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is always the case, I need to thank some specific people for
their help and assistance that enabled us to achieve these results.
Thanks to Adam and the crew at Joe Rocket for providing another
awesome looking suit to keep me safe. A big thanks to Groffe
Braithwaite from Bardahl for his continued support, Kevin at
Pirelli for getting me the best tires, SG Power, Honda Canada
and CLS West for making it possible for me to race this series.
Also thank you to the countless others that were involved.
Last year the SuperMoto USA series made its way to my hometown,
Victoria. Unfortunately, at that time I was out of town road
racing and was unable to attend. This year with the series
coming for the second time, and the fact that SG and all the
sponsors had given me such a competitive machine, there was
no way I was going to miss out.
Notes on race 1 - Open Expert
I got a great start and lead the race from flag to flag.
The new Pirellis really hooked up and with the bike handling
well I pretty much put it in cruise control.
Notes on race 2 - 450 pro
I got the hole shot and lead this one from flag to flag also.
By the halfway mark I realized I had pushed the rear Pirelli
a little too hard. The tire was now spinning too easily and
getting good drives was becoming increasingly difficult. Nonetheless
we brought it home in first place.
Notes on race 3 – Prestige
I hate to admit it, but I almost pulled out of this race
on the warm up lap. My arms were now cramping and as I rolled
to the start line my hand cramped so severely I had to force
my fingers open to get them around the grip. Not the way I
wanted to start the longest race of the day I can assure you.
I got the start I needed knowing that I was only going to
be able to put in a serious effort for maybe ¾ of the
race. Also, without another new rear Pirelli I was sliding
everywhere as I was simply asking too much from the tire.
Luckily, I had built a small cushion in the first half of
the race and it was enough to hold off the competition to
the finish. I won, but just barely. The poor Pirelli was absolutely
shagged; it was actually worn past the wear indicators, which
is quite impressive considering what it had to endure over
the 50 laps of its life.
Riding the SuperMoto has taught me a lot this year. I even
applied some of this newfound knowledge to my road racing
with good success, although I have to say that even though
I really enjoy racing SuperMoto, nothing tops the buzz I get
from road racing.
From here I prepare for the final double header in Mission
October 2-3, and then it’s off to Seattle for some racing,
followed by a few days with the lads at Freddie Spencer’s
in Las Vegas, all in preparation for Valencia at the end of
October.
You know I’ll keep you posted.
Oliver
Please click on image to enlarge
Photos courtesy Ken Sprinkling
Ken Sprinkling
Photography
KSprinkling@shaw.ca
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