Race Report: Infineon Raceway (AFM/CSC)
- Friday
After six hours (much less than the 7 hours if Gary were driving) we had made the trek from Escondido to Santa Cruz to pick up the trailer, which had been stored after the races in Laguna the week prior. Happy to be there in such good time it wasn’t such a hard hit to realized that the keys for said trailer were still sitting on the board at the shop in San Diego… Thanks to the fact that Jeremy and Jody’s flight didn’t leave till until later that afternoon and Jason’s phenomenal drive time we were able to simply place a phone call and have the keys brought up that afternoon/evening.
Back on the road again we headed north to Sonoma where this weekends American Federation of Motorcyclists (AFM) and California State Championship (CSC) would be taking place at Infineon Raceway. On the way we were treated to the opportunity to drive right through the heart of San Francisco with the Sprinter Van and trailer thanks to a “flawless” GPS unit! If nothing else it gave Gary and Jason the opportunity to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge and do a bunch of free advertising.
Later the team met up in the paddock and set up shop for tomorrows on track activities. Jeremy, Jason, and Gary got the foundation out of the way while Jody started getting Jeremy’s bike back to the setting we found a few weeks prior at our test. Once the SD BMW paddock palace had been completed it was time for a few tweaks on Gary’s bike to make it more Sonoma ready (as opposed to the Willow setup that was currently on it), and a few good eats at Pasta Pomodoro (highly recommended if you’re in the Novato area).
- Saturday
On Jeremy’s side of the pit we still had the same problems from Laguna rearing their ugly head with breaking stability, while Gary was fighting grip issues and nervousness from the front end. With very limited track time here this weekend there could be no guess and check. All decisions to each bike and to be done in a conscientious manner because there could be no session wasted. Many of Gary’s issues were helped with the install of a new Bitubo rear shock (one like what Jeremy has been testing for the past few weekends). He was able to find more rear grip and calm down the front end of the motorcycle at the same time. In short the change was so good that it cut his laptime by two seconds per lap! For the number 57 the story was a little different. The 3 J’s (Jason, Jeremy, and Jody) managed to work forward troughout the day, but the revelation wouldn’t come until Sunday morning. Before that however, we would get to witness a dead last to second place charge put on by Gary Orr in the Formula 40 Heavyweight race that afternoon.
Now, it’s no secret that the number 517 isn’t a natural born drag racer. His starts are miss and miss (as opposed to hit and miss), and one-thing readers must know about the AFM grids is that they are the largest you’ll find on the West Coast. Gary’s support race on Saturday afternoon had no less that 38 entrants. So one would guess that in order to make a good showing in the race from 32nd on the grid Gary would need to make a spectacular start. Needless to say it was spectacular, just not in the good way… After being dead last going into the first corner Gary was given a shot at redemption due to the red flag that came out after just a lap or two.
So there he was, sitting back on the eighth row with another shot at the start he’d been dreaming about for the twenty minutes between the red flag and the restart. Unnfortunately it would be like déjà vu all over again and the number 517 was 38th in turn one, again! However what happened throughout the next eight laps could be described as awe inspiring. Everyone in the stands and even the track announcer took notice of the power of the S1000RR underneath Gary as he seemingly willed his way by his competitors on the throttle, and then owned them in the heavy braking zones at Infineon Raceway. Gary came home in second place turning a best lap of 1:42.3 (very respectable for a Sears Point veteran, let alone newbiee).
That evening left us with plenty of time and light to get the bikes sorted for the next morning and a brisk jog through the hills between turns one and eleven. We met at Fresh Choice for dinner, to go over the days activities, and set up a game plan for Sunday.
- Sunday
It was a cool and foggy start to the day, which riders will tell you equal slippery conditions, but we were still happy to find that our decision the night before to modify the chassis components were not in vain. Despite the conditions Jeremy verified that we were working in the right direction. We used the Open GP in the morning to test one other variation on the setup and then locked in on our setup for the premier race that afternoon, Formula Pacific.
Jeremy was going to be starting from the 13th position on the grid and he knew that if he didn’t want the leaders to get away he was going to have to make a stellar start, he did! After making up four spots before turn two number 57 was on its way forward. By the time the lead group came thundering past the start/finish Jeremy was in it, 4th position! After dropping Jeff Tigert the final three Doug Stanton, Michael Ernest, and Toye would be left to fight it out amongst themselves for their spots on the podium. From the stands it was clear to see that the set-up Jason and Jody sent Jeremy out with was very capable on the breaks, but was lacking a bit in the mid corner portion. Despite that short coming Jeremy used the rock solid breaking characteristics and the 200+ hp acceleration of the S1000RR to stick it to the Infineon veterans he was racing against.
On the last lap Jeremy had positioned himself perfectly out of seven for a late breaking maneuver into turn nine. For the vantage point in on the pit wall you could see the riders all crest the hill with their front wheels blasting through the air as they wheelied towards the last series of turns. Jeremy made the move and positioned himself just to the inside of Stanton before the right/left chicane, but there is a reason experience counts for so much! Knowing that Jeremy would attack the first apex to try and make the pass Stanton simply held his position next to Toye around the outside, which set him up perfectly for the left coming out of the chicane! Stanton would go on to take the win, while Jeremy would take second and more importantly a massive point lead in the C.S.C. Formula class standing. It was an intense race for all that watched, and Jeremy said he had a blast (he sure did, setting the fastest lap of the race at a 1:38.79)!
Later that after noon was another shot at Gary to redeem himself in the “starts” department. With a brand new clutch, and multiple practice starts on AFM’s pre-race grid everyone was hoping he’d blast off of the seventh row right to the front and stick it to the leaders. It wasn’t to be. He went into the first turn last again, but to the cheer of the crowd he amassed another charge towards the front. The exact number hasn’t been calculated, but it would be safe to say that more that 50 riders saw the number 517 come past and disappear on track during the races on Saturday and Sunday. It is believed that Gary secretly wanted to do as much advertising for San Diego BMW Motorcycles and the S1000RR as possible, so he was intentionally starting from the back. That way he could show more people the capabilities of the new BMW superbike!
One the race was done it was time to load everything back in the trailer and make our way back to San Diego (after three days of activity, racing, and sun this is no easy task). The driving was split between Gary and Jason so Gary could finish adding all of his way points to MapSource for his “10 and 10” rally coming up in September. Before that make sure to come out and see us at WSMC on the 15th where Gary will take his first wack at the premier event and Jeremy will be returning to his throne with the S1000RR BMW Superbike!
No comments:
Post a Comment