AHMRA – June 11th & 12th 2011 - Road America Raceway
Road America Raceway June 2011
Race Report
I first have to thank my teammates and sponsor Vicious Cycle. With their support, help and encouragement they turned a bad weekend into a memorable one.
Going into Road America, I was excited about racing at a track that I have seen many times on TV. It’s one of the best tracks in the country and the longest track that I’ve raced at. This year, I’m racing at 5 tracks that I have never been to before. I’ll need to learn the new tracks in the one practice day to be able to compete against local fast racers.
The first race of the year was at Willow Springs, a track that I have been to 2 times previously. I know that track and just had to ride my best to finish on the podium. It wasn’t easy and my finishes included a 4th place which meant I needed to improve my results at tracks that I had never been to before. Road America was the first chance for me to test my skills and try to bring home some wood.
Friday June 10th
Coming from Oregon, we brought cold cloudy days with us. I think the high temperature on Friday never broke 60 degrees. Very strange weather when you consider that the weekend before was in the 90’s. As the day continued the clouds continued to drop until we were socked in. It wasn’t raining but it was damp enough to cause the water to bead up and run off your visor. By the last practice session things were getting slick on the track and I had several moments with the backend sliding out under throttle coming out of the turns.
By the end of the day, I felt good about my pace; the track was coming to me without much effort. The track is 4 miles long with the first half lap made up of long straights with 90 degree turns at the end. Getting on the throttle early coming out of the turns and staying off the brakes until deep into the next turn is the key and something I excel at.
We changed the gearing but ended up going back to what we had. The bike was running great and I was picking up speed all day. I felt I had a good chance to podium. After I got home and reviewed the lap times for the weekend, I learned that I was 3rd fastest bike on the track on Friday.
Saturday June 11th
BOT Formula 1 - DNF
The weather was still cold and cloudy on Saturday but warmer than the day before. The clouds stayed high and the track was dry. My first race of the day was the Formula 1 race which is an Open Twins class. My SV has about 675cc’s; my competition has up to 1200cc’s. This race is a chance for me to get some race practice and time on the track. I don’t expect to win, but that doesn’t change approach to the race.
My starts and first laps have turned into one of my strong points. This race was no different. I got a great start, charged up to the front row and slotted into 3rd place. Road America is a long 4 mile track and the first half of the lap is made up of 2 long straights. After turn 3, I was in 3rd place but lost two positions heading down the second long straight to the bigger bikes. I wasn’t going to give up easily and gained one position back on the brakes going into turn 4. I was held up through the next set of turns before I finally gained the second position back. I crossed the finish line at the end of lap 1 in 3rd place and felt very good about my chances. Then on lap 2, the motor died and my race was over.
BOT Formula 2 - DNS
Because my motor died in race one, I wasn’t able to start my second Formula 2 race. Needless to say, I was disappointed but had to quickly refocus. The blown motor didn’t mean my weekend was over just yet. When you travel across the country to race, you try to bring enough spare parts so when something fails, you can replace it and continue racing. In my spare parts bin, I had an older SV motor. Once the bike and I cooled down, we were working to change out the motor. I must thank all of my teammates for helping out instead of getting themselves ready for the next day.
We worked until 9pm that night before we were finished. The motor isn’t as strong as the ‘A’ motor but it worked and I needed to get some results.
Sunday June 12th
BOT Formula 1 - DNF
I was taking it easy on the motor in the morning practice and was just focused on making sure everything was working before the first race. Changing out a motor involves removing and reinstalling a lot of parts and pieces. Doing the work in the parking lot next to the trailer late into the evening doesn’t help. Once I was confident everything was in working order, I concentrated on getting some results for the weekend.
The Formula 1 race started and I got a good jump but the bike wasn’t as strong and I wasn’t has hard on the first lap and crossed the finish line after lap one in 5th place. The race continued and the bike got slower and slower. On lap 5 the bike gave all it could and the spare motor died.
BOT Formula 2 - DNS
I don’t have the race budget to afford another motor so my day was over. I wouldn’t be able to source another motor in a week, which meant I wouldn’t be able to race the following weekend at Grattan MI.
That’s how fast your season goals can change. There are examples of that at every level of racing. A racer starts off the season with a chance to win races and either because of mechanical and/or injury, the season quickly changes.
Once we got the bike back to Portland, Vicious Cycle got to work tearing the motor down. I missed the 3rd round at Grattan MI, but the 4th round isn’t until Labor Day weekend. That gave us some much needed time to get ready.
As I write this race report, Vicious Cycle is rebuilding the motor and getting the bike back together in time for my next race at Miller Raceway Utah.
