Bridgestone/WERA National Endurance Series, Round 1

Roebling Road Raceway, Bloomingdale, GA

Saturday, March 17, 2007 by Dan Schmitt

Team 5150 Racing rides the MV Agusta 1000 to its first National Win………..

The GREEN CASH was flowing at the first round of the WERA National Endurance Series held just outside of Savannah, Georgia. Celebrating St. Patrick Day, thirty-seven teams traveled to the eastern edge of Georgia for this four-hour race.

 Josh Smith-Moore has joined Team Chicago this year. Josh has been part of the National Title winning Dalke Motorsports for the last few years. Josh brings both of his parents to help in the pits and his good speed to propel the Team Chicago Yamaha R6 to the front in each and every race this year.

 With the flip of the green flag, Tray Batey took the Vesrah/Nielsen Enterprise Suzuki GSXR 1000 to the lead. After a one-lap battle with Team Velocity, Justin Marm took the Fast by Ferracci MV Agusta 1000 to second. After a few laps, it became a three-man contest for third between Velocity, LOC Endurance and Dalke Motorsports. Josh Smith-Moore took the Team Chicago to the following pack of bikes and was charging forward when he had to return to the pits. It seems that the shift pivot bolt backed its way out and Josh was stuck in third gear. Phil Caudill of 5150 help to find the spare pivot bolt in the Team Chicago spares and Josh returned to the race, only losing 8 laps in the process.

Starting from the back of the pack, Mark Junge took the 2007 Vesrah Suzuki Bike II to second overall after thirty minutes on the track. Coming with him was Ben Walters on the Brand X Suzuki 1000. When Junge pitted at the forty-minute mark with a badly worn front tire, too much air pressure, and five minutes later when the other Vesrah Suzuki came into the pits, Brand X snatched the lead and grabbed a one-lap advantage by the top of the first hour.

 Velocity Crew took the lead in the Middleweight SuperBike class with Wikle Racing in second. LOC Endurance held down first in the Middleweight SuperStock class as Ghetto Customs move to the front of the Lightweight class. Seventy minutes into the race, and it was time for Dan Schmitt to take over the Team Chicago R6. At this point, Team Chicago was in 28^th place overall.

 Brand X’s continued to lead towards the halfway point when disaster struck. Brett Champagne crashed the black Suzuki in turn three and when the bike stopped flipping, the front end was broken off. Vesrah Suzuki returned to the front with the MV Agusta in second. Wikle Racing continued to catch up with Velocity Crew Racing and LOC Endurance now had one-lap over Dalke.

 During the third hour, Wikle Racing ran down Velocity Crew to take the lead in the Middleweight SuperBike Class. In the Lightweight class, Touring Sport Ducati moved to second in class, twenty-six second behind Ghetto. 5150 Racing on the MV Agusta held a two-lap advantage over Team Velocity in the Heavyweight SuperStock class. Team Maxxis Racing continued to run fourth overall, second in the Heavyweight SuperBike class. Josh turned some great times and moved Team Chicago to 24^th overall and sixth in class.

 It was dog-eat-dog in the Middleweight SuperBike class as Wikle and Velocity Crew went for the win in class, running fifth and sixth on the track. With Dan back on the Team Chicago R6, he found that during the pit stop, Brinks Racing took over 6^th in class. Running good lap times on the same set of Dunlop tires that Team Chicago started on, Dan ran down Brinks Racing, and when they pitted, Team Chicago put a lap on this novice team.

The Vesrah Suzuki was set on autopilot, no mistakes and fast pit stops. When the checkered flag flew at 4:30 PM, Vesrah claimed the first overall win of the season. 5150’s MV Agusta was just perfect as Marm and Phil Caudill ran great times and only changed both Dunlop DOT tires once. Caudill stated, “Our race went like clockwork., the bike ran flawlessly. Consistent fast lap times and smooth pit stops won us the race.”

RESULTS

 OVERALL:

1. Vesrah Suzuki, Suz1000, 2. 5150 Racing MVAgusta1000, 3. Team Velocity, Yam1000, 4. Team Maxxis, Suz1000, 5 Wikle Racing, Suz 600, 6. Velocity Crew Racing, Suz 600, 7. LOC Endurance, Yam600, 8. Faith on Wheels Racing, Suz600, 9. Team Westby, Kaw636, 10. bp Concepts, Suz600, 23.Team Chicago Yam600.

BY CLASS

HWSBk: 1. Vesrah Suzuki, Suz, 2. Team Maxxis Racing, Suz, 3. Team Baxley/Mad Maps, Suz

HWSStk: 1. 5150 Racing, MV Aug, 2. Team Velocity Racing, Yam

MWSBk: 1. Wikle Racing, Suz, 2. Velocity Crew Racing, Suz, 3. Faith on Wheels Racing, Suz.

MWSStk: 1. LOC Endurance, Yam, 2. Team Westby, Kaw, 3. Millnic Media Honda, Hon, 6. Team Chicago

LWSBk: 1. Ghetto Custom, Suz, 2. Touring Sport Ducati, Duc, 3. Team Charm, Suz

PHOTO RR jp. 4x6: Justin Marm takes the Fast by Ferracci MV Agusta 1000 to victory in the Heavyweight SuperStock class.

Action Photo by: Moto-heaven.com   Photographer: Phil Caudill,

MV Agusta photo by Dan Schmitt:

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