WSMC Race 11: Willow Springs Raceway, 20-21 November 2010

After our supremely dramatic September round which concluded the California State Championship (CSC) in which we finished runner-up in the Open Twins class, we were much more relaxed entering the last round of the WSMC series at Willow Springs. Our motor was tuned and our suspension revalved thanks to expert work by Trail Tricks. But prior to perfecting our set-up, we took the opportunity to perfect our riding with some coaching from Rich Oliver. Here is a short video of our personal training day at the Mystery School!

Friday Practice We started off the weekend with a dyno run and a custom fuel map where we were pleased to find that our new engine was producing 181HP at the rear wheel- a gain of more than 5% thanks to high compression pistons and cam timing adjustments.

Willow Springs greeted us with 40°F temps and high winds

Our engine had an additional 10hp and 7ft-lbs of torque

When we finally made it on track around noon we were greeted with extremely cold temperatures and ferocious winds. Then seven laps later our exhaust pipe blew!

When you race motorcycles it is an accepted fact that Murphy rules supreme: “if something can go wrong, it will”. There are two types of racers: those that complain about their equipment and those that make it work. Due to countless heat cycles on the dyno when debugging our motor problems, our exhaust pipe cracked at its weakest point: at the front header joint where it is the hottest AND takes a 180 degree bend. We immediately called Moto Forza, a CSC and WSMC sponsor who fortunately had one last exhaust kit for our rare machine. But it would require a 2.5 hour drive (almost to San Diego) each way! We returned from our trek at 8:30pm and prepared to head to the track early next morning to make the repairs.

Saturday Practice The frigid conditions were now mixed with rain and sleet so we chose to work within the protective walls of our trailer. The exhaust swap took little time but we played a waiting game until conditions improved to allow us to ride. We used the downtime to swap out our hard rear tire for one with a softer compound that would be better suited to the 40°F temperatures. But soon another system arrived and drenched the track so we decided to monitor the weather from the comforts of our hotel room. A break in the storm finally came at 2pm and although the track was cold, windy and sandy, we were able to log seven more laps of practice.

A new header pipe was in order

A trip down to Escondido put us back in business

Race Day The dryer conditions were short-lived as precipitation moved back into Mohave overnight showering the track and even dumping snow in Grapevine only 40 miles away. When we arrived at the race track, instead of motorbikes, we found street cars cruising around the 2.5 mile circuit in an effort to dry the surface. We took the opportunity to ride both morning practice sessions and acclimate to the challenging conditions.

Battle of the Twins Heavyweight For each of our races, we would start in the front row, position 4, on the innermost side of the track which would set us up for a tight corner entry unless we were able to force our way to the outside by turn 1. Unfortunately, we were not able to do that for BOTT. After an exuberant launch from the grid, we were 3^rd heading into the first turn, but our line was so tight that we went a fraction too wide on the exit and off the track. Unfortunately there is a lip where the dirt ends and the pavement begins so we chose to be cautious before re-entering closer to turn 2. By this time, we were in dead last! Thanks to our dirt track practice with Rich Oliver, we didn’t panic and reset our sights on making up the lost positions! By the end of the first lap, we had regained our way back to 4^th, but we had lost too much ground to the front runners to improve any further.

Formula 40 Heavyweight Our launch for this race was better than our first and we headed into T1 second behind #517 Gary Orr, seasoned racer and co-owner of San Diego BMW. We held second through the first half of the race but on lap four, 2^nd was snatched away from us as we braked too early into T1, an area where we needed to improve. We finished the race in 3^rd.

Open Twins We followed our fierce contender from the last CSC round, #171 Mauro Deviasso, into turn one with AMA Pro Bobby Fong storming past all of us to lead the charge. Due to decreasing light with the race being pushed late into the day, we only had four laps to make our move on Deviasso. Only 3/10’s of a second separated us from the class champion’s machine and when he went deep, too deep into turn 1, we jumped on the opportunity by pushing hard for the final lap to finish in 2^nd with a cushion of 2.6 seconds!

It is time now for rest and recovery as we savor the end of 2010 and peer into the new year with much anticipation!