McWilliams Wins Wet Barber XR1200 Race

Henny Ray Abrams | September 26, 2010

LEEDS, AL, SEPT 26 – Jeremy McWilliams put a lifetime of wet weather riding to good use by winning the Vance & Hines XR1200 race on a gray and rainy day at Barber Motorsports Park, but it wasn’t the runaway many had predicted.The Ulsterman, who won this year’s XR1200 series in Great Britain, predictably sped away from the pole and pulled out a lead of 1.4 secs. on the second of 11 laps before Jones Brothers’ Michael Barnes, another veteran with wet weather experience, made a run at him.Barnes closed the gap to under a second on the third lap and got it under half a second on lap five. As late as the seventh lap it was .181 secs., as Barnes hounded the former GP rider, but on the final lap McWilliams pulled away.The margin of victory was 2.747 secs.Barnes had an even more comfortable 8.405 secs. on third place finisher P.J. Jacobsen (Celtic Racing).The best placing bike from the RMR Bruce Rossmeyer Daytona Racing stable was Robert Tinagero in fourth. The Rossmeyer team, which had won every race prior to Barber, was caught with an illegal EMU following Jake Holden’s win at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Holden and third place finisher Kyle Wyman were disqualified and lost their points and prize money.Still, the team won the inaugural Vance & Hines XR1200 Championship. Danny Eslick, who amassed 96 points by taking every available point in the first three races, but sat out the final two, is the series champion. Travis Wyman, today’s eighth place finisher after crashing on the final lap on the Harv’s Harley-Davidson Racing XR1200, is second with 88 points, with Holden third at 67.

XR1200 Results:

1. Jeremy McWilliams.

2. Michael Barnes

3. P.J. Jacobsen

4. Robert Tinagero

5. Paul James

6. Matthew Heidel

7. Paul Schwemmer

8. Travis Wyman

9. Michael Corbino

10. Jake Holden