Live and Learn; This past weekend was spent at Beaverun Raceway in western Pennsylvania, where we were racing in round 4 of the WERA Sportsman north central sprint races.  Our original plan was James (TRS) and I would arrive Friday morning to get a full day of testing prior to the weekend, but the forecast was calling for thunderstorms all day so we arrived Friday night instead.

I’d like to touch on an interesting part of our trip.  Although I’ve been to Beaver three times, I asked James to print off some directions as we’d be arriving in the middle of the night… with that being said, I’d like to have a word with someone at Google, since their directions had us get off the freeway one exit too early and we quickly found ourselves driving on a heavily wooded small country road at 10 mph.  I knew this was not the way I’d come in before, but we continued ahead anyway. After 30 minutes of crawling through the hills, we found ourselves driving next to a very high fence and realized that we were in the back woods behind the track… or at least we hoped so.  Finally after driving by the sixth rusted out broken down tow truck, and the third back-woods-Bob’s welding house/shop/trailer, we arrived on the road that lead us in to the front side of Beaver.  (Note to google, the best directions aren’t always as the crow flies:) I had yet to ride the new bike at Beaver, so we were coming in to the weekend with no data at all.

Saturday morning came all too quickly, and just as soon as we set up our pit, the rain came in.  It rained on/off all morning and finally let up at lunch.  I signed up for the Heavyweight Solo 20 as opposed to the Middleweight in hopes that the track would be drier later in the day.  The wind had picked up a bit and the track ended up drying up quite a bit for all the races.  Prior to the weekend James had a made a few adjustments to the front end as I was using every bit of it at Grattan.  Aside from the front end change, we decided that I’d ride the bike the way it was and make our adjustments after the race.

I was gridded dead last, but got a decent holeshot and was able to pass three riders in T1.  I spent most of the race trying to figure out my braking markers as well as my shifting points.  With four laps to go I had worked my way up to about 5th place or so, when all of a sudden I noticed a bit of sputter coming on to the front straight.  It  didn’t get any better, and by T3 I knew that I was running out of gas!  Although I was pretty upset watching everyone finish the race, I guess you live and learn.

After the race we talked about the set up and gearing.  The bike was turning in much quicker than before.  While I was pretty happy with the front end change, we decided to change the gearing.  Once the work was done James and I were looking forward to a nice dinner with Nathan, Frenchie, and Eric + co. at the house just down the street from the track which they had rented.  It’s always good to talk racing with Nathan and Eric as they’ve been at it quite bit longer than I have and both are not the type to hold back on advice/opinions.

Sunday morning brought heavy clouds, but I was sure we’d have a dry day as a very beautiful person I know did a special rain dance for us back in Detroit :)   I ran all four practices on the same tires that we had used in the Solo 20, which also had bee run in the Grattan Solo 20 and Grattan morning practices.  James made a few adjustments after the first session and we had a bit of a scare coming into T1.  The combination of the back end being very loose and me missing one downshift upset the bike and I was not that I could get the bike slowed and settled enough to turn in.  I kept her straight up and went straight in to the grass with no problems.  The wet grass of a Beaver is very slick…(no pun intended).  After the 3rd session I was spinning the rear tire all over the place.  Although it was clearly done, I decided to go out in the last session to continue working on lines.  Nathan rode behind me for a few laps and after the session helped me out with a few areas where I was struggling a bit.

Race 1: was C Superbike.  We were on the 5th row which wasn’t quite as bad as starting dead last.  I was able to get by a few riders straight away and was running by myself for the last few laps in 6th place.  On the last lap coming into T1, Matthais Schaub came up the inside on the brakes.  I went a bit deeper, and although he had the inside line I was able to maintain my position.  I ran a bit wide in T2 and he muscled by on the inside.  I was right behind him exiting T3 when all of a sudden the rear tire broke loose and my body was quickly ejected from the bike.  I was able to hold on to the grips however and when my legs finally stopped flying, they landed on the ground, both on the right side of the bike.  What ended up happening looked exactly like this:

However, in my case, I could not get back up on the bike and was quickly headed towards the grass.  Once I hit the grass, bike and rider went down.  Although I’ve tried a few times, D.O.T. race tires just don’t stick very well in wet grass!  I was able to pickthe bike up and ride it back to the pit with no problem.  The front end was slightlytweaked, my windscreen was broken and my clutch lever was bent a bit, but stillrideable if necessary.

Once back in the pits, the bodywork was ripped off and James began diagnosing the front end.  In no time he had the front end straightened out while my dad and uncle helped check over any other loose bits.  Having a pro like James to work on your bike is comforting.  If he had not been there to verify that the bike was good to go, I would’ve been a bit reluctant to ride it.  Eddie Kraft lent us a clutch lever, and we  were good to go.  A few last minute tweaks and my next race was up.

Race 2: The bike didn’t feel just right in the warm up lap and I wasn’t about to push it.  My holeshot was less than desirable and a few riders came by me coming in to T1.  After a few laps I began to feel somewhat comfortable on the bike again, but I noticed the temp gradually rising.  With a few laps to go the red temp light was flashing and I knew we  were running way too hot.  I decided to not take any chances and came in early.  When the bodywork was off, James found a pin hole on the vacume side of the cooling system and sorted it out (with the help of my Uncles flame proof fingers).

My 3rd race was C Superstock and I was gridded on the 8th row.  This was my worst race of the day.  Nothing went right.  Half way through the race I ran way wide in the carousel and five riders came by.  By the last lap I had reeled them in, only to pass one of them on the brakes in the carousel before the front straight.

The last race of the day was B Superstock and I found myself battling with Allan Pett. His 750 is quite a bit faster than my little R6, but on the last lap I was able to get a better drive on the back straight and drafted him to the kink where I got through.  Final result was 8th.

Flat out, I’m not happy with my riding at this point.  While down a bit on power, James provided me with a capable machine (working on the power thing as we speak).  I need to learn how to make it work.  Our gamble with the gearing didn’t pay off and we were too peaky coming off a lot of corners, but I make no excuses.  I knew that this year would be tough after having missed most of the entire season last year.  I made several mistakes this past week end, but I live and learn every time I throw a leg over this machine.  I’ve taken my notes (as well as my lumps:) and can only look forward.

I am glad that I was able to finish the weekend after crashing.  I have most of my mobility back in my foot, although I’m still dealing with a decent amount of pain.  I have a newly acquired shoulder injury, but that shouldn’t affect my riding.  I’d like to not only thank Eddie Kraft for letting me borrow his spare clutch lever, but also congratulate him on his riding over the weekend.  He had it figured out for sure.

Next up:  Hotlanta, Gawja.  We’re leaving for Road Atlanta on Friday and I couldn’t be any happier.  It’s by far one of my favorite tracks and we’ve yet to run the R6 there.  It will be good to see some old friends and we look forward to learning more about the bike and how to make it work for me.  Unfortunately James will not be able to come, but I’m sure he’ll be there in spirit.

A final note:  My Uncle Dan came to the track this past week end.  Being an old school motorcycle junkie who’s been terrorizing the streets of Detroit with my Dad starting back in the late 50’s, he’s seen his fair share of racing.  This was his first time seeing me race. While he had a blast, I hope to perform better next time he comes out.

This past weekend was spent at Grattan Raceway, where we were competing in the Pirelli/WERA Sportsman races. I’d been looking forward to last weekend for well over a year now, as it would mark my return to the racetrack after a brutal crash on May 5 of 2008 where I suffered a severely broken right foot. The first Grattan round of the year is always run counter clockwise, which is very interesting as it’s a completely different animal. Prior to last week end, I had only run two sprint races counter clockwise so, needless to say, there was still a lot to learn.

After sorting out a few issues on the dyno, we packed up on Thursday night so I could get an early start on Friday at dawn. The weather was not looking good while driving to the track in the morning. Skies were black and it was slightly raining. James met me at the track, as we knew there was a lot of work ahead of us if we were going to lay down some respectable times over the weekend. We’re now on board with Pirelli, and getting used to a completely different tire would require a lot of suspension changes.

The rain stopped and we were able to get one session in before lunch. It was not pretty. Everything felt wrong, but I stayed out so I could at least come to grips with the layout of the track. Once I came in James made several wholesale changes to both the forks and the shock. At lunch we agreed that I shouldn’t try to over-analyze the changes that have been made and simply ride the bike and report back about how it’s handling. After lunch, every session was better than the previous one. I would run about 4-6 laps and pull in. We’d talk briefly, James would make a few changes, and out I’d go. Once the session was over, we’d discuss in great detail exactly what I was feeling. Sometimes we’d go back a step, but most every change we made was positive.

By the end of the day Friday, I was feeling fairly comfortable with the bike and tires. We were able to keep up with several well-respected riders and that was good enough for us being that this was our first day on the new tires. We accomplished exactly what we set out to do, and that was to get a good baseline.

James left to go back home and wouldn’t return again until Sunday. On Saturday morning ARNCHU Racing’s Nathan Dressman and Randy Sherman showed up with their creepy vans and unloaded where we would share a garage for the weekend. Morning practices were cold and wet. I got a lot of laps in on Friday, so I decided to sit them out. My dad showed up just before lunch and helped me change wheels. After lunch, Nathan and I geared up as we were both in the Middleweight Solo 20 race. I did not feel nervous at all. Smiles were huge as I was heading out to the grid. I had been waiting a long time for this, and I may have come close to winning the warm up lap….:)

As it would be in most every race all week end, I was gridded just about dead last. After getting past a few riders on lap one, I came up on J.B. and Jeff Agnes. I sat behind them for one lap and took a few notes. The very next lap I got by both of them and put my head down. I was closing on Nathan around 10 laps into the race. I had him in sight for a few laps, but then he picked up the pace just about the same time as I began to fade. I knew J.B. and Agnes were close as I could hear them just before exiting T9. With two laps to go J.B. showed me a wheel coming in to T3 and that was enough to wake me up. I put my head down and the next lap was my fastest of the race (thanks J.B.). I was relieved to see the checkered flag and was pretty happy to finish one spot behind Nathan in 5th position. Jeff Agnes and J.B. are both well-respected riders, and I was happy to have kept it together and cross the line in front of them. That’s all we had on the agenda as far as racing was concerned on Saturday. We had a nice variety of BBQ for dinner, while meeting some new friends as well as catching up with some old ones. Randy tried his hardest to scare off any females and he did a very good job for the most part….

Sunday morning was freezing (literally). The low was 38 degrees the night prior, but the sun was bright and the day looked promising. We were having an issue with the quickshifter on the R6, so I wasn’t able to practice during the first two sessions. The next two sessions went well. Although the quickshifter was still not functioning properly, the bike was running very strong and pulling big 2nd gear wheelies out of corners.

The first race of the day was C-SBK. My holeshot was horrible and I was dead last coming in to T1. I got past a few riders every lap and with two to go I had a clear track ahead of me. I could see Eric Spector way ahead and knew that it was too much of a gap to make up. The final result was 7th place. We were happy with my riding, but the holeshot… not so much. A funny note about the race: as pointed out at the rider’s meeting, the timing does not start/stop at the checkered flag. There are two large cones a few hundred feet after the flag. Apparently after passing the checkered flag, Eric Spector sat up and got off the gas while Eddie Kraft who was behind him stayed in it and just barely beat him through the traps!

The next three races were even more frustrating. In B-SBK I tried to run around the outside of a provisional novice and he ran way wider than I expected. I did not want to lean on him so I ended up in the grass. The same 5-6 riders who I just spent most of the race passing, all came by. Although I was upset, I kept my cool and ran a few of them down before the end of the race. The good news was that I turned a 1:24.4 in doing so. In C-SS, it was more of the same and the result was not good. B-SS was frustrating as I got stuck behind a very fast 750 who was shooting debris all over me for two laps. He was a point and shoot rider and it was difficult to get by. Once I did I put in a few good laps and got past several guys. As we were shown the white flag I was starting to reel in J.B. By turn 4 I was all the way on him but decided to wait until the front straight to draft him safely just before the checkered flag.

All in all, it was a very productive weekend. We learned a lot about the Pirellis and for the first time got a very good baseline set up, which is something that, before the weekend, we had yet to achieve. Prior to my wreck last year, I had only logged two track days and one weekend of wet racing on the R6. We’re learning every time I go out, and I’m proving that I can run with the boys. The bike needs some refinement as does the rider. It was a pleasure to work with Mark Van Dogen (www.uber-racing.com) from Pirelli. He knows his product inside and out and has been working Moto ST and the Canadian Superbike series for the past few years. We look forward to learning more about the tires as we progress this year. As always, James was a tremendous help. His suspension knowledge is second to none, and he’s built me a very competitive machine. It’s going to be a good year and I look forward to running up front as the season progresses.

KMC
WERA #9

Going testing, making new friends and seeing some old ones for the first time in a long time. This weekend we blew the dust off the team bike, it’s an ‘08 Yamaha R6 that has so far spent a lot more time on the lift than on the track. It was awkward for me at first; it’s funny how fast you get rusty. Running teams and building race bikes was everything to me a few short years ago and now for the first time in a long time it’s really more like a hobby. I still have every intention of winning races, I just don’t have that feeling like my life rises and falls on the outcome anymore. For 2009 we’re (Team-TRS) keeping it simple, we’re retaining Kevin Callaway ‘the rider’ and just focusing on club stuff, likely won’t do any Pro races and that’s just fine with me. The whole ‘new attitude’ has already paid some dividends as this past weekend’s outing was one of the most enjoyable in recent memory. Not that it went smoothly or anything….

Friday we started the weekend off on the Dyno. We had just worked a deal with Washtenaw Community Collage that has allowed us to use their state-of-the-art dynamometer. It’s an amazing piece worth (so I’m told) about $300,000.00 and has variable air pressure and air temperature controls – all while swapping air some 12 times a second. I’ve been running dynos for well over a decade now and can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like it outside of the GM proving grounds. We’ll have more on the Washtenaw support and their motorcycle program as the year unfolds.

For our part I can tell you that we (I) didn’t start out the gate like I would have liked. We got the bike in the room and set up. A job that somehow seems like I’m using my two left thumbs when doing it in an unfamiliar environment for the first time. I pulled out my laptop to connect the YEC engine mapping software to the Yamaha ECU and realized that I couldn’t see the ECU. No worries, I had copied the entire disc to my hard drive in the event that there was just such an occasion. Well, to make a long story short the software wouldn’t look anywhere but at the CD drive for drivers and I couldn’t reinstall the whole thing because I didn’t bring the serial number. So, back to Brighton for the disc.

After returning we got the device working in short order and went about our business successfully. Well, successfully is a relevant term because I had tried some different cam timing numbers and while they did, in fact, produce the best looking BPH and Torque curves ever on a 600. The numbers were about 10 or 12 points south of what we would like to see for peak numbers. Couple this with the attempt to salvage an exhaust that had gone through the big wreck last year and I think we had about ten leaks. For those of you who I haven’t lost already, this means that even though we’re in this state-of-the-art room with this cutting edge tuning software, we have no idea of the validity of our numbers. End of the dyno day.

So Kevin and his Dad come and pick up the bike because, as I had noticed while on the dyno, that out of a check list of ten things that they needed to take care of when they took the bike back from me, seven of them hadn’t been done and two of three that were done were wrong. In the meantime, I had gone to meet some friends for dinner all the time wondering if we were actually going to make it to this test session the following day. About 1:00am I get the call that some of it’s done and some not but they wanted to bring it to the shop…no problem. 1:30am Kevin shows up and we pulled the bike out of the trailer and got right to it, 5:30am it was ready to go and off we went. I’m going to skip the part about when Kevin borrowed my car to go to Taco Bell and somehow blew the tire off the wheel and I had to run out to rescue him.

Realizing that if anything good is going to come out of this day Kevin would need some sleep, I volunteered to be the wheel man and that’s really about all I can tell you about the ride out because that’s all I remember. But we did get there (somehow) unloaded and that was really the first time I noticed that despite the last minute drama stuff the bike looked pretty good (thanks to KMC and D) and it was absolutely ready to go. The first hour or so was by far the hardest. There was nothing left to do and it seemed like the time had stopped.

So Kevin (fresh off his hour and a half cat nap) gets on the bike and rides all day. He rode well and we made some progress. This all goes back to the opening about keeping a more relaxed attitude this year. Kevin is just back on the bike after recovering from a one year hiatus caused by a shattered foot suffered in the second round last year. I really had no idea what would happen. (ie If he could ride the bike or if we would even be in the game.) We were – and that’s enough to make it a good result, for now.

The other saving grace to the whole “all nighter” thing was that I got to see several of my friends (race friends) the ones I usually don’t see all winter. Several of them have ridden for me in the past and of course I’m always wondering who will be next. It was good to see Jonas, he’s always a pleasure and happened to be the fastest on the day. It was a first outing for almost everyone, so I’m not going to post any times. Dave Grey was likely second fastest and on this day and managed to forgo his nickname. Of course he didn’t escape completely unscathed as he and another rider got together in a ‘racing incident,’ unfortunately for Dave it wasn’t a race and it also happened to be his sponsor’s number one son. Eddie and Joe Kraft were there. Eddie looked good as always, but like everyone else this day, I think the track record was safe. It was good to see them and others – Dan Prater, and Monte to name a few.

So we have a bike. It needs some work. We have a rider. He needs some work. But the day (not the night before) served to set a tone and if we can keep it up I’m sure Team-TRS will return to its winning ways and the experience should be enjoyable. With so much of my focus going towards the media side, it only makes sense to club race for the love of it all.

It’s Been a long couple days as the 2009 Season gets underway. As we have for years we (Team-TRS) is sponsoring a rider in the WERA North Central Division. His name is Kevin Callaway and we just concluded our first test in 2009. I have much to report but am exhausted. These are the first couple images from that Session. It’s a Saturday at Grattan Raceway Park at the STT day and you couldn’t ask for nicer weather. Enjoy!

I was a little reluctant to go to Indy this year as I live in Detroit and it’s been pretty tough to find good news lately, in or outside the industry. In the past Indy has always represented the beginning of the motorcycle racing season and for us at TRS the last chance to take a breath until about October. This year has had a different feeling. I’ve avoided taking a negative view of things like the relatively dramatic cut in purse money for the Daytona 200; the virtual withdrawal of the factories from AMA Pro competition, the dramatic reduction in new unit sales, etc. Blinders on I’d rather look at it like the Daytona purse is larger than it ever has been, the factories aren’t racing but they’ve found places for thier riders to go so that the familiar names are still in the race. For a road race guy who cares if people aren’t buying new bikes, the Mfg.’s didn’t make any changes to the race bikes (GSXR, CBR, ZX and R6). I mean; how many R1’s can Yamaha sell anyhow?

So back to the title “Dealer Expo 2009 goes down this past weekend in Indianapolis” it’s not actually supposed to represent my cool gangster tone. Unfortunately the dealer expo in 2009 was considerably down from past years. I don’t have exact numbers and expect that since the only people who would have those numbers is the show itself we’ll not see them anytime soon. It was obvious that there weren’t as many exhibitors. In past years part of the show has been in the now-demolished RCA Dome and those booths (now located in the newly constructed Lucas Oil Stadium) seemed half empty. Gone was the maze of packed conference rooms that while annoying made you feel compelled to search for that new product that would change your fortunes in some unforeseen way. To hazard a guess I would say that exhibitors fell off 25% in just this past year.

Dealers (foot traffic), the target audience of the show, was obviously down as well. The method I used to measure, while not exactly scientific, is something I call the elbow-room gauge. It’s not a secret that attendance has been declining slightly for some time but during peek hours on Sunday it used to feel a bit like rush hour in a mid-sized cities public train station. This year there was plenty of ‘elbow room,’ no feeling of claustrophobia at all. Unlike in the past, the other thing I couldn’t help but notice was that the celebrities and models of yesteryear have apparently become an endangered species. Someone better call Nancy Pelosi.

Don’t dispair, I have a positive spin, as I was pontificating the decline of the show and melding it with the other ‘not so positive’ news being circulated through the industry I realized (dealernews close your ears) the whole concept of the trade show is a bit antiquated. In reality there’s really not much product information that you see at the show that you can’t see on the internet for a fraction (understated) of the cost. I do (even for an internet guy) realize that there’s something sad about that but it’s true. I also don’t want to dismiss the positives that the trade show has to offer. You can’t do an internet search for something if you don’t know it exists and more importantly you can’t meet other like-minded people and build meaningful relationships without a hand shake and there certainly are others. Speaking for myself I have been going to the show for 15 odd years almost exclusively because there were so many people, people I call friends in the business who I only saw once a year at Cinci or Indy or wherever. The net obviously can never replace that but I would caution the promoters of the show that it’s on them to up their game because the ‘value issue’ will be more and more important to the ‘dealer’ for some time to come.

After all that, I certainly don’t want to give you the impression there wasn’t anything to see at the show. Old friends aside, the growth of the Asia mfg.’s is evident. There are a slew of new mfg. from China, Korea, India and others that are on the move. Without being disparaging to them some of their products seem a little sub-par today but I’ve lived long enough to remember well when people used to say the same thing about products from Japan. Given the fact that technology just keeps accelerating I can only assume that these burgeoning nations will catch up in no time.

Painting, graphics and design are another area that seems to have taken leaps and bounds recently. The types of paint and vinyl film you see on some of the images in this article and all over the show are amazing. Even more amazing to me is some of the mechanical feats of engineering some of the products show. Design in some of the prototype bikes was true 3D touchable machines from the future.

In conclusion, I will be there next year… however, I’m not convinced that the value is nearly what it once was. I’m not sure exactly what would change that but it doesn’t seem to me that more of the same is going to do it. At the end of the day the idea of a convention is to bring people together and I think that is where the focus should go.

We regret to report that Kevin suffered severe injuries to his foot in a brutal wreck at Nelson Ledges. It was raining and the kink claimed another, he’ll live and we’ll publish further details when we have the stomach for it…. It looks like the season may have ended before it got started this year.

Later,
James

…as I came off the tri-oval banking with a huge slam, clearly bottoming out my suspension at 160 I started to wonder exactly what I had got myself in to…

This past weekend we went down to Nashville, TN for the first round of the wera nc regional sprint races. Isn’t nashbilly in the south, you may ask yourself? Why, yes it is. 9 hours south of Detroit to be a bit more precise. So how does a race in nashtucky fit in to the north central schedule? This week-end was combined with the south east and mid central regions. Why? Again, nashcountry is clearly not in the north. It’s kind of central…I guess? 80% of the grids were made up of north central riders, so where was the south east and mid central support? After all, we were south of the mason-dixon…right? I mean, I clearly recall seeing mesh hats with confederate flags on them for sale at the local gas stations…

I have never been to the Nashville Superspeedway. Most every single NC rider that I spoke with had the same silly grin when asked why it was that we ran down here in the land of nash. “Don’t ask…” was a common reply. “I’m wondering the same exact thing right now” was another good one, spoken as yet another rider went down. This time in turn one at about, oh, 140. He cracked his swingarm in three places, sub frame looked like a fat girl was playing trampoline on it, and I’m pretty sure his wheels and triples were toast as well. “I got labeled a whiner when I asked this question last year” another well known rider told me. O.k., so I get it. The general consensus is, yeah it sucks that this race falls in our region, so just shut up and race.

Back to the team…My dad and I drove through the night on Friday and arrived at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday. Oh yeah, it was raining. After getting set up in one of the garage spaces, we made our way to tech. Everything went well and we put the warmers on. The rain didn’t let up, it became stronger. I skipped the first round of practice hoping the rain would stop. It clearly had no intentions of slowing down, so I went out on d.o.t.’s and tip toed around the track to get familiar with the layout. “Late on, and early off” is what you always hear about this track with regards to the banking. Well, when you’re entering the banking at about 120 with your knee on the ground, it’s easier said than done. Actually, entering the banking is harder on the bike than exiting most times. I’ve talked with a few riders who have cracked their frames in years past by entering incorrectly. However, there is a smooth line on and off the banking, and once that line was found the track was much more fun.

The sun came out at lunch time and we mounted a new set of Michelins. It looked as if we would get some dry laps after all. I had entered the Middleweight Solo 20, which was race #3. Words can’t describe how anxious I was to get my first race on the new bike under my belt. I didn’t get the best holeshot of my life, but it wasn’t the worst either. Turn two was jam packed and I made it through safely. Being that I was still learning the track, I wasn’t trying to push myself too hard just yet. I followed a few guys, watched their lines, then passed them one at a time. After passing a few, as well as getting passed by a few, I started to feel a bit more comfortable. After four or five laps, there was nobody in sight. I had a clear track in front of me as well as nobody in sight behind me. I started to think that maybe I should pit in and wait for a group of riders to come by to latch on to. I decided against it, and continued on. My times were fairly consistent and I learned where I needed to go faster. All in all, Saturday went well and we knew what we needed to work on for Sunday. Time for much needed rest.

The weather was beautiful on Sunday morning. Chirping birds woke me up and I couldn’t have been any happier knowing the rain was gone…or was it? Morning practices were great. I got with a group of 5 riders and went back and forth all session. I turned a low 1:06, which was far better than my best time in Saturday’s Solo 20. I continued that pace in the second practice session and came off the track very happy, knowing that there were still a few areas where I could improve.

My first race was C-Superstock. The sun stayed out and the track was perfect. I finished in 12th place, which I was not very happy with. I ended up getting stuck behind a pack of 4 slower riders and could not get by them. Considering this was my first point’s race, I played it safe and didn’t push the issue. And then came the rain…

My next two races were in the pouring rain. I finished in 5th place in B-Superstock and C-Superbike. The new Michelin rains were excellent. I was getting so much traction that the bike was pulling the front tire up between turns 2 and 3! Everything was smooth and I was very happy with the results.

The last race of the day was B-Superbike, and the rain was coming to a halt. We decided to stay with the rains, and thing got a bit greasy. I was spinning the rear all over the place and decided to play it safe and maintain the position I had gained. 6th place was the final result. While I knew I could’ve pushed harder, I was still happy with the result and the points gained.

All in all, we were pleased with our first WERA race of the year. My dad was a huge help and I could not have got through the week end without him. It was also nice to work with Dave from Michelin. He went out of his way to help me out and we won’t forget that. Although James couldn’t make the trip, he was there in spirit and was able to help me out via telecommunications on several occasions.

Next on the agenda is Nelson Ledges this coming week end. The whole team will be out, and we’re looking forward to a long, successful week end.

Kevin Callaway
Team-trs.com
WERA #9

In spite of last year’s sponsorship agreement with Michelin, Safety First Racing has chosen to run Pirelli tires for the 2008 AMA Pro Supersport season. According to team owner Kevin Hanson, he enjoyed his team’s working relationship with Michelin [sic]. Hansen said, “The riders were still looking for some more feel from the front tire, and feedback-wise, essentially ultimately what it came down to is we were still waiting on the new tires from Michelin France.” Pirelli provided what Michelin kept promising. A front tire that provided the feedback that riders Bobby Fong and Gabor Rizmayer were trying to get out of the Michelins. He seemed frustrated by Michelin’s tendency to not deliver, and stated that the team could not wait 6 months for tires. Though it is clear that this was a difficult decision, Mr. Hanson seems pleased with his choice.
The issue will be a moot point next year, when all the riders will run on spec tires.

to say that i was grinning ear to ear inside my helmet would be a drastic understatement. i was literally laughing out loud and couldn’t stop…more on that later.

this past weekend james and i made the trek to barber motorsports park for the first test of our new 2008 yamaha r6. we picked barber due to the challenging layout of the course. with several elevation changes, barber puts your suspension through a very good workout. there is no time to rest on this course, and this is exactly what we were looking for. this was our first time working at the track together. we were fortunate to have former wera national champion, bryan nelson, come out for the day to lend a hand. having someone who i’m familiar communicating with, in addition to james was very beneficial.

back to the helmet laughter…the grin started as i came out of the carosel and powered up the hill at turn 4 and eventually turned to laughter after the bike sliced through the kink in the back straight. this is by far and away the most amazing motorcycle that i’ve ever been on. handling under power requires very little rider input. it’s almost as if the machine reacts to how you are thinking. having only raced a cbr 600 f3, the r6 is light years beyond the old honda. i’m used to quite a bit of chassis and fork flex with the f3. the yamaha feels more like a precise knife in comparison.

as the day went on, james threw different suspension changes at me and we’d make adjustments after each session. after feeling a bit more comfortable, i picked up the pace near the end of the day. the harder i pushed this bike, the better it felt and the more it asked for. we’ll be using michelins this year, and i couldn’t be happier. the front end feedback was good and the rear gripped like glue, only breaking away when i was too abrupt with my right hand.

brakes are far better than i’ve ever experienced. quite often i found myself overbraking, therefore having a much slower corner entry speed. where i’m used to a light tug to scrub some speed after downshifting, now that same tug results in my helmet quickly approaching the windscreen…the modulation of the apex levers is amazing.

being that this is the highest revving engine that i’ve used, i was worried about abrupt delivery. however, power is very linear, and the exhaust note of the kr-tuned is music to my ears. the bike pulls hard all the way to redline without any dips or dives. the motor didn’t feel peaky at all and had very useable torque.

all in all, we were very happy with the first test. i was able to get a feel for the new bike as well as working with a new team. the future looks bright…

kevin callaway
team-trs