The Lucas Oils Superbike Challenge GTO class was designed to allow up-coming pros and local fast guys to show off their talent in front of the media fire-storm that is World Superbike. Racing on the same day as the big guns guaranteed a large audience. Normally the stands at a “club” race will have two dozen spectators, most of which are related to someone in the race, but the GTO class ran right after World Supersport and between the World Superbike Round One and Two. The stands were packed and the Fans were really into the race.
To say that the racing went as planned would be an overstatement. The San Diego BMW Motorcycles, Lee’s Cycles Racing, Locust sponsored, Roadracingworld.com project S1000RR was certainly up to the task. Lead development rider, and uber fast guy, Jeremy Toye was fastest in the first Practice session and on top of the board in the first qualifying session as well. He was over a second ahead of the second place rider and was the only rider to break into the 1:51 lap times. To put this into perspective, He was fast enough to qualify for the World Superbike Gird, on a completely stock engine. The Last qualifying session was dramatically shortened due to some clean up from the previous session, and the fast times from the first session held up to give the San Diego rider the pole. San Diego BMW Motorcycles owner and team “B” rider, Gary Orr managed a personal best lap time in qualifying and ended up mid pack on the grid right behind Kurtis Roberts! (Yes King Kenny’s kid.)
The S1000RR project had Jeremy testing several new parts this weekend and trying to get the bike up front in the process. New fork cartridges from AK Gas, Carbon Fibre Wheels courtesy of Brocks Performance; we even had new engine protectors from GBRacing. (We really were impressed with how much lighter the engine covers were, but we didn’t really want to test the abrasion characteristics just yet…More on that later).
Many people think that getting a “new” part means bolting it on and going faster, but there really are a lot of changes to make with each added piece of the puzzle. Adjusting for the forks was relatively easy, and Jeremy felt like the set up we came up with was the best yet. Adding the Super-Light carbon wheels required a bit of adjustment as well, as the front save 2.5 pounds of un-sprung weight. That is an enormous difference and each change means a new set of adjustments to the bike. Add that to the level of competition from guys like Taylor Knapp, Geoff May, and David Anthony, and Jeremy had a big job to develop and race competitively. The Aforementioned “B” rider Gary has it a little easier since he is riding a stock bike with minor changes; suspension and a pipe. It really is a testament to how good the bike is that it can be so competitive in totally stock form, but racing is all about development. Starting with the best “stock” bike makes it easier, but you still have to do the work.
The race started with quite a melee in turn one, when four riders came together and tested their protective gear. Jeremy, who was out front, was disappointed to see the Red flag come out, but Gary who was behind the incident was not that upset. “I got a terrible start the first time, got held up even more by the crashes, and was happy to get a chance to do it again, unfortunately the second one wasn’t much better.” On the restart Jeremy showed the power of the BMW as he was again first into one. He went on to build a small lead over AMA regular Geoff May, but once Taylor Knapp got around Geoff into second on his Ex Matt Mladin Superbike, He began to close on the BMW. By the 5th lap Taylor had closed the distance and was right on Jeremy’s tail. The lap times were slightly higher than in qualifying, and Jeremy felt they had a little more in reserve. He was pushing hard into the Black Rock Hairpin, when disaster struck. Jeremy tucked the front on the brakes and slid into the gravel. Up and OK, Jeremy re-entered the race in 15th position and finished in 14th place on the track. Unfortunately, due to UTSBA rules, Jeremy was disqualified for failing to return to the pit before continuing in the race. Meanwhile, Gary was having a battle further back in the pack and managed to pull off a last lap pass to move into 18th position.
Despite the crash in GTO, we have learned a lot about how to make the bike work better and how to get set some fast lap times. We expect to do more testing between now and our next round of WSMC at: The Streets of Willow. Jeremy is the lap record holder there and we expect to do well. Who knows maybe Jeremy can beat his old lap record. Photos Courtesy of Latebreaker.com
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