Road America, at the track with the boys - Page 2

Steve Carlton · 04:21 PM

According to Dean, Montano gave up a big lead and they skipped a splash and dash to try and hold onto 1st place. Brian coasted into pit lane, right before the finish line. But they would have needed enough gas for the dyno run after the race, too. Bummer!

Edit- Dean said a big lead was lost when Montano was riding because of a yellow flag and they all bunched up. It may not have been his fault. Dean's not sure what Tom's lap times actually were.

They finished 5th.

Bob Hancock · 07-08-2007, 03:24 PM

Did Nate ride any?

Steve Carlton · 07-08-2007, 03:26 PM

No. Dean says he should have, in retrospect.

Wild Will · 07-08-2007, 03:33 PM

With only a three second lead over the Aprilia, the bike ran out of gas. It was a very noble effort nonetheless. The team and the riders deserve lots of praise; Aprilia spends a lot of money to win these races, and it shows.

Thunderbike - Parriott won the race, pitted against the Buell's, "by a mile", according to Dean. This weekend was Buell's Homecoming, and they unveiled their new Rotax twin engine, water cooled. I'm pretty sure the Buell guys are unhappy being soundly beaten by the 1200S. I hope I can get hold of one of the Buell riders' club mags, and see what they have to report about this race.

San Jose is packing the trailer so Dean can hit the road to Iowa. They've thoughtfully provided him with a new F800S to tool around with during the week before the next race. Moto sightseeing in summery Iowa!
What could be better? Ice cream, watermelon, corn on the cob and BBQ!
Have fun out there Dean, and stay out of trouble.

Bob Hancock · 07-08-2007, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Wild Will

Thunderbike - Parriott won the race, pitted against the Buell's, "by a mile", according to Dean. This weekend was Buell's Homecoming, and they unveiled their new Rotax twin engine, water cooled. I'm pretty sure the Buell guys are unhappy being soundly beaten by the 1200S.

Will....they weren't racing the new Buell were they? Dumb question....but "I gots ta know!"

Wild Will · 07-08-2007, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bob Hancock
Will....they weren't racing the new Buell were they? Dumb question....but "I gots ta know!"

Bob, there ARE no dumb questions, especially from a fighter pilot. No, the new Buell's are just being intro'd today in Wisconsin. It's a very big deal. A Buell with a Rotax mill removes the Buell, strapped with a farm impliment engine since birth, from the realm of the merely semi ridiculous. The machine just may become interesting, finally. And kudos to Eric Buell. Now they won't have to suspend the paint shaker mill with those Heim joints. Expect them to have a new presence in serious sport biking and racing as well. And no, I'm still a BMW guy. Anybody want to go with me and Dean to get roundel tattoos?

Bob Hancock · 07-08-2007, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Wild Will
Anybody want to go with me and Dean to get roundel tattoos?

I might. It'd be my first tat.

N8Kern · 07-08-2007, 07:43 PM

"according to Dean..." lol, from one end of pti lane to the pther, the story changes 5 times!!!!!!

Well hey, had a blast this weekend! There were some bumps in the road for some, but we just put gas in and fresh tires. It was great to have Brian out there with me finally this weekend in National Thunderbike. We broke away, a lapped rider really slowed me down but he pace was anough to just check out. Buell riders EVERYWHERE! 2 BMW's on the podium. We were able to pull out two wins in the CCS Thunderbike (same competitors as Natl.) and in Supertwins I made a fubar decision. I went out with pads that were just shot. After leading a bit, the lever just went to the handlebar. Pulled in.

SO, after a really good podium ceremony for ASRA Tbike, I was disqualified for one hp over the 4lbs. per hp ratio. LOL, we just drink alot of fuel at the pace we were running. I even added 16 lbs. of diving belt weights.....

Oh well, so hey MotoST was up last. Parriott did great getting us out there early. Brian said he wanted me to ride second. period. Didnt happen. Pace car comes out during a full course caution, does not matter what kind of lead you have you just lost it. As the field filed up behind the pace car. The rider put out by SJBMW, passed the pace car.....?! SO, the fireld had to be picked up again and it took forever. eating alot of fuel and time. BOOM pace car is off the track and Montano leas the field into one and outta sight. Comes around in 5th. Brian goes back out and all was left on the table with the fuel gamble. Hey we had to win it to have a shot at the championship. Mathmatically it is just not in our favor. WOuld have love dto have ridden as the pace that was after the rider change was 30's and 29's, did that all day long with discomfort, but way obtainable.

Im just glad to be racing again and tehre is just not enough time in the day to tell you how many great BMW riders i have met this past weekend. PP members, MC Cafe.... you name it. Just great folks that were looking for a great time! We gave it to them. Thank you all very much for taking the time to come and wear you BMW pparle and be able to stand a couple of inches taller after seeing jugs flying across the line first!

Just really need to rest the leg and wrist. Hopefully for not much longer, but after VIR 2 weeks ago, my physical therapist said I set my wrist back 2 weeks in PT. Dont and cant afford anymore set backs, we need to stay running upfront for all of you!

Cheers,

N8!

Steve Carlton · 05:27 AM

I didn't see the story change 5 times. Anyway, it looks like Brian's lead went up in smoke due to the caution, and that's racing. Trailing in points with only 3 races remaining, I can understand their going for the win without a fuel stop. It's pretty clear the SJBMW team is the fastest, but some bad luck has prevented them from likely winning the championship this year.

Deans BMW · 07-09-2007, 04:21 AM

Guys, just found my Pelican password.

Copied this from my post last nite in the "Cafe"

Guys, back at the motel completely exhausted.

We have gone over every move and decision all evening.

Brian started the race and developed a good lead, then Tom montono road after the second fuel stop, The pace car came out shortly thereafter, the lead evaporated as all the bikes bunched up behind the pace car, Aprillia put on there fastest rider that could almost keep up with with Brians lap times and we started loosing ground, switched riders back to Brian, gas and rear tire under about 15 seconds, Brian and the Aprillia were doing about the same time so no ground was made up until the Aprillia did a splash and dash in 6 seconds, we gained the lead and held it until we ran out of gas just before the finish line, we ended up 5th, had we done a splash and dash we would have ended up 4th. For some reason, we recieved more ink and praise for the balsey try. The other main team managers said they would have made the same call had they been in the same situation.

By the way, in the Thunder Bike race just preceding the Moto ST race, Brian road our Moto ST beemer, set two Thunder Bike lap records and won the thing by a wide margin. The great thing about the Thunder bike race is that the Buell Homecomming was going on at Road America this same weekend, full factory effort, lots of Buell teams, the Buell demo truck and tons of Buell riders. We beat the socks off the Buell entries in the Thunder Bike. Brian also had the fastest lap in the Moto ST.

Bob Hancock · 07-09-2007, 04:24 AM

Sooooooo GLAD you found yer password Dean!

Deans BMW · 07-09-2007, 04:34 AM

Here is a link to the latest Road Racing World update. I would cut n paste, prolly not legal. The San Jose crew just left for the airport and they will fly back to Iowa early Thursday morning. Nate and his crew just left for their drive back to Atlanta.

But for a few drops of $8.00 per gallon race gas....................

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=29552

BMW Atlanta · 07-09-2007, 07:20 AM

I was under the impression there were a couple of the "new" Buells at the races this past weekend.

Kudos to team SJBMW for the effort, bum deal either way you cut it.

pmc847 · 07-09-2007, 07:32 AM

Here are a couple of pics with the boys. These guys are two of the nicest guys you will ever meet in this sport. With in seconds it feels like they are your long time buddies. Chris Hodgson is the same way. As busy as he was he took the time to talk to me about my grenaded motor and what we will be doing to fix it. As it turned out, they dropped an exhaust valve too. Guess what? It was the same manufacturer, Ferrea. I think I will be doing a very close inspection of those valves to see if there are any noticeable flaws. Any metallurgist in the house?

Philip

Deans BMW · 07-09-2007, 07:39 AM

Link to the Moto ST site for more great read, I did not know that the Aprillia was also on fumes. Read this link.

http://www.moto-st.com/CONTENT/News/Article_57.asp

Deans BMW · 07-09-2007, 07:58 AM

A shameless plug, notice the Motorcyclist Cafe decal on Brians bike, the "Cafe" is one of the San Jose Racing Team's sponsers.

Bob Hancock · 07-09-2007, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Deans BMW
A shameless plug, notice the Motorcyclist Cafe decal on Brians bike, the "Cafe" is one of the San Jose Racing Team's sponsers.

Isn't the guy who started that in jail now? Something about fashion abuse?

Steve Carlton · 07-09-2007, 12:50 PM

A report w/pics from Jason (Optimus Prime) at the Cafe:

First, A big thanks to Dean for giving me a chance to help out this weekend. It was a blast. It was an amazing race, and a completely heart-breaking finish. Like Dean said, Chris and the crew made the only call they could. I have a feeling Aprilia knew we were tight on gas at the end, because they pitted with about 20 minutes left and even though they had a full fuel bottle and their #2 rider was suited up and ready to ride, they pulled off a very quick splash and dash. If they had taken a slightly longer pit, I think Chris would have had the time to pull off a splash and dash and take the win.

I can't wait for Iowa.

I also got a chance to hang out with Nate for a while. Real good guy. Cares more about BMW winning, then personal accolades. I got to see the header from the R6 incident. Holy crap. I didn't have my camera with me, but it had to be a helluva smack because the header looked like it had been put in a 20 ton press. Nate got the shivers when I asked him about it Sunday. My friend Mark and I are hoping to go with him to VIR in the near future.

Now on to the pictures.

SJBMW's setup in the paddock

Tom, getting ready for an earlier practice run.

Brian, getting ready to head out for a practice run.

Mount up

Nate's on the #12, Brian's on the #46. Practice time

Nate on the #12, practice run

Steve Carlton · 07-09-2007, 12:51 PM

Dyno run

Setting up shop in the pit

Pre-Race work

Almost time

And your race leader is...

Steve Carlton · 07-09-2007, 12:52 PM

Dean, working the pole...

Rider change.

Daddy needs a new pair of shoes

Mark and I talking with Tom during the last portion of the race

Elsie and Dean keeping an eye on the times. (IIRC, Brian set the quickest lap early in the race)