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49 Posts
Hi all,
Round 4 of the AFM racing season was this past weekend at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA. While I was off working in China between rounds, Spears Racing was busy getting the bike ready. Turns out we had to swap motors due to a blown base gasket (we'll keep folks updated on that as we learn more), so that ended up being a bunch of last-minute work for Gregg. While he was at it, we installed a Yoshimura exhaust in an effort to cure the ground clearance problems we had with the stock system. This is a temporary solution as Gregg is working on developing an exhaust that we think will be a much better long term solution. Thanks Gregg for all the hard work getting the bike ready to race!!
Saturday afternoon and the 350 Production race rolled around and I was super comfortable with how the bike was handling and running. I was gridded on the outside of the front row, and when the green flag dropped I got a pretty good launch and was second going into T1. The lead rider had minor moment about 2/3 of the way through the first lap which allowed me to get by. I then led for the remainder of the race, which was a new experience for me. I can't believe how mental it is trying to lead a race...wondering who's behind you, how close they are, maintaining concentration, trying not to think about the fact that you might be about to win your first race ever! Fortunately Gregg from Spears Racing was there to give me some signals that let me know I had a decent lead, so I kept my head down and ultimately finished a little over 8 seconds up on the rest of the field. Phew! The icing on the cake is that Yamaha pays contingency for this class, so I also won a little money. Woohoo!
Sundays races were also quite good. I had some great battles aboard the R3 in 500 Twins, 250 Superbike where I took second place finishes. I even got to have a podium ceremony for 250SB and got to thoroughly douse my competitors with Champagne.
I finished off the weekend with another 2nd place in 250 Production aboard my Spears Racing Ninja 250, which is still a rad little bike but feels so outclassed after the pleasure of racing the Yamaha!
All in all, a great weekend, and I can't be happier with the R3. For the next round we'll finally have bodywork, some mild production-legal engine work, and hopefully a better exhaust system. Should make for some great racing at Sonoma!
Special thanks to Spears Racing, Yamaha, Dunlop Tires, EBC, Motorex, Oxymoron Photography, and my amazing wife Rachael.
Cheers,
Sean
Round 4 of the AFM racing season was this past weekend at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA. While I was off working in China between rounds, Spears Racing was busy getting the bike ready. Turns out we had to swap motors due to a blown base gasket (we'll keep folks updated on that as we learn more), so that ended up being a bunch of last-minute work for Gregg. While he was at it, we installed a Yoshimura exhaust in an effort to cure the ground clearance problems we had with the stock system. This is a temporary solution as Gregg is working on developing an exhaust that we think will be a much better long term solution. Thanks Gregg for all the hard work getting the bike ready to race!!
Saturday afternoon and the 350 Production race rolled around and I was super comfortable with how the bike was handling and running. I was gridded on the outside of the front row, and when the green flag dropped I got a pretty good launch and was second going into T1. The lead rider had minor moment about 2/3 of the way through the first lap which allowed me to get by. I then led for the remainder of the race, which was a new experience for me. I can't believe how mental it is trying to lead a race...wondering who's behind you, how close they are, maintaining concentration, trying not to think about the fact that you might be about to win your first race ever! Fortunately Gregg from Spears Racing was there to give me some signals that let me know I had a decent lead, so I kept my head down and ultimately finished a little over 8 seconds up on the rest of the field. Phew! The icing on the cake is that Yamaha pays contingency for this class, so I also won a little money. Woohoo!
Sundays races were also quite good. I had some great battles aboard the R3 in 500 Twins, 250 Superbike where I took second place finishes. I even got to have a podium ceremony for 250SB and got to thoroughly douse my competitors with Champagne.
I finished off the weekend with another 2nd place in 250 Production aboard my Spears Racing Ninja 250, which is still a rad little bike but feels so outclassed after the pleasure of racing the Yamaha!
All in all, a great weekend, and I can't be happier with the R3. For the next round we'll finally have bodywork, some mild production-legal engine work, and hopefully a better exhaust system. Should make for some great racing at Sonoma!
Special thanks to Spears Racing, Yamaha, Dunlop Tires, EBC, Motorex, Oxymoron Photography, and my amazing wife Rachael.
Cheers,
Sean
