Danville, VA, USA – June 20, 2010 – The team of Santiago Villa and Stephano Mesa racing under the Prieto Racing banner took their Yamaha R6 to victory in the Michelin Team Challenge here at Virginia International Raceway today. Team Stiles jumped out to a small lead early only to have the Prieto Performance bike take the lead on lap 8, but gave it back it on lap 15 when they pitted the Prieto machine. The Stiles Racing R6 piloted by Chris Quillan, Mark Stiles and Scotty Ryan took over from there until their pit stop on lap 28.
On lap 29 Eric Helmbach and the Chester Auto Repair BMW took the lead from Stiles, but by lap 32 Villa and Mesa were back on top and by half way had pulled out an 8-second lead. The order behind them was Stiles Racing, Chester Auto Repair, Repsol RNR Racing and Paul Gilchrist of GPG Racing, all on the lead lap. Villa & Mesa pitted again on lap 34 handing the lead back to Helmbach on the Chester Auto BMW. On lap 37 RNR Repsol rider Rick Beggs went down causing a red flag for gasoline on the track.
After a short break for cleanup the race resumed and the Prieto Yamaha of Villa and Mesa took the lead again and held it for the win, finishing all 65 laps in spite of the red flag. Stiles Racing was second on the podium and Chester Auto Repair third overall.
GTU class winners were Villa and Mesa, followed by Stiles, Racing and Daniel Dougherty, Adam Horton and Craig Moodie on the Premier Racing entry.
GTO top three finishers were Helmbach and Shaw on the Chester Auto BMW followed by Jordon Richardson and Carl Reid aboard their Ray Price Harley-Davidson Buell 1125, and Thrashed Bike Racing’s Tim Ivanoff, Laird Canfield and Joel Spalding on their Buell 1125.
GT Lights top three were Alex Shaw and Eric Helmbach on the Grease Monkey Suzuki 650 followed by Jay Smith and Ray Hofman on the Born Cross Eyed Racing Buell 1200 and Kat Zimpel and Sean Dwyer aboard their Motocorse Bimota 1000.
After 4 Rounds of Michelin Team Challenge the points standings are as follows:
GTO 1 126 CHESTER AUTO REPAIR – CALIFON, NJ. 2 97 GPG RACING GILCHRIST – COLUMBUS, OH. 3 92 THRASHED BIKE RACING – BROUSSARD, LA. 4 68 MID CITIES Motorsports – SLINGER, WI. 5 44 J&S RACING – FRANKSVILLE, WI.
GTU 1 92 RNR REPSOL RACING – ANNISTON, AL. 2 70 PREMIER RACING – MONROVIA, MD. 3 60 STILES RACING – DELAVAN, WI. 4 58 RNR RACING – FALLS CHURCH, VA. 5 35 CYCLE SPECIALTIES – CINCINNATI, OH.
GT Light 1 140 GREASE MONKEY RACING – CALIFON, NJ. 2 120 BORN CROSS EYED – MACHESNEY PARK, IL. 3 26 PREDATOR – HILLIARD, FL. 4 26 TEAM FRU FRU – BUFFALO GROVE, IL. 5 26 MOTOCORSE PERFORMANCE – MIAMI, FL.
OVERALL 1 108 CHESTER AUTO REPAIR – CALIFON, NJ. 2 76 GPG RACING GILCHRIST – COLUMBUS, OH. 3 72 GREASE MONKEY RACING – CALIFON, NJ. 4 61 BORN CROSS EYED – MACHESNEY PARK, IL. 5 61 THRASHED BIKE RACING – BROUSSARD, LA.
The Michelin Team Challenge sanctioned by ASRA resumes on July 2, 2010 with Round 5 at the Road America Festival of Speed in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. American SportBike Racing Association (ASRA) is the parent organization of CCS and sanctions eight Michelin Pro Series and eight Michelin Team Challenge road racing events for 2010. Join CCS and ASRA in the greatest road racing experience available today. Race CCS! To learn more visit our websites at ~http://www.asraracing.com~, ~http://www.ccsracing.us~ or call us at (817) 246-1127.