Suzuki SA’s Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Lochoff wins ASRA Team Challenge at Daytona – Roadracing World Magazine

Sam Lohoff’s MotoAmerica Supersport season was hit hard by injury, but the 20-year-old South African was able to close out 2022 by riding his Dunlop Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki SA GSX-R750 to overall and GTO class wins in the ASRA Endurance Race Team Challenge at Daytona International Speedway.

The originally scheduled 55-lap race was shortened due to two separate red flag incidents.

Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki SA, like the other teams, gave Lochoff two new Dunlops and fueled his GSX-R750 during the red-flag breaks, leaving just one hour of racing before the event reached its maximum two-hour limit. This meant that another pit stop would be necessary.

At the start of the final restart, Lohoff held a modest lead for several laps, but soon dropped the pace to 1:51s and began to pull away from the rest of the field.

Lohoff pitted at the end of lap 31, received only a splash of fuel and a quick drink of water in 12.6 seconds and re-entered the track without losing the race lead. From there, Lohoff kept his nose clear to the finish and won the 40-lap race in 20.788 seconds.

“I was a little bit annoyed at first,” said Lohoff, who rode his GSX-R750 in full MotoAmerica Supersport specs, including VP Racing Fuel spec. “I felt like I could have run a faster pace down the infield, but they kept catching me with a draft on the bank and then slowing me down. I just never gave up and ended up running the fastest pace of the race here at Daytona.”

Lohoff’s 16-year-old teammate Tyler Scott battled for the lead early in the race, but was unable to hold off Lohoff’s pace and had to settle for second on his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki SPS GSX-R750.

Another MotoAmerica regular, Joseph LiMandri, riding a Dunlop Bauce Racing equipped Yamaha YZF-R6, battled with Scott for second until lap 32. Then LiMondri said he crashed while trying to avoid an unstable slower rider at the West Horseshoe on his lap pit.

LiMandri’s crash saw Grease Monkey Racing’s Erik Helmbach and Stephen Hoffman finish third overall and third in the GTO class on their Michelin-sponsored BMW S 1000 RR. The finish gave them the 2022 ASRA Team Challenge Overall and GTO class championship. It was Grease Monkey Racing’s third consecutive overall title and 10th overall championship in team history.