RACE REPORT

Virgina International Raceway - CYCLE JAM - 5/22 - 24

Team member Pete met at my house late Tuesday night. Wednesday morning we are loaded and leave for Columbus to pick up another team member, Joe Ball, who also rode with us. The trip was long in the RV and we finally arrived at the track at 2:30am Thursday. John Lord had saved a pit space for us but it was taken after John went to sleep, so we pitted farther down the road. We unhooked the trailer and set up camp in the rain. I finally got to bed around 3am.

Thursday 5/22

I awake to more rain. I hear bikes running in the pits but I roll over and go back to sleep as this is only a practice day. Getting up to practice in the cold rain was not on my list of favorite things to do. I roll out of bed around 10:30 and immediately mount my rain tires. After the lunch break I have the bike teched and am ready for practice. It is still raining and I am afraid I will be in the way around a track I have not been on for over a year. Pete, who is a mad man in the rain, and I head out and get up to speed. Each lap we drop our times and get to a pace where we are making passes. By mid day we are in the upper level of LWT practice and feeling pretty good. We had great grip from our rain tires and only had spins/slides when we were under hard acceleration or hard braking. This was much needed practice in the wet.

Friday 5/23

We only got one practice session because of Endurance races in the afternoon. We were still on full rain tires and I got down to a respectable 2:01 on a flooded track.

Friday evening:

I changed the oil, filter, and spark plugs in the SV and do some general maintenence and cleaning. I had some new race DOT tires mounted on spare wheels just in case it was dry on Saturday.

Satuday 5/24 - (Race Day)

I awake to DRY track conditions so I install my DOT tires and get ready for practice. The SV is always cold blooded on morning startups and I was having trouble. I ran the battery down twice cranking on it with only a few signs of life through back fires. I decide to tear into some wiring connections thinking all the wet practice was the problem. I changed the computer box and blew out all the connectors I could find. It would still not start. I then looked under the tank and realized I did not connect the fuel line after I had the tank off the night before - WILL SOMEONE PLEASE KICK ME?? I connect the fuel line and get it started, but only after I had missed my only LWT practice of the day. I take the GSXR out for 600 practice and had a problem with my throttle cable so I came in early. I then took the SV back to tech and got a HWT practice sticker since I was running HWT Twins. I finally got some good, dry practice on the SV.

I decide to change bikes for C Super Stock from the GSXR to the SV. I am faster on the SV and hope I can show a few 600's what an SV can do.

C Super Stock:

I start on the front row of the 3rd wave as I have no points in this class. GREEN FLAG drops and I beat the not only whole 3rd wave to turn one, but I make about 5 passes on the outside of 2nd wave riders. We get a few turns into the race and a few more passes before they show the red flag.

We had two more restarts after red flags only to be moved to the last race of the day due to too many inexperienced riders crashing.

Formula 2:

I start on the 3rd row and get a great start. I am second going into turn one. I run in second place for a while. I did not have a lot of dry practice and I eventually fall back to 7th overall at the end of the race. I am pleased with this result considering the level of competition at Cycle Jam.

Heavy Weight Twins:

I start on pole for this race. I get a decent start and am 2nd into turn one. I ride my 650 against 1000cc bikes in this class. I was in 2nd place until we hit the front straight. I get passed by 2 or 3 riders on bigger bikes each lap, but I can out brake them into turn one and get most of my postitions back. We run the entire race with me in 2nd and 3rd place. The start/finish line is half way down the straight. I come out of the last turn in 3rd place only to be out horsepowered to the finish line by two guys. I finish 5th.

Light Weight Twins:

I start on pole for this race as well. I hesitate for a split second at the start and have to play catch up into turn one. I am running 3rd. I get passed and am running in 4th place. I can catch up a little in the uphill turn 7 but am not close enough to make a pass. I can see the front 3 guys fabout 25 yards in front of me, but was never able to catch them. I gapped 5th place and finished 4th.

C Super Stock (restart):

It is a carbon copy of the earlier race starts. I make passes on 2nd wave riders in turn one only to see more red flags. We restart once more only to have a crasher down in turn seven. They call the race after scoring only one lap.

My goal for Cycle Jam was to beat regular North Central riders for points. I accomplished my goal. I am now leading the regional points championships in Light Weight Twins, Heavy Weight Twins, and Formula 2.

Next week: Putnam Park

cya at the track............

Jerry VanHorn