Group W Racing

Ian Johnston has written a race report chronicling his first race weekend at Pacific Raceway.  The report is here:

http://www.obairlann.net/reaper/motorcycle/racing/20080329/

Michael

Good grief…what a weekend.  Actually what a last couple of weeks.  Trying to get back out after 2 years off plus prepping up another bike for Tamra to race proved to be a helluva lot more difficult than I would have imagined.  Tamra and I purchased the old Ben Semer-mobile, stripped it dowm to the quick and built it back up again.  It should’ve been done in ample time but…you know.  I just Sam Spade-ed the problem a day or two ago:  a pinched compression ring on the left side blowing 40% leaky-downee.  I relieved the ring land and made sure the ring spins freely .  All should be well now…

As for the actual racing, practice was spotty due to unforseen dipshittedness (read: no gas, ass), but ole Kid Banty pulled hard down the straight.  My closing speeds are like nothing I’ve had before–nifty! Also,  the new B-stones and the addition of a steering damper and fork brace made for some rather good handling. 

I finished 2nd in the 1st race and 5th or 6th (who knows…scoring is always jacked up) thanks to, *ahem* more fuel pickup issues (ran an entire straight on about 2/3 power–looked down and switched to “Res”, and got the power back).  Eesh…  The Banty has never gobbled up so much fuel, so I guess I’ll have to recalibrate my eyeballs.  The real shitteroo was that Lavallee (who is a mighty fine racer I might add) won the race (thanks to Timo’s blow-up) and I had passed him at the line to get that 2nd in the 1st race–I coulda been a contenda.  Lavallee and I are still using the old 160 platform, so it’s nice to know it is still a viable package to win races (as long as TimO’s rig grenades!) Anyway, for almost bagging out, it was a great Sunday, and I’m really happy to be back at it again.   The “sketchy guy” returns.

Cogs #40