Race Report

The day’s set to be hot, there’s no practice, and it’s “double points” day. I can’t say that I fully support the “double points” race concept in any way, but if I was going to assign the weekend to do it on, it wouldn’t be one without practice of any kind before hand. In this case it worked out well for me, allowing me to stretch out my lead even further in the championship – but I can’t say that I support the idea of putting even more pressure on the riders without any practice. To top it off, the other weekend that is assigned “double points” for OMRRA is at the end of October. I just don’t get it. Again, the weather’s probably set to be bad at that time of year – then add the stress of having to hang it out? I understand that the idea is to promote the number of entries, but I think anyone that’s concerned about the points would probably come anyway. The guys that are riding the fence are probably more interested in saving $20 than earning double points. Just my $.02 worth of opinion for the day.

So, without practice we head out for our morning 4-lap qualifiers. I ran away with both the 750 heats without much trouble, securing pole, and the 600 events I had to pass one rider on the first lap of each on my way to earning pole in those as well. I had a feeling that I was going to be hard to beat on the 750, as I busted out some strong lap times with pump gas and take-off tires.

First race of the afternoon for me was 750 Superbike. Although I felt confident that I could win, I put my head down and rode hard for the first 5 laps or so to see if I could build myself a lead. Turns out I could. I looked back on lap 6 or so and couldn’t believe the empty track behind me. A stretch of low 1:08 lap times that nobody was able to come within .9 of a second of let me motor off into the distance. In fact, my times of 1:08.1 on the 750 were as fast as the fastest 1000cc bike, and I think that’s the fastest he’d ever gone there. My fastest lap ever at PIR is a 1:07.1, set the first race of last year on my 2005 GSXR1000.

It turned out that Mike Sullivan had the bit between his teeth last weekend. Although I was running strong on the 600, he was able to match my pace turn for turn. Knowing Mike, you’d think it was a money weekend for him. He kept pace with me for the entire race but I sliced through the lappers on the last couple of laps to win with a small lead.

The 750 Supersport race was also a snore-fest for anyone looking for a battle for the win. My lap times were a full 1.4 seconds faster than my nearest competitor – further proving the dominance of the Pirelli Supercorsas. I won by a freekin’ mile.

The last race of the day for me proved to be the most exciting of them all, even though I didn’t take to top step of the box this time. Basically I controlled the race from the front for the duration, setting a pace fast enough to leave 3rd position behind by over 13 seconds in the course of 9 laps. All the action really came down to the last 5 turns. Coming out of the right hand turn 4 that leads onto the back straightaway I came up on a lapper. I had to follow him through there, costing me a proper run out onto the straight. I saw Mike alongside me on the inside for the left hand 4th gear turn 7 that we have to brake for. I was determined to get into there before him, and left my braking until WAY late. I had to early apex in an attempt to straighten out the left/right chicane. I managed to pull that off, just barely keeping it on the track, glancing off of both curbs in the process. In order to keep my rolling speed after that though, I would need to run very wide exiting the right hander. The problem there is that we were coming up on yet another lapper. I had to chop the throttle completely to get weight on the front, tighten my line, and avoid hitting him. Mike was smart enough to take the proper racing line while I was busy bouncing off the curbs, and came underneath me heading into the last turn. I crossed back underneath him and began driving up the inside on the exit for the run to the flag. I was drafting so close before pulling out that I could swear we touched wheels. We crossed the line side by side, but he had me by a wheel (or 0.027 of a second). My hats off to him. Although I wasn’t very happy with the chain of events at the time, I respect the effort he put in to be there at the end. If the lapper weren’t there, or even if I caught them in different spots, it would have been a totally different result – but that’s not the case. Good race, Mike.

The GSXR’s are treating me well. I’ve stretched out a nice lead in the overall points, and feel strong, healthy and confident. I’ve got a really good program on the go right now, and I’m having a blast on the bikes. They’re fast as all get-out and handle like razor-blades. Dave and the guys up at GP Suspension have just done an amazing job of getting the bikes working properly. Dave does all his own valving and really knows how to set up a bike. He’s always got great advice as a result of my feedback and I trust his opinion more than anyone in the business. Finally I’ve got to give mass props to Andy Nelson and Connor Gabbott, my pit-bitches for the weekend. The boys kept hopping the whole time and kept my bikes dialled, giving me a few rare opportunities to actually sit down and rest. Thanks guys. We make a great team that’s going to be very hard to take a #1 plate away from.

Now I get a couple weekends off before some more WMRC action in Mission, B.C. I’m planning on tearing up the local hills of Kamloops a bit on the dirty bike to keep the go in my game. See you all soon.