tire adhesion during the race.”

On lap 64 and at the time with a solid lock on second place Scotty Ryan’s R6 gave up the ghost. Ryan exited Turn 10 as the motor let go. Said Ryan, “I was coming up through the final corner and everything felt good, but as soon as I was fully onto the front straight the motor popped and I instinctively pulled the clutch in and got off the racing line.” It was not readily apparent from the debris in the belly pan what the cause of the failure might be, but there were precious few piston parts to be found. Said team chief Marc Stiles, “we’re still leading the (GTU) class points, but this may put the overall championship out of reach for us unless something happens to Eric.”

The exit of Ryan’s R6 moved RNR Racing’s Rick Begg’s up to the number two overall podium spot and first in GTU. Beggs would hold onto second, finishing behind Helmbach. Calvin Martinez rounded out the Overall Podium and was second in GTO with Jim Barry on a Yamaha R1 pulling down third in GTO. Finishing behind Beggs in GTU were Daniel Dougherty on the Premier Racing R6 and Justeen Cicio on her Moto Medusa Honda CBR. In GT Lights Dennie Huff continued his winning ways topping the podium with Colin Lieby and Frank De La Renta finishing second and third repectively.

Overall 1 Eric Helmbach Chester Auto Repair BMW S1000RR 2 Rick Beggs RNR Repsol Racing Kawasaki ZX6R 3 Calvin Martinez Martinez Motorsports Kawasaki ZX10R 4 Premier Racing Daniel Dougherty Yamaha R6 5 Barry Motorsports Jim Barry Yamaha R1

GTO 1 Eric Helmbach Chester Auto Repair BMW S1000RR 2 Calvin Martinez Martinez Motorsports Kawasaki ZX10R 3 Barry Motorsports Jim Barry Yamaha R1 4 Walt Sipp Thrashed Bike Racing Buell 1125RR 5 Hawallian Racing George Demetropolis Suzuki GSXR 750

GTU 1 Rick Beggs RNR Repsol Racing Kawasaki ZX6R 2 Premier Racing Daniel Dougherty Yamaha R6 3 Moto Medusa Justeen Cicio Honda CBR 600

GT Lights 1 Dennie Huff Old Glory Speed Shop Buell XB12 2 Colin Lieby Kid Racing Suzuki SV650 3 Frank De La Renta Mototech Racing Suzuki GSXR 600

The point standings after Round 7 of the Michelin Team Challenge are: Overall 1 194 Chester Auto Repair 2 182 Stiles Racing 3 169 Thrashed Bike Racing

GTO 1 217 Chester Auto Repair 2 205 Thrashed Bike Racing 3 123 Martinez Motorsports

GTU 1 216 Stiles Racing 2 201 RNR Repsol Racing 3 154 Premier Racing

GT Lights 1 231 Old Glory Speedshop 2 93 Saddlebaum Racing 3 70 Mototech Racing

The American SportBike Racing Association (ASRA) is the parent organization of the Championship Cup Series (CCS), the largest amateur motorcycle road racing organization in the United States. ASRA sanctions eight Michelin Pro Series and eight Michelin Team Challenge road racing events for 2011.

The CCS Series runs 50 events in 2011 at popular tracks around the united states. Tracks include Road America, Daytona, Loudon, Firebird, Heartland Park, and Virginia International among other fine venues. In 2011 ASRA and CCS provide riders with access to nearly $10,000,000 in sponsorship awards through participation in it’s sanctioned events.

Join CCS and ASRA in the greatest road racing experience available today. Race CCS! To learn more visit our website at http://www.ccsracing.us or call us at (817) 246-1127.