AFM 2012 Round 2, Thunderhill

May 132012
 

With Round 1 being rained out, Round 2 at Thunderhill was actually the season opener for AFM. Miles was ready to get at it, and Saturday practice went off without a hitch. His lap times were a little off the pace from the end of last season, but that’s not too surprising since he was knocking the cobwebs off. The Clubman Lightweight race was Saturday afternoon and the first race of the weekend for Miles. He had a few points from last year, so started off with a good grid position.

Miles got a good start and settled in to second place for a few laps until he got passed on the brakes into turn 10. He was able to stay with the second place rider, but going in to turn 6, the rear end lost grip and the bike spun around putting Miles on the pavement, and then into the dirt where he tumbled, and tumbled, aaaand tumbled. Luckily all he got was a few bumps and bruises.

After waiting around in the pits for a while the bike finally showed up. After assessing the damage, Miles determined all he really needed was a left side rearset—the rest could wait. First stop was the Twin Factory Works guys to see if they had anything available. They didn’t, but Dan Sewell offered to check around and see if he could find anything for a Gen 2. He tracked down some parts from Alan Cunningham, and all that was missing now was a shift linkage. Miles was able to borrow one from Jay Kinberger and then had everything he needed. A quick hose down and a little assembly and everything was ready to go for Sunday. A big thanks goes out to all you guys who helped get the bike operational again!

Miles had two races on Sunday. He only got two laps in during the morning practice session, so he was going to take it easy and use his first race, Novice 650 Twins, to feel out the bike and himself. Just before going out on the warmup lap, Miles checked his tires and noticed that his front tire was still cold. Further inspection revealed a burned up heating element in the front warmer. Going out on a cold front tire wasn’t going to help his confidence. But he went out, took it easy as planned, and everything felt okay.

Next up was Novice 650 Production, and there was only one race to rest before it was time to go. That was a blessing in part since the tires didn’t have too much time to cool off—but neither did Miles! The time came, and everyone got lined up. The bike almost overheated since Miles was in the 6th wave, but all went well. The green flag came up and he got a good start. He moved into first place by turn 1 and stayed there the whole race. His first podium and first race win!

It was an epic weekend and a heck of a way to start off the season. From the lows of crashing and failing equipment to the brotherhood of AFM racers always willing to help each other out and sweet victory! It’s a time Miles will never forget.

Minimoto USA 2012 Round 3, Infineon

May 062012
 

Minimoto USA NorCal round 3 was at the Infineon Raceway during the West Coast Moto Jam. Evan got to share the facilities (though not the track!) with the big boys this weekend. We were planning on going to the AMA race at Infineon anyway, so it was pretty cool to have Evan there as a competitor.

It was a very busy weekend with Minimoto USA and Supermoto USA sharing the track, so Evan only had a few practice sessions to learn his lines. The day went quite smoothly and Evan’s bike was running great thanks to a new carburetor and intake manifold. Evan enjoyed the track—his favorite turn was the last one right before the front straight. That evening we reviewed track video from the GoPro and went over lines so Evan could carry a little more speed through the corners.

On race day Evan had one practice in the morning to get his new lines down. Things were going well until the last lap. Evan bobbled through one of the turns and ended up crashing and sliding off track. The bike and Evan were fine, but the turn worker ended up breaking the pull starter when he was trying to get the bike going again. It was a quick fix and Miles had the bike ready for Evan’s race in plenty of time.

Evan was gridded 5th—first one on the second row. He had a little trouble finding the flag man, so he had a pretty bad start. He had a consistent race, with his lines obviously improved over practice from the previous day. He ended up finishing in 4th, just one position from the podium. He can almost taste that first podium now!

Minimoto USA 2012 Round 2, Atwater

Apr 082012
 

Evan was very excited for his second race weekend and his chance to actually finish a race. Round 1 at Buttonwillow ended with a crash, but his bike was rebuilt and even had a fresh coat of paint. He learned to ride at the Atwater Kart Track, so he was already comfortable there and ready to go. That was a good thing since he missed Friday practice. Not to mention, Saturday started out a little rough—carburetor problems kept Evan from riding in the first practice session. Once Miles figured out how to work around the carburetor issues, the day went well—no crashes and a good qualifying effort.

Evan was gridded 6th, and it was a double-header weekend for the MiniMoto Beginner class. He got a pretty good start in his first race to move up a spot into 5th, and stayed there for most of the race. Unfortunately, towards the end of the race fatigue set in and he slowed his pace, so he got passed on the second to last lap. That put him back in 6th place, which was where he finished.

Before Evan’s second race, Mom got in on the fun during the moms’ race. It was her first time on a bike and she was by far the slowest out there but had a great time and was happy she didn’t hurt anything more than her pride. A good time was had by all, but race 2 was coming up soon so time to get focused. Evan put in some of his fastest laps ever at the beginning of the race, but fell off of that pace a bit towards the end. Another 6th place finish marked the end of this successful weekend. Evan’s lines had improved dramatically thanks to some help from Cory, and the only time he went off track all weekend was when his bike died on him and he had to pull off.

The only thing left for the weekend was the paddock Easter Egg Hunt!

Minimoto USA 2012 Round 1, Buttonwillow

Mar 042012
 

This was quite the milestone weekend. Evan’s first motorcycle race and his official induction as a Texas Devil Racer! Evan’s first race with Minimoto USA was at Buttonwillow Raceway. We rolled in on Friday morning ready for a day of practice at a new track. Evan really liked the new track, but ran off at the exit of the chicane no fewer that four times during the first practice session of the day. After a little line coaching during the second session, he was taking it like a champ and never had a problem with it again! The day was going great until Evan bumped into the back of one of the other riders when he was coming onto the front straightaway. The other rider stayed up, but Evan went down face-first into the track. He was a little shaken up, mainly because he had hit someone else.

Saturday started off a little slow with Evan working to get his confidence back. We made some changes to the bike to make it more stable and with the intention of getting some new rims and slicks put on. Evan cautiously got back into the groove just in time for qualifying. He put in a good effort and qualified 8th for his Minimoto Beginner race. Late into the evening, with the help of Stoney and the Mid-South Minimoto crew, we got some nice new 6.5” rims and slicks put on Evan’s bike. Along with some other unexpected things like gearing, chains, and a new exhaust gasket.

Sunday was race day! There was only one practice session in the morning for Evan to get a feel for the bike with all the new parts on it. The bike wanted to fall into the corners more than he was used to because of the new tire profile. But the additional edge grip is going to be a good thing in the future. Evan’s race was the first of the day and we were all excited as he gridded up. The green flag went up and the swarm was off! Evan made and lost a few positions, battling it out with the other riders. Then on the third lap he was going for an inside pass before the chicane, but got squeezed out and ran off the inside of the track. He rode the bike off the curbing and then went down—his chain coming off sometime during the ruckus. Unfortunately, that was the end of Evan’s first race, but his spirits were up and he was ready to do it again. Until next time!

AFM 2011 Round 8, Thunderhill

Oct 022011
 

After having a great experience at my first AFM weekend, I was psyched to do it all over again! This weekend I wanted to get better starts so I could get up with some of the guys running faster than me and hopefully pick up a little speed following them. Practice on Saturday went well, and it was time for the Clubman Lightweight race before I knew it. I was looking forward to this one because it was going to be my first chance to race with my buddy, Bill, since he hadn’t been able to make it to the last round.

Because I had some points from the last round, I had a better grid position than last time. Bill was gridded just in front of me. My start was decent and I ended up with only a few riders between us going into turn 2. I kept him in sight the first few laps, and just when I thought he was out of touch, I saw him get held up by some traffic going into turn 6 on the second to last lap. I was able to make it through the other riders cleanly, putting me right with Bill coming out of 11. This was going to be an exciting finish. Then, to my dismay (and more so, his), Bill lost the front between 14 and 15 and went sliding into the dirt. Dang, not the way I wanted to make the pass. I finished out the race in 8th with a new personal best lap time of 2:05.4.

My first race for Sunday was 650 Twins. Bill wasn’t going to be able to make this one since he was still working on his bike. His crash had gotten into my head a bit. I had seen people go down on the track before, but it was just different to see someone I know go down right in front of me. The race was pretty uneventful for me, and was really more for practice since I’m on a production bike. I had a decent start again, and after settling in on the first lap I didn’t really get close to anyone during the middle of the race until someone showed me a wheel over the top of 5, making me get a move on. I caught up to one last rider, making a pass hard on the brakes into 10 on the final lap, putting me in position to finish 18th with a 2:07.1.

After lunch, I had my 650 Production race—this is the class my bike is built for. Evan had some unusual, but ultimately appropriate advice for me before I gridded up for the race, “Dad. Stay focused. Stay alive.” Where does he come up with this stuff? Got another somewhat decent start and was in my final position by the end of the first lap. Didn’t see anyone from my wave for the rest of the race. However, I did see some of the Superdino guys from the wave behind us. Three laps in, the first place rider passed me on the brakes into 10, and then the second place rider promptly passed me on the short straight between 10 and 11. However, that put him off line, and he ran way wide. I rolled off a bit because I wasn’t sure where he was going to end up, and it’s a good thing I did! He ended up t-boning the hay bale on the inside of 12, hitting the ground, and sliding across the track just a few feet in front of me.

My confidence was a little shaken to start, so for the rest of the race I was content to just keep a decent pace, stay upright, and bring everything into the pits intact. Approaching turn 12 on the next lap, I wasn’t sure what I was going to see. There was a yellow flag at turn 11, and all the corner workers were motioning to move left. When I came upon turn 12, there was hay spread out from one side of the track to the other, with some fairly large chunks on the right hand side. On my way through, I glanced to the left of the track to see the rider who went down standing next to his bike. Looked like he made it out okay—thank goodness. Two more laps around the track and my season was over: 7th place with a fastest lap of 2:08.8.

I only got to attend two race weekends this year, but that’s all it took to get me hooked. Racing with the AFM has been a great experience. I thought track days were fun, but this is a whole new level. Can’t wait for next season—it’s going to be a looooong winter!

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