Sam Lochoff’s MotoAmerica Supersport season was knocked off course by an injury, but the 20-year-old South African was able to close out 2022 by riding his Dunlop-shod Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki SA GSX-R750 to the overall and GTO class victories in the ASRA Team Challenge endurance race at Daytona International Speedway.
Originally scheduled for 55 laps, the race was shortened by two different red-flag incidents.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki SA, like other teams, gave Lochoff two new Dunlops and refueled his GSX-R750 during the red-flag stoppages, which left just one hour of racing before the event hit its two-hour maximum time limit. This meant that only one other pit stop would be required.
Early in the final restart, Lochoff held a modest lead for several laps, but he soon dropped his pace into the 1:51s and started pulling away from the rest of the field.
Lochoff pitted at the end of lap 31, got just a splash of fuel and a quick drink of water in 12.6 seconds, and re-entered the track without relinquishing his race lead. From there, Lochoff kept his nose clean to the finish and won the 40-lap race by 20.788 seconds.
“I was getting a little annoyed at the beginning,” said Lochoff, who rode his GSX-R750 in full MotoAmerica Supersport-spec, including spec VP Racing Fuel. “I felt like I could run a faster pace through the infield, but they kept catching up to me with the draft on the banking and then slowing me up. I just never let up, and I ended up running my fastest race pace ever here at Daytona.”
Lochoff’s 16-year-old teammate Tyler Scott fought for the lead early in the race but couldn’t maintain Lochoff’s pace and had to settle for second place on his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki SPS GSX-R750.
Another MotoAmerica regular Joseph LiMandri, riding a Dunlop-equipped Bauce Racing Yamaha YZF-R6, was battling with Scott over second place right up until lap 32. That’s when LiMandri said he crashed while trying to avoid an erratic slower rider in the West Horseshoe on his pit-in lap.
LiMandri’s crash promoted Grease Monkey Racing’s Eric Helmbach and Stephen Hoffman to third overall and third in the GTO class on their Michelin-sponsored BMW S 1000 RR. The finish allowed them to claim the 2022 ASRA Team Challenge Overall and GTO class Championships. It was Grease Monkey Racing’s third straight overall title and the 10th overall Championship in the team’s history.
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