OMRRA – July 24th & 25th 2010 - Portland International Raceway
PIR July 25th 2010
Race Report
In June my motor failed and I had to rush to install my back up motor. We only had time to install the new motor, but we didn’t have time to adjust the fuel mapping. That meant that the backup motor was running extra rich and was down on power. I made the best for a bad weekend and managed to pull off a 3rd place finish.
Unfortunately we couldn’t get the superbike motor fixed in time for the July race. I was able to get the fuel mapping created for the backup motor so at least the bike I had was running as good as it was going to. I’ve learned that if you are going to compete in every race during the season it means that some days you just have to race what you have and try to get the best results possible.
600 Superbike Senior – 2nd Place
In the 600 Superbike Senior race, I’m competing against racers on bikes with about 25+ more hp then my little SV. In the corners, my bike rails and I can pull a gap on everyone. On the long front straight at PIR the only thing I can do is hold the throttle wide open and watch everyone as they fly by.
The race started and I got a good start. I was in third place going into the braking zone for turn 1. I was able to out break one competitor and slotted into second place going into turn 1. Not for long though, I as made the pass for first place going into turn 2. I put my head down and railed around the track leading the pack. On the front straight though I watched Eric drive by me but to my surprise he was the only one who passed me. I knew I could catch Eric in the turns but I wasn’t sure how early. I closed the gap and passed him again going into turn 2. Next lap, Eric passed me on the front straight a little sooner than before and I passed him going into turn 3. Same think next lap, but this time I passed him going into turn 4. Eric kept gaining on me every lap and after that he had a big enough gap so I couldn’t catch him. I was able to hold everyone else off and finished the race in 2nd place.
650 GP Twins – 1st place
I felt better about my chances going into this race. In June I finished in 2nd place by only .002 of a second. Since that race, the fuel mapping was corrected and my bike was running better. I felt confident that I could get the win. The race started and I jumped into the lead. I tried to gap the competition but couldn’t lose Devon. Then on lap 6 Devon passed me to take first place. Last month I battled with Devon and didn’t want him to lead the race. That strategy didn’t work out for me in the end. This time I thought I will just let Devon lead until the last lap and we could settle the score then. While following Devon, I tried to see where I could make the pass. After trying a few times to draft by him on the front straight, I learned that wasn’t an option. I had to be in the lead coming out of the last turn.
When I saw the white flag and this was my chance. I pulled up next to Devon going into turn 1 but Devon surprised me and let off the brakes to hold the lead. I didn’t want to wait very long and decided turn 4 was where it would happen. I got an excellent drive out of turn 3 and made a block pass going into turn 4. I put my head down and was able to win the race with a 1.5 second gap.
Middleweight Superbike – 2nd place
This race was going to be tough. The two competitors I was concerned about were Devon and Dustin. I beat Devon the day before but Dustin was running well all year and in June I couldn’t catch him.
The race started and I jumped into the lead. Dustin was able to outbreak me and took the lead into turn 1. I slotted in behind him and tried to hold my ground. I was able to stick with Dustin for the first half of the race but he was gapping me and I had nothing for him. Then Devon passed me into turn 1. I slotted in behind Devon and was thinking maybe Devon could close the gap to Dustin and I would let him pull me along. That didn’t happen and when the white flag came out, I knew again this was my last chance to pass Devon. Again I was thinking turn 4 had been good to me, I’ll make my pass there. Devon knew I would make an attempt there and drove deep into turn 4. I was able to make a block pass but I had to dive in so deep that it totally killed my drive and Devon passed me back going into turn 5. I stayed right on Devon’s back wheel and passed him going into turn 7. This time it was a lot closer but I was able to hold Devon off at the line and took second place by .1 of a second.
Not a bad weekend all things considered.
