Welcome to our new site and the start of the 2010 season. Our focus this year will be the R.A.C.E. SuperSeries regional championships.

Come back as we’ll be updating the site with coverage of RACE round 1, April 30th to May 2nd. Or better yet, come spectate and visit us at the track!

- Team Shadowrunner

As the 2010 season is upon us, the memories of the last season are soon to be replaced by new ones. Before that happens, it might be a good time for a bit of reflection.

The 2009 season started with a pair of brand new bikes. With a bit of a late start for one of them, our pair of 2008 Suzuki GSX-R600s make their debut. Yves was moving from an ’01 GSX-R600 while I put my ’99 R6 back on the street and both of us were blown away by the performance and response of our new bikes. The advantages of owning the same bike become quickly apparent as we swap and share parts, as well as swapping bikes! In uncertain weather conditions, having a bike setup for rain and one for dry has allowed us to focus more on our racing.

Yves’ participation in the Amateur 600 classes at both regional and national series had quite the ups and downs. Some good finishes were interspersed with some crashes. Unfortunately, Yves had a hard collision at a regional event and had to end his season early to let his arm and shoulder heal.

My season has also been a bit of a roller coaster. I experienced my first collision, and kept my brake handle as a souvenir. I also experienced great highs like cutting my time on a track by 7 seconds in a weekend. And of course, the highlight was winning some races, which lead to winning the RACE Women’s Novice championship for 2009!

As we prepare for 2010, we focus on the good times of 2009 and hope that the next year will be even better!

See you at the track!

The race was held during VRRA’s vintage race weekend. The endurance races were held on the Friday.  Our team consisted of Pat Boyd, Alan Burns and myself.  Pat was eager to try to win the Sportsman Middleweight Endurance class title.  Therefore, the bike selected was a 1995 Honda CBR600-F3 ex-works factory race bike as R.A.C.E. requires Sportsman MW bikes to be 10 years old or older.

Our journey to Shannonville began at a typical early morning start of loading up vehicles and traveling to the track. We arrived around 8:00am only to discover that it was rather unorganized.  RACE was an invited party to the VRRA weekend.  Therefore, the majority of the activities were coordinated by VRRA.  So we spent the next few hours just running around trying to find out how to get registered, how to pass tech, etc.  In the end, we were each wearing 3 bracelets.  One for the admission, second for pit access, and third to indicate you are a racer. Don’t ask… We were actually able to get our bike and helmets go through tech even before we registered to race.

Once we finally got our paperwork done, we headed to pit lane.  Pre-weekend schedule showed that we would be an alternating practice group with the VRRA every 15mins.  VRRA had no schedules to hand out so we went with that.  To no surprise, the schedule was out the window before the day even started.  It was passed 9:30am and no bikes had even hit the track yet.  Then, they decided to run a VRRA race school in the middle of this too.

Alan finally got a chance to get out on the track.  As he exited pit land and was getting comfortable on the bike, he looked up to find that we were not running the scheduled LONG track configuration.  It was the PRO track which means you have to hang a left just after you exit the pits.  We later found out that they changed it at the last minute because they didn’t have enough marshals.  After making his way half-way around the track, Alan gets a checkered flag on the back side of the track indicating the session was over. He never even got a chance to make a full lap.

No biggy we figured as there was another session for us before lunch.  So we waited 15mins for the VRRA school to go out and do their stuff.  After they were done, they called for the modern class SLOW and MEDIUM speed groups to go out and practice.  We didn’t go out because we had been labeled as FAST. Naturally, we expected to go out next but instead VRRA was out again.  So we went to ask.  Turns out they had only a single FAST group session and it was the first one in the morning.  So they said we should have just gone out in the slow/medium group.  They tell us this AFTER the session. Argh!!!  So we didn’t even get a single lap out before lunch.

After lunch, we had two 15min sessions before we got to race.  We decided to split those sessions between two riders.  For the first one, Alan went out for the first half and then me. I got about 5 laps in but it wasn’t going very well.  The bike was sprung very stiff and I was bouncing everywhere.  Also, the clutch adjuster screw was loose and I had problems shifting.   For the next session, Pat went out for the first half and I again finished the session with about 4 or 5 laps.  All-in-all, I got less than a dozen laps in before I had to race.  Let’s not forget, it’s been almost a year since I last got onto a race track!

So finally the race.   Alan was doing the first stint.  Pat was second and I was last.  We had decided to do ~20min stints.  For this, we figured each rider would go out and do 15-lap stints.  Alan was out first since it was his bike and he knew how to launch from the starting line better than us.  We called him in after 14 laps and he was pretty tired.  Pat went out and did about 10 laps before he signalled us he was coming in.  He claims he thought the bike was out of gas but I think he’s just a wimp!   Unfortunately, I wasn’t ready for his arrival so I still had my gloves to put on and that causes a small delay.

I went out and push as hard as I comfortably could.  As mentioned earlier, the bike was just too stiff for me.  Regardless, I stayed out until they called me in at 13 laps.  They were starting to have some concerns that I would run out of gas with 37 laps on that single 18L tank.  I was pretty beat up but actually felt good.  I was impressed that I was able to get up to speed right from when I started my stint.  To be honest, this race felt much different than my regular sprint-type races with current modern sportbikes.  It was much more relaxed and the riders were all spread out.  It actually felt more like a track day.

So then Alan went back out and did another 10 or 12 laps before we called him in early.  Why you ask?  Well because they made an announcement saying they were cutting us short by 30mins due to lack of remaining track time.  So we had 15mins left making this a 1h30m race instead of 2hrs.  Pat went out and I got ready again.  We decided he would go out and run half-dozen laps or so and then I would go out and finish the race.  Unfortunately, he did only a few laps and the race was over.  I had gotten suited up for nothing once again.

Luckily, it was a good thing.  As I was getting undressed, with the bike on its stand near me, I noticed the bike was leaking.  For some reason, the overflow tube was leaking gas all over the rear shock, swingarm and exhaust.  I could have been the next flaming fireball down the back straight!

To continue with the annoyances of the weekend, we still have no lap times from the transponder used at RACE and we have been told that we won’t know the official race finishing order until later this week.  — Update (2006.06.22) – We finished 6th overall.  We think we’re 1st in our class but that has not been made official.

In any case, I had fun when I was actually on the track.  It was also nice to spend some time with friends I hadn’t seen in a while.

Thank you to Team ShoulderCheck.

Be sure to check out the gallery for more pictures.

Thursday
Our dear friend Pat Boyd (#48) of Team Shoulder Check was travelling with Yves as Thursday practice was reserved for National classes.  Michelle travelled Thursday evening to be able to attend her Friday practice sessions.  This weekend was going to be challenging to both Michelle and Yves.  Yves suffered a big crash in June at this track due to suspension issues which lead to a tire failure.  Kevin of Pirelli was on hand this weekend to help Yves sort out these suspension woes.  Yves’ first morning session was simply to get his markers on the track and start debugging the suspension.  Yves went out and did 10 laps in the 30min. practice session with a best time of 1:33.906 for 15th fastest in that session.  The afternoon session was plagued with a wet track.  Yves was there for fun this weekend so he had very little intention on running in the wet.  Therefore Thursday’s activities were already over for us.  Michelle arrived later that evening and we got ready for Friday’s practice.

Friday
Friday was a similar day to Thursday.  Hot and humid.  Michelle was first up for a 15mins. practice session.  Like Yves, she had not been on a race track much this year.  And she had not been at Mosport for more than a year.  Her first practice session was simply to get oriented with the track again. She felt a bit discouraged as many of the other women racers had been taking part in the week’s long list of track days and were already up to speed.

Yves was up next.  The amateur 600 sessions were split in two as there were too many riders.  Yves was once again focusing on suspension settings.  But at the same time, Yves needed to post at least one good lap in case Friday’s times would be used for qualifying.  This was a 20min. session so it doesn’t leave a lot of time to work on the bike during the session.  Yves got to do 8 laps and posted a 1:31.382 giving him 6th place in that group.

Michelle had another practice session in the afternoon. She focused on her shifting and being in the proper gear and was able to reduce her lap times by 6 seconds.

The final practice session for us was Yves.  The tires were getting near the end.  These were older tires from a previous race weekend.  But they were ok to use for our suspension tuning.  But unfortunately, they were starting to slide and Yves struggled to get a good lap.  That session, Yves was only able to post a 1:32.965 for 13th fastest.  However, Yves did use that session to see if he could last the entire 20mins session at that pace. His lap times were all within half a second of each other.

Saturday
The morning featured more practice sessions for both Michelle and Yves.  The afternoon would host the final race for Michelle and Yves’ official qualifying session.

Yves pushed hard in the morning’s session as the weather forecast was iffy for the afternoon.  This meant that there was a good chance that this morning’s practice times would be used instead of qualifying.  With fresh tires, Yves pushed hard.  Again the groups were split in two.  Yves was part of the fast group of riders.  In that session, Yves posted a 1:30.782 on lap 9.  With one lap to go, Yves tried to set a faster lap but lost the front wheel in turn 3.  Lucky for Yves, he was able to keep the bike up with his knee and stay on the gas until the front wheel hooked up again.  A scary moment for Yves and a faster lap was not meant to be…

Michelle’s final race was up that afternoon.  For the first time since her first race, she had a great start and joined the racers in front of her. Unfortunately, a racer in the expert class a few rows in front of her had a mechanical failure and she was unable to maneuver around her quickly enough to stay with the pack. Byturn 2, Michelle had lost her lead. She was able to keep up with one rider for a lap, but that rider came into pit lane and found herself alone with no one to motivate her to go faster. Michelle was disapointed of her finish (not finishing last, but finishing really far behind), but all variables considered, she did well by finishing and finishing in one piece. Regardless of her finish, she was happy to be able to get out there and support the series by making the starting grid bigger by one bike.

The official qualifying session for amateur 600 was up.  Weather was holding ok so we had a nice warm and dry track.  Yves tried very hard to get a fast lap.  Unfortunately, Yves couldn’t manage to time his exit of turn 5b properly to get “hooked” on the back of another rider and catch a draft up the back straight.  With 4 mins. to go, Yves pitted to discuss with Michelle and fellow racer friend, Yanick (Pro #96).  With only two minutes to go, Yves was sent back out to try and post a good time.  While exiting pit lane, Yves exited at the same time as another fast rider.  Yves rushed to follow him but that rider had the similar thought.  He got on his brakes and made Yves go in front so he could catch Yves’ draft on the back straight.  Both riders now passed in front of the starting line with 47 seconds left in the session.  This was Yves’ last lap to post a good time.  Yves stayed on his butt and concentrated on his 5b exit to benefit from the draft.  That’s when Yves posted his best time of 1:30.436 for a 12th place qualifying position.  Yves would have liked to have been in the 1:29s but was very pleased with this result.

Sunday
Another day of iffy weather.  We spent most of the day sitting around as it rained on and off.  The only thing on our schedule for the day was Yves’ final.  It was up in the afternoon.  Like usual, Yves’ race kept getting pushed off to make time for feature races in prime weather conditions.  Finally Yves’ race was up.  The track was dry and it looked like a promising race.  Yves was relaxed and road up to his starting position without much anxiety.  The green light and Yves gets a decent start.  But that’s where Yves’ plan ended.  No no, Yves didn’t crash.  But since Yves hadn’t race much this year, he forgot to plan further ahead than his start.  So Yves got passed a lot during that first lap.  In all fareness, it didn’t help that everyone had warned Yves about a major problem in turn 5b.  The rain had brought a stream of sand/mud accross the track.  Many pro riders had crashed in that spot in the previous race.  Regardless, Yves kept riding.  A few crashes happened here and there.  The most annoying crash was someone who crashed in turn 2.  Unfortunately, his front fender remained in the middle of the track.  Literally in the middle of the downhill run and right in the middle of the width.  It stayed there for the majority of the race.  This made turn 2 very tricky as it’s a blind corner.  So you would take your normal line and have to alter it once you could spot the fender.  Yves was not running smoothly so he decided to keep his pace down.  His lap times averaged in the 1:33s.  He finally managed to make a pass on someone going into turn 8 after benefitting from a good draft.  Unfortunately, the race was red flagged on that lap so they counted previous lap positions.  Yves finished 19th but finished in one piece!

Well, I figured I’d give an update as to our Mosport testing.  Please forgive my typos as I’m single finger typing today.  It was a great morning with temps of 25C in the morning.  I went out first session for about 10 laps and I already had several laps in the low 1:31s.  After that session, we noticed my front tire was not holding up.  So we made some suspension adjustments to try and solve the problem.  Keep in mind that these tires were near the end of their life cycles but I don’t normally see this kind of wear. We figure if the adjusments don’t solve it, I’ll switch tires.

Well, that was my biggest mistake of the day.  I went out and did 4-5 laps at a slower pace and the front was feeling ok.  So I got back on the pace.  My goal of the day was to get into the 1:28s.  So for this session, I was aiming for a 1:30.  The bike felt good and I was getting good corner speed.  Then I entered corner 3 in 4th gear and I tought everything was fine and the front just washed out.  I then found myself sliding on the track at a very fast speed.  Then it was getting warm on my hands and butt so I had to roll.  Then the bike starting getting airborn on the track and continued tumbling off the track for probably a total of 80 to 100 feet.  I slid for about 40 feet on the track and then tumbled in the field for about 20-30feet.  I got up and was just happy to be able to do so.

Ater that session, I had a chance to walk up the track to see where I crashed.  I saw a 1-2 foot black strip from my front tire giving up.  The track was smooth and nothing around that area caused the bike to unsettle.  Unfortunately, the front tire did not get better.  And looking at it afterwords shows it got worse and I was basically on marbles.  Despite the tire being old, we think it equally had to do with the fact the tire was the incorrect compound for that track and weather.  It was later discovered that the fault was probably due to incorrect suspension settings.

As for me, I have a bit of a swollen face on one side, sprained wrist, road rash on a finger, brused butt and soreness from head to toe.  With less then a week till my next race round, I will have a crappy week fixing my bike and trying to get better…

Oh and most importantly, the bike had the following damage:  bodywork, sub-frame, front brake master cylinder and resevoir, kill switch, clipons and grips, windshield, lower triple (damper mount bent), bird cage, levers, gas tank, gas tank cap, bent forks, rear brake linkage, peg, exhaust bracket and dents in the frame.   Well that’s what I’ve found so far…

So the lesson of the day is don’t be cheap on tires.  If you have a doubt, change them.

And bring beer.  It really helps when things go bad… Thanks Mario!!! And most importantly, thanks Michelle for not beating me up!