....Which we fortunately managed to do, so the weekends mission was accomplished.  It went something like this...

 

The previous months get-off actually didnt do too much damage to the bike.  The biggest bummer was the hit to the previously-unscathed radiator, which came out functional, albeit a little leaky, and a bit twisted.  The leaks were fixed easily enough with a bit of weld from our friend Jim Shirley @ Shirley Design in HB.  But, the beautiful, perfect aesthetic of the radiator pre-crash was gone forever.  C'est la vie.

 

This was the third joint CCS/USGPRU round and the GPRU boys were out in much better force than at last months Streets' event.  One surprise was the appearance of east coast hotshot Brian Kraget.  He was coming out to make sure young Josh Herrin didnt steal the National spotlight after his adventures heading east, as one out-of-region round is required to compete for the National title. 

 

Anywho, Saturday started out easily enough.  With the memory of the prior months getoff still nice and fresh, the session was quite conservative with times ranging from high 2:03's on up.  Not exactly a blistering pace, but good enough to get back a bit of confidence and shake the bike out a little bit.  Unusual for BW this time of year was the fairly moderate temp of 85°.  Combined with a light breeze and clear skies and the weather was just right for riding.

 

The second session out saw the times come down to 2:00 flat, with some consistency, so that was encouraging.  Moreso was the fact that Vince was 'taking it easy' and not really working to hard to get the times, so that was another good sign.

 

Without further adieu, it was time for GPRU qualifying.  Since it had only been two ontrack sessions between the last GPRU qualifying induced crash, the expectation was set conservatively on qualifying position.  This issue is further complicated by BW's notoriously 125-friendly layout, and the ensuing large number of 125's that would comprise the GP250 grid and the prospect of qualifying was starting to give the team a bit of concern.

 

The qualifying session went well as both rider and bike rolled back into the pits under power! ;)  The result was a fifth-fastest time of 1:57.571 - good enough for a row 2 start with a front row comprised of four 125's!!!  On the upside, Vince was the first 250 on the grid, another encouraging sign.

 

The first race on Sunday was the GPRU race.  With the constraint of running the same partially-shagged tires from practice and qualifying, Vince took to the grid for the GP250 race.  The plan going in was to try and stay with the fast group of 125's and use the power of the 250 to make a move from the last corner to the finish line which was, presumably, sufficiently far down BW's front straight to accomodate the thought. 

 

The green flag dropped and that whole theory was all but totally out the window.  Much to Vince's surprise, the front row of 125's absolutely rocketed off the grid and into the first corner.  Out of turn two, it was like the little bikes were making 80hp and at least one, maybe two, actually went by Vince on acceleration down "I-5".  Remembering clearly the underlying goal of "don't crash!" Vince opted to re-evalutate the game plan which went to letting the top couple bikes go and just riding his own race.  In fact, it all was going quite well until the last corner of the penultimate lap when an unexpected Jeff Beck decided to swipe what Vince thought was a sure 5th overall (and first 250).  With one lap to go, Vince hung right behind Beck's late model TZ.  On the approach into the sweeper, Beck pulled a bike length or two and was decidedly faster.  Vince hung in though with a hope of squaring up the corner a bit and getting a better drive up through the esses.  In fact, it was a bit too good: as the two riders began to exit the sweeper, Vince had pulled right up to Beck's rear tire.  With only one line and Beck clearly in control, Vince had to check up to avoid going rubber-on-rubber.  That slight hesitation on the throttle was enough for Beck to power up through the esses.  With one last chance on the approach to the last corner, Vince got an epic drive out of the esses and pulled up on the outside of Beck on the approach.  Without having the opportunity to see Beck's speed through the corner on the previous lap, and thinking Beck would be able to match the depth of his braking, Vince decided to play it safe and try and go underneath, instead of around the wily Beck.  It was a poor choice. Beck broke earlier than expected and Vince was left to wait for him through the corner.  With both bikes fairly even on power, the run to the line was already decided and Vince settled for 6th.  Not too shabby, all things considered.

 

The last race was the CCS LWGP race.  As has become typical for the class, it was dominated by SV650's with only Mike Lytle competeing on another 250.  Further, the minimum grid of 10 riders needed for Dunlop contingency continued on its streak of unfulfillment.  Nuts.

 

A decent start and Vince was up among the experts.  There were a couple fast 125's that we got to play with a bit, including the super-quick Jay Pilster.  Vince and Jay had a pretty good battle, with Vince pulling the smaller bike on power and Jay showing Vince how fast a 125 can corner!  Good fun.  In the end we were first 250 and first amateur....a good conclusion to a good weekend!