Updated Again: Rain, Oil Bring Action To A Halt At Barber Motorsports Park

Updated Again: Rain, Oil Bring Action To A Halt At Barber Motorsports Park

© 2009, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc. By David Swarts.

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A mixture of rain and oil have brought all on-track action to a halt at the AMA Pro Road Racing Honda Superbike Classic Saturday morning at Barber Motorsports Park. After the SunTrust Moto-GT endurance classes got a dry, 30-minute warm-up session, the youth-orientated SuperSport division was sent out for its one and only qualifying session. Shortly after the start of the session, however, it started to rain. The session was halted so riders could change from their DOT-labeled control tires to rain tires, and then the session was restarted. Not long after it restarted the session was stopped for a second and final time due to standing water on the track that caused at least one accident. A puddle at the exit of the final corner caused Kyle Wyman to crash. Wyman fell off his Yamaha YZF-R6, which then ghost rode down the front straightaway and hit the concrete wall between the track and hot pit lane. Wyman did not require medical attention, according to an AMA spokesperson. Officials made the call that the qualifying session was abandoned and that the SuperSport grid would be formed using times turned during Friday’s two practice sessions. After a short delay to sweep standing water from two spots on the track, the American Superbike class was sent out for its “final” qualifying session. Those riders only got in a few minutes of track time before the session was stopped short because Geoff May’s National Guard Suzuki GSX-R1000 blew its engine and laid down oil over most of the wet track’s length. “I am definitely the source,” May told Roadracingworld.com. “I don’t know what happened out there. I started to get in a rhythm, and all of a sudden the thing started sliding around on me. ‘What’s going on?’ “Coming out of the museum, coming out of the chicane on the back straightaway I got into big slides. ‘Is there not enough water on the track?’ “I came around through the last corner, and it slid again. I came down into Turn One and it slid really bad. That’s when I started to think something was wrong. Then the motor started knocking real loud. I glanced over my shoulder and saw the smoke. That’s when I pulled it off to the side of track as quick as I could. “Unfortunately, I think I laid down a stripe of oil all around the entire racetrack, and with the water it spread all over the place. When I just ran across the track there was like a five-foot-wide rainbow stripe all the way down the front straightaway.” Corona Extra Honda Racing’s Jake Holden crashed in the oil in the Museum Turn, Turn Eight, but he was not injured and was able to ride his bike back to the pits. AMA Pro officials have canceled the American Superbike and Daytona SportBike final qualifying sessions. In spite of continuing rain, workers are attempting to clean the oil from the track surface in preparation for an on-time, 11:00 a.m. start to the two-hour SunTrust Moto-GT race. Moto-GT riders have not been on a wet track yet this weekend, however. So they will be given a short session to acclimate themselves to the wet surface before the start of their race. Stay tuned. AMA Pro SuperSport Championship Presented by Shoei Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, Alabama May 2, 2009 Qualifying Results (based on practice times, all on Dunlop tires): 1. Russ Wikle (Suz GSX-R600), 1:31.659 2. Josh Day (Yam YZF-R6), 1:32.040 3. Leandro Mercado (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:32.215 4. Tomas Puerta (Yam YZF-R6), 1:32.286 5. Ricky Parker (Yam YZF-R6), 1:32.422 6. Dustin Dominguez (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:32.755 7. Joey Pascarella (Yam YZF-R6), 1:33.089 8. Garrett Carter (Yam YZF-R6), 1:33.168 9. Armando Ferrer (Suz GSX-R600), 1:33.530 10. Tyler Odom (Hon CBR600RR), 1:33.708 11. Huntley Nash (Yam YZF-R6), 1:33.870 12. Lloyd Worrell (Yam YZF-R6), 1:34.177 13. Kris Turner (Suz GSX-R600), 1:34.344 14. Kyle Wyman (Yam YZF-R6), 1:35.076 15. Chris Clark (Yam YZF-R6), 1:35.307 16. Derek Wagnon (Suz GSX-R600), 1:35.543 17. Ryan Clay (Yam YZF-R6), 1:35.603 18. Reese Wacker (Suz GSX-R600), 1:35.629 19. J.D. Beach (Hon CBR600RR), 1:35.678 20. Payton Sassaman (Yam YZF-R6), 1:35.762 21. Alex Lazo (Yam YZF-R6), 1:36.321 22. Darrell Prantera (Yam YZF-R6), 1:37.770 23. Brock Terrell (Yam YZF-R6), 1:38.989 24. Kyle Keesee (Yam YZF-R6), 1:40.126 25. Ryan Conrad (Yam YZF-R6), 1:40.199 More, from a press release issued by LTD Racing: LTD RACING’S BIRMINGHAM QUALIFYING CANCELLED DUE TO RAIN Birmingham, Al (May 2, 2009) — After AMA Pro SuperSport presented by Shoei qualifying was cancelled on Saturday due to weather issues, the grid for Sunday’s race was determined by Friday’s practice times. For LTD Racing, that means a rider will be on each of the first three rows of the grid. Tomas Puerta will start fourth in the race on the front row, Joey Pascarella will start seventh on the second row, and Huntley Nash will start 11th on row three for Sunday’s 17 lap race. That event is scheduled for 3:00 PM local time.

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