The team signed up for Saturday practice to shake the bike out a little bit and get some time in the saddle after our two month hiatus.  Everything was working OK with Vince trying to eek the last drop out of a set of shagged Dunlops which meant that the laptimes on the day were only low-mid :30's....not exactly blazing a new track record, but steady enough to keep our rider happy.

 

The team also brought the bike over to Dave at GP Suspension for a once over of our baseline and some recommendations to try and smooth out some of the suspension trouble spots for Vince.  Dave confirmed that the bike had a pretty decent baseline, geometry wise, and that the spring rates and sag were good in the front but a little tight in the rear.  This seemed to correlate with the harsh ride over the bumps that Vince had noted around T2 and T8 - Willow's two fastest, and most critical, corners.  It was decided to increase the shock spring rate from a 425 to a 450 lb/in spring.  Yes, its counterintuitive.  The idea is that the spring must be able to hold rider and bike at the 'static' sag position without using too much of the shocks travel.  Unfortunately, the old spring needed so much preload to allow this setup, that the result is no free sag.  Furthermore, as the spring compresses to its fully compressed state, it tends to stiffen up (i.e. the rate goes up as coils start to bottom) which causes the suspension to effectively loose compliance at the most critical point: when compressed from high cornering loads, as generated during high-speed, high-lean angle....not good.

 

So....  the team popped the shock out and gave it to Dave for the spring install and its yearly once over to replace the oil and recharge the nitrogen.  Dave also suggested to remove some oil from the forks to increase compliance at full stroke.  The input from Vince was that the fork was not using its whole travel, in which case the removal of the oil will help twofold, but further testing will be needed to verify as it was decided to remove the oil after getting back to the shop.  We'll find out more about that one next month...

 

Sunday morning brought more great January weather to Rosamond, albeit a little chilly 35°!  It was decided to skip the first freezing practice in lieu of mounting up a nice, fresh set of slicks for the race. 

 

9:00A and second practice is called.  Vince made it out for a couple easy laps to scrub in the tires and evaluate the new shock setting.  Running only :35's meant not too much was revealed - good or bad - so the proof would have to wait until race 11....

 

Which we were surprised to find had 25 entries!!  Wow, and its only January!  WSMC has really filled out its 250GP grid, in no small part due to the presence and devotion of Roadracing World Editor John Ulrich, who, fortunately for us, is as big a 250 nut as we are!  John's sponsorship of the class (and Willow / industry clout) has surely helped with the GP 'renaissance' WSMC is currently experiencing.  Unfortunately, Vince found himself gridded 23rd - and a little surprised that so many other pilots had more points.  Well, at least we wouldn't have to worry about going backward too far!

 

Noon an hour behind us, the temperature up to 64° and its time to take the grid.

From row 7 Vince got a cracking start with a good, honest jump on the flag.  The first challenge didnt wait for T1, as Vince found his start had him threading through a sea of 22 riders as everyone accelerated - jockeying for the line going into T1.  A little (ok, it was actually a bit more) bar banging and paint swapping was the result as rider and bike found 5 or so positions going into the first corner.  From the exit of T1, it was ON!  Vince, on a mission with new tires, started his quest to move forward.  The first lap saw our man shoot from 23rd on the grid to inside the top 15 bikes.  Another lap and Vince was up to 9th.  One after the next Vince steadily move up.  On lap 3 Vince ran up behind Mike ? coming into T1.  Following closely through T2, Vince lined up Mike on the run to T3, which is probably our strongest section of the track.  Going into T3, Vince pulled along the outside of Mike and both riders went into the corner together, two wide!  Inches, literally, seperating the two bikes as the floated like one up the hill, Vince's left elbow on Mike's right knee, both riders completely confident in the others decision.  With Mike on the faster line, Vince pulled in behind and followed Mike again for the remainder of L3.  On L4, Vince shot past on the entrance to T2, held Mike off through the corner and put his head down.  On L5, Vince managed to squeak by Willow regulars Joji Tokumoto and Joel Manes to consolidate 4th place with Willow pacesetter Mark Watts out front, young gun Brad Adams in 2nd and Roadracing World's Ulrich in 3rd.  With Ulrich some 15 sec out front, Vince kept it steady for the remainder of the race and was more than pleased with his result.  Hopefully next month will go as well!