|
What a weekend - where to begin! My goal this weekend was to
finally get some quality development time on our ZX6RR. Unbelievable
as it may seem, we simply have not had the opportunity to sort
out our 600. We have either been scrambling just to get the
machine on the track or the conditions have not allowed us to
explore the ZX6's potential. Anyway you put it, we were behind
in our development. That was until this past weekend.
Practice = heat exhaustion
With the perfect weather on Saturday, Dan and I set out with
a plan. First we were going to focus on the geometry settings
on the bike, get that to where we were making progress and
then work on getting the fuel injection and the power delivery
sorted. With Dan's vast experience we arrived at a good base
setting with the bikes geometry quite quickly. By this time
it was only noon and I thought we would have ample time to
get the fuel injection sorted so I was quite elated. Little
did I know what lay ahead. Let me paint you a picture of the
conditions that afternoon. It's 95º with no wind. It's
HOT and we are struggling with the fuel injection settings.
Dan has me going out for two laps and then coming in to describe
the changes as positive or negative. This continues for just
over 3 hours as we slowly make progress using a Techlusion
EFI Box to adjust the settings. All the while I am so focused
on what we are doing that I am not taking in enough water.
The end result… heat exhaustion - not fun at all, but
we did dial the 600 in better than I could ever have imagined.
Effort = result. After drinking a lot of cold water in the
air-conditioned race truck I was feeling much better, with
the exception of a headache. A good sleep was all I needed
to feel 100%.
Race 1 600 Supersport
As this was our first outing with the 600 in this series,
and because WMRRA grids according to points, we were at the
back of the grid. OH JOY! Row eight to be exact. I think I
can see the start lights from there. Anyway, thanks to more
of Dan's advise I was now good for at least two rows on my
starts, provided I got it right. And in this case I really
got it right. By turn four I was in the lead and feeling quite
relaxed. From here it became a battle with three Yamaha's
and unfortunately they got by me. I finished fourth in a great
race with my good friend Tom Wertman.
Race 2 Formula Ultra
Spokane-rain-one-minute-shine-the-next was in full force.
Guess what, I'm on the grid for this race on the mighty Zlock
9R. It's starting to rain and I'm on full Pirelli slicks.
Oh boy, oh boy. I got a decent start and played it safe into
turn one. By lap three I was in fourth and finding the limits
of traction. Surprisingly, there was more available than I
anticipated. Regardless, I slid my way around and finished
fourth.
Race 3 600 Superbike
Remember that rain thing? Well it had just dumped and was
still drizzling as I lined up on the grid - again in the eighth
row. I got a great start and by the time I came around the
last turn onto the straight I was in the lead. Behind me was
a whole horde of bikes the least of which was Mike Sullivan
on his Yamaha. By the second lap a dry line had formed handing
the advantage to those who had opted for DOT tires. Fortunately,
I had built enough of a lead that my only concern was going
to be Mike. (On DOT's) On the second to last lap he got the
drive on me coming out of turn two. I attempted to push a
little harder, but the now screaming hot Pirelli Rains were
absolutely out of their element. To push any harder would
have lead me to crash, so on the white flag lap I chilled
out and brought it home in second. Another great race with
Mike.
I don't know if my enthusiasm comes through in this report,
but I am truly ecstatic about our progress with the ZX6RR.
I feel so fortunate to have the support of Zlock Racing and
all our other sponsors and really believe that we earned our
results this weekend with the hard work we put in. Funny how
that works isn't it?
From here I am preparing for the Canadian National at Calgary.
Look for us; we will be there!
Oliver
Please click on image to enlarge
|
