WSMC / Willow Springs International Raceway
08/14 - 08/16/98

Event Baseline Tech Info

Race Times / Results:

Notes:

Last month saw the temps reaching almost 120f in the shade at Willow. This month we were blessed with only 110f. We gave up some temperature, but gained a lot of humidity on Friday and Saturday, plus the wind was kicking in pretty strong in the afternoons. Sunday was cloudless and the humidity was noticeably lower. Even though the temps were lower, the humidity helped keep the air density around 82 - 83% during the races, which is what we had jetted the motors for.

Friday and Saturday practice was uneventful. We went out, did our laps, and worked on different areas of the track. Friday night we had Tyler of Skorpion Enterprises make us a set of custom ear plugs. Steve and I have always used off-the-shelf plugs, but the fit and sound dampening weren't great. Tyler filled a syringe with some silly-putty looking stuff and squirted it in each ear. The putty hardened in about 15 minutes and we ended up with plugs shaped to the exact nooks and crannies of our ear canals (pretty damn ugly looking things!). I ran my first session on Saturday with my usual plugs, then went out with Skorpion's. It was a little eerie at first - I could still hear everything, but it was more like background noise than the usual whoosh of the wind and whine of the motor right there in your face. Almost like diving under water, where all the sounds become subdued.

Tyler had said that the plugs would allow us to concentrate more on our racing and forget about outside distractions (like when you're lapping that muffler-less Hawk). He wasn't kidding.

I noticed the rear shock on my bike bouncing lot more than usual on Saturday. It's been six months since the last rebuild and it was about time to send it off to GMD Computrack LA again. I should have tried to get it done before this weekend, as it really caused me some problems in Sunday's races.

Steve and I ran in the Graves Motor Sports / Bert's Motorcycle Mall 650 Super Bike and Tom Sera Racing / XYZ Clothing  Formula II GP races. We've decided not to run the Toyota Gold Cup Unlimited Formula I GP races any longer, except on double-points weekends, because we're really not competitive in that series and it's not worth the two points and extra wear and tear on the bikes.

I got a fantastic launch in the 650 Super Bike race. I was in 4th place coming into T1, about one bike length behind Chuck Graves (#1). One rider squeezed by at the apex and I held my position for the first three laps. Rounding T2 on the first lap, I felt the rear end slide out as I got on the gas. At first I thought someone had hit the back of my bike, but every time I gave it some throttle, the rear tire started to spin and slide. I wasn't really interested in pushing it to find out what was on the other side of that slide. It slowed my lap times quite a bit - enough that three riders got past me, all in T2. All I could do was maintain my speed and try to catch them somewhere else.

The rear end started pogoing badly around T4 and T5 and started sliding more and more all over the track as the race wore on. I only managed 29's and 30's, but came in 8th of 22 starters. Steve finished 10th.

My start wasn't too bad in the Formula II race, not as good as the Super Bike start, but I ran the first couple of laps in 6th place. On about the fourth lap Tom Sera came by on the inside of T2 - all I could do was swear and keep the throttle steady. Steve came by on the outside of T2 on the next lap. At least I could smile at that pass and hope he'd pass Sera. He did, on lap ten in a beautiful inside move in T9. Steve finished 6th of 13 starters, I finished 8th.

It was a damn good weekend for Steve and I. We've run faster times, but not finished as consistently well as we did this weekend.

And congrats to Tony Silvera , #97, on a helluva race in Saturday night's Solo GTU endurance race. Running twenty laps around Willow in 100+ degree heat isn't my idea of a good time, but Tony persevered with a chest cold and a bike that wouldn't catch sixth gear to take third place. Off the line in second place, he held that position until the last two inches of the 20 lap race, when Jacob West squeezed past at the checkers. Outstanding job!

It was also a sad weekend, as we said goodbye to two good friends. Joe Davidson, #197, is moving to Georgia. Joe was running a Gamma as an Expert when I started racing at Willow a couple of years ago. He's always been there lending a hand, parts and advice when we needed it. 

Melissa Berkoff, #667, is heading to Maryland to become involved with the Army of Darkness endurance racing team. Melissa started racing about the same time as I did and we were always competing against each other. Whichever of us was ahead on the track, it gave the other the inspiration to get the lead out and push harder.

We'll miss them both, but we'll see them again when the AMA swings out east next year.  

Next round - WSMC action at Willow Springs September 18 - 20.

Bob.

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