Rising stars of racing shined during the first-ever Ceparano Endurance Classic race event held January 27-28 at Jennings GP, in Jennings, Florida.
The event consisted of three endurance races run over two days. Day One consisted of two, three-hour races, each one run in a different direction on the two-mile road course. Then on Day Two, a single five-hour race was held.
Teams were required to have at least three riders and no more than five riders, and entries were divided into three classes: 400 Super Bike, 400 Super Stock, and Lightweight Twins.
MotoAmerica Junior Cup Champion Avery Dreher, his 13-year-old sister Ella Dreher, and British Talent Cup racer Julian Correa teamed up on Dreher’s Championship-winning Kawasaki Ninja 400 to take the 400 Super Stock (and unofficial overall) wins in three-hour Race Two and five-hour Race Three. They missed out on taking the overall 400 Super Stock class victory, however, because their engine blew up five laps into Race One. That race was won by Team Fastline, and first place overall in the 400 Super Stock class went to NFG Racing’s Eddie Aguayo, Tom Kieth, Chris McLeod, and Dan Spaulding, who rode a Yamaha YZF-R3.
The overall win in 400 Super Bike was earned by 2023 MotoAmerica Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. (BTR) Championship runner-up Sonya Lloyd, age 21, and her Rough Shape Racing teammates Luise Barnikel and Alex Steinhoff-Arnot. They rode a Kawasaki Ninja 400.
First place overall in Lightweight Twins went to Suzuki SV650-equipped Andres’ Team, which consisted of Josef Bittner, 15-year-old Alessandro Di Mario (a MotoAmerica Junior Cup podium finisher in 2023 and the 2022 AMA Nicky Hayden Road Race Horizon Award winner), Andres Jaramillo, Isaac Woodworth, and event organizer Thomas Ceparano.
“I want to thank everyone who attended the Ceparano Endurance Classic this weekend at Jennings GP,” Ceparano posted on social media. “The learning curve was steep, but laps were plentiful and that was the goal. I really would like to thank everyone for their professionalism, it was like I had a staff of 100! Michael Correa of SFMiniGP gave advice that was invaluable over the course of the weekend. Thank you, sir! Thank you again also needs to go to the vendors, without Mark Tenn, Eric Komrowski, and Derek “Stickboy” Bennett I don’t think we would’ve be able to complete the event. In the last race alone teams did over 200 laps! Thank you, Sage Tailoring. My suits are now ready for the season ahead. And of course thanks to Jennings GP for allowing me, believing in me and my passion for motorcycle racing to have an event like this.”
