AHRMA – May 1st 2010 - Portland International Raceway
Turn 9 PIR May 1st 2010
Race Report
The first race of 2010 for me was the AHRMA race at PIR the first weekend in May. I was looking forward to it because it had been 8 months since my last race. This was the first race with the new superbike motor and the first race since I had the front forks re-valved and re-sprong. It was a national event run by AHRMA and since I’m not chasing any championship points with AHRMA, there was no pressure to win. I was just doing this race to shake down the bike and to also get some race time.
BOTT Formula 3: 1st place / DQ’ed
The BOTT Formula 3 race was pretty uneventful. It was my first race and I wanted to use it to shake down the bike, make sure everything was working correctly and to get some practice time before contesting the OMRRA 2010 season.
As soon as the green flag dropped, I nailed the start and never looked back. I was in the lead by turn 1 and lead every lap to take the win. The bike was running great and everything went just as planned. After winning the formula 3 race, I was informed that my bike was not legal for that class. I wasn’t aware of the restrictions for formula 3 since I normally don’t race with AHMRA. It was my mistake for not knowing the class runs so I didn’t make a fuss out of the disqualification. My bike is set up as a superbike, with a built motor and a collection of replacement suspension parts. The formula 3 class is for supersport legal only bikes. I wasn’t upset though because the race was a successful test for me and the bike.
BOTT Formula 2: 2nd Place
The BOTT Formula 2 race was much more fun. The Formula 2 class is for twin cylinder bikes up to 750cc’s. I race a SV 650 and my competition was racing Ducati 749’s with at least 25hp advantage against me. The race started and I got a good start and slotted into 2nd place by turn 1. I stayed with the first place bike through turn 1, 2, 3 and 4 but once we got to the back straight, I didn’t have the horse power to stay with him. For the next few laps, I was by myself and was just concentrating on racing the track. About half way through the race I get passed by someone on a Ducati 750 on the front straight. I was much faster in the turns but he had caught me on the front and back straights with his hp advantage. For the next few laps I would catch him in the turns and be on his back tire leading on to the front and back straight but once on the straights he would pull about a 10 bike gap on me. I hadn’t figured been able to make any pass stick. I could pass him in the turns but he would drive by me on the front straight. On the last lap, I really wanted to see if I could get by him and make it stick. I put my head down and drove though turns 1 and 2 and caught him this time in turn 3. I was right on his tail pipe coming out of turn 3 and made a block pass into turn 4. Once I passed him, I put my head down and put in the fastest lap of the race to beat him to the finish line.
I was very happy with the first race of the year. The bike worked great, I got some great racing practice and now I’m ready for the next race on May 22nd.
