Roadracingworld.com Suzuki 18’s Chris Ulrich, Gary Mason and Cory West rode a Suzuki SV1000S to victory in the SunTrust MOTO-ST Championship finale, the 8 Hours at Daytona.

It was a very close race from start to finish between Roadracingworld.com Suzuki 18, Roadracingworld.com Suzuki 3 and San Jose BMW 46, the defending 8 Hours at Daytona Champions.

Roadracingworld.com Suzuki 3’s Robertino Pietri, Martin Cardenas and Blake Young fell behind by a lap when it pitted its SV1000S and got passed by the Safety Car during the sixth hour.

Roadracingworld.com Suzuki 18 and San Jose BMW 46 (Brian Parriott/Nate Kern/Richard Cooper) were rarely more than a few seconds apart throughout the event. The race looked like it would go down to the wire, but Cooper tangled with another rider in the final hour and crashed, causing the safety car to come out for the third and final time.

Cooper managed to pick up his R 1200 S quickly and ride it back to the pits. The San Jose BMW 46 crew refueled, changed the rear tire and sent Parriott out on the mangled machine without losing a lap. In fact, San Jose BMW 46 caught back up to the pack during the final full-course caution laps and was only three seconds behind Roadracingworld.com Suzuki 18 when the race went green for the final 25 minutes.

But in spite of his heroic efforts, Parriott could not match the pace of Roadracingworld.com Suzuki 18 let alone beat it. Roadracingworld.com Suzuki 18 won the race and the Super Sport Twins (SST) class by 25.838 seconds over San Jose BMW 46, and Roadracingworld.com Suzuki 3 finished third, one lap down.

Roadracingworld.com Suzuki 18’s victory was the 130th overall National Endurance race victory for its parent company, Team Hammer, Inc.

The SST class Championship was clinched prior to coming to Daytona by Aprilia USA 1 (Ty Howard/Ben Thompson/Henry Wiles), but the team was prevented from celebrating its new title from the podium by two crashes that knocked it out before the halfway point of the race.

Aprilia USA 1 wasn’t the only team to back into a MOTO-ST Championship. Pair-A-Nines 9 (Jimmy Filice/Justin Filice/Jay Springsteen) was leading the Sport Twins (ST) class at Daytona when the engine in its Kawasaki EX650 blew near the halfway point. Pair-A-Nines 9 swapped engines and returned to the race only to be finally knocked out by radiator problems. Still, Pair-A-Nines won the ST class Championship.

Touring Sport Ducati 77 (Peter Friedland/Frank Shockley/Doug Polen) put the finishing touches on its season by taking the Grand Sport Twins (GST) race win and Championship, but it was not easy. After leading the class for almost the entire race, Touring Sport Ducati 77 suffered a clutch failure on its Ducati 1000 Supersport with less than 15 minutes remaining in the race. Touring Sport Ducati 77’s Mark Sutton “tuned up” the clutch in six minutes on hot pit lane, and the team returned to the track in time to take the victory.

GoBigRacing (Ross Millson/Karl Daigle/Paul Glenn) was not as lucky as Touring Sport Ducati 77. GoBigRacing had nearly an entire lap lead on Speedwerks 87 (Brian Kcraget/Scott Ryan/Hawk Mazzotta) in the Sport Twins (ST) class with less than 20 minutes to go when the motor in its Suzuki SV650 locked up, causing a crash. Speedwerks 87, which endured its own fair share of adversity during the event, was gifted the ST class win.

2007 SunTrust MOTO-ST Endurance Championship 8 Hours At Daytona Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida October 20, 2007 Final Race Results:

1. Roadracingworld.com Suzuki 18 (Chris Ulrich/Gary Mason/Cory West), Suz SV1000S, SST, 234 laps, 8:01.06.454

2. San Jose BMW 46 (Richard Cooper/Brian Parriott/Nate Kern), BMW R 1200 S, SST, -25.838 seconds

3. Roadracingworld.com Suzuki 3 (Martin Cardenas/Robertino Pietri/Blake Young), Suz SV1000S, SST, -1 lap

4. Rightsforbikers.com 69 (Mark Crozier/Nathan Dressman), Suz SV1000S, SST, -7 laps

5. Vallely Racing 33 (Frank Trombino/David Loikits/Matt McBride), Suz SV1000S, SST, -8 laps

6. Wagner Motorsports Racing (Mark Reynolds/Gus Holcomb/Jurgen Frasch), Apr RSV1000, SST, -9 laps

7. Team Zyvax (J.B. Layman/Scott Layman/Steve Green), Suz SV1000S, SST, -15 laps

8. Touring Sport Ducati 77 (Doug Polen/Peter Friedland/Frank Shockley), Duc 1000SS, GST, -15 laps, 42.442 seconds

9. Touring Sport BMW XPLOR (Brad Hendry/James Chance, III/Ivan Messina), BMW R 1200 S, -15 laps, SST, 82.672 seconds

10. Rightsforbikers.com 89 (John Linder/Chris Boy/Jason Edmonds), Ducati PS1000LE, GST, -15 laps, 99.650 seconds

11. Speedwerks 87 (Hawk Mazzotta/Scott Ryan/Brian Kcraget), Suz SV650, ST, -16 laps

More, from a press release issued by Daytona International Speedway:

Roadracingworld.com Captures 8 Hours At Daytona

SunTrust MOTO-ST Series Finale

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. The No. 18 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki with riders Chris Ulrich, Gary Mason and Cory West captured the second annual 8 Hours At Daytona SunTrust MOTO-ST Series finale at historic Daytona International Speedway Saturday night.

“It’s huge, to win at Daytona is huge,” Ulrich said. “It’s huge. It’s Daytona. It’s the World Center of Racing. I’ve been wanting to win some stuff at Daytona for a long time and I finally won some stuff.

“This is the most difficult race to win here. It’s so fantastic for the team. It’s our 130th endurance win. It’s great for John Ulrich, it’s great for me and it’s great for everyone involved.”

In the final hour, the No. 18 Suzuki was in a tight battle with last year’s 8 Hours winner the No. 46 San Jose BMW of Richard Cooper, Brian Parriott and Nate Kern.

But the No. 46 BMW with Cooper aboard got involved in an accident in the east horseshoe with another motorcycle which was re-entering the track after a visit to pit road.

The No. 46 bike was able to return to pit road and continue to compete but suffered too much damage to challenge the No. 18 Suzuki and was forced to settle for runner-up honors.

“We were close enough to win but the condition of the bike didn’t let us,” Parriott said. “Those guys (the No. 18 team) were really riding good. Their pit stops were flawless.”

Cory West was the rider that brought the No. 18 Suzuki to the checkers.

“I was just counting the laps down,” West said. “I kept asking the guys over the radio how many laps left. They were just telling me the gap. It was awesome. I kept telling myself don’t lose the front in Turn 1 and just keep it steady. It paid off.”

The No. 18 Suzuki led 144 of the 234 laps completed in the 8 Hours At Daytona and won by a margin of 25.838 seconds.

Other class winners in the 8 Hours At Daytona were the No. 77 Touring Sport Ducati in GrandSport Twins with Doug Polen, Peter Friedland and Frank Shockley and the No. 87 SpeedWerks.com with Scott Ryan, Brian Kcraget and Hawk Mazzotta in SportTwins.

Russell Returns

Scott Russell made his return to Daytona International Speedway in the 8 Hours At Daytona. Nicknamed “Mr. Daytona,” Russell, who is tied with Miguel Duhamel with a record five Daytona 200 By Honda victories, competed aboard the No. 92 Kawasaki for Pair-A Nines Racing.

At about halfway through the race, Russell high sided in the east horseshoe.

“Rider is too heavy handed. I high sided it in the first (east) horseshoe,” Russell said. “I got out there, maybe I was a little bit off lined, just whacked the throttle too hard and it swung me off the top.”

Russell finished 33rd overall and 14th in the GrandSport Twins class with co-riders Kent Kunitsugi and Brett McCormick.

Russell dominated the Daytona 200 By Honda, America’s most prestigious motorcycle race, in the 1990s winning five times (1992, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1998). But after suffering injuries in a serious accident at DIS in 2001, Russell hasn’t raced professionally.

He said that his return this weekend to DIS has been very special.

“So much I can’t tell you,” when asked how much fun he had in the weekend. “Just to be back here going around here at a lot less speed. It gave me more time to think about it and reflect on things. It was great.”

He hopes for a return, possibly in March for the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series activities during Daytona 200 By Honda Week.

“I wouldn’t mind it,” Russell said. “I would love to come back and do some more of this stuff. Who knows what might happen in the future. We’ll see.”

Tickets: For tickets to any of the events, call 1-800-PITSHOP or they can be purchased at the game.

Saturday’s Championship Cup Series Results

. Expert Thunderbike: 1. Dan Belansky, Buell 1200; 2. Dave Estok, Buell 900; 3. Darren James, Buell 1200; Amateur Thunderbike: 1. Ron Kopec, Honda F2; 2. Chris Sullivan, Ducati 1000; 3. Mark Salke, Suzuki 650; Expert Formula: 1. David McPherson, Yamaha 600; 2. Mark McCormick, Yamaha 600; 3. Robert Dougherty, Suzuki 750; Amateur Formula 40: 1. Robert Picinih, Kawasaki 600; 2. Kelly Daniels, Suzuki 750; 3. Marc Holloway, Kawasaki 636; Expert Lightweight: 1. Jeffrey Johnson, Buell 1200; 2. Todd Keese, Ducati 1000; 3. Arthur Diaz, Buell 984; Amateur Lightweight: 1. Donald Elfstrom, Suzuki 650; 2. Ramon Vazquez, Ducati 1000; 3. Russell Wade Suzuki 650; Expert Middleweight SuperSport: 1. Scott Greenwood, Kawasaki 600; 2. Greg Melka, Yamaha 600; Nicky Moore, Kawaski 600; Amateur Middleweight SuperSport: 1. Christopher Clark, Triumph 675; 2. Eric Douglass, Honda 600; Chris Carey, Yamaha 600; Expert Unlimited SuperSport: 1. Johnny Rock Page, Yamaha 1000; 2. David Loikits, Suzuki 1000; 3. Lloyd Bayley, Suzuki 1000; Amateur Unlimited SuperSport: 1. Dustin Boyd, Suzuki 1000; James Joyce, Suzuki 750; 3. Tiras Banks, Suzuki 1000.

8 Hours At Daytona Notes and Quotes

8 Hours At Daytona overall winners and Buell SuperSport Twins class winners

No. 18 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki Chris Ulrich

“It’s huge. To win at Daytona is huge. It’s huge. It’s Daytona. This is the World Center of Speed. It’s the World Center of Racing. I’ve been wanting to win some stuff at Daytona for a long time and I finally won some stuff. This is the most difficult race to win here. It’s so fantastic for the team. It’s our 130th endurance win. It’s great for John Ulrich, it’s great for me and it’s great for everyone involved.

“They ran me out of gas once. That was our mistake. But luckily we got a break. I just can’t say enough about the Roadracingworld.com Suzuki crew. They were spot on all day. They had 19 days to prepare for this. Everyone else had all year. We came here and we won. I had great teammates and a great crew. The drive home is going to be a lot better.

“I knew Cory could do it. He is a new signee for the team. He came strongly recommend. He is my training partner in California. I knew he could do it. I had two great teammates, a great crew and I’m so happy to be here.

“It took some of the pressure off. I hate to see Richard crash the thing but it did take some of the pressure off. I had good faith that Cory could pull it off 100 percent. We knew their bike was damaged. We knew Parrott couldn’t do the lap times with the bike in that state otherwise it was going to be very difficult.

“You win at Daytona, you’ve done something.”

More, from a press release issued by Grand Am:

Roadracingworld.com Wins SunTrust MOTO-ST 8 Hours At Daytona Finale

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. The No. 18 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki SV1000S won the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series 8 Hours At Daytona Finale at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night while the No. 6 Aprilia USA squad locked up the Buell Motorcycle Company SuperSport Twins (SST) class despite a 13th place class finish.

Chris Ulrich of Lake Elsinore, Calif., Cory West of Vista, Calif. and England’s Gary Mason shared the winning Suzuki, which completed the 234-lap race 25.838 secs. ahead of the No. 46 San Jose BMW BMW R1200S shared by Brian Parriott of Calistoga, Calif., Atlanta rider Nate Kern and Richard Cooper of England.

“This is just so fantastic for the team,” said Ulrich, who also won the second round of the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series at Homestead-Miami Speedway. “The drive home is going to be a lot better. I knew Cory could do it, and I knew Gary Mason could do it. When you’ve won at Daytona you’ve really done something.”

The No. 6 Aprilia Tuono 1000R started from pole and was in the thick of the lead battle early in the race. But at the one-hour mark Ben Thompson of Anchorage crashed in turn 1 soon after taking over from lead rider Ty Howard. The Aprilia was able to resume after repairs were made but just past the three-hour mark Henry Wiles crashed the Tuono and the bike was retired. The No. 6 Aprilia finished the season with 187 points to the 159 of the No. 69 RightsForBikers.com Suzuki team.

“This isn’t the way I expected to be up here,” said Howard at the presentation of the championship trophy. “We put it all on the line today but it didn’t quite work out for us. “In an eight-hour event it doesn’t matter who’s fastest, it’s who crosses the line first at the end of those eight hours.”

The No. 18 Suzuki team spent most of the race battling with the No. 46 BMW. Mason took the lead for the last time when he beat the BMW out of the pits during a full course caution period on lap 174. The No. 46 BMW stayed close until just over 45 minutes from the end of the race, when Cooper collided with another bike on the infield portion of the course. Cooper was able to pick up the bike and continue but the BMW had suffered damage, including a torn front fender. Parriott took over the final stint but steadily lost ground to the Suzuki.

“Our ride had really been problem free,” Parriott said. “We had what it took to win, but after what happened I was just happy to bring it home.”

The No. 69 RightsForBikers.com Suzuki SV1000S of Mark Crozier (Palm Coast, Fla.) and Nathan Dressman (Berkley (Mich.) placed fourth overall. The No. 33 Vallely Racing Suzuki SV1000S shared by Frank Trombino (Kleinburg, Ont.), David Loikits (Northampton, Penn.) and Matthew McBride (Mississauga, Ont.) was fifth in the race and claimed third in the final standings with 149 points.

Aprilia USA rider Troy Green of Dallas won the SST Rider championship with 179 points.

The No. 77 Touring Sport Ducati Ducati Supersport 1000DS of two-time World Superbike champion Doug Polen (Camarillo, Calif.), Peter Friedland (Columbia, S.C.) and Frank Shockley (Greenville, S.C.) survived a broken clutch with 20 minutes to go to win the BMW GrandSport Twins (GST) class and beat out the No. 8 Richie Morris Racing Buell squad to the Team title, 188-183. Shockley also took the Rider points title.

The No. 8 Buell of Shawn Higbee (Oconomonoc, Wis.), Dan Bilansky (Waukesha, Wis.) and Clint Brotz (Elkhart Lake, Wis.) was running third in the early going but lost time when it threw its chain just past the three-hour mark and eventually finished eighth in class.

“Everything was flawless the whole race until those last 20 minutes,” Friedland said. “I guess it was too good to be true, but that’s racing. Doug Polen helped us get out front and that was our strategy, to get a good lead straightaway.”

The No. 89 RightsForBikers.com Ducati PS1000LE of John Linder (Tampa, Fla.), Chris Boy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and Jason Edmonds (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) finished second after closing up a three-lap gap to the No. 77 Ducati when it hit trouble. The No. 70 James Gang Racing Buell XB12 of Paul James (Waukesha, Wis.), Jeffrey Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Walt Sipp (Kansas City, Mo.) completed the top three.

The No. 9 Pair-A-Nines Kawasaki team clinched the Sport Twins Team title at Daytona despite suffering a blown engine on its Kawasaki EX650 while leading the class by a lap. The team had enough of an advantage that it was still classified seventh and beat the Go Big Racing Suzuki team, which finished second in the race, by five points in the standings, 187-182.

The No. 79 Suzuki SV650 of Ross Millson (Hamilton, Ont.), Karl Daigle (Granby, Que.) and Paul Glenn (Keene, Ont.) took over the lead when the No. 9 Kawasaki broke but Daigle crashed in turn 1 with only 10 minutes remaining. That allowed the No. 87 SpeedWerks.com Suzuki SV650 of Hawk Mazzotta (Carmel Valley, Calif.), Scott Ryan (Lemant, Ill.) and Brian Kcraget (Danville, Va.) to claim the race win.

“It was definitely a surprise,” said Kcraget, who was coming back from serious injuries suffered at the previous event in July. “We had some bad luck at the beginning of the race but we were able to battle back. To be on top at Daytona is a little better ending than I had to my last race.”

The No. 66 M4 Avteq Racing Suzuki SV650 of Russ Wikle (Huntsville, Ala.), Kyle Martin (Dallas, Tex.) and Ryan O’Donnell (Dallas, Tex.) finished second, three laps behind the winners, while the No. 79 Suzuki was classified third.

Jay Springsteen and Jimmy Filice from the No. 9 Kawasaki team tied for first place in the ST Rider standings with 187 points each.

MOTO-ST president Roger Edmondson announced at the Riders Meeting on Friday plans for a six to eight race 2008 season, beginning back at Daytona International Speedway in March.

The SunTrust MOTO-ST Series is organized and sanctioned by Professional Motorsports Productions (PMP) of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the Grand American Road Racing Association (Grand-Am), based in Daytona Beach, Fla., provides the series with administrative and commercial support. Learn more about MOTO-ST at http://www.moto-st.com/.