Race Report

It felt great to show up for the first round of the OMRRA races. Aside from the typical “no sleep, drive all night” program, things were fairly well in line and I was jazzed to hit the track.

Unfortunately, “hitting the track” didn’t take me long as during the winter they’d been doing some construction and tracked dirt all over the track with machinery. I lost the front on the partially wet, very dirty surface in the first practice session – harmlessly sliding off the track. From there we spent the rest of the day trying to get used to the seamless shifting, nimble handling GSXR’s after only riding the American machinery since last October. I got a freshly re-valved front end from GP Suspension on the 750 and expected to spend some time setting it up, but it worked pretty much from when I plugged it in! Dave and Ben never stop surprising me with the quality of their work.

Raceday, and I can’t wait to see the first green flag. Kinda got robbed in the first 600 Supsersport race. We were a lap or so past half way and I was trading the lead around with two other riders. It was actually a really fun race. I was down on power from the other two guys, but still felt that the race was mine to lose as I had the measure on them in a couple key areas of the track. I was drafting along in second place and passed for the lead on the brakes into turn 1 at the end of the front straightaway. 2 turns later we received the red flag to stop the race. Because we’d gone half distance they revert the scoring to the last time we crossed the line (which was 2nd for me). Oh well. Sometimes it works for you, sometimes not. It was a really fun race though – good clean competition.

I checked out in the 750 Supersport race. I think I won by 11 or 12 seconds. I’m not sure of the details, but it was mildly embarrassing for the competition.

The new Formula Unlimited class was next. The class pays three times the points as all the other classes – designed to ensure the #1 plate holder earns his title on the biggest fastest bikes. I like the concept, but didn’t have my big fast bike just yet! Despite pre-registering and being the #1 plate holder for the last 5 years they gridded me in the middle of the 5th row. Then the fact I was riding my stock 750 up against the built 1000cc bikes probably wasn’t going to help the cause either. I did nail the start very well though and carried the front wheel past the two rows in front of me. I immediately got up with the lead group in the first 3 or 4 turns, slicing my way through the field. However, for the next 3 or 4 laps I got caught behind a slower rider on a faster bike. I’d be looking for a way by in the infield, losing ground to the leaders, and when I got by he’d blow past again on his litre bike down the straights. I eventually got by, but not until after I’d lost a couple seconds to the front two bikes. I tried as hard as I could, but although I could match the pace of the big bikes in front, they were too strong for me to close the gap on them. One of them gifted me 2nd place when they fell down late in the race. So despite my horrendous grid spot, and giving up 40 to 50 horsepower to the other bikes (if you believe the HP figures they claim) I only finished 2 seconds back at the end of 12 laps.

I won the 750 Superbike race by a pretty close margin. I took the lead straight away off the drop of the flag and led for the first handful of laps. The rain started to spit and I really didn’t want to be setting the pace. I slowed until Jason Bluth came by. I figured I’d tail him until the last lap or until it stopped spitting, whatever came first. The rain subsided, I retook the lead, and held it till the line.

I’m back working with Ron Hopkins of Ron’s Performance Motorcycles (RPM). Ron’s been building my engine for probably 8 years now aside from last year. I’ve got nothing but good things to say about both RPM and SDS Performance (my engine sponsor from 2008), both are great guys that I’d trust my equipment with any time. Ron’s been practically a racing partner and good friend of mine for some time now. He’s even travelled to Daytona with me to help wrench/pit on the bike during the 200. It feels good to be representing my good buddy again. Now if only I could get these guys to go into business together.

So despite bringing a knife to a gun fight in Formula Ultd (and getting a 2nd), and having the 600 race scoring reverted back to before I took the lead I really had a smash hit of a weekend. I swung by Orca Bay Suzuki on the way home and picked up my fresh new 2009 GSXR 1000. I’m pretty stoked about the bike – I’m really built for riding the bigger bikes. My small size helps on all sizes of bikes, but I’ve got the strength to yard around a much more powerful bike than 600’s. I can’t wait to pull the trigger on this thing! The competition can officially begin worrying.