Race Report

I was really stoked for the upcoming OMRRA event down in Portland, Oregon. My GSXR 1000 runs really strong, even though the motor in it is bone stock, and I finally knew which way to go with the forks! I was confident that getting it sorted out would result in a lap record pace, and I couldn’t wait to get it on the track.

I spent the entire practice day on Saturday riding the 1000 and working on getting it sorted. We got the forks working “OK”, but far from stellar. Once I could clear my head slightly with the forks at least in the ballpark it became obvious how much of a problem I had with the rear end. The rest of the day was spent working on that, and even after two days of tuning I think we’ve made some progress – but we’re still a long ways off.

First race up was 600 Supersport, and what a challenge. I got into the first turn in third place (my 600 isn’t exactly a drag race weapon) and was looking forward to what appeared to be shaping up to be a three bike race for the lead. Mike Sullivan wasn’t quite keeping up with Chris Ancien though, and Mike was pretty hard to get past cause his bike was so much faster down the straights than mine. I passed him every lap in the infield only to have him blow by on the straight again. I finally got by for good when we came up on a lapper going into the fast 4th gear turn 7. Mike braked a bit early to follow him into the turn and I bombed up the inside to pass them both. From there I set about chasing down the leader. I caught up, and it looked like I might have been able to pull it off as I out drove him coming out of the last turn, but the hp on his bike finally took over and beat me in the drag race to the line. I missed the win by only 0.081 of a second.

I was really looking forward to finally racing the big GSXR1000 again. I call it big, only because it pulls like a big bike, but it’s actually smaller in several dimensions than my 600 and 750. Either way, I was anxious to see if some of the changes we made were going to make a difference. Turns out that the bike still handling poorly, but I guess with a fresh set of Pirelli Supercorsa Pro DOT’s on there and some VP MR9 it was good enough to set the fastest ever lap time by a motorcycle around Portland International Raceway at 1:06.805. Not too shabby. Needless to say, nobody else on the grid was able to match that pace and I eventually stretched out enough of a lead that I could back it off later in the race to win by a safe margin.

The 750 Supersport race was a little weird. Although a competitor of mine came with me for a number of laps, it felt like I was all alone. Turned out I pretty much was cause he fell down at about 2/3rd’s distance and handed me the win by over 38 seconds! That’s over a half lap. That’s probably a record in it’s own actually…..?

Running six classes in a day makes for very little rest. Basically I’m in every other race for the entire day. My good buddies Chuck, Andy, and Aaron coordinate the wrenching all day and I just focus on hydration, short rests, and getting my head into the next event…… but I was very glad to get to the lunch break. It felt so good to peel my leathers off for the first time since the morning. It was a warm day, so the sweat was flowing pretty steady. Putting my feet up was a welcome change.

Finally it was time for the big race: Formula Unlimited. I crashed out of the lead last time I lined up for this race, and it was far too long to wait for retribution. We made another significant change to the bike between races, and I was hopeful it was going to help with the handling of the bike. I wasted no time in going to the front. I got a decent start from the second row and made the pass for the lead on the brakes going into turn one. From there I just set about my business. I put in a string of laps down near lap record range for the first half of the race, and that’s what it took to wear out my competitors. By around half distance they all started dropping back and I was able to put it on cruise control to win by a very safe 6 seconds. Although I had two races to go I was now happy with my day. I was done doing what I needed to do, and anything else after this point was just a bonus.

The 600 Superbike race ended up being the craziest one of the day for me. I had just taken the lead on about lap 3 when the red flag came out and they pulled us all into the pit. Off the restart I again didn’t get that great of a launch and had to battle my way around with Oliver Jervis and Mike Sullivan. They were both able to power by me quite easily on the front straight, but I was riding the wheels off my bike and bombing into the turns on the brakes to continually retake the lead. The three of us just kept trading positions several times per lap. Finally I got in over my head just a little bit. I popped out of the draft to make the pass for the lead going into turn one and just couldn’t get it stopped. I floated the rear wheel for at least a hundred feet trying to get my speed down so I could stay on the asphalt. I had already gone by the usual racing line and the front tire barked and turned on me twice, locking up in protest against my efforts. It wasn’t meant to be, and I had to run off into the grass. I returned to the track in fourth, actually worked my way back up to second on the last lap, but lost a drag race to a much faster bike to the line and ended the race in third. It was a great battle though, and I’m confident with a slightly freshened up bike those guys will be in for trouble.

The 750 Superbike race was a bit of a yawner. The two next fastest guys in the class both wrecked their bikes earlier in the weekend and that left me alone out front. At the end of the first lap I already had a huge lead, and I just continued on the processional to win by a massive margin of 24 seconds. The only drama there was that my clip-on slipped on the fork and one handlebar was almost into the tank. I just nursed it though, taking it easy in the areas of the track where you really yard on the bars.

A massive thanks has to go out firstly to my crew of Chuck, Andy and Aaron for tirelessly twirling wrenches all weekend. I couldn’t do it without them. I also have to say a special thanks to my long time sponsor of GPR for the awesome products they’ve always put together. I got my new GP4 dampener for the GSXR1000 all mounted up in literally about 4 minutes and it worked flawlessly from the first lap on. What more could you ask for? Also I welcome Advanced Motorcycle Gear and Falco Boots to the team. Todd’s been gracious enough to let me run a set of his new Italian made Falco boots. The fit and quality is second to none, and I look forward to trying out some more of the Falco products in time. Of course I can never say enough about Suzuki and Pirelli. My name has become synonymous with theirs, and I couldn’t be more proud to represent such quality products.

So in 6 starts I took a second, third, and four wins. Couple that with the lap record to match the records I also currently hold for both the Mission Raceway Park old course and Mission Raceway Park new course and I’d say I’m rather satisfied right now. We’ll keep working on that ‘thou’ though, and I’m confident once we get it working we’ll be into the low 1:06 or high 1:05 range. I called it last time, if you remember……? Stay tuned for more racing action as I embark on the next WMRC double header in two weeks time. Wish me luck!