San Jose BMW’s Brian Parriott turned the fastest lap time overall and the fastest Super Sport Twins (SST) class lap time during Saturday’s two-hour practice session for the SunTrust MOTO-ST 500K at Road America.
Parriott, who teams with Nate Kern on a BMW R 1200S, turned a best time of 2:27.767 to lead all times but the team’s session ended early due to a mechanical problem.
“Either a clutch or a driveshaft,” said Parriott, who was on the bike when the problem occurred. “But we’ll get in fixed tonight and be back out there tomorrow.”
San Jose BMW also has former AMA Pro Thunder Champion Tom Montano on hand as a reserve rider in case Kern in unable to ride. Kern is coming back from breaking his right hand/wrist six weeks ago, but he has successfully competed in several CCS and ASRA events so far this weekend at Road America.
San Jose BMW wasn’t the only team to encounter mechanical problems during the practice as the engine in the Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki SV1000S (ridden by Chris Ulrich and Mark Junge) blew early in the session.
“I had just turned our 2:29.890,” on the fourth lap, said Ulrich. “I was coming up the front straight, and I started smelling oil. [Mechanic] Scott Harwell came on the radio and said, ‘Chris, stop right now!'”
Ulrich was covered in oil but was able to get off the track without crashing. In the process, his machine put out the largest smoke cloud many had ever seen, and the session had to be stopped in order to check the track surface; no oil was found on the track, although the bike’s fairing was full of oil.
Junge said he suspected that the bike had blown its head gasket, which then pressurized the crankcases and blew off a breather line, causing the oil leak. The team spent the rest of the session changing the engine in its racebike.
Ahead of Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki in the practice order was Aprilia USA 2 (Ty Howard/Troy Green), the overall Championship point leaders after three of six rounds, with the second-fastest time of 2:28.341, and Vallely Racing 32 (Mike Himmelsbach/Frank Trombino), with a 2:29.566 on the team’s Suzuki SV1000S. Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki’s 2:29.890 was good enough for fourth-fastest.
Richie Morris Raicing was the fastest team in the Grand Sport Twins (GST) class, with Shawn Higbee and Dan Bilansky turning a 2:35.998 on their XBRR-framed Buell XB12R. Richie Morris Racing is leading the GST point standings at the halfway point of the season.
Sport Twins (ST) practice was led by VIR winners Speedwerks.com with a time of 2:38.621 in spite of it being Brian Kcraget’s first-ever visit to Road America. Kcraget’s normal teammate Melissa Berkoff was unable to be at Road America, and he will be teaming with AMA regular Scott Ryan in Sunday’s race.
Pair-A-Nines (Jimmy Filice/Jay Springsteen), the ST points leader, was second-fastest in class Saturday with a time of 2:39.640 on their Kawasaki Ninja 650.
Of the 33 teams listed as entered for the race, 31 participated in Saturday’s practice.
SunTrust MOTO-ST 500K at Road America Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin July 7, 2007 Provisional Practice Results:
1. San Jose BMW (Brian Parriott/Nate Kern), BMW R 1200 S, SST, 2:27.767
2. Aprilia USA 2 (Ty Howard/Troy Green), Apr RSV1000 Tuono, SST, 2:28.341
3. Vallely Racing 32 (Mike Himmelsbach/Frank Trombino), Suz SV1000S, SST, 2:29.566
4. Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki (Chris Ulrich/Mark Junge), Suz SV1000S, SST, 2:29.890
5. Team Florida (Armando Ferrer/Gustavo Laya/Rodolfo Ramirez), Duc 749R, SST, 2:29.912
6. R&R Racing (Dave Estok/Darren James), Apr RSV1000 Tuono, SST, 2:30.836
7. Aprilia USA 1 (Henry Wiles/Jon Francis), Apr RSV1000 Tuono, SST, 2:31.221
8. Vallely Racing 33 (Matt McBride/David Loikits), Suz SV1000S, SST, 2:33.585
9. Rightsforbikers.com 69 (Mark Crozier/Nathan Dressman/Justin Filice), Suz SV1000S, SST, 2:34.986
10. Team Motorrad Touring Sport BMW (James Chance/Ivan Messina), BMW R 1200 S, SST, 2:35.160
11. Richie Morris Racing (Shawn Higbee/Dan Bilansky), Buell XB12R, GST, 2:35.998
15. Speedwerks.com (Brian Kcraget/Scott Ryan), Suz SV650, ST, 2:38.621
More, from a press release issued by MOTO-ST:
San Jose BMW team fastest in SunTrust MOTO-ST Series practice at Road America
ELKHART LAKE, WI San Jose BMW team rider Brian Parriott showed the way during Saturday afternoon’s practice session for the fourth round of the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series at Road America. The Calistoga, CA resident powered his BMW R1200 around the 14-turn, four-mile road course in a time of 2:27.767 for an average speed of 97.451 mph. Parriott’s effort was 0.574 of a second better than that posted by the second-fastest team; Aprilia USA 2 on their Aprilia Tuono 1000R.
Following the session, Parriott was pleased with his team’s performance. “It went pretty good. The bike was working pretty well. The tire we chose worked pretty well and everybody is happy with the situation. We had a small mishap with the driveshaft but we can fix that up.”
Commenting on his fast lap, which came relatively late in the two-hour session, Parriott said, “We didn’t really make any adjustments, it was more a matter of me putting my head down and getting going.”
Third fastest in the SST division was the No. 32 Vallely Racing team on their Suzuki SV1000S.
Leading the way in the GST class was the No. 8 Richie Morris Racing Team Buell XB12, at the hands of rider Shawn Higbee. The Oconomonoc, WI resident set his fast time (2:35.998 / 92.309 mph) on just his fourth lap of the session, displaying his wealth of experience at the legendary road course. The No. 38 Touring Sport Ducati Team / Ducati Supersport 1000DS was more than two seconds back of Higbee (2:38.298 / 90.968). The No. 3 James Gang Racing Buell XB12 was next (2:39.275 / 90.41 mph).
Brian Kcraget of Danville, VA was the man to beat in terms of the ST class competitors during Saturday’s practice session. The No. 87 SpeedWerks.com Suzuki SV650 rider posted a time of 2:38.621 (90.782 mph) on his 38th and final lap of the session. The No. 9 Pair-A-Nines Kawasaki Ninja 650R was second on the ST time charts, clocking in at 2:39.640 (90.203 mph), followed by the No. 16 RightsForBikers.com Suzuki SV650 (2:42.512 / 88.609).
The SunTrust MOTO-ST competitors will be back in action at Road America on Sunday morning at 8 a.m. for a one-hour practice session. The three-hour SunTrust MOTO-ST 500K at Road America gets underway at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
Following this weekend’s race, the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series will head to Iowa for the Iowa Speedway 500k on July 12-13. The season concludes with the 8 Hours At Daytona Finale, October 19-20 at Daytona International Speedway.
MOTO-ST is organized and sanctioned by Professional Motorsports Productions (PMP) of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the Grand American Road Racing Association, based in Daytona Beach, Fla., provides the series with administrative and commercial support. The MOTO-ST advisory board features some of the most respected individuals in the world of motorsports, including Hall of Fame members, respected motorcycle racing journalists and renowned officials from various forms of road racing. Learn more about MOTO-ST at www.moto-st.com .
Tickets to Round 4 of the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series may be purchased at the gate.