Vesrah Suzuki’s Tray Batey, Cory West and John Jacobi put the finish touch on their 2009 Bridgestone WERA National Endurance Championship by winning the four-hour season finale by a margin of two laps on their Pirelli-equipped GSX-R1000K8 Friday at Road Atlanta.
The win was the team’s ninth straight, completing a perfect season for Vesrah Suzuki.
BEi Racing’s Chris “Opie” Caylor, Robert Jensen and Billy Ethridge led parts of the race and threatened Vesrah Suzuki, but BEi Racing could not match Vesrah Suzuki’s pace on the track in the second half of the race and had to settle for second overall on their Suzuki GSX-R1000.
Army of Darkness’s (AOD) Sam Fleming, Ben Walters and Matt Lynn got off to a rough start Friday. With the racing surface damp at the start, AOD opted to begin on Michelin rain tires even though the track was drying quickly and most of the 14 other teams in the race started on DOT-labeled tires.
As the track dried AOD’s rain tires began to deteriorate and they were forced to pit after just 10 laps to change to DOT-labeled tires. AOD recovered and managed to work their way back up to third overall on their 2008-model Yamaha YZF-R1.
Bridgestone/WERA National Endurance Series 4-Hour Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia October 9, 2009 Final Race Results:
1. Vesrah Suzuki (Tray Batey/Cory West/John Jacobi), Suz GSX-R1000K8, Heavyweight Superbike, 154 laps
2. BEI Racing Team (Chris “Opie” Caylor/Robert Jensen/Billy Etheridge), Suz GSX-R1000K8, Heavyweight Superbike, 152 laps
3. Army of Darkness (Sam Fleming/Ben Walters/Matt Lynn), Yam YZF-R1, Heavyweight Superbike, 149 laps
4. TVR 131 (Jamie James/James Vanderhaar/Brett Champagne), Yam YZF-R1, Heavyweight Superstock, 147 laps
5. TVR 136 (Reuben Frankenfield/Ethan Ellis/James Dellinger), Yam YZF-R6, Mediumweight Superstock, 144 laps
6. Zyvax (C.R. Gittere/Shane Narbonne/J.B. Layman), Yam YZF-R6, Mediumweight Superbike, 143 laps
7. Team Solid Performance (Charlie Coleman/Michael Smith/David Yarnall), Suz GSX-R1000, Heavyweight Superstock, 140 laps
8. Probable Cause (Brian Crane/Mike deBrabant/Joseph Lund/Lyles Sanders), Suz GSX-R600, Mediumweight Superbike, 133 laps
9. Team Chicago (Dan Schmitt/Josh Smith-Moore), Yam YZF-R6, Mediumweight Superstock, 132 laps
10. Kinetic (James Butler/Robert Turner/Michael Wischmeyer), Suz SV650, Lightweight Superbike, 127 laps
11. White Trash, Canuck and a Bean (Ben Boyle/Kevin Callaway/Alfredo Cantu, Jr./Ken Johnson/Scott Lindsay), Kaw ZX-6R, Mediumweight Superbike, 115 laps
12. Team Taster’s Choice, Imitation Of The Real Thing (Melissa Berkoff/Steve Brunton/Brian Kcraget), Suz SV650, Lightweight Superbike, 112 laps
13. BlueGrass Motorsports Park Racing (Aaron Aaronson/Chris Parris/Joe Schoch), Suz SV650, Lightweight Superbike, 107 laps
14. Extreme Racing (Daniel Parkerson/Robert Vargas/Michael Wheelie), Suz GSX-R750, Heavyweight Superstock, 78 laps
15. Chronic Motorsports (Paul Allison/Christian Cronin), Yam YZF-R6, Mediumweight Superstock, 18 laps