Round 3 OMMRA race at PIR - Season ending crash!!!
June 2011
Well this year has been the year of crashes, and this one being the worst of the three!. The day had started off perfect with practice sessions in the morning really going well, and i could certainly feel the extra power from the engine work we just had done. Moving into the first race of the afternoon - 750 Superbike, I got a reasonably good start going into turn 1 in 4th place, ready to start slowly working my way through to the front. by lap 4 i was leading the race and starting to pull a comfortable gap on second place, only to have on turn 4 my brake resovoir bracket snap, and on lap 6 my front brakes started to fade. I was trying to hold on for as long as could, but the breaking into turn 1 and turn 7 is so much that i couldn't keep second place behind me. Lap in turn 7 i was over taken and lost the lead, but finished second place.
Back to the pits for a quick repair and to bleed the brakes and ready for the 600 Superbike race at the end of the day. It was also my 17th Wedding anniversary and my wife, 2 boys and friends were here to see me this weekend.
5:00 came and it was time for the last race of the day. My start was I would say the worst I ever had, I went from 3rd on the grid to 20th. I managed to make up a couple of places at turn 1, and really tried to stay calm and pick my way through the pack, but was always in fear that the top 3 guys would check out, and as our laptimes are similar, if i get stuck I've got no way of catching them. Moving down the back straight i really made up some ground, the power of the new engine coming out of 2nd gear turn 4 really gave me a leap. Approaching turn 7, I held off the brakes and saw an opportunity to cut inside of 5th place and take 4th, after negotiating through turn 7 I started to make the flick right into turn 8, I came upto 3rd place very quickly, and as I was leant over i couldn't brake, making me take turn 8 wide. Through no fault of anybody's the 3rd place rider runs a little wide too, and we touch, pushing me into the grass. I do remember having my back brake pressed and not slowing down and seeing the tire wall approaching fast.
Everything from this point on I can't remember, until the following morning finding myself back in ER, as i had lost all the feeling down the left side of my body. After more MRI brain scans it showed that I had burst some blood vessels in my brain due to the harsh impact of hitting my head on the ground at such high speed.
The other injury I had suffered was a broken collar bone in 4 places, which needed surgery but due to my head injury couldn't happen.
Ugly picture of my collar bone being broken in 4 places.
Infineon Testing - Not the way I planned it to be!
March 2011
First trip of the year was to head south to California to Infineon raceway with my teammate to a Keigwins track day, and "blow out the cob webs". we arrived late Sunday evening ready for the day to start Monday morning 7:00am. the weather forecast was 70% chance of raining, but we knew we would get a good few sessions in to get what we wanted done. we attended the riders meeting and setup and the clouds looked good and there was a chance that it would stay a dry day, the track was damp around the back side on the turn 5 exit, and turns 7 and 8 and drying fairly quickly.
Sessions 1 and 2 were ok, getting to know the bike again and getting the body used to moving on the bike, slowly speeding up lap after lap and having a chance to see how the track was drying and any slippery spots.
Session 2 ended very well, everything felt good and it was time to start pushing, it was a cold day, so i reduced my tire pressures for session 3 to get more heat. first couple of laps showed the track had dried out a lot more with the sun shining, looking at my lap times i was close to my AMA laptimes last year and felt i could push harder, especially around the back of the track, where it was still damp, but drying fast.
4 laps into the session, I found myself sliding into the infield of turn 7 before I knew what was happening! Turn 7 the corner that was drying, still had a little dampness, and I clipped the damp part of the track and I low sided hard and slid off the track and onto the grass, rolling over and over, while seeing out of the corner of my eye the bike also rolling time and time again. i came to a stop and ran to the bike, unfortunately it was not able to be ridden and my day was over. i didn't feel any pain during or after the crash until the following evening at 10:00pm where my left knee that i had surgery on back in November, had become very swollen and as I write this a couple of days later, it is very swollen and i'm in alot of pain.
The bike has been dismantled and Chris at Cycletune is preparing the bike to be fixed ready for the next track day on April the 18th, where I am a marshall for MotoCorsa, ready for Round 1 of OMRRA Easter weekend
Exiting turn 2 with my team mate Brian Brewer behind me.
Exiting turn 4 upto the Carousel (Turn 5).
Picture taken of the bike when returned to the pits, the fuel tank and rear subframe are badly damaged.
New Sponsor signed for 2011 - Chicken Hawk Racing
January 2011
I'm happy to announce that I have signed a sponsorship deal with Chicken Hawk Racing for the 2011 racing season. I have always been a fan of Chicken Hawk tire warmers, and the flexibility they offer by selecting different temperatures for your tires. Below are the three different versions Chicken Hawk offers, Standard Single Temperature tire warmers, Pole Position tire warmers that have 3 temperature settings, and the Digital Pro-line model, to set the temperature you want! Click on the picture and it will take you to the website.
Chicken Hawk also offer Neoprene Wrap tire insulators, Cool fuel tank cover, knee sliders, and much more!
Look out for the new pictures of the 2011 race bike around February, showing all the new sponsors, and ready for the first day of testing on March 21st at Infineon Raceway!
Pole Position Tire Warmers. 3 Temp settings.
Standard Single Temp Tire Warmers.
Digital Pro-Line Tire Warmers. Temp adjustable
Surgery to fix my left Knee Meniscus tear
Late November 2010
After celebrating my two victories at the OMMRA banquet, two days later i was having knee surgery to fix my meniscus tear that i suffered during the September round at PIR (Portland International Raceway). It was nothing major, i just got into turn 3 a little hot, while trying to pass a back marker too quick and my knee hit the raised rumble strips on the inside too hard and twisted my leg. i didn't feel any pain during the race because of adrenaline, but certainly did that night!
Surgery did go well, the tear was at the right back of the meniscus, so healing time is going to 6 - 8 weeks, with a few weeks on crutches followed up by a knee brace. I'm looking forward to getting well, and getting in the gym to prepare for a great 2011 season.
OMRRA end of year trophy ceremony
November 2010
After clinching the 600SB and 750SB championship, OMRRA has a trophy ceremony to recognize all champions of 2010.
I will add a picture here when I have one of the trophies.
Another 2 wins in 600 and 750 SuperBike Senior in Round 6 of OMRRA to clinch the 600 and 750 Superbike Senior Championship
October 2010
I'm not sure where I start with this race blog, you can see from the picture on the left it was a wet weekend, and a lot of pressure, having not clinched the two titles mathematically at this point! Chris Vandevoort of Cycletune was on hand this weekend to help support me in this last difficult race to clinch the two championships. Morning practice started off wet, with a lot of puddles across the track between turn 3 and 4, and 4 and 5. Down the back straight between turn 6 and 7 was leaves falling off the trees overhanging the track to make conditions worse, so accidentally getting off the racing line could prove difficult!
Practice sessions went according to plan and I improved lap after lap, session after session. At lunch time we compared lap times with the rest of the field and i was running around 2 seconds faster than the rest, so we looked good for the first 750 SuperBike Senior race.
750 SuperBike Senior race got underway, and my start was remarkably good, leading the points I was on pole position, Aaron Miles who was second, is good at starts on his Suzuki 750, and got the edge on me running down the straight towards turn 1, but braked very early due to the conditions, which allowed me to run up the inside and take the lead. the race was pretty straight forward for the next 8 laps, having "little" moments here and there, power and rain never mix! I guess i started to become complacent and with back marker traffic, i find myself being challenged on the outside of turn 3 by Maurice Miller for the lead, Maurice having ridden PIR for many, many years has a lot of confidence in turn 3, that not many riders have. I then fought back straight away heading into turn 4, having the inside line, we both missed our braking points, struggling to slow enough for turn 4, but I managed to turn it in and reclaim the lead pushing harder until the end of the race to the checkered flag.
The 600 race an hour later saw the track dry, Chris and I had decided from our trusty Iphones that there was a weather front coming in before the end of the race, and stayed on wet tires, while everybody except another racer was on DOT's. The race started and i took 1st place straight away, but there was no traction, and very slippy through high speed turn 1 and high speed turn 7, having moments every lap, so much so I was contemplating coming in and retiring knowing my tires had worn out. Half way point in the race, i was passing the pits shaking my head, suggesting this was a bad decision, only to have on lap 10, the rain start and it came down heavy! in this race there are 2 races, 600 SuperSport and us, the 600 SuperBike Senior race, separated by a 10 second wave. So now all the DOT racers lap times slowed considerably and i began passing everyone, as if they were stationary, to end up winning my race lapping my competition and coming 3rd place in the race in front, it was a great day to clinch both championship, and the 600 SuperBike Senior in this way. It inspired me that next year racing the 2009 in this class i will be competitive.
2 more wins in 600 and 750 SuperBike Senior in Round 5 of OMRRA
September 2010
Since the last OMRRA race i hadn't ridden for a month, i have recently started a new job, and getting time off is difficult, so my marshaling duties with Moto Corsa wasn't possible, unfortunately. Practice sessions went very well in the morning, getting into the 1:12's, almost the 1:11's but not quite, next time! the first race, 750 SuperBike Senior ran very well, but due to the hot track conditions, and incorrect tire pressures to compensate for the track temperature found me having hot tearing on my rear slick tire, and having to limp home to the checkered for 3 laps, to win. With a quick tire change between races, and a quick phone call to Chris the tire pressures were set ready for the 600 SuperBike Senior race and all turned out great, with another win, putting in the lead in both championships for points. This means there is one more round of the OMRRA Championship, and it was bound to be a wet race knowing the Portland weather in October, and we didn't quite have all the points to have a comfortable lead, so a month between races is going to be a long time!
RIP Peter Lenz
August 2010
One of the most amazing 13 years racers was killed today in a motorcycle accident at the Indianapolis Speedway, on MotoGP weekend, Peter Lenz.
I first saw Peter ride back in 2004 when i went to the Keith Code Superbike school at Willow Springs, CA, where he was being tutored by Keith himself. I remember being on the track with him and he was much faster than me on his 125, around the corners, I later learned that he just lived down the road from me in Vancouver, WA. Peter was at the 4th round of OMRRA the weekend before the Indianapolis grand Prix and was very excited about racing that weekend. i will miss Peter and watching him ride, but i will forever ride with the sticker below in his memory.
Peter being interviewed by Speed TV.
A sticker to remember Peter.
One of the best pictures of Peter, on the front cover of Time Magazine.
2 more wins in 600 and 750 SuperBike Senior in Round 4 of OMRRA
August 2010
It was nice to come back to PIR after the heights of Laguna Seca and come back to what you know! The AMA is ran like clock work precision and you have to be in the right place at the right time, there's there's something to be said for being surrounded with competitors you know and are familiar with, i guess if i did more AMA's with the Geico Power Sports team, or the LTD team budget, i would! The 750 and 600 SuperBike Senior races ran like clockwork, both starts were lightening fast catapulting us the the front, where i stayed to the checkered flag. This gave us points in the bank, having missed two rounds of OMRRA due to AMA duties at Infineon and Laguna, i needed to build a points lead, and we were well on our way.
Round 7 of the AMA Championship At Laguna Seca, MotoGP Weekend
July 23rd - 25th 2010
This by far was the race of the year that I was looking forward too, a race where my family were with me and my close friends being my pit crew, that i have always gone to MotoGP with in prior years, now we are all part of it!. We traveled down in the Motorhome Wednesday, picked up our credentials and slept outside the track ready for staging Thursday morning. Staging was a little problematic, but the AMA guys got us a great spot on a corner in the pits between turn 3 and 4. Friday practice started off, getting used to the track, Laguna is a very difficult track to practice on, as there are noise restrictions, making it difficult for race bikes to practice on track days, so we had some fast track learning to do!
Practice went a lot better than I expected we were running within the 110% rule of the fastest racer Austin Dehaven. Now having a idea of how the track rides we decided that we would go up 3 teeth in the rear to get more acceleration out of corners as my observation is other racers were getting better drive, especially between 3 and 6. The corkscrew is an amazing experience, but turn 1 is even better for me, coming over the blind corner at approx. 130mph, leaning over looking for the pit lane maker and breaking hard for 2, very tough on the arms!
The weekend was jam packed full, so our qualifying was at 8:45am on Saturday, and as we know Laguna, it can be cold damp and foggy, and it was. Still qualifying went without any drama, just more focus on testing out the new gearing and learning the track and trying to put in some good laps to qualify. Unfortunately my team mate had a pretty bad crash in turn 9, and that was the end of his weekend. At the end of qualifying it was good to see that i had improved my lap times from yesterdays practice and was still within the 110% qualifying rule. not everyone qualified, so that's an achievement in it's self. My friends were there to support me and cheer me on, which i appreciated. Time now to get everything ready for the race at 5:30pm Saturday afternoon, which turned out to be great, allowing the Limey 17 Race team to relax on Sunday and watch MotoGP
It was a long afternoon waiting for the race to start, the crowds were huge, I haven't seen the attendance figures yet, as the AMA haven't published the demographics, but it was a lot! on the first lap out from the pits the only lap where you get a chance to look around it was amazing. Lining up on the grid feels like forever, but time for last minute checks to be done and the tire warmer on, ready for the parade lap. The time had come and before we knew it, we were looking at the lights ready to start. i got a good start and went into turn 2 around 15th place making up a number of positions, and felt relaxed eager to get into a rhythm. i can't remember what lap it was but Cameron Beaubier crashed in the corkscrew, and bought out the red flag, it was disappointing for me at i was in a rhythm and holding 15th place, one better than Infineon, and felt i could improve if i took my time, as i could see the racers in front of me, not too far away. onto the second start, it wasn't as good as the first and found myself being shuffled back at turn 2, we started to build back up, but the pack had gotten away, and the rhythm i had previously had gone. Towards the end of the race i found myself sliding a lot, especially in the turn 2, turn 3, and nearly high sided a number of times. I finished in a good position, 20th, which i was pleased with, i learnt a lot from the race and was pleased to finish, and also be caught on TV. My goal is to do some track days during this year and next to get to know the track (i kept my stock pipe for the 09 ZX6R for this reason) and finish better in 2011
2 wins in 600 and 750 SuperBike Senior in Round 2 of OMRRA
June 26th 2010
We decided to race the 2005 ZX6R in the Senior class of 600 and 750 in OMRRA round 2, so as to keep the 2009 "fresh" for Laguna Seca round 7 coming up in July 2010. As it was SuperBike, we could use any tires and decided to try some Dunlop N-Tech Slicks for the first time, and they worked perfect! right out the gate my lap-times were fast at 1:13's, and that was with ease, the bike felt very stable and Chris had set it up perfectly!
We got going on the first race the 750 SuperBike, and my start was terrible, i've never been a good starter, and need to practice more, so I was left at the back of the pack running into turn 1, but started to catch up on the pack by turn 2 and 3. By turn 4 i was starting to over take and get by some riders, running slower, and proceeded to chase the riders in front of me. it was a fairly routine race, with no drama, and ended up finishing in first place to take my first SuperBike win!
The 600 Superbike Senior was ran in the afternoon, and coming off a win in the 750 Superbike, my confidence was high. We got started and my start was a lot better this time, and dived into Turn 1 in first place, and never looked back. I ended up running lap times of 1:12's and was 35 Seconds ahead, when i took the checkered flag. Next race in now Laguna Seca and having these 2 wins and 2 mores races under my belt, i'm looking forward to going to Laguna, check back for the race report.
Round 4 of the AMA Championship At Infineon
May 14th - 16th 2010
The week started off with leaving Chris's shop at around 1:00am, and up at 4:00am, ready to get moving to Infineon for the track day before the 4th round of the AMA Championship. Brian my teammate had a call from AMA saying that under the new rules, the track day was considered a test day and we would be disqualified if we participated, so I was going with a brand new bike, never ridden with 36 miles on the clock, which was a quick dyno, and having only rode the track once in an AFM round last year!
Upon arriving Wednesday night we waited to get our pit spot first thing on Thursday morning, which went very smoothly, and by lunch time we were all tech's and ready to go for practice Friday morning. Practice went very well, although we battled hard with suspension setup and went through tires fast while we dialed in the bike. The gearing was also out, we should have gone up one more in the rear, but it was too late now. We did make it to qualify and was within 110% of the fastest guy, so i was pleased having never ridden the bike.
Saturday afternoon came and we found ourselves on the grid waiting for the first race to start. We got underway, and the pace was fast, i was nervous, being my first AMA race and getting familiar with the protocol, but found myself battling in the last half of the pack. We had tow red flags, and the race was called, so i finished my first AMA race in 16th place out of 23 entries. i was pleased with the result, but knew i could do a lot better!
One to race two, on Sunday, feeling more relaxed and confident, off we went, start was good, and this time i felt myself battling a little higher up, with other top guns that consider this their home track, had battled my way up to 14th place and was faster than the riders in front of me and catching fast, only to find myself, getting over excited and missing turn 1 and into the grass (you will see in the gallery). I lost all my places, all that hard work to through it away! I continued to battle hard, but ruined my tires and ended up sliding a lot out of turn 7 and 11, and at that point it was a case of finishing. check out the pictures
Photo's of me during my AMA PRO race at Infineon Raceway, May 2010
"it's done!" Picture taken in the early hours of the morning, before being taken off the ramp and loaded in the trailer for journey down to Infineon raceway.
Round 4 of the AMA Championship, Turn 2 a fast blind corner!.
Round 4 of the AMA Championship, Tucking up for the start finish straight.
2009 ZX6R
April 2010
The week started off with leaving Chris's shop at around 1:00am, and up at 4:00am, ready to get moving to Infineon for the track day before the 4th round of the AMA Championship. Brian my teammate had a call from AMA saying that under the new rules, the track day was considered a test day and we would be disqualified if we participated, so I was going with a brand new bike, never ridden with 36 miles on the clock, which was a quick dyno, and having only rode the track once in an AFM round last year!
Upon arriving Wednesday night we waited to get our pit spot first thing on Thursday morning, which went very smoothly, and by lunch time we were all tech's and ready to go for practice Friday morning. Practice went very well, although we battled hard with suspension setup and went through tires fast while we dialed in the bike. The gearing was also out, we should have gone up one more in the rear, but it was too late now. We did make it to qualify and was within 110% of the fastest guy, so i was pleased having never ridden the bike.
Saturday afternoon came and we found ourselves on the grid waiting for the first race to start. We got underway, and the pace was fast, i was nervous, being my first AMA race and getting familiar with the protocol, but found myself battling in the last half of the pack. We had tow red flags, and the race was called, so i finished my first AMA race in 16th place out of 23 entries. i was pleased with the result, but knew i could do a lot better!
One to race two, on Sunday, feeling more relaxed and confident, off we went, start was good, and this time i felt myself battling a little higher up, with other top guns that consider this their home track, had battled my way up to 14th place and was faster than the riders in front of me and catching fast, only to find myself, getting over excited and missing turn 1 and into the grass (you will see in the gallery). I lost all my places, all that hard work to through it away! I continued to battle hard, but ruined my tires and ended up sliding a lot out of turn 7 and 11, and at that point it was a case of finishing. check out the pictures
Photo's showing the progress of the ZX6R changing from a road bike to a AMA Pro Race Bike
Happy Anniversary Cycletune
June 26th 2010
Well this weekend celebrates a one year anniversary for a very good friend of mine and my cool sponsor Chris Vandevoort of Cycle tune, you can read more about Chris in the Sponsorship page, but this weekend celebrates a year of Cycletune, his own bike shop he setup. (www.cycletunepdx.com) congrats Chris, looking forward to racing together again next year!