Series: WMRC

Date: April 16th - 17th

Classes raced and results
Superbike Race 1 - 1st

600 Supersport - 1st

Superbike Race 2 - 1st

Well, this was one way to start my season in the WMRC series. As you will read further on, this was undeniably a trying weekend for me, but things happened to work out in the end.

Before I begin I really want to specifically thank several people for their continued support of our racing program. First I need to thank Jay and James for all their efforts in the pits for this series. You guys rock. Also, I want to thank the respective people at Kawasaki and their dealers (Burnaby Kawasaki, SG Power & Leading Edge) that support my western racing. Also, I can't forget to say thanks to Scott & Chris for their unbelievable hospitality and friendship.

Notes on Practice:
Well this really could not have gone much worse. Picture this. I had just completed my first lap in the very first practice session of the year when I found myself lying on the outside of turn one holding my knee as I rolled in pain. Yep, you read it right. I had somehow managed to throw the bike down the road within two laps. Great start. What happened? Well I managed to go into turn one and on a downshift while coming in, the bike had found itself in a false neutral. Nothing to really worry about as this happens from time to time, although for some inexplicable reason I didn't pull in the clutch to let it sort itself out and when it did, as I was leaning into turn one, it jarred the rear and quite literally threw me to the ground. Luckily the bike had faired quite well, however my right knee was not doing so well. Again, the Joe rocket leathers, Sidi boots and Arai helmet kept me injury free - I was definitely hurting, but not injured. :o). We managed to patch the bike back together and I finished the afternoon practice sessions to ensure the bike was okay for the races.

Notes on races
Race 1
SuperBike race 1
Weather conditions - wet and cold
Tires front / rear - soft rain front - medium rain rear
Total laps - 8
Result - 1st
Notes: I got a decent start and went into turn one in second position. Steve Dick was in front and it was obvious he was in a determined mood. As the temperature was cool I decided to take it easy for the first few laps and wait for the Pirelli rains to come up to temperature before really starting to push. Unfortunately for Steve, he had a few close moments which enabled me to get out front and with three laps to go I decided to push a little bit as the tires were now operating with a bit more predictability. Luckily, I finished 1st.

Race 2
600 SuperSport
Weather conditions - damp, wet, dry
Tires front / rear - soft rain front - medium rain rear
Total laps - 8
Result - 1st
Notes: I really can't stand these types of races. It's the ones where ¾ of the track is soaking wet, but drying quickly, and you have to go out on a set of rains if you want to have a chance at winning. Unfortunately for the rain tires, this usually means you are going to absolutely destroy them, and we did. I got a great start and lead the pack into turns one and two. From here I did my best to control the pace of the ensuing group as best I could. I worked on standing the bike up early exiting turns to minimize the heat load on the sides of the tires and searched for the damp patches on the straights. My plan was relatively simple, keep the pace as slow as possible until three laps to go and then put in some flyers. If I managed my tires correctly, I knew I would have something for the end. Luckily my plan paid off and I was able to pull a small gap in the remaining laps to take the win.

Race 3
SuperBike race 2
Weather conditions - damp, wet, dry
Tires front / rear - soft dot front - medium dot rear
Total laps - 12
Result - 1st
Notes: This race was one of the hardest mentally that I have ridden in quite a while. With the varying weather we were having, we seemed to be in the same situation as the prior race, although the sun had come out and the track was presumably going to dry much faster, or at least one would think. We decided to run DOTs and this was a HUGE mistake. As soon as we did the sighting lap I knew we were in trouble. The track was much wetter than we anticipated and wasn't drying nearly as quickly as we thought it would. Steve Dick and I were the only ones on DOT's - the rest of the field was on full rains. This was going to be tough. I got a decent start, but Steve managed to get by me in the back section sliding all over the place. Unfortunately he crashed a lap later (thankfully unhurt) coming out of turn seven. It was readily apparent that we had chosen the wrong tires as we had been passed by three or four other riders with full rains. Aaarrgh. :o) Steve's crash brought out a red flag, but we didn't have time for me to get the rains mounted so I just lined up for the restart in a determined mood. I was really going to have to take some chances to win this race. I lead the first lap, but got passed on lap two by two riders. By lap three I was back in the lead with some aggressive braking. Essentially there were only two places on the entire track that I could use the DOTs - the entry to turn one, up to about fifteen feet, and the entry to turn three. It was in these places that I really had to make everything count. I seemed to be doing okay until the second to last lap while entering turn seven I got into a very lengthy slide. Essentially I had our 600 "fully hacked out" for over fifty feet, but the surface was so slippery it wasn't responding at all. I had to ultimately run off in turn seven letting another rider by in the process. To be honest, I was really upset with myself as I got back on the track in second seeing the white flag as I came out of turn nine. From there I put in an absolutely flyer of a lap passing the lead rider in the process and taking the win. Whew. That was not an enjoyable race.

From here I have a week off and then it's down to Seattle with Dan & the team and then we're off for some testing out east in preparation for the upcoming Nationals.

Stay tuned… You know I'll keep you posted. :o)

Oliver

Please click on images to enlarge

James looking at me like "What were YOU thinking man" :o)	James "Slavin"	Looks OK from here - (note the gravel under the bike)
	Looks good on this side.. :o)	My godson Adam and his father Scott.
Mr. Steve Crevier & Darren James	James, Jay, Myself and a young fan. :o)