Crew Chief Position for AMA team Police Safety First announced!

Police Safety First Racing - Crew Chief announcement 2/22/08

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=31547

It is out in the open:- I have been officially ‘yoked’ with a season long contract with PSFR. In over a decade of being involved in this sport as a freelance writer, racer, tuner, addicted enthusiast and now TV host with On The Throttle, this is certainly as a professional a pinnacle of responsibility and opportunity provided to me by Team Owner, Kevin Hansen. After months of discussions, emails and negotiations it is clear to me that Kevin has amassed a great deal of individual experience, commitment and depth of talent within the core crew that will be at every event supporting Bobby Fong and 1-2 other riders.

I have to say that I am proud to have been considered for this role late last winter, and I can certainly draw on all the experience I have had to date to be a team leader and motivator. There will be a lot less time to be social with everyone I have been fortunate to meet all over the country, but I will make as much time as I can to say “hi”! Don’t stay away though from the PSFR canopy:- Bobby certainly appreciates all his fans and the local support from his California homeys :)

I have worked with Bobby in the past at AFM and at track days, but this will be another ball game altogether. In the few outings together so far, he has very quickly come to grips with a new engine with revised cam timing, a radically different chassis from last year and different suspension settings we have given him to try for his 07 bikes (guessing that the 08’s wouldn’t be ready for Daytona). He and I need to get on the same page in terms of communication to make sure that universal terms (push, chatter, runs wide, head shake) all mean what we both believe them to mean. Bobby will be getting his first homework assignment prior to Daytona to this end. We don’t have time to lose with poor communication!

There’s a great deal of optimism in the PSFR camp for good reason. There’s a lot we can achieve together and everyone realizes the opportunity in front of the team. There will be several hiccups in the first couple of events, and that’s a good thing – to get them into the open right away so we can see what needs to be changed or how better to do something together, building interactive precision as per Swiss watch. We will all work as efficiently and effectively as we can and I will have to be very observant and willing to critique processes, space arrangements, location of parts, tool boxes, chemicals and keep completely on top of inventory.

“At this level, the devil is in the details, and preparation is everything” Chuck Sowerds, 1996.

Advice I have followed every time I have gone to the track and words of wisdom I would encourage others to adopt who want to succeed and achieve.

There are a myriad of items/criteria that combine to make the bike handle well: chassis geometry, fork springs, oil levels and valving, shock springs and valving, gearing, tire size, pressure and compound to name but a few, so here’s an insight into preparation when dealing with one item:- new for 08 Penske shocks that will be on all the bikes:

- All shocks are individually numbered and serviced prior to each race event with the service date annotated on the shock.

- Internal piston type and valving are coded and noted on each shock.

- Any shock that seems to have a problem will be tagged with blue tape with “inspect” and immediately removed to the trailer to be stripped and evaluated.

- Spring rates need to be clearly visible to the eye while on the bike and all springs will be tested for rate accuracy and relabeled if needed.

- All shocks will be installed in the bike with the same ride height, same installed preload and same hydraulic settings to expedite practice time.

- Lead mechanics will record all that information onto the specially designed data sheets prior to bringing the shocks/sheets to the hot pit during all practices.

- Designated crew will work in synchronization on shock removal and installation with all tools and stands ready prior to the bike coming into the hot pit.

- Springs with rates not being used will be removed from the pit space, re-boxed and put on the trailer.

- Any defective shocks will be removed, boxed, and placed on the trailer ready to be returned to Penske for evaluation on the Monday after the event.

That will get us through the first 30 - 40 minutes of testing in evaluating the shock amongst everything else – then we begin dialing the bike in geometrically and hydraulically. That leaves about 90 minutes to get the bike as good as it can be in every aspect of chassis and suspension tuning.

We are only a few days away from Daytona now, so I have to make sure I have as much of the process figured out as possible and then meet regularly in down time with all lead mechanics, support staff and Kevin to get the Swiss watch working as quietly as possible.

I need to be sponsored with Vitamin B injections – wonder if Pfizer is interested?