Mike
06-09-2009, 04:53 PM
Race Report : Road America
We arrived at Road America mid-day on Thursday. This was our team’s first time at this track and we were impressed with the scenery and the size of the four mile racecourse. After having the opportunity to go home and prepare we arrived at Elkhart Lake with fresh minds and motors. We spent the afternoon on Thursday sorting out gearing and chassis set up as we had never been here before and did not have prior notes to draw from.
Friday’s morning warm up session we were able to lead the field as post the second highest trap speed at 161mph. We made some small changes to the motorcycle and prepared for qualifying. In Friday afternoon’s qualifying session we were 6th fastest giving us our best qualifying result ever, and our first opportunity to participate in Superpole. After mounting fresh tires and giving the bike a once over we were able to secure a fifth place starting position in the one lap do or die Superpole event. We were encouraged to know that we would start Saturday’s race with our best starting position ever in front of a Buell hometown crowd just an hour and a half from their East Troy manufacturing facility.
We awoke Saturday morning to a cold and rainy Road America. Went to work for the days events, mounted our rain tires, and mentally prepared ourselves for a knock down drag out fight in the rain. We tried not to let ourselves become discouraged by the fact that we don’t usually do our best in the wet. At the start of Saturdays race Taylor showed us all his grit and determination with an amazing start on the cold wet racing surface. We all scrambled to the monitor to watch the live feed as bikes were crashing and running off course in every turn. Taylor had managed to fight his way to the third position… and then to second… then we watched in amazement as he came under the flag stand in the lead. Taylor continued to lead until the first safety car came onto the course during a yellow bunching up the field allowing wet weather ace Chris Peris to restart immediately behind our Team Latus Motors Racing 1125R. In the second lap after the green flag we were unable to hold off Peris as he got around us and put the Honda into the lead. In the remaining laps Taylor battled toe to toe with all the usual rainy day favorites. After 13 laps Taylor was able to come home in the fourth position. We were extremely proud of him as this was our best, wet weather finish.
We went the line on Sundays race and once again started in the fifth position. The day was cloudy but we were looking forward to running the dry race surface. The pre-race fan walk brought out many Buell enthusiasts with cameras and questions as we were proud to be the fastest qualified Buell for the weekend. Once again Taylor was off to a great start and settled in to on of the most exciting battles we have seen all season. The exchange between the riders in third through ninth place was amazing, it seemed running order changed with every corner. The battle between the Buell, Honda, Yamaha R6, and Hacking’s ZX6R was exciting racing as we have seen all year. After running third and fourth for nearly the entire race we struggled with rear tire grip in the closing laps and were able to hold on to a sixth place finish.
We left Road America with a fourth and sixth place finish. This is our best result of the season and we look forward to racing at Laguna over the fourth of July. We would like to thank our sponsors for their support: Latus Motors Racing, RSRacecraft, Silkolene Lubricants, Zero Gravity Wind Screens, as well as Taylor’s personal sponsors Arai Helmets, Rider’s Discount.com, and Alpinestars.
We arrived at Road America mid-day on Thursday. This was our team’s first time at this track and we were impressed with the scenery and the size of the four mile racecourse. After having the opportunity to go home and prepare we arrived at Elkhart Lake with fresh minds and motors. We spent the afternoon on Thursday sorting out gearing and chassis set up as we had never been here before and did not have prior notes to draw from.
Friday’s morning warm up session we were able to lead the field as post the second highest trap speed at 161mph. We made some small changes to the motorcycle and prepared for qualifying. In Friday afternoon’s qualifying session we were 6th fastest giving us our best qualifying result ever, and our first opportunity to participate in Superpole. After mounting fresh tires and giving the bike a once over we were able to secure a fifth place starting position in the one lap do or die Superpole event. We were encouraged to know that we would start Saturday’s race with our best starting position ever in front of a Buell hometown crowd just an hour and a half from their East Troy manufacturing facility.
We awoke Saturday morning to a cold and rainy Road America. Went to work for the days events, mounted our rain tires, and mentally prepared ourselves for a knock down drag out fight in the rain. We tried not to let ourselves become discouraged by the fact that we don’t usually do our best in the wet. At the start of Saturdays race Taylor showed us all his grit and determination with an amazing start on the cold wet racing surface. We all scrambled to the monitor to watch the live feed as bikes were crashing and running off course in every turn. Taylor had managed to fight his way to the third position… and then to second… then we watched in amazement as he came under the flag stand in the lead. Taylor continued to lead until the first safety car came onto the course during a yellow bunching up the field allowing wet weather ace Chris Peris to restart immediately behind our Team Latus Motors Racing 1125R. In the second lap after the green flag we were unable to hold off Peris as he got around us and put the Honda into the lead. In the remaining laps Taylor battled toe to toe with all the usual rainy day favorites. After 13 laps Taylor was able to come home in the fourth position. We were extremely proud of him as this was our best, wet weather finish.
We went the line on Sundays race and once again started in the fifth position. The day was cloudy but we were looking forward to running the dry race surface. The pre-race fan walk brought out many Buell enthusiasts with cameras and questions as we were proud to be the fastest qualified Buell for the weekend. Once again Taylor was off to a great start and settled in to on of the most exciting battles we have seen all season. The exchange between the riders in third through ninth place was amazing, it seemed running order changed with every corner. The battle between the Buell, Honda, Yamaha R6, and Hacking’s ZX6R was exciting racing as we have seen all year. After running third and fourth for nearly the entire race we struggled with rear tire grip in the closing laps and were able to hold on to a sixth place finish.
We left Road America with a fourth and sixth place finish. This is our best result of the season and we look forward to racing at Laguna over the fourth of July. We would like to thank our sponsors for their support: Latus Motors Racing, RSRacecraft, Silkolene Lubricants, Zero Gravity Wind Screens, as well as Taylor’s personal sponsors Arai Helmets, Rider’s Discount.com, and Alpinestars.