Salt Lake Motorsports

Rave Yamaha Racing’s Jason Perez, Shane Turpin and Jay Tanner rode a YZF-R1 to victory—a 4.791-second margin over Vesrah Suzuki—in round four of the Bridgestone/WERA National Endurance. This 6-hour event was held Sunday at Miller Motorsports Park, in Tooele, Utah. The race was run on the same course configuration that will be used during next weekend’s AMA Superbike National.

Although Vesrah Suzuki’s Tray Batey, Lee Acree and John Jacobi had longer range and slightly faster pit stops, Rave Yamaha Racing was faster on the racetrack. Rave Yamaha Racing was close to lapping Vesrah Suzuki in the fourth hour when the second, and final, red flag of the race came out, erasing Rave Yamaha Racing’s large lead.

Vesrah Suzuki gained a significant advantage when Rave Yamaha Racing had to pit immediately after the restart, but the race would be decided by the final pit stops and riders. Perez, Rave Yamaha Racing’s final rider, started turning the fastest laps of the race. But even with Perez’s pace, Vesrah Suzuki still looked like it would be able to hold its lead to the finish line as long as its final pit stop was clean and quick. It wasn’t. Rave Yamaha Racing passed Vesrah Suzuki in the final 10 minutes and held on to win.

One of the more interesting things about Rave Yamaha Racing’s effort was that the team used both Dunlop and Michelin tires during the race. Perez and Tanner rode on Dunlop slicks, while Turpin, a contracted Michelin rider, used Michelins during his stint.