The rain held off for the WERA/Michelin National Challenge Series at Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday while Robert Jensen scored one win after another for a total of three victories. Jensen’s first win came in Open Superstock on his Butler Machinery Suzuki GSX-R1000. Vesrah Suzuki’s Lee Acree and Tray Batey raced briefly for the lead before Jensen caught and joined in the battle. Jensen took the lead on the fifth of 10 laps and kept the field behind him until the end. Acree finished second behind Jensen, closely followed by Brian Stokes. All three were on Suzuki GSX-R1000s. Acree was at the front again in 600cc Superstock, leading for two laps before Jensen came by, both on Suzuki GSX-R600s. The two traded the position several times before Jensen got the lead for the final time on lap nine. Stokes finished third on a Kawasaki ZX-6R 636. The 750cc Superstock race was all Jensen’s; he got the holeshot on his GSX-R750 and built up a 12-second lead over Acree, who rode a GSX-R600. Opie Caylor, also on a Suzuki GSX-R600, worked his way up from the rear of the grid to finish third, crossing the finish line just ahead of Taylor Knapp. In Formula 1, Jensen took the lead on the first lap and seemed to be on his way to his fourth win, but Stokes took over the top spot with just four laps to go. Jensen stayed close but was never able to get back ahead of Stokes, who won by 0.3-second. Batey took the third podium spot; all three were on Suzuki GSX-R1000s. Michael Beck took the 600cc Superbike race lead away from Daniel Parkerson on the second lap, but his pace slowed on the final lap when his Yamaha YZF-R6 began experiencing mechanical problems. By that point, Caylor had gone from a second-wave start to second place, and he passed Beck on his Suzuki GSX-R600 to take the win. Beck held onto second, while Parkerson narrowly got third on his Suzuki GSX-R600 over Mark Crozier, who was on the quickest of three Triumph 675s on the grid. Caylor took another win in 750cc Superbike, moving his Suzuki GSX-R600 into the lead on lap four while Mark Crozier moved up to second on his Triumph Daytona 675. Caylor went on to win by 7.222 seconds, leaving Crozier to hold off Justin Marm, who was third on his Suzuki GSX-R750. Batey won the Heavyweight Superstock race by nearly half a minute over Knapp. Cale Swiger followed them by another half minute to take third; all three riders were on Suzuki SV1000s. In Lightweight Twins, Jeff Walker and Chris Parrish had a race-long battle for the lead on their Suzuki SV650s. Walker had the advantage when a red flag came out on lap seven for a rider down in turn 16, bringing the race to an early end. Craig Montgomery finished third on his Suzuki SV650. Brad Duncan rode his Ducati 1000 to the Formula 2 win, crossing the finish line nearly six seconds ahead of Phil Fortune. Max Norton held off Zac Chapman for third. Fortune, Norton and Chapman were all on Suzuki SV650s.
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