In a nutshell: Disappointing. I wish there were
another way to put it....
For the 1600km drive to Portland, the Möbius / NSP parade left Pasadena Thursday
afternoon, anticipating a longish, if not leisurely, drive to the northern reaches of the country. With the events that
concluded the previous months trip to Willows fresh in their minds - given they were less than 5 days old! - the boys were
more trepidatious still heading out of Pasadena toward the infamous Tejon pass in the full heat of a SoCal summer day.
This time, their concern was, unfortunately, well placed.
With Captain Lytle fresh at the controls of the Möbius tractor and all her
idiosynchrasies, it may not be such a surprise then that it took no more than 45 minutes before the lads were on the side
of the road with steam billowing from the front of the van. As more time is invested in these trailering adventures,
more knowledge is gained and one recent understanding has to do with Vanny's propensity toward 'keeping the flow going'.
Unfortunately, the LA area traffic tends not to agree and the result was our men on the side of the 5 fwy with another 700m
up remaining to go!
As it turns out, the recent replacement of the radiator was no matter as the
upper hose was blown completely off its nipple. Fortunately, the boys were prepared with both tools and water and without
too much fuss were back on track and continued the remaining 550 miles on the day to find themselves stopped in So Oregon
for the evening, just across the border from CA. The next morning, a most unusual and depressing episode began as Vince
checked the coolant in the van, pleasently surprised to find it tip-top. After topping off the radiator overflow, Vince
went about packing the last bits and bobbins and returned to the van not several minutes later to find a fresh puddle of coolant
under the motor, with more dripping down by the second. In a bit of a panic, the trailer was quickly dumped under a
neighboring tree and the van was wheeled into the adjacent service station were the Billy-Bob-Thornton-from-U Turn-esque service
station attendant, Bruce, diagnosed a faulty water pump that needed replacement. Ah, a good time for breakfast.
3 hours and $300 later and the boys were again rolling north on the 5, this time to be uninterrupted prior to their arrival
at PIR.
Rolling into the now-somewhat familiar setting of PIR just past 19:00, the
guys got to work setting up their pit with the already arrived gang of Joel, Britt and John. Wasting no time, things
were up and everything looking good well in time for a trip over to the local eatery, which will be remembered as being best
avoided; live and learn!
Saturday morning started out fine short of all-too-quick calls for our first
practice which lead to missing the first minutes warming the bikes. Within several quick laps, PIR's relatively simple
layout was familiar to both pilots, Vince and Mike.
Session two and things continue calmly until a red flag signals the end of
the session. It is at this same time that Vince looks up as he heads into the first, very quick curve at PIR to see
Mike laying trackside in a bit of a daze, but at least in one piece and moving around.
The report back at the pit is an unscheduled highside due to a sticking piston.
Although the motor wasnt locked solid, further inspection verified the intial claim and Mike was put to work replacing his
seized piston and cylinder, ironically after having just loaned out his spare crank to the Adams' camp who had unfortunately
been welcomed to PIR with a failed big end bearing. C'est la vie.
Vince, feeling good and remaining in form without incident continued with the
remainder of the day. The final session of the day was 250GP qualifying. It was noted that the two Honda's of
AFM aces Will Morton and Jeff Hanford were being looked after by cohort Roland Cushway and were already looking to be menacingly
quick.
Mike got the bike together in time for qualifying, without much in the way
of identification or correction of the issue that caused his seizure - suspected by this author to be due to the combination
of lean carburetion and PIR's ridiculously long straight getting things a bit hot under the collar. Mike was
reluctant to agree due to the gauges indicating an otherwise all clear.
As the horn sounded for qualifying practice, Vince made the most of his first
set of fresh tires since Las Vegas and immediately settled in behind the two quick Hondas. It was noted straightaway
that Vince was giving up, well, dang near a straightaway! The Hondas would pull 20 bike lengths in stride down PIR's
747 runway of a straight, which made for alot of work come T1!! As it was, our man burned off 3 quick laps and pulled
in, looking to preserve the tires as much as possible. In the end, and despite some timing issues, Vince found his way
to the pole spot with a time of 1:12.214, but knew full well that maintaining a pace with these two Hondas over the duration
of a 15 lap race was daunting to say the least!
Meanwhile, Mike made it out only to have the bolt holding his shift pedal back
out on his first hot lap, leaving him with no times for qualifying and a resultant slot toward the back of the grid.
Sunday came without incident and the morning practice went off without a hitch.
The boys were looking toward the race with anticipation of good things and good fortune. And it started out just that
way....
Off the start, Vince got a good jump only to notice Hanford's Honda with an
equally good launch and starting to pull slowy out away. As the quicker Honda eeked ahead, Morton's Honda blasted by
from the second row, passing both Vince and Hanford before reaching T1, with our man in following in tow of the two quicker
bikes. Through the first few curves, the old Yammie showed that age doesn't mean a lack of cornering prowess as Vince
made up some of the precious time that was lost off the start, passing Hanford for second place and holding onto second for
the first run down the back straight. Out of T9 and back onto the main straight for the first time, there was nothing
for our man to do but watch as the Honda's pulled away; Hanford regaining second on the long run down to T1. Again,
Vince made a brave T1 entrance to reel back some of the ground on Hanford, while Morton was off on his rocketship Honda.
Through the first set of curves, Vince made another move for second position, but this time couldn't make it stick as the
2-3 pair made their way onto the back straight for the second time. Vince, always the thinking man, realized that it
was a moot point to waste time chasing the two faster bikes and conceded that it wasn't going to prove fruitful over the course
of 15 laps to attempt to make up time on the quicker mounts and settled into 3rd position. As the lead group came onto
the straight to begin L3, they were already clear of the rest of the field; leaving them to battle over the remaining spots.
After circulating several more times, the crossed flags were out signaling half distance and the finishing order looked well
set for the Möbius team. That is until L8 when Hanford threw it down the road trying to get by a backmarker, handing
second position to the Möbius bike! Free upgrade!! ....and then it all began to unravel. On the same
lap, as Vince came down the back straight, he was quite horrified to note a waving black flag, pointed in his direction.
Noting nothing odd with the bike, it was deemed an errant flag, perhaps being shown to another bike, and was thusly largely
ignored. Unfortunately, there was no ignoring the similarly colored flag, pointed squarely at our man as he exited
the last corner on L8. Hoping - in vein - that the flag might dissappear, Vince circulated once more, encountering
the same menacing sight and decided, much to his chagrin, to play by the rules and bring it in to see the starter.
Thinking there was some minor mishap and fully expecting to be quickly ushered
back on course, Vince flew down the hotpit and slammed to a halt in front of the starter only to hear the worse possible command,
"Park it. You're done!". "WHAT?!? What do you mean, 'park it'?" It was then that the reason was pronounced,
"You're too loud".
Too loud? This has got to be a joke. Fumed, Vince followed the
instructions of the starter and headed back to the paddock. Not sure what the heck was going on, Vince swung back around
and had a few choice words with the starter - admittedly not the person to whom a complaint should be filed - before returning
for the final time to the paddock and parking the bike.
Understandably upset, given the complete surprise of the whole situation, Vince
then went and spoke (calmly) with OMRRA race direction regarding the incident; the circumstance; and the fact that no warning
was given prior to the black flag and resulting DQ. Vince then went and spoke with the USGPRU boys to let them know
the story.
The result? Well, it's not finalized yet, but it's not looking to good
for the team and their championship effort. What should have been a sure 40pts (and the resulting lead in the Western
Region and Overall National Championship hunt) ended with 0pts for the DQ. The limit at PIR is 105dB. Vince was
cited at 106dB. In fact, the team has no problem with the rule, but a big problem with the implementation of its enforcement,
namely with no warning to the team! Sadly, other bikes/riders had been warned over the course of the weekend for being
near the limit (warnings are given when a bike/rider hits 103dB), but nothing for our man. Furthermore, preliminary
information has revealed that, in fact, sensors surrounding the circuit showed that even after Vince was pulled off
course, the 105dB sound limit was exceeded several more times!
No matter though. When its all said and done, sometimes you just have
to play the hand you're dealt. This is, unfortunately, never more true than with racing. The sad part of the story
is that the exhaust cans had just been repacked prior to the weekend due to the last corner fiasco at T-Hill the previous
month, and yet, still, the noise infraction was upheld.
The team has filed a protest with USGPRU, contending for the points and financial
restitution, but our hopes are realistic; which is to say not expecting much in the way of a positive outcome from it all.
While Vince is still leading the Western Region, the fight for the National Championship was dealt a heavy blow, but the team
will rebound and continue to fight. Hopefully, our kharmic setbacks are now behind us for the remainder of the year!!
Race conditions:
RAD=90%; P=30.75"; T=74°; H=43%
Cloudy, Dry, Breezy
