LB Sports Holds Off Jinba Ittai for Victory at 93rd Loudon Classic Weekend
Loudon, NH– The AMA sanctioned ASRA Team Challenge Series presented by Michelin Tire returned to the Loudon Classic Weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for first time since 2005 and the field of 18 kicked off the festivities in grand style. With a mix of series regulars and LRRS competitors, race strategy became as important as local track knowledge and the final result was a great afternoon of racing that came down to the final lap of the 2-hour event to decide the contest.
At the green flag it was the Sixfour Motorsports (Shane Narbonne) Yamaha R-6 that leapt out to the front and out-paced the field for the first 21 laps. As Narbonne retired on lap 22, series regular LB Sports ( Lloyd Bayley) took up the point with Grease Monkey Racing (Eric Helmbach) and Jinba Ittai (Joel Lenk) in tow. At lap 32, MI Boys (Mikal Pechota, Ryan VanLeeuwen) made their first stop giving 3rd place in the GTO class to Mavros Motorsports (Charlie Mavros Seth Starnes).The very next lap, Jinba Ittai took 2nd place Overall from GMR trailing the lead LB Sports by just under 3 seconds. By lap 36 Jinba Attai had closed to just .881 seconds and LB Sports had to recoup the momentum. Bayley was up to the task until lap 50 when Jinba Ittai took the lead while GMR and LB Sports hit pit road a lap later. With a 52 second lead, Jinba Ittai set their Yamaha R-6 on cruise until the scheduled stop on lap 62 which gave the lead back to LB Sports on the Kawasaki ZX-10 and allowed GMR to move the BMW S 1000RR back into 2nd place. For the next 15 laps, the top three teams stayed within just a few seconds of each other, allowing Jinba Ittai to regain 2nd place Overall on lap 78 from GMR on lap 78. While the top three would finish on the same lap, it was LB Sports that inched away for 16.227 second margin of victory at the checkered flag finishing 91 laps in 2:01:01.331. Second went to GTU class winner Jinba Ittai while third Overall was the Grease Monkey Racing BMW 32.496 seconds behind them. All three of the top teams only used one rider in the two hour contest, making history as this is the first time since the Team Challenge Series began in 2001 that single rider teams made up the Overall Podium. The strong second place finish gives Jinba Ittai a 3-point lead after 3 rounds of the 2016 ASRA Overall Championship
The GTO class was won by LB Sports followed by defending GTO National Champion Grease Monkey Racing and it was Mavros Motorsports on their Kawasaki ZX-10 capturing the final step on the podium for the class. Grease Monkey Racing has a slim 6-point lead over Mavros Motorsports in the GTO standings after 3 rounds of the series.
Capping off a great afternoon, defending GTU National Champion Jinba Ittai won the GTU class with National Granite Floors (Norm Pomerleau) on a Yamaha R-6 in second after starting the race 4 laps behind the leaders. Series regular LWTRacer.com (William Finnerty) brought his Triumph 675 to the final flag in third place, giving the GTU class another group of single rider teams the podium for the day. The victory gives Jinba Ittai a 47-point cushion in the chase for consecutive GTU National Championships.
Taking their first ASRA Team Challenge GTL win was the ECK Racing (Isaac Maycotte, Eugene Berrio Jr.) Suzuki SV650 dominating the field with a 5 lap margin of victory. The battle for the runner up spot GTL raged for 81 laps as the 1023motors.com (Ryan Hobbs, Kristofer Knopf) Ducati 1100 was finally able to pull away from the Kaeser Racing (Richard Kaeser, Robert Marsden) Ducati 800 to secure the second step on the podium.
For complete results and point standings, please visit our website at www.asraracing.com and follow the links.
The next event for the ASRA Team Challenge Series Presented by Michelin Tire is July 1 at Elkhart Lake’s Road America in Elkhart Lake WI. For more information on upcoming events, please visit www.asraracing.com or www.ccsracing.us.
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