Roo's pub & Grill

Coquitlam

Shark Club,

180 W Georgia

Roo's pub & Grill

Coquitlam

Roo's pub & Grill

Coquitlam

Last Update: 10/13/2008   

October 5 th

The weather was much better today, compared to yesterday anything but snow is an improvement, however the bike is not co-operating again, and with no power from 10,000 rpm up, I called it a day. .. no sense in being in the way.

October 4 th

Long break in the action here. .. no racing since August.

Last weekend of the year and this season just does not want to go my way.

It's pissing rain, and the blue sky is just on the horizon taunting us. ...

Morning practice I took real easy, with my early season rain highside still fresh in memory. My confidence built slowly and I was feeling pretty good by the end of the practice session.

The weather was fairly warm for October and the drizzle was enough to keep the track wet enough for rain tires, yet it wasn't raining so hard as to make the day miserable.

600 Supersport Qualifying..

Bike feels great, Rod at RMR has done a great job of setting this thing up all year. The poor results are all on me. 

I got a good start and was up into the top 5 quickly, chasing Nicola #30,  I was really close to him coming into turn 3 on lap 2, got underneath him on the exit of the corner, and just gave  too much throttle. .. next thing I know I'm spinning on my side and back watching my bike follow me down the track .... bikes and riders splitting between us as they continue down track. ...  so much for qualifying well. ... I'll be gridded 11th for the race.

Superbike Race 1

The rain was more steady in the afternoon, still not unpleasant but definitely wet.

The race went well, I even managed to get around a couple pros, finishing 5th, which is good in the rain. ..

The bike is working well suspension wise, but I'm loosing power above 10,000rpm... something I thought I had already fixed.

600 Supersport Race

The race was off to a good start, wet and a big field made things dicey at times. ..

I started to notice the field thin out,  and multiple bikes crashed in the corners. .. by lap 3 the corner workers were waving yellow flags in almost every corner, leaves, driven by wind pelting my visor and leathers as I run up the back section of track. Then I see a bike down in the middle of turn 6 and the rider is slowly getting up as I pass his bike laying on the track. By the time I get to turn 7 the red flag is out, and we are instructed to return to the pits.

600 Supersport Race, part 2

We re grid for a complete restart, about 1/2 of the intermediate field is missing. All of them crashed out.  Only 8 of us on the restart.  The conditions are getting worse as the race goes on.  At one point the wind is driving the leaves and the rain into me up the back side of the track. Several times I think about pulling off and calling it a day. ..  Then I start counting more crashed bikes. .. realizing I just need to finish the race, I continue on.  Coming into turn 7 under heavy braking I can feel the front wheel lock and slide as it skids over the wet leaves, again I think about heading in for safety..  Against my better judgement I stayed out and finished the race.. 4 th place, no trophy,but I will qualify for some contingency. ..

The rest of the day was cancelled due to the wet leaves. .. rain we can deal with but wet leaves are like ice, and the WMRC decided that it was unsafe to race. ...

I agree.

I want to thank, Juston & Julie, Renee, Mike & Vann, for braving the weather and coming out to see me race. .. although not the most exciting racing, and not the best day, it was great to have you guys out there. ...

August 4th

Race Round #5.

Qualifying went ok. .. seems I was a little sleepy. .. posting a 4 th best time of 1:14.8

not record setting by any means. ..

600 Supersport Qualifier was a bust. .. I think I was still sleeping. .. a horrible start and a fastest lap of 1:15.7 left me 9th on grid. . guess a Red Bull is in order after lunch.

Superbike Race 1 was much better, although I took my sweet time getting up to race pace. .. not dropping into the 1:13's until laps 7 & 8,but good enough for a third place finish. .. we'll take it.

600 Supersport race was a bust, with me again getting caught sleeping on the start. ..

I drop several places and seemed to get held up in traffic. . still not turning  in a good performance and ending up with a 7th place finish. .. no one to blame but myself for that on e....

Superbike Race 2, last chance to redeem myself.

A much better start and I managed to stay in the low 1:14's and high 1:13's for the better part of the race. .. ending up 5th this time.

Due to the way the race scoring is weighted, and the 2 Superbike races are combined. .. I ended 4th overall for the day. .. no trophy for me.

Maybe next time.

July 1st

Really great day at the track !!!

Fantastic July weather, can't think of a better summers day.

And Finally getting to use the new turn 7(a/b), 8 and 9.

Then we lay out is incredible, nice tight chicane, with a 2 turn (double apex) 3rd gear sweeper on to the front straight .... Lovin' It !!!

The day went well, I registered for I600 Supersport and Int. Superbike.

Qualified 6th for Supersport in the morning.

Had some great battles all day long with Anthony #22, and Austin #78.

Good, clean, close racing. ... maybe a little bumping here and there, but overall good times.

I ended the day with an 8th in Supersport and a

6th in Superbike race 1

and a

7th in Superbike race 2.

Still having problems getting below a 1:13 lap time, but I'm staying consistent in the mid to low 1:13's... 12's will come with a little more track time. ..

No racing with the WMRC in June this year,

So Dean, Ryan, Kareem, and I decided to pack up and head south to Pacific Raceways

for a Mike Sullivan Race School.

Hoping to learn a little more, and maybe have bit just a bit quicker around our home track.

We headed out late Wednesday night for a Thursday school, and returned late thursday night.  I'm sure we were very productive on Friday at work. ....

The school went well, although I think we were all looking for a little more instruction.

We were shown the lines for Pacific and did get some instruction on how to be faster at Pacific Raceway, but could have done with some more instruction as far as on bike technique and advanced racing principles..

I, myself had a really great day there as I spent a large portion of the day with Mike Sullivan, himself, as my instructor and I did come away about 5-6 seconds faster per lap at Pacific than last year, we'll see if this translates into better lap times at Mission.

May 10th

Unfortunately, not a fantastic weekend for me. .. 

A wet track and sporadic drizzle in the morning forced a last minute swap back to rain tires before morning practice, with no time to adjust the suspension, year old "new" tires, and a 2 year gap since I last rode in the rain ended my morning session quickly with a almost spectacular highside out of turn 5 on the warm-up lap. Leaving me with a broken spool on the swing arm and a very sore left shoulder, and ending my riding for the weekend. ..

All is not lost though as I'm off to Mexico tomorrow morning. .. drinking by the pool should ease the shoulder pain. ..

Yet another fantastic weekend at Mission Raceway Park.  The weather was

warm (for April) and sunny for the most part, with only minor sprinkles Sunday

afternoon.

Friday was the West Coast Superbike School - Track Daze, combined with their first

race school of the year.  The day went fairly will, with me shaking off the cobwebs in

the morning and dipping back into the mid 1:17 second range in the afternoon.

The new track layout is amazing, Turn 1 is sooo smooth and open, very flowing.  Now with no kink and a big third gear right hand sweeper, it makes me giggle every time through it.  Although I have no way to prove it, the general consensus is that the

current Turn 1 configuration adds approximately 1 second to the lap times.  Hopefully the

new turns 7&8 will be ready within a couple months.  The pavement is down,

but some safety changes need to be finalized before the new section can be used.

I also would like to congratulate our new teammate, Ryan Welton, on "winning" the

WCSS Mock Race.  Every class has a "Mock Race" at the end of the day to complete

their course, this year Ryan was off to a good start, taking the lead early in the race,

battling hard with a fellow student on a motard, but  eventually ending up with

the win after the motard rider crashed  out in turn 9.

Congrats on the Win Ryan!!!!!

Saturday was the one and only WMRC practice day for the season.  With some discussion

with Rod @ RMR Suspension we made a few minor changes to the suspension and tire

pressures, which allowed me to dip down to a weekend best of 1:16.08 seconds.  Not too bad for the first weekend of the season.

Sunday was another good day, with some minor twists. ..

Morning practice went well, even though I was rather stiff from the previous two days.

I was entered in I600 Supersport, and Intermediate Superbike. Both challenging classes.

I gridded 3rd for the I600 qualifier and after making a far to late braking move managed to drop myself down to 5th place for the start.

Superbike race 1 was rather different, with a waved start and no qualifier.  I was gridded 23rd overall, managed to get a good start and I believe I moved up and finished 5th or 6th in the race, but I am still waiting for the official results.

The I 600 Supersport race was a great battle mostly between myself and Austin Martin #78. We seem to run very similar times and I expect many more great battles throughout the season.  This would be no exception, mid race Austin made a good late pass up the inside of turn 5, only to overshoot and allow me to come back underneath before flicking the bike left into turn 6.   I turned in slightly early to get a good drive down the short straight into turn 7, only to find that Austin was on my inside again,  I stood the bike upright to avoid hitting him only to realize that I was heading, rather quickly for the new sections of Air Fence that are now hiding the concrete barriers on the outside of turn 6.  So I had to quickly lay the bike back over to the left to finish the turn coming with in inches of banging fairings with #78. We traded passes back and forth including his late braking, lock up the rear tire and slide move in turn 1 which again allowed me to turn tighter and out drive him to the next corner. .. that was until I had braking problems that forced me to slow on lap 9 and finish the race somewhere near 7th position.

I later found in the pits that after only 2 day I had completely worn out a set of brake pads. ..   If you read this, SBS Brake Corporation. .. I love your product and will be looking for some help through out the season to continue to run your pads. ..

Due to my brake problems I was unable to enter Superbike race 2.

Over all a great weekend with some fantastic people.

February 9th

Lots of things in the works right now. .. Had the Vancouver Motorcycle Show last

month, and I was fortunate enough to have my bike displayed in the WMRC booth.

Thanks to Aaron at Evolution Customs, the bike looked fantastic in the new Dark Blue Metallic Paint scheme. .. sorry no pictures this time.

I'm happy to announce that so far this year I am once again sponsored by:

Evolution Customs ~ paint and body work

RMR Suspensions - suspension tuning

Roo's Pub & Grill - Best Pub In BC!!

Kitt Equipment - The best trailer's in the fraser valley

and a new sponsor this year ....

Squid's Extreme Motorsports - Chilliwack 's newest & best motorcycle shop

Thanks again to all my 2007 sponsors ....

For those of you that haven't heard the WMRC will be having a fundraiser at Roo's Pub in Coquitlam... all money raised will go towards, improving motorcycle safety at Mission Raceway Park.

Lots of waiting going on at the moment. .. waiting for the new trailer. ... waiting for some parts for the Suburban. ... waiting for dates from WCSS and some other track day organizations. ..   I'll keep you posted.