Michael Martin (left), Kurt Hall (center) and Andy Fenwick (right) spray champagne during podium celebrations after the WERA National Endurance win at Grattan Raceway in July of 1990. One member of the winning Valvoline-sponsored Team Suzuki Endurance team was missing from the podium. That was Britt Turkington, who crashed in the closing minute of the race and was on his way to the hospital to be checked out.

That race had a bizarre ending. Team Suzuki’s Turkington was on the last leg, cruising home to an easy victory with a lap to go, when suddenly the bike lost traction in turn four and Turkington crashed and hit the close guardrail hard. Apparently another bike was leaking oil in the final minutes and the Valvoline Suzuki was one of several bikes to crash in the oil. Turkington’s crash was by far the worst. Fortunately the guardrail he hit was covered by a dense foam padding and that helped prevent serious injury to Turkington.

The checkered flag was thrown and Team Suzuki, even though they didn’t finish, had covered the most miles so they won the race in spite of the bike being on a crash truck. I’m guessing the Team Suzuki bike in this photo was a back-up machine. The Human Race Team came home second, followed by Hall ‘N Still Racing.

Also in the photo are Hall ‘N Still members Bruce Baldus and Jim Still (behind Martin) and Hall’s teammate Mike Smith, along with Team Suzuki crew Keith Perry and Scotty Beach. Steve Rodden, who teamed with Fenwick on HRT, was just outside the frame.

Michael Martin (left), Kurt Hall (center) and Andy Fenwick (right) spray champagne during podium celebrations after the WERA National Endurance at Grattan Raceway in July of 1990. One member of the winning Valvoline-sponsored Team Suzuki Endurance team was missing from the podium. That was Britt Turkington, who was on his way to the hospital to be checked out after crashing on the final lap. Team Suzuki still won in spite of the crash. (Larry Lawrence photo)