Daytona 200

We spent all day Thursday stripping the bikes and meticulously preparing every facet of the motorcycle:-
- every bolt received a healthy dose of loctite and all were retorqued to specs
- fairings were taped and zip tied
- dry brake tanks were tested
- all oils changed (engine and brakes) and coolant checked
- rear wheel spaces were glued into place with green loctite to make wheel changes faster
- specially constructed swing arms installed with new chains
- quick change components polished and checked for operational issues
- radiators were cleaned, backflushed and blown out with pressurized air, and all dings were straightened out to ensure maximum airflow through it
- all wheels and rotors tested for straightness, all cush drives prepared with gearing
- all new tires including one spare set per bike installed and numbered for installation sequence
- spares list compiled to replace commonly damaged parts from crashes and boxed for the pit

Once the bikes were completed, everyone stepped back to look at them from a distance. No visual problems with Gabor's bike, but the rear Arata exhuast can was fraying due to Bobby's boot rubbing on it during the race, so it had to be replaced with an aluminum can.

When we were sure everything was done, we practiced pit stops outside the garage with rear wheel only changes. We started at 25 seconds and by the time we had everything solidified and procedure running smoothly we got it down to 15-17 seconds. Happy with that, we got the pit area set up. The wind was blowing so hard that all the factories and privateers at the east end of the speedway hot pit either lost or took down their canopies. There was no practice or racing in the morning due to airfence floating in the air so we all stood around waiting for 1st call for FX warm up. That eventually came at 12.20 and we had 20 minutes to have both riders find us in our new pit location, match gear and rpm for hot pit speed limits and practice a live pit stop at least once. Everything went smoothly, new tires were put on the wheels and marked, and the bikes sat on the hot pit with warmers on as the race was running the scheduled start time.

Everyone was in place, pit boards set correctly and all staff had radios tested and on the same channel. The race got underway and unfortunately for Gabor he was hit from behind by an as yet un-named BMW rider going into the Horseshoe on the first lap, who then lowsided his HP2 megasport which took out Gabor even though he survived the initial impact. Sadly the engine did not turn off and was oil starved from laying on its side so a couple of laps later the motor let go. We were all stunned and saddened by this for Gabor, who had cleary shown his ability to all with his 1:41.2 lap.

Bobby got through the opening laps okay and then slowly started making his way forward. By his first pit stop we were in a solid 10th place, and during the second stint we got to 8th. Bobby came into the hot pit on time and drove right by the pit, so he had to do another lap. That put us back in 15th place but during the final stint, attrition reared its head and we started moving forward due to crashes and mechanicals and all of a sudden we were back to 8th spot. Given where we had been, that would have put us in 6th place!

All in all a great effort for a team where 65% of the staff were new and strangers to each other. Kudos to them for working well together and for all of Team Owner Kevin Hanson's manic work in getting bikes and engines ready in time when it was clear the 08's would not make it.

Michelin has some new front tires to test, so we need to find time to evaluate them before Barber. There are a few options, so we will see what happens :)

POSTSCRIPT:

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=31709

Josh Hayes was disqualified for illegal crankshaft modifications and Josh must be devastated by that, not to mention how Honda as a brand will be affected by this announcement.

Given this information, that moved everyone up chain so this validated my verbal comment and prerace views about Chaz Davies winning the 200 and we moved up to 7th (and could have been 5th).