WERA Six-Hour Endurance Race: Time Behind Bars

It's no coincidence that many of the country's top roadracers came up through the ranks of WERA (Western Eastern Roadracing Association) club racing; the organization regularly graduates riders directly to the front of AMA grids, leading many aspiring novices to hopefully follow a similar path by chasing WERA championships. It's the association's endurance series that has given many top riders the countless hours of riding experience necessary to hone their craft, and ironically it's the hours of seat time that attracts riders from the other end of the spectrum-those not looking to make names for themselves but rather simply wanting the most bang for their entry-fee bucks. This mix makes for an eclectic grid at any of the organization's endurance events; where else, for example, can a local novice try his hand against a former world champion, as sometimes happens?

Carry Andrew performed his typical magic to build a fast and bulletproof '07 Kawasaki ZX-6R mini-superbike, using a mix of kit and aftermarket parts.

Endurance races always seem to be an adventure (especially when a one-off team is put together to contest just a single round rather than a series), so when Jeff Herzog, Kawasaki's senior media relations coordinator, called with an offer to race the Miller Motorsports Park six-hour, it didn't take any convincing to sign me up. Herzog's plan was to race an '07 ZX-6R in the Mediumweight Superbike class, and he had put together an all-star cast to do it: The bike was being prepared at Carry Andrew's Hypercycle shop, and the other riders on the team would be Jimmy Filice and Scott Russell. I was already packing my bags after hearing "Miller Motorsports Park" and "ZX-6R," but who could resist a chance to ride on a team with that roster?

Longtime readers of SR will be familiar with the lineup: Carry Andrew builds seriously fast bikes that appear regularly in these pages, and has crewchiefed many top riders to numerous wins and championships. Jimmy Filice is a three-time AMA 250 GP champion, and Scott Russell is a former AMA and World Superbike champion-see the sidebars for what the two riders have been up to recently. The tie-in here is that Herzog and Russell raced for Andrew's team in the late '80s, and Filice currently rides a Kawasaki Ninja 650R in the Moto-ST series with the Pair-A-Nines team (see "In the Company of Legends," July '07). And me? Well, I'm just the excuse Herzog and friends needed to get together and have fun at Miller for a weekend.

Friday Practice
We descend on the small town of Tooele, Utah, and head to the track for the first-and only-day of practice, as the race runs on Saturday. While Andrew and Herzog put the finishing touches on a pair of freshly painted ZX-6Rs, I get acquainted with my teammates. Filice and Russell are friendly and outgoing, quick to offer support, and appear genuinely happy to be at the racetrack; they put me quickly at ease in their company. There is a steady stream of fans and well-wishers dropping by the garage to chat or ask for an autograph (er... from those two, not me), and the atmosphere is casual and relaxed.

By late morning, one of the bikes is ready, and we trip over ourselves in the rush to offer each other the chance to go first. "No no, after you." We're all just being gentlemanly, but the heat isn't helping either; at 90-plus degrees F, the garage is quite cooler than out in the sun. Russell especially seems not too bothered about riding until practically the end of the day, but both he and Filice are up to speed with little practice and looking like they are having fun.

With more than a century of roadracing experience in one garage, there were loads of stories to hear over the course of the weekend.

Jeff Herzog (left) and Carry Andrew put the finishing touches on one of the ZX-6Rs before I take to the track for practice.

Filice (leading) and Russell get together in practice for a couple of laps. Neither had ridden the track previously, but both were turning competitive times after just a handful of laps.

The two Kawasakis are an interesting mix of kit parts and bits from Andrew's go-fast stash. Both are plenty quick, running easily with other 600s I come across on-track. Eventually we agree that one bike is faster but the other handles better. The bike with the better motor has a wide 16.5-inch rear wheel, the big tire contributing to the handling difficulties but showing much better wear than the more-stock bike with 17-inch hoops. The slower bike is easier to ride, but the tire-wear situation and quick-change setup on the faster bike lead us to pick it for the race.

Setup proves to be a simple matter. Ironically again, none of us is too bothered, each deferring to another to choose a direction. Russell, the heaviest, prefers a softer setup; Filice, the lightest, likes a firmer setup that ends up close enough to Russell's soft preference. My weight falls almost exactly in the middle of the real racers' and the Kawasaki works fine for me as well. We're all happy and just having fun-it seems that worrying about the bike is almost too much like work.

Race Day
Saturday sees a big change in pit atmosphere, however. My teammates are markedly more serious than the previous day, suiting up well before practice begins and ready to go. Russell stretches while Filice sits calmly listening to music, and when the green flag flies, they are on the two bikes and gone. No more deference to the journalist, this is serious business. Suspension is adjusted. Lines are discussed. Lap times fall.

With little time between final practice and the start of the race, Russell-picked to ride first-ends up missing the start by half a lap as gearing and tires are furiously changed in the garage. No matter, he has the bit between his teeth on cold tires and is soon deep in the pack. One tank of fuel-roughly 50 minutes and 25 laps-later, he is up to 14th and makes the first pit stop to hand the bike off to me.

I quickly settle into consistent lap times a few seconds off Russell's pace and concentrate on riding safe and steady for my time on the bike, thinking it's far more important for me to keep us on two wheels than try to be a hero. The unchanged Dunlops are still surprisingly grippy at the start of my stint, but edge grip and trail-braking traction gradually fade over the course of the session, and I try different lines and body position to cope. That's the great thing about endurance racing: While sprints leave you little time to concentrate on riding as you dice with other racers in close quarters, a long session and the relatively relaxed pace in a race that lasts for hours leaves plenty of opportunities for experimentation. I'm not in the greatest shape, though, and tire quickly as the session wears on. I get a second wind at about the 35-minute mark and keep consistent times for another few laps, but signal the crew that I'm ready to pit at about 45 minutes.

Two champions and a geek teamed up for the WERA six-hour endurance race at Miller Motorsports Park. Two guys were fast, one was not.	Our team gave up half a lap right from the green flag, as we were late getting to the grid for the start. Here, Russell works traffic hard to make up time and positions in the first hour.	With temperatures in the high 90s and a strong wind blowing, two 50-minute stints were a workout. Here I look more than a little haggard after my first session; I lost eight pounds over the course of the day.
We were a happy but tired bunch at the end of the day.	The crew cheers Filice to the finish in the closing laps, and you can see Herzog is already on the phone plotting next year's entry.	Vesrah Suzuki (1), the current WERA endurance juggernaut team, won the overall with a four-lap lead after six hours. The team has combined immaculate preparation, quick pit stops and fast riders to dominate the past few seasons. BP Concepts (8), won the Mediumweight Superbike class and was second overall, and TVR/Team Moe's (131, right) was third overall and first in the Heavyweight Superstock class.