Thanks to Jim, Scott and the boys from Clearbrook Motorsports for all their help and support this past weekend. Also, a huge thanks to Marc Burgess for coming along to help despite the fact that he had recently broken his leg.
As you may or may not have read in my last report, I have been feeling a little burnt out recently so in the days leading up to this race I decided to take some time away from it all. I went fly-fishing on one of my favourite rivers on Vancouver Island and spent some much needed time with my family and friends. All this has relaxed me and brought me back down to a more grounded Oli (a place I need to be more often).

Race 1 Superbike leg 1 - WET RACE
As WMRC grid us for this race according to last years points, I was on the second row for the race. I got a good start and was in the lead by lap 2. From here I worked on maintaining the gap from second and riding a comfortable pace. Unfortunately, the bike started to run on what felt like three cylinders, but I was still able to keep the lead until on the exit of turn 7 when the bike suddenly died. Imagine being at full lean in the wet and having the bike stop. The bike tossed its unwanted cargo, me, off the highside and continued spiraling down the track. I couldn't believe it! Fortunately, aside from some bruising, the Joe Rocket equipment and Arai Helmet saved me from additional injury. And for once, the bike crashed really well. Only a few scratches on the Factory Pro cover! The "misfire" was later traced to water getting into the Techlusion EFI module on the bike. When we opened it, it was full of water :o(. Lesson learned

Race 2 600 Supersport - MIXED CONDITIONS
Now we had a shot. As we won the heat race I was on pole for this one. I got a decent start and was in second behind Steve Dick going into turn 2. I had noticed that he had selected a different tire than us, one that would produce good results early on, but would fade as the race continued. We had opted for a tire that would grow stronger as the race progressed. I let Steve go in the first 2 laps telling myself to be patient and let the race come to me. Sure enough, after a few laps, I began to make considerable time on him and within a few more laps got by him for the lead.

Race 3 Formula 2 - DRY RACE
Just four days before race day I received a call from Jim and Scott at Clearbrook Motorsports requesting that I ride their KX500 Supermotard for them. Scott had unfortunately been injured and was unable to ride the bike at that event so I got the call. The bike was wickedly fast, but had some serious braking issues due to a mismatched caliper and master cylinder combination that found the brake lever coming right into the bar after a few hard laps. I simply couldn't stop. To avoid throwing the thing down the road I backed off from the lead group and just focused on finishing. I was a little disappointed we didn't put the KX on the box, but the time spent on it produced some suggestions for development that I am sure will lead to the bike becoming even more competitive. I'm sure that's ultimately what Jim and Scott wanted to extract from all this. I hope I delivered.

Race 4 Superbike leg 2 - WET RACE
Due to the crash in leg 1, I was way in the back for the start of this one. I had to make the first lap a flyer if I had any chance of beating Steve Dick. I put in a great first lap and had worked my way into second by turn 4. Unfortunately, Steve had also gotten a good start and had pushed hard getting a 4-5 second gap on the field. I decided to put in two hard laps and see if I could make up enough time to get him by the end of the race. Two laps later it became obvious we were running nearly the same lap times so I backed it off. There was no way I was going to throw the bike down the road. Again, I just focused on the gap from third and maintained it.

Thanks again to everyone involved in this race program. Regardless of the amount or type of support you grant, you are an integral part of this team and we couldn't do it without you.

Next stop - Laguna Seca!!

Oliver