Dale's OMRRA 7/16 Race Report
OMRRA July Race weekend tests skill, patience.
Good morning,
I'm glad to report that all who crashed on the Columbia River Moto-sports team are all in good health.
The worse any person fared was a separated AC Joint suffered by teammate Dave Wallway.
I felt pretty good on Saturday, and ran pretty well. My friends and teammates said I was riding fast.
That was good to hear. I ran without an AMB all morning, and got it charged and mounted enough for one afternoon session, and found that I was hitting :16's on a regular basis.
Then came Sunday.
I was supposed to run in 3 qualifying races Sunday morning, however the track got completely oiled and took several hours to clean up. Knowing the corner that gives me the most fits was slick, I opted not to run the Qualifier that would be on the grid immediately after the cleanup, and changed out of my leathers, only to find out a while later that all the qualifiers would be cancelled, and my 10 lap main would be the first on the track.
600SS Senior: We were allowed 2 sighting laps to a. get a feel for the condition of the track, and b, find a safe line around. There was oil sweep visible all over, however it was well cleaned, and the traction was good. Good enough that I dipped into the :15's mid race. I ran hard enough to get many passes in to finish 3rd and increase my points standing to 3rd place. I counted 8 passes on mylaps.com.
750SS Senior: 20 minutes following my 600 race, I had to grid for the 750 race. I managed to get some water, and check my fuel. I kept my tires warm, and went out fighting. I got 3 passes and was hunting Jon who was leading the race. I avoided target fixing on a crash in turn 2 which cleared the way to hunt down Jon. In lap 7, I ran harder and closed the gap to find that I was too hot into the shifting zone at 1B. When I tried to pick up the bike for the shift, I had rolled off throttle to maintain my gap and prepare for my drive out of T2 to outbrake him into T3. The result was a loaded front end and as soon as I counter steered, the front wheel stopped spinning and slid away. I watched my 2nd place finish go out the window as I was sliding off the track. Fortunately, I had enough of a points lead coming into this weekend that I'm still in 1st place by 6 points. We enter a double points race next month, so I'll have my work cut out repairing my bike and getting my head ready to remain competitive. I achieved a new personal best during this race. While chasing down Jon, I dropped my times to 1:15.068.
I'm close enough to :14's that I know where I can accomplish this and will be ready to try next month.
600SB Senior: My bike was damaged enough that it was impossible to repair it in time for my final race for the day, so I packed up my gear and watched my teammates duke it out.
Results:
600SS Senior. 3rd place finish, 3rd place overall.
600SB Senior. DNS and I've dropped to 5th overall.
750SS Senior. DNF, however I've maintained 1st place overall with a 6 point lead.
Thanks to all the OMRRA volunteer corner workers and everyone involved in cleaning up the oil.
You all did a wonderful job returning the track to a safe and fun venue to hunt for our shiny new trophies. Dave and Barry at GP Suspension helped to get my suspension tuned perfectly for the tires and conditions. Hat off to you guys. The bike fells the best it ever has and my times are showing because of that and my confidence in my Michelin DOT tires. I'm very happy with my Pilot Race tires. They have stuck for me under some impressive mid-corner changes including hard trail-braking to prevent a collision.
The R6 motor under Ron Hopkin's building and tuning continues to run strong and withstand significant abuse including a 100 plus mph mis-shift from 3rd to 2nd instead of 4th. Thank you Ron!
Columbia Rive Moto-Sports, R&d Machine and Jason Merrit of REMAX continues to find ways to be there supporting the team. Thank you, you guys make this all possible!
Now, on to hone my crash repair skills. See you in August!
Good morning,
I'm glad to report that all who crashed on the Columbia River Moto-sports team are all in good health.
The worse any person fared was a separated AC Joint suffered by teammate Dave Wallway.
I felt pretty good on Saturday, and ran pretty well. My friends and teammates said I was riding fast.
That was good to hear. I ran without an AMB all morning, and got it charged and mounted enough for one afternoon session, and found that I was hitting :16's on a regular basis.
Then came Sunday.
I was supposed to run in 3 qualifying races Sunday morning, however the track got completely oiled and took several hours to clean up. Knowing the corner that gives me the most fits was slick, I opted not to run the Qualifier that would be on the grid immediately after the cleanup, and changed out of my leathers, only to find out a while later that all the qualifiers would be cancelled, and my 10 lap main would be the first on the track.
600SS Senior: We were allowed 2 sighting laps to a. get a feel for the condition of the track, and b, find a safe line around. There was oil sweep visible all over, however it was well cleaned, and the traction was good. Good enough that I dipped into the :15's mid race. I ran hard enough to get many passes in to finish 3rd and increase my points standing to 3rd place. I counted 8 passes on mylaps.com.
750SS Senior: 20 minutes following my 600 race, I had to grid for the 750 race. I managed to get some water, and check my fuel. I kept my tires warm, and went out fighting. I got 3 passes and was hunting Jon who was leading the race. I avoided target fixing on a crash in turn 2 which cleared the way to hunt down Jon. In lap 7, I ran harder and closed the gap to find that I was too hot into the shifting zone at 1B. When I tried to pick up the bike for the shift, I had rolled off throttle to maintain my gap and prepare for my drive out of T2 to outbrake him into T3. The result was a loaded front end and as soon as I counter steered, the front wheel stopped spinning and slid away. I watched my 2nd place finish go out the window as I was sliding off the track. Fortunately, I had enough of a points lead coming into this weekend that I'm still in 1st place by 6 points. We enter a double points race next month, so I'll have my work cut out repairing my bike and getting my head ready to remain competitive. I achieved a new personal best during this race. While chasing down Jon, I dropped my times to 1:15.068.
I'm close enough to :14's that I know where I can accomplish this and will be ready to try next month.
600SB Senior: My bike was damaged enough that it was impossible to repair it in time for my final race for the day, so I packed up my gear and watched my teammates duke it out.
Results:
600SS Senior. 3rd place finish, 3rd place overall.
600SB Senior. DNS and I've dropped to 5th overall.
750SS Senior. DNF, however I've maintained 1st place overall with a 6 point lead.
Thanks to all the OMRRA volunteer corner workers and everyone involved in cleaning up the oil.
You all did a wonderful job returning the track to a safe and fun venue to hunt for our shiny new trophies. Dave and Barry at GP Suspension helped to get my suspension tuned perfectly for the tires and conditions. Hat off to you guys. The bike fells the best it ever has and my times are showing because of that and my confidence in my Michelin DOT tires. I'm very happy with my Pilot Race tires. They have stuck for me under some impressive mid-corner changes including hard trail-braking to prevent a collision.
The R6 motor under Ron Hopkin's building and tuning continues to run strong and withstand significant abuse including a 100 plus mph mis-shift from 3rd to 2nd instead of 4th. Thank you Ron!
Columbia Rive Moto-Sports, R&d Machine and Jason Merrit of REMAX continues to find ways to be there supporting the team. Thank you, you guys make this all possible!
Now, on to hone my crash repair skills. See you in August!
