Mid Ohio Races - Spoiler Alert

Mid Ohio was perhaps the best attended weekend yet on the AMA Pro Racing Calender.  We had a lot of fun, and apparently the huge crowds did too.

All the racing was great this weekend, but perhaps not as good for us.  Rapp's 6th place qualifying had been a disappointment.  We thought his second place effort with 5 minutes left might hold up for a front row starting grid.  Everyone else just stepped it up as the seconds clicked away and pushed him off the front row.  Nevertheless, as soon as the flag dropped Rapp was racing, and sixth off the line. Second lap he set up a pass on Pegram under hard braking and had him, but the fork bottomed out and the front tire slid......  The bike pushed wide.  He regained control, but not before he ran out of track and was fortunate to keep the bike up in the grass.  Rejoining in 11th position, was not what we had in mind.  Two laps later Red Flag.  Ouch, Fellow BMW rider Chris Peris had a nasty fall and got an ambulance ride.   10 minutes to restart.  Hey we might as well stiffen up the front end a bit to keep it from bottoming out.  It's amazing how much harder someone can ride in the race. 

On the re-start, Steve was 6th again, but loosing touch with the leaders.  Well, I guess we got it a bit too stiff as Steve spent the rest of the race trying to get the bike to steer and couldn't run the same pace as before.  For most of us a 8th place finish in an AMA Superbike race would be great, but Steve was obviously disappointed.  So were we.  Not with Steve's performance, but with  our own in not giving him a bike he could win on.  Jeremy on the other hand was have a good race and had worked his way up to 12th.  We have struggled with Jeremy's set-up for the last few rounds, but today he was riding hard and having fun.  Both wanted to finish better here and knew they could if we could improve the set-up.  So we set about to do just that for Sunday's race two. 

Unfortunately, the Racing Gremlins were out full force for the second race.  Only 5 laps in, Steve's engine locked up and unceremoniously threw him to the ground.  The bike tumbled and we have lots of parts to replace (maybe we should sell the broke bits for souvenirs).  Fortunately, Steve is unhurt and that's whats important, especially with only two weeks to Laguna Seca.  Jeremy had a similar race to the first, but was able to get closer this time.  Close enough on the last lap to challenge Geoff May for 10th in the final corner, while at the same time holding off a charging Chris Clark.  Jeremy tried to set up Geoff, and Chris tried to get them both.  They came through the last turn leaning on each other.  In the end the positions hadn't changed, but it was fun to watch. 

Not too bad 11th and 12th for Jeremy.  Rapp continues his streak of top tens at every round.  Not bad for a private team.  Not bad,,,,,  But not good enough.  We will be back for more at Laguna Seca in two weeks.   Hope to see you there.
 

Mid Ohio update

OK  final Qualifying is over Rapp Was third overall until Pegram and both Haydens threw down fast laps in the last 3 minutes.  So, it's another second row start for Steve today.  Only the top Six riders got into the 1:25s  Good company!  Jeremy did a 1:27.4 and says the bike is working great.  He will start from Row four.  Chris had a good second qualifying session as well.  He ran a 1:28.8 which puts him on Row five. 

Mid Ohio update

Hey race fans....   We have rolled into the Midwest for the 6th round of the AMA Super-bike season.  This is the Mid Ohio's 50th annaversary and we are happy to be a part of it. 

The Line-up.  With Three riders, the garage gets a little tight!

Getting the Tires hot is Important!

Today was Practice and Qualifying session number one.  Here is Steve and the crew watching the the last few minutes of Qualifying...   We were Second on the grid at 5 minutes to go.   Five minutes later......   We were 5th.   But only a couple tenths off third.  Tomorrow is the final qualifying.  Wish us luck for at least one spot better for tomorrow.  The front row would be great.