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Before I begin I really want to thank Jeff and the crew at
SG Power for helping so much with the SuperMoto program this
year, and thanks to my good friends Joe Keskeny & Marc
Burgess for coming along and racing with me. These two characters
were instrumental in my first ventures into road racing so
it felt really good to be racing with them - several years
later in SuperMoto. I would also like to thank the promoters
and staff of SuperMoto USA for being so welcoming and helpful.
Thanks everyone.
The title for this weekend's events should have "The
Walking Wounded". As you'll read later on, it ended up
being a real test of my pain tolerance - of which my wife
tells me I have none. I beg to differ.
Saturday Night
We arrived mid-day Saturday to partake in the exhibition races
that were scheduled for that evening in an effort to get a
grasp of the new-to-us track as well as the competition.
It took me no less than two laps in practice to catch my
left foot in a rut and twist my knee out of shape causing
me considerable pain. When I repeated the same maneuver in
the warm up of the first exhibition race I could hardly focus
on the task at hand. Regardless, I lead one of the exhibition
races until stalling the bike and surrendering the lead. I
eventually took third place in both races that night.
Sunday
With my left knee not able to straighten fully I was, let's
just say, uncomfortable going into the first warm up session
of the morning. However, once on the bike the discomfort seemed
to almost disappear. However, this road to recovery was short
lived. I crashed quite dramatically in a tight left-hand turn
during the last practice session. Suddenly just making the
race was going to require effort. It's been a while since
I have eaten pavement like this my friends, and it's something
I'm glad I don't do too often. I had managed to damage one
of my left fingers (fractured), sprain my left wrist, bruise
my right hip, elbow and shoulder, while destroying my leathers
and helmet. Now I have to once again thank the good people
at Joe Rocket, Arai and Sidi for supplying me with equipment
that allows me to walk away from crashes like this. So with
all this drama, Marc and Joe sprang into action fixing the
bike and getting me ready for the heat races. With some good
old fashioned, color coordinated, duct tape I was pretty much
good to go, all things considered. In these situations Dan
Zlock has taught me some things: if you're hurt, you can ride
- if you're injured, you need medical attention. I was just
hurt, so it was time to suck it up and get on with the job
at hand.
Race 1 - Open $$
I was gridded on the second row of this one and knew that
a good start was going to be needed to stay with the lead
guys. I got a decent start, but got swallowed in the pack
into turn one in about ninth place. It took me a few laps
to get into a rhythm, but eventually made my way up to fourth
by the finish.
Race 2 - Open Trophy
I got a better start in this one and was making my way through
the pack when Tyler Sandell and I came together in the dirt
section and I stalled the bike. By the time I got the CRF
started again it seemed most of the field had passed me. I
regrouped and was able to gain a few positions by the checkered
in seventh. My buddy Marc did really well in this race placing
fifth. Great job bud. :o)
Race 3 - 450 Trophy
To be completely honest I just wanted this race over with
so I could go home and start healing. I got the start I needed
and pushed my way into second place behind Dave Kemp by lap
three. From here my plan was just to follow him for a few
laps to see where I might have any advantages. I decided that
I was going to wait until the second to last lap and put a
move on him going into turn two just before the dirt section
as my bike seemed to be able to pull a tighter more efficient
line in this section than his. Unfortunately, I didn't account
for lapped traffic and with a little bad luck I missed my
chance on the critical lap. I finished a close second in a
terrific race.
From here I'm going to heal for a few days, and if I'm good
to race I might do a local exhibition event this coming weekend.
I'm gearing up for a big SuperMoto National in Oregon this
August, so stay tuned.
Thanks again to everyone that supports this racing program.
I wouldn't be here without all of your combined support.
Oliver
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