Team Velocity Racing Wins WERA National Endurance Championship BRASELTON, Ga. Team Velocity Racing clinched the WERA National Endurance Series championship during Friday’s season finale at Road Atlanta, finishing second overall in the four-hour race. The team continued to display the consistency that propelled them into the overall championship lead and earned them nine class wins in the first ten races of the season. The team wrapped up their second consecutive Heavyweight Superstock class championship during the last round at Barber Motorsports Park, so they stepped up to the Heavyweight Superbike class for the final round. The Team Velocity Racing (TVR) Yamaha YZF-R1 was equipped with an oversized gas tank, quick change setups for the tires and Pirelli slicks. Chuck Ivey, Reuben Frankenfield and Mark Crozier rode the TVR Yamaha to a finish of second overall and in the Heavyweight Superbike class. Crozier started the race, leading for a few laps before dropping back to second behind Vesrah Suzuki. A crash for the race leader brought out the red flag in the first half hour. On the restart, Crozier led for two laps before former World Champion Kevin Schwantz, whose team went on to win overall, was finally able to get past. With half an hour to go in the first half of the race, Crozier pitted and Frankenfield went out. Crozier rode a second stint before handing the Yamaha over to Ivey, who rode until a red flag ended the race ten minutes early. During the trophy presentation, TVR replaced the number 3 on the front of the bike with the number one that they will carry next season. “We’ve worked hard all season and it all came down to this race. It was do or die, and all the guys had the composure to hang in there, from the riders to the crew. We did it right, and that’s what champions do,” said Ivey. Frankenfield commented that, “any time you’re out there racing on a shoestring against a professionally-run team and you can beat them in the championship, it’s a big accomplishment. I’ve been second twice in this series, and it’s great to finally be number one. It’s somewhat surreal.” “I got into endurance racing five years ago, and it’s always been the goal to get the overall championship,” said Crozier. “To think that we did it with a Superstock bike is unbelievable. To walk away with a championship is an awesome feeling.” Steve Liberatore, Yamaha’s Southeast Regional Manager of Sales and Marketing, was on hand for the race. “We’re very proud of the product we build and the engineering of our products,” he said. “What better place to display that than the race track, especially in an endurance series where not only do you have to have performance but you have to have durability, as well. It’s the perfect platform to test our products.” TVR also ran the Heavyweight Superstock class with Ivey, Steven Breckenridge and James Stroud on a Yamaha YZF-R1. The team, running under the name TVR2, won the class and finished fourth overall. “I was a little anxious coming into this weekend because I hadn’t ridden the R1 in a couple of months, but it just came to me,” said Breckenridge. “That bike is amazing. It’s the reason I go so fast. It was great to ride with everybody and the crew did a great job.” “I only did about 15 laps on the bike before my first stint,” said Stroud. “I got up to speed pretty quickly. It was a great experience to ride with Chuck’s team. They’re really professional and the bike is really well set up. It’s awesome to get a win my first time riding with the team.” More information about Team Velocity Racing can be found at www.TeamVelocityRacing.com. More, from a press release issued by Pirelli: Pirelli Wins Entire WERA National Endurance Overall-Championship Podium For immediate release: October 16, 2005 For more information please contact: Chris Wall, Pirelli: 706-368-5427 Peter Jones, GPr: 562-209-4080 The WERA National Endurance Series — long known for nurturing future talent and testing the enduring extremes of man, machine and tires — closed the season with the battle for the top three positions in the overall championship dramatically decided at the final event. When the final minute of the final hour of the final race ticked to its end, the top three places in the Overall Championship belonged to Team Velocity Racing, Vesrah Suzuki, and REDSTAR, all winning their honors on Pirelli tires. Team Velocity Racing took its Pirelli-shod Yamaha R1 to the Overall Championship in the WERA National Endurance Series with a season of consistent top-three finishes that include three overall wins and nine class wins, in the 11-race series. With the Heavyweight Superstock championship wrapped up before heading into the final National Endurance race at the WERA Grand National Finals at Road Atlanta, Team Velocity Racing converted its Yamaha R1 to a Heavyweight Superbike, helping team riders, Chuck Ivey, Mark Crozier and Reuben Frankenfield, hedge their chances of capturing the Overall Championship. After running season-long on Pirelli Dragon Supercorsa DOT tires, Team Velocity Racing switched to Pirelli racing slicks for the final event. When multi-time champions Vesrah Suzuki uncharacteristically fell in the first hour and were forced to restart with a different bike, the Overall Championship was all but handed to Team Velocity Racing. Team Velocity Racing’s second-overall finish for the day won them their first Overall Championship in suitable style. Vesrah Suzuki took first place in the Heavyweight Superbike Championship and second in the Overall Championship, with its Suzuki GSX-R1000 mounted on Pirelli tires. Also on Pirelli tires was REDSTAR, taking its Yamaha R6 to third overall in the WERA National Endurance Championship. A third class championship in the series was won for Pirelli by Dalke Motorsports, which took its Suzuki GSX-R600 to the top of the Mediumweight Superstock class. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: After using the weekend’s Australian MotoGP support races at Phillip Island as a shakedown, Team Suzuki is confident of a big season finish with Shawn Giles poised to claim a record fourth Australian Superbike title at the final championship round there on November 11-13th. Giles and team mate Glenn Allerton both produced strong performances and were pleased with the power and handling of the Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike despite encountering difficulties during the MotoGP event. Said Giles: “The MotoGP support races have been a really good warm up for us. We’ve had a few small dramas but I’m glad to get those over and done with now before the final round of the championship. “We’ve got a good set-up for the GSX-R1000 around Phillip Island and with everything we’ve learnt this weekend, we are in a strong position and aiming to clinch a fourth title next month.” Three-time Australian Superbike Champion Giles was hampered throughout qualifying by intermittent electrical issues, forcing him to start the MotoGP non-championship support races from an unfamiliar eighth place. After being one of the early pacesetters, Allerton managed to stay ahead of his experienced team-mate and hold on to sixth place on the grid after crashing out of the qualifying session. Race one saw Giles rocket off the start line directly into fourth place through the fast, sweeping turn one and overcame Daniel Stauffer two laps later to secure third place. Giles narrowly missed victory in race one when he was baulked by lapped traffic on the penultimate lap which ruined his chances of slipstreaming the leading two riders to slingshot to the front of the field. In contrast, Allerton was slow off the line in race one and found himself caught in the pack without clear track to maximise the Suzuki’s horsepower and chase down the leading group. The up-and-coming Suzuki star finished in sixth place. Race two saw Allerton make one of the most exciting starts of the entire weekend, launching from sixth place to almost take the lead at the first turn before being pushed wide and slipping back into fourth at the Southern Loop. The Team Suzuki rookie bettered his race one result, finishing the eight-lap battle in fifth place. Giles’ electrical issues again reared their head in the second race with the former champion retiring on lap two. Competing on his spare bike for the final Superbike race of the MotoGP event, Giles got off to an unusually slow start and then produced a stunning fight back to bring the Suzuki GSX-R1000 home in fifth place. Trialling a different set up for final championship round, Allerton struggled for grip in race three and ended up in ninth place after a penalty was imposed on Anthony Gobert for a jump start. “I would have liked to have a little better result this weekend but I was matching the pace of the frontrunners before my crash in qualifying so I know I’ve got the speed. This has actually boosted my confidence heading into the final round,” said Allerton. “Both Glenn and I are riding well; the Suzuki has plenty of speed and we have used this weekend to iron out glitches and finesse our set-up, so we are looking good for next month,” he added. Team Suzuki leads the charge into the seventh and final round of the 2005 Australian Superbike Championship with Giles holding a 10-point advantage and chasing a record fourth Australian Superbike title. MOTOGP SUPPORT CLASS RESULTS: 1. Josh Brookes 2. Adam Fergusson 3. Jamie Stauffer 4. Daniel Stauffer 5. Glenn Allerton 6. Shannon Johnson 7. Shannon Etheridge 8. Scott Charlton 9. Shawn Giles 10. Nick Henderson More, from another press release: Caylor Takes 3 Bikes to 4 Podiums BRASELTON GA – Chris “Opie” Caylor put his Team EMGO Taiwan, Suzuki GSX-R600s and a loaned Corona Extra Suzuki GSX-R1000 on the podium every time he went out on the Road Atlanta track this weekend at the WERA Grand National Final and Suzuki Cup Finals. WERA Sportsman Series C Superstock Expert: Thursday Caylor rode his superstock spec, Team EMGO Taiwan bike to a victory in the class he’d used to gain points for the invite to the GSX-R600 Suzuki Cup. “This was a great warm-up for the weekend ahead,” said Caylor from his pits. “We’ve worked really hard tuning the suspension on this bike from what we’ve learned on my FX bike. With what little has been done to this bike it really proves Suzuki’s are made for the track! This is the bike we’ll be using for the 600 Cup race also so it’s great to have it dialed in so early in the weekend.” GSX-R600 Suzuki Cup Final: Again on the Team EMGO Taiwan GSX-R, Caylor bided his time following race leader Ty Howard until the white flag lap. Caylor passed on the brakes into Road Atlanta’s turn 1 and held on to the lead for the victory. “I knew I had a long weekend ahead of me and didn’t want to really tire myself out or have a repeat of qualifying,” Caylor recalled (during qualifying, with well over a second ahead of the next qualifier, Caylor had continued to push for a faster lap time and ended up tucking the front in turn 6). “I sat on Ty. I’d made my decision early as to when and where I’d make my pass. My plan worked flawlessly and I was able to hold on for the win. Huey (Caylor’s crew chief) had the bike hooked up and as far as the Dunlop DOTs”¦ even at that pace those tires could of easily gone a dozen more laps!” WERA 600cc Superbike National Challenge Series: “WERA allows 50 more cc’s than the AMA does in their 600 class. KWS Motorsports approached me about a ‘special’ big-bore 600 they wanted to build specifically for the GNF. My FX chassis was a perfect choice for such a motor and I quickly agreed to run the 600 superbike class for them.” The grid was based upon points built over the year. Caylor had only raced the class once to qualify for the GNF so had a lot of distance to make up to catch race leader Josh Herrin. Caylor quickly caught Herrin and then sat on him for most of the race before making his pass. “That motor had so much low end grunt and the power just kept coming all the way to redline! I couldn’t of ridden a monster like that on any other tire than those Dunlop slicks. I needed that awesome side grip to be able to get on the gas coming out of the corners.” About Herrin, Caylor said “That kid is fast! He’s going to be a National and maybe even a world champion some day.” Caylor complimented KWS from the winner’s circle “That’s an amazing motor Kevin Hunt and the KWS crew built. I’m glad I could put it on the box for them.” GSX-R1000 Suzuki Cup Final: Caylor rode Corona Extra Suzuki’s GSX-R1000 for his podium finish in this ultra-competitive class. “Lander (Corona Extra Suzuki) contacted me near the end of the AMA year saying they wanted a presence at the GNF again. I agreed and we started testing at Barber. Rodney Vaughn built me a strong superstock motor before the GNF and Corona sent Marty Ashmore and Walker Jemison to take care of me and the bike. “They had so much experience with racing and the bikes, it was easy to get it dialed in and we quickly started turning some fast qualifiers. On an ‘off the shelf’ Dunlop DOT we were able to put the bike on the pole! We weren’t as successful in the race though. The regional winners had guaranteed grid spots in front of me. Matt Lynn got a great start and then started clicking off consistent laps faster than his qualifying time. I was stuck in fourth for a few laps. By the time I got around to third, Matt was gone. I started bearing down on Brian Stokes in second when the red-flag came out. I’d like to think I could of taken him in the last few laps instead of being given second when he busted out of the horse-power limit at the dyno. Brian and I go way back to our novice days and I hate it for him. We spoke afterwards and he says ‘he’s been on the other side of the dyno’, as he put it, when someone busted out in front of him and he knew it was part of racing. He’s an awesome sportsman like that. I would of liked to have swept the top of the podium this weekend but am just as proud as getting them all on the box. I really appreciate the opportunity Corona Extra Suzuki gave me and certainly appreciate the experience and professionalism of their crew.” Opie signed off the season by saying “I’d like to thank everyone who’s helped me this year: sponsors, other racers, friends and family. I’m very proud of my and my team’s accomplishments and couldn’t of done it without the hard work of a lot of people. I’d like to especially thank Huey for going above and beyond the call of duty in taking care the bikes and doing such a good job working with me. Please stay tuned for an exciting announcement for next season, be safe in the off-season and we’ll see you in the paddock next year.”