AFM Race 3: Infineon May 23-24

 

This would be a weekend to forget. We started off by destroying our gearbox shearing both 2nd and 3rd gear at a track day with minimal time for repairs. Once again, Desmoto Sport came to our aid and installed Matt Green’s 999 R transmission along with a tall (2.00) Corse first gear. The new gearbox would be less fragile than the 1098 R transmission (which had been significantly lightened to race in homologated form for World Superbike) with closer gear ratios (5th gear would be equivalent to 6th in the old gearbox). However, the tall 1st gear (2.00) was now very similar to 2nd (1.75) and would be difficult to launch even though it could be put to use in slower corners.

 

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The first day presented us with another broken quick-shifter! We quickly replaced it with a spare (sans electronics) and then chose a medium/hard (6680) rear and medium (6136) front tire for the races.

 

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We were situated 2nd on the AMA 4-4 staggered grid for Formula 40 which was a safer starting configuration adopted by the AFM after the unfortunate incident with Eric Arnold at the last round. The taller 1st gear along with a heavy dose of rider error contributed to a scary double wheelie at the start. Our best time was only 1:47.172 after our poor start and we fought our way to a 9th placing out of 24. This relegated us back to 3rd in the championship with 121 points.

 

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But the worst was not yet over. Open Twins saw another rider-induced faulty start from 5th on the grid, this time resulting in a crash. Luckily we were not run over and but our DNF closed our weekend. We would have to settle for 5th in the championship with 55 points prior to taking our hiatus to prepare for our ironman.

 

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Open Twins: DNF

Formula 40: 9th

Open Superbike: DNS

Fastest lap: 1:46.190, 75.3mph (track day)

 

Enjoy the ride!

--Team JaS

 

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Special thanks to our sponsors:

Motowheels Performance Parts

Panolin America Lubricants

Suomy Helmets

Axcel Fast Graphics

Vortex Racing Components

TCX Boots

Rudy Project Eyewear

GoPro Camera

Pit Posse Motorsports