Race Report

I've officially launched into my next season of racing. Everything is new, but nothing has changed. I still scramble to be ready in time for the race weekend. I still don't get enough sleep the night before, and I'm still waiting for parts and support beyond the last minute. It also wouldn't be proper to start an AMA season at Daytona without running off the track, and blowing up a motor. It seems things are pretty much business as usual.

Thanks to my dedicated help, we were able to get the bike and gear set to go for first practice in about 1.5 hours. It was a scramble, but the first couple practices went well, with me up in the top 20% of times. The new track layout is quite the change from the old Daytona. A wide open throttle section that was 4th, 5th, and 6th gear has been taken out, and replaced with a group of second gear corners. It takes away a bit of the draft factor that it used to have, and basically created a very technical track with a HUGE straightaway. The layout is more safety oriented for sure, with lower speeds and greater run-off in the turns. Although it's not my style of track, I still managed to learn it quick enough to get people talking.

We had rain in the afternoon of the first day that cancelled the practice and qualifying sessions that were planned. It was damn cold for Florida too. I only brought one hoody, and it was soaked straight through. Coming from frigid Clearwater, B.C., I was packed for summer! (bad plan).

We had dry track the next morning, and despite a few last second schedule changes the AMA decided to toss in for us, I qualified 21st for Supersport out of 64 entries, and 17th for the Daytona 200 (Formula Extreme) on my supersport spec bike out of 84 entries.

I take full credit for a bone head manoeuvre on the first lap of the Supersport race. I got a crappy start, and was getting worked in the first few turns. I'd be all lined up to shoot through a hole going into a turn, then it would close up and somebody else would get by. It was three corners of frustration that made my eyes fill up with blood and my heart take over from my brain. In turn 4 (a tight right hander with a wide entrance) I decided I was going to get them all back. I shot up the inside, holding the throttle on longer than I should. I was up on the front wheel bombing towards a line of bikes crossing the track perpendicular to my trajectory. There was no way I could get it stopped in time. I prepared for impact by letting off the brakes at the last second and holding the bars as strong as I could. I hit the first guy's rear tire with my front tire, bounced off him and hit another couple guys with the left side of my bike. I might as well have pinched my eyes closed for the whole affair, but in the end, found myself bombing through the grass on two wheels still! I got it pointed for the track again and hit the gas. I feel very bad about the move, and it's very uncharacteristic of my riding. Luckily nobody was hurt, and I'll chock it up as a learning experience. I re-entered the track in 33rd position at the next split, quickly got back up to speed, and sliced through the field to 16th place. The last guy I passed was able to stay with me as I used up my tire pretty bad making my charge. On the last lap I was held up bad by a couple of the lappers and he was able to draft by on the run to the flag, beating me by about 6 inches. I ended up 17th.

We had a day off next to practice pit stops, and watch some Supercross racing. It wasn't a relaxing day at all, as I was scrambling to repair some damage to the bike from my Supersport race, and get some rear wheel quick change stuff sorted out for the pit stops in the 200. My crew was the best privateer crew out there. Jon Taylor, Ron Hopkins, Dale Pestes, and Tom and Sue Jackson could do a full fuel tank, a rear tire, hold the fire extinguisher, and re-hydrate me in about 33 seconds.

There's a lot of prep work and build up before you start a 200 mile race at Daytona ... hours of organizing, moving tools, equipment and spares to the pit wall from the garage. Mental preparation is no different. The hours in the gym, then strategies played out time and time again in my head. It's a long, gruelling race, and nothing to be taken lightly. When the green light was finally lit, I felt strong and in control. I was hitting my marks easily, and making clean passes. The track and I seemed to flow all too well. I moved up from 17th to 11th position in two laps and felt like I could go that pace all day long. Crossing the start/finish line at about 170mph to complete the second lap the bike slowed. I backshifted down to second for turn one, and when I got back on the gas it was evident that my day was over. I looked back at the tailpipe to confirm the oil smoke coming from the exhaust and pulled off into the grass. What a disappointment for the crew and everyone cheering for us. I sat to watch the first round of pit stops from the pit wall before going back to the garage. It was even more difficult to watch my competitors take twice as long to pit as we could, and they weren't even changing the rear wheel. I know from practice that a fresh tire is worth about 2 seconds a lap over one with 25 laps on it. If everything else went fine, we for sure would have been in the top 10, and most likely would have finished around 7th or 8th. Post race autopsy confirmed that a clogged fuel injector leaned out cylinder #1, and burnt a hole in the top of the piston.

Although bad luck was the story of the weekend, my riding was as strong or stronger than ever, and confidence is at an all-time high. I have some new partnerships for 2005, and look forward to working with (and delivering for) them in the upcoming year. In addition to my faithful supporters for years, new on the scene is Suzuki, Gateway Powersports, GPR Stabilizers, Over the Top Performance, Shark Helmets and PSI Leathers. All my sponsors are listed on the right hand side of this page, with hot links where available.