Series: WMRRA

Date: May 6th - 7th

Classes raced and results
600 Superbike - 7th

Before I begin, I need to thank some people for their efforts this weekend. First, I have to thank the Gua family for their always amazing hospitality and friendship. Also, I want to thank our team painter, Rob Burns, for really going that extra mile for us this weekend. And last, but certainly not least, I want to thank Dan and the team for all they do.

Notes on practice:

The weather for practice was cold but dry so it afforded us the opportunity to really push the bike hard, something I haven't really had the opportunity to do since Daytona in March. Everything went fantastic - the bike felt perfect and our lap times were right where we needed them to be for the races. Quite honestly, I was really looking forward to a good race the next day.

Race
600 Superbike
Weather conditions - wet & damp
Tires front / rear - soft rain front - medium dot rear
Total laps - 10
Result - 7th

Notes: This race was extremely frustrating to say the least. The weather was once again playing havoc with tire choice as it intermittently sprinkled for a few minutes wetting the track, followed by high wind and no rain. I went out for the morning practice simply to get an idea of what the track conditions were. Sure enough there was a dry line appearing so the thought of using a full set of rains seemed unnecessary. About fifteen minutes before the race we had a very brief rain shower which led us to choose a rain front and a dot rear. Our thought was that the track was dry enough for the dot rear, but that the rain front would allow us to get into the damp corners more effectively. As I was gridded back on row six, I knew I needed a good start. With that accomplished I went into turn two in tenth place where Brian Musselman high sided right in front of me (unfortunately, I heard later that he did get hurt in the fall). At that moment, or perhaps it was just a few seconds later, it became quite obvious the dot rear was the wrong option as the track was pretty much soaked. After a few frustrating moments in my effort to keep up, I decided to just chill out and finish the race as best I could. I hate knowing I have no chance of winning because of a tire decision I made earlier. In the end I had a terrific battle with Luke Gaylor (on full wets) as he was able to easily pass me in the corners while I had to rely on the speed of our ZX6RR and a few brave braking maneuvers to stay in front. It all came down to the last lap, second to last corner, where Luke put a brilliant move up the inside of me. I ran it in just that much deeper and was able to keep the lead to the checkered flag. A really good, clean race.

From here I have a few hours to get home, unpack, and re-pack my bags as I leave very early for our first test of our National program in Shannonville.

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

Oliver

Please click on images to enlarge

Our 600	Dan "slavin"	New Arai
Barry Wressel	Tom Wertman	"Big" Brad Gua
Brian Mussleman	Connor Abbot & Colin Rimes	Amber Rimes
Amber & her awesome Ducati 749R	Richard Lerud (TYR SOX) "Tea time"	D.Z.
Connor changing my tires... lol	The nasty little spark plug that caused our generator to "malfunction"	Rob Burns