Race Report

The weather was set to be good, the bikes have been working awesome all year, and I even had some new tires to use for the weekend (I forgot to grab some for the previous event and had to use take-off’s the whole day!). Aside from getting over a slight case of the sniffles, I was set to rip.

I was very pleased with myself in the sense that I had my bikes all set to go and through tech inspection in time to get my correct spot on the starting grid for the morning qualifiers, the first one of the day being 600 Supersport. I got the holeshot but quickly gave up the lead to Steve Dick who was competing in his very last event. He ended up beating me out for pole position for the afternoon. Steve has been racing motorcycles since the beginning of time, is a past National Champion, and someone I have tremendous respect for in his achievements, attitude, and competitive drive. He was one of the first to formally welcome me in my beginning of competition in Canada since most all of my racing career has taken place in the states. Every conversation I’ve had with Steve has been positive, and he truly brings a lot to the sport. Not to mention that he’s super fast and a formidable competitor who keeps us ‘kids’ honest. I’m glad that he is remaining involved through his employment as a Motovan rep, and mentor for upcoming young racers, and I’m sure that he’ll continue with those tasks – to everyone’s benefit.

The remainder of the morning was mostly uneventful. I started the Open Supersport qualifier from the front row, got the holeshot into turn one, and never looked back in my charge to securing pole position for the afternoon main.

Since WMRC run a two moto format for their Superbike races with no qualifiers, you don’t get a chance to size everyone up before the mains. I had a front row starting position, a couple of the usual fast guys either weren’t there or had bike problems, and since I’d only seen Steve on the track so far that day he was the only one I really considered a threat. I got off the line good enough for the holeshot and put my head down for the first couple laps to try to bust out a gap. Steve surprised me earlier in the day with a pass on me into turn one and a hard charge following that, so I was determined to make a break for it. I had brand new tires on front and back (which is almost a first for me at Mission) and used them to their fullest to stretch out an early lead. There’s some debate over the validity of the timing/scoring system in my first flying lap prior to seeing the gap I had built up and subsequently backing off a little. The system got me at a 1:09.288 which is a new lap record by a little bit. I can’t say for sure that particular lap was that much of flyer or not, and since there was no way to confirm the time with a second clock of any kind, I think it’s not going to be considered a new record. Usually when there’s a timing error resulting in an inaccurate fast lap, the previous or latter lap is much longer. The previous was the start lap (so no time) and the latter was also fast so it’s really hard to say. Maybe one day I’ll also put in race fuel along with fresh tires and we’ll really see what a bike can do around there! Anyway, I backed off once I realized I was stretching a sizeable lead and won by a large margin.

The 600 Supersport race didn’t end up being the scrap I thought it would be. Either Steve made some early mistakes or got held up behind some guys or something and I just stretched out a huge lead again; winning by a ton.

Open Supersport is kind of a funny little deal. I haven’t had any competition in that event to date, so it’s mostly about trying to win the race with as little effort as possible in order to save myself physically for the upcoming Superbike race. In fact, in order to keep tradition I still haven’t started one of these races with a new rear tire. I won handily.

So, even though I had checked out in all my races so far on the day, I’m a firm believer in not counting my chickens until they’re squawking. I wasn’t sure what happened to Steve in the first few races so I kept my game face on prepared for a duel to the end. It turns out that by lap 7 of 12 I had such a huge lead that I just did wheelies around the track. On the straight between turns 2 and 3 I was getting some pretty good ones going. One of the photographers was moving further and further down the straight to get better shots of me every lap. I couldn’t let him down…..I kept checking over my shoulder to see if I needed to keep the front wheel down on any of the straightaways but it never turned into an issue. In fact, one lap I wheelied past my brake marker, unsure of my speed, and couldn’t make the turn! There is a lot of pavement on the outside of that turn though and I was able to get it turned and continue the wheelie-fest for the remainder of the race.

In the end I won all four of my main events, and secured the #2 plate in the overall championship. I only competed in 4 of the 6 events, so it was a pretty good showing. Despite missing the first two rounds I still won the Open SS championship, and I won by more points than are scored in an entire round!

I want to give a huge thanks to Suzuki. Those bikes of mine are just weapons. It’s really almost unfair (except for the other guys on GSXRs). Aside from the slow start this year, I really put on a show for the blue team (although mine are yellow), and I look forward to doing more of the same next year if given the chance.

I go straight down to Portland, Oregon this weekend for the second to last race of that series. I’m currently leading the overall championship race for the #1 plate by a healthy margin, and look forward to stretching it out some more over the next couple of rounds. I’m also leading all four of my class championships (600 Supersport, 600 Superbike, 750 Supersport, and 750 Superbike). Perhaps I’ll enter the Open races on my 750 as well. I’ve been as fast or faster in the last couple events than them on my 750. Someone’s got to keep them honest.

Finally I’d like to say congratulations, Steve Dick, on an amazing roadracing career. Not many can dream of accomplishing all that you have in this sport. To think of the experiences (success, near-death, injury, disappointment, accomplishment) involved in having a career like yours. Roadracing is one of those sports where most people never learn what is involved to keep charging at it for years and years. It’s guaranteed that people like Steve don’t continually tell true stories from experience only because most people just wouldn’t understand or believe them. I can tell a few myself, but I respect others that have also earned their share the hard way. It won’t be the same without you, Steve.