Near stock Buell motorcycle wins ASRA endurance race
The Staff of Clutch and Chrome
July 8th 2008
A near-stock Buell 1125R motorcycle entered by Richie Morris
Racing/Hal’s Speed Shop and ridden by Dan Bilansky and Clint
Brotz won the ASRA Team Challenge endurance race, part of
the three-day American Sportbike Racing Association (ASRA)
Road America Festival of Speed held over Independence Day
weekend. Bilansky and Brotz completed 38 laps of the
four-mile Road America course to take the overall win and to
lead the GTO class. James Gang/Hoban Bothers Racing/Appleton
Buell riders Paul James and Jeff Johnson completed 37 laps
to take the Team Challenge GTL class win and finish fifth
overall on a Buell Firebolt XB12R.
Bilansky said the RMR/Hal’s Buell 1125R turned in a strong
performance despite being raced in mostly stock trim.
“This is a bike we built for me to use in sprint races, and
we decided to use the Team Challenge to shake it down,” said
Bilansky. “We were using the stock Pirelli Corsa III street
tires and even the stock brake pads, with racing bodywork,
dry break refueling system, and a slip-on muffler as the
only mods. It worked really well, in fact it’s probably the
best-handling motorcycle I’ve ever raced at Road America.”
The ASRA/CCS races were witnessed by hundreds of Buell
owners attending Buell 25th Anniversary events held at Road
America during the weekend, including demo rides, autograph
sessions with Buell racers and an opportunity to ride in a
parade lap session around the 4-mile track. More than 500
Buell owners were registered for the historic event.
Estok Second in Pro Thunderbike
For the second race in a row, Deeley H-D/Buell
Canada/Ruthless Racing rider David Estok turned in a strong
performance on a Buell XB12R borrowed from another team and
rode to a close second-place finish in the ASRA Pro
Thunderbike National at Road America.
With his primary and back-up race bikes down with mechanical
problems, the Deeley team borrowed a Buell XB12R from the
Hal’s H-D/Buell/Hal’s Speed Shop squad, fitted Estok’s
suspension and bodywork, and put the defending Thunderbike
champion on the starting grid. At the start, Estok joined a
group at the front that included BMW rider Nate Kern,
H-D/Buell of Frederick rider Bryan Bemisderfer, Hal’s
H-D/Buell/Hal’s Speed Shop rider Dan Bilansky and Bison
Racing/Eagle H-D/Buell rider Walt Sipp. Kern led the first
lap and started to open a gap on the group of Buell riders,
but by lap three of the five-lap race Estok had set a new
Thunderbike track lap record, reeled in the BMW and passed
for the lead as the pair exited the first turn.
“I was not familiar with the clutch on the Hal’s bike, and I
got a terrible start,” said Estok. “Then it took me a lap to
get comfortable on the bike. Kern was faster on the long
straights but I could out-brake him into the turns, so I
focused on braking to close the gap.”
On the last lap of the race, Estok passed Kern again in the
first turn. Kern took back the lead on the downhill straight
leading to turn five, only to see Estok retake the lead as
the pair exited Canada Corner. Kern was able to draft past
Estok on the long straight to the finish line to take the
win by .097-seconds, the closest finish in ASRA Thunderbike
history.
“I got a really good drive out of the last turn, but he had
the draft and I couldn’t hold him off,” said Estok. “I’d
really like to thank Dan Bilansky and the Hal’s team for
loaning me the bike. I may have to trade purse money with
him.”
Bilansky finished third, several seconds behind Kern and
Estok. James Gang/Hoban Brothers Racing/Appleton Buell rider
Paul James was awarded fourth place after Sipp was penalized
for jumping the start of the race, and Bemisderfer was
penalized for exceeding the class horsepower limit. Suzuki
rider Ed Key finished fifth.
After five events, Kern leads the Thunderbike series with
162 points, followed by Estok with 132 points and Sipp with
115.
The next stop on the eight-race ASRA Pro Thunderbike
schedule is the Barber Festival of Speed, August 9-10 at
Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Ala.
Buell Riders Win
Six CCS Sprint Races
In MotoSport.com Championship Cup Series (CCS) twin sprint
races at Road America, Joel Spalding rode a Buell XB12R to
take two wins in Amateur Thunderbike. Dean Hagemann won
Expert Lightweight F40 on a Buell XB12R. Bilansky rode a
Buell 1125R to take two wins in Expert SuperTwins, and Estok
won on Saturday in Expert Thunderbike.
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