OMRRA Round 2 Race Report

I’m way behind the curve on race reports…so it’s time to get caught up! (get out your reading glasses!)

Round 1 — April 2016

I came out and had a frustrating weekend. I was a little bit off my prior season’s lap times and just wasn’t riding anywhere near my full potential. That being said, I finished all my races that weekend and kept the bike in one piece.

Round 2 — May 2016

If there was a time for a 2 wheeled Noah’s Ark, I think this was it. Saturday presented the usual frustrating Oregon “is it going to rain or not in 5 minutes” scenario. I went out for a dry practice Saturday morning and scrubbed in my new Bridgestone V01 slicks. The tires felt great and I was having a good time in practice. 
 I had registered for one race, Formula 4. Tire choice was a huge toss up, but I went with slicks and had them ready on warmers. About 5–10 minutes prior to our race, it started to sprinkle…and then sprinkle some more. Travis Johnson and I both went out for Formula 4 on slicks and quickly decided we made the wrong tire decision during the sighting lap. In the interests of self/bike preservation we both pulled in and sat the race out.

On Sunday the weather was much more decisive- decisively wet! I originally signed up for two races on Sunday — Middleweight Sportsman and 450 Superbike. I decided to add Middleweight Classic Superbike to the mix since I didn’t race Saturday. I swapped to my rain tires, which I had never ridden on before, and went out for practice. I was surprised by the grip of the rains but was still taking it very easy.

For Middleweight Sportsman I gridded up with many of the usual suspects. I got a great start once the flag dropped and found myself leading the race into turn 1. Having never raced in the rain before and never led a race before I was a bit unsure what to do. I made it through the first lap still in front and stayed there until Travis caught me in turn 6 with a well executed pass. I ended up giving up a lot of positions in that race, but learned a ton and built up a lot of confidence!

Middleweight Classic Superbike saw a smaller grid and I once again got a strong start and was in the lead off the line. Danny Houghton got around me during the first lap and quickly disappeared. I ran in second for several laps until Mats White showed me a wheel in turn 1 towards the latter part of the race. I was determined to stay in third place and kept a consistent pace through the last few laps of the race. This netted me my first ever podium finish!

Finally, 450 Superbike saw me once again get away from the line in front, but quickly get overtaken by some of the faster riders/bikes. The rain had really picked up for this race and I discovered turn 3 and 4 to resemble a lake more than a race track. After a little front end slide during lap 2 I decided that I just needed to get through the race and bring it home clean.

This weekend, understandably, saw lots of attrition due to the weather conditions. I was amazed and very proud of how racers were helping each other repair crashed bikes and get each other back on the grid. OMRRA is a wonderful club and I’m so thrilled to be a part of it!

Huge thank yous to my sponsors: DR. Brown Motorcycles, Cycle Gear Racing, Driven Racing, Bridgestone Tires and Sportbike Upgrade, and for this weekend, Dunlop Tires and Racing Tire Service for the rains!

See y’all in June!