Race Report Round 6

The following are the daily updates posted to my blog on www.CDNsuperbike.com. During any race weekend you can visit the series website for daily updates as each race weekend progresses.

Canadian Thunder - Shannonville Motorsport Park
The Trip Over...

Time flies when you're having fun. Or so the saying goes. It certainly doesn't feel as though almost six months has passed since we started our race season in the Parts Canada Superbike championship.

I can only hope that the two (one if my mom doesn't count) people that read this blog have enjoyed my poorly written, grammatically incorrect updates. Funnily enough, Rob O'Brien, the website editor and official photographer, says I have a rather unique writing style that he aptly calls "writing menopause"… (no periods)… Despite what I prefer to call my "fluid" writing style, we haven't received the hate mail just yet, but with that last comment I might have just broken that seal. (sorry mom, I thought it was funny)

It's definitely been an exciting year for us and somehow, better lucky than good they say, we find ourselves in second place in the championship going into this last round. To be honest the championship is a little out of our reach as Darren has earned a comfortable gap by riding his well prepared machinery quickly and consistently all season long. The championship is not over, as anything can happen in racing, but it's certainly Darren's to lose. With that, I spent the last two weeks off focusing on my training and nutrition program. I even managed to knock off a few pounds so I'm feeling quite prepared for the final round. It's going to be interesting to say the least. Well, I better sign off as we're starting to land and the flight attendant is winking at me, or maybe it's a twitch because I'm making her mad. Must be the latter, although I am wearing that new TAG body spray and from what I've seen on those commercials that stuff is awesome. :o) My wife will be thrilled with that comment - let the hate mail begin. Anyway, Mr. Zlock arrives in a few hours and then it's time for an exciting white knuckle rental car rally drive down the 401. I can see the future now - "No, no Mr. rental car agency executive - that dent was already there - I swear." Dan often says the drive to the track is more dangerous than the racing itself. I wonder why he thinks that?

September 1, 2006

Canadian Thunder - Shannonville Motorsport Park
Day 1 - morning

Well the alarm clock certainly went off early this morning as Dan and I woke up at what would have been 2:30am pacific. We certainly weren't at our best, in fact, Dan was acting a little different and I have to share this little moment we had on the drive to the track. Here we were calmly driving down the highway when a song comes on the radio and Dan starts singing away. Trust me when I say this was way out of Dan's character. I burst into laughter as he belted out the lyrics to some Paul Simon song named "chrome-a-chrome." Anyway, if you knew Dan at all you would understand what a departure this behaviour is from his "normal" demeanor. This folks is what makes up the fun part of racing for me. Absolutely hilarious.
Another element to this weekend will be the weather as the tropical storm Ernesto is pushing through some serious precipitation with the forecast calling for over 40mm of rain tomorrow. Officials have wisely decided to hold the qualifying sessions this afternoon to avoid what might be un-rideable conditions tomorrow. This of course expedites things for us as we have to acclimate ourselves to the track quickly. It's going to be interesting.

Day 1 - afternoon

Qualifying went quite well as Dan and I worked on some geometry changes to enable the bike to work more effectively through some key parts of the track. With that we somehow managed to get a front row start for this weekend's race. It's amazing how doing well for the team changes the mood so drastically with everyone involved. I can't really express with words how good it feels to do well for the people that give you an opportunity like this. To be honest, next to winning, it's a feeling that I'm somewhat addicted to.

Another thing adding to the "pressure" this weekend, and this is a first for me, is that my bride is expecting our second child at any moment. Yep, you read that right, and I'm only half-way across our country at the moment. :o) I've been checking in regularly for updates, but so far she's not in labour just yet. Ahhh and you thought racing was exciting.

September 2, 2006

Canadian Thunder - Shannonville Motorsport Park
Day 2

The weather didn't come in as early as predicted so we actually got to practice a little today. Dan and I continued on the path we started yesterday still looking to make the bike work more effectively through some crucial parts of the track. Unfortunately, it began to rain just before our last session of the day so we were never really able to see how effective our changes were. Regardless, we have a relatively good set-up for tomorrow's race. Here's hoping that the weather doesn't completely rain us out and that the conditions are at least safe for the final round of the year.

September 3, 2006

Canadian Thunder - Shannonville Motorsport Park
Day 3 - Race day

First off I need to apologize for my tardiness in getting this report out. When our race was over things became hurried as we packed up everything to watch Jordan Szoke win the Superbike and Sportbike crowns for 2006. Congrats to Jordan and his crew for an excellent season. They certainly deserve it. Afterwards we got caught-up in the year-end party (I'm pleading the fifth) and now I find myself once again writing this report from the airport as I await my plane home. I know, I know - excuses, excuses.

To be honest, I'm rather glad this weekend is behind me. I've dealt with the pressures of running for a championship before, but with my bride expecting any day, it was unquestionably more challenging to remain focused as the weekend progressed, although, I do have to say thanks to everyone that came by to ask how things were going. Still no baby as yet. The night before the race I went out to dinner with just Dan instead of the usual group in order to relax and get in early for a good night's sleep. Although it took a little effort, we managed to find a Vietnamese restaurant that served pho soup, something Dan has introduced to me over the years of racing with him. It's a chicken or beef based broth soup with loads of bean sprouts and vegetables over rice noodles. As far as restaurant food is concerned, it's about as healthy as you can get, and honestly, it felt good to eat well after the last few days of not being able to.

Before our race began, I noticed Michael Taylor frantically searching for a helmet to wear. It turned out, and it's terrible that this actually happened, that someone came into our pits and nabbed Michael's trick custom-painted BK Designs helmet. It's very disappointing to know that there are people out there that would take such a personal item from a racer. In any event, Mike got set-up with another helmet well before the race began so everything was in order.

The strategy for our race was quite simple - win. The only chance I had to slip the championship away from Darren James and his awesome Buell was to win and have Darren finish well back in the field, something that wasn't likely to happen as the inclement weather we were encountering would only benefit his rain riding prowess. We got some very lucky breaks in the race and actually managed to sneak out the win over Michael Taylor and Paul Penzo. However, Darren had ridden an exceptionally intelligent race finishing where he needed to enable him to take his second consecutive Thunder national championship. My hat's off to Darren and his entire team for running consistently strong all season.

In the end, we missed the championship by only a few points. In racing you never can tell how your season is going to end up as we all know anything can and will happen in this sport. I have to thank everyone involved in this effort for the opportunity they provided me with this year. I'm also amazed at how much the team and their dynamic has grown as the season progressed. The high and low experiences of our race season, and racing in general, have definitely brought everyone together in what now feels like a family atmosphere. Pretty cool really.

This has been one of the busiest and most exciting summers of my life. I've already travelled more miles, turned more laps, and burned up more race fuel and Pirelli tires than I ever thought I would in a six month period. Wow, just thinking about it makes me smile. I've been so fortunate to spend my spring, summer and fall living my dream of riding and racing motorcycles.

Here's to another year of that. :o)

Thanks to everyone for staying tuned - 'till next year

Oliver