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Ace Racing RR AFM 09 R4
Ace Racing Race Report: AFM Round 4, Thunderhill Raceway
Parriott Takes First Podium For Ace Racing!
The following is from Ace Racing, LLC...
Photos courtesy 4theriders.com
June 15, 2009
Ace Racing went into the fourth round of the 2009 AFM Championship at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, California with high hopes, now that the newest team rider, Brian Parriott, had finally gotten one race on the Ace Racing CBR1000RR under his belt and was feeling comfortable enough to challenge for the podium. The other two team riders, Michael Hannas and Ace Robey, were also able to get some more seat time and development in on the Ace Racing machines since the last round and were eager to put the bikes up front where they belong.
Saturday morning greeted the riders with nice and sunny 85-degree weather, much more comfortable than the 100-degree plus temps usually recorded at this time of year at Thunderhill, but practice started off on a sour note for the team. Hannas was out in his first practice session when an oil filter gasket failure caused his CBR600RR to dump most of its engine oil out into the bellypan and then onto his rear tire at speed, which caused Hannas to go down at the end of the back straight still at over 100 mph. Hannas was uninjured in the fall except for some scrapes and bruises, but unfortunately his bike was damaged beyond repair and he was unable to compete for the rest of the weekend.
Meanwhile, Parriott worked through the set-up of his new Ohlins forks and shock, and generally got himself more comfortable with the CBR1000RR, which has significantly more horsepower than anything he has ever raced in the past. Parriott was able to get his times within a couple seconds of the fastest times on the day and was confident there was still more to come as he got the bike more dialed in. Robey also worked on refining the set-up of his CBR1000RR and getting back up to speed on the Thunderhill Raceway course, which he hadn't raced at since last year. With a good day of practice behind them, the team was ready for some good results on Sunday.
Sunday morning brought the same warm but not too hot weather for race day, and first race up for the team was Open Superbike, with Parriott starting from the end of the grid after failing to realize that he needed to personally request "Known Fast Guy" gridding to be placed higher on the grid, even though his times from Saturday practice were more than fast enough to qualify. Parriott mistakenly thought that since the AFM now uses AMB timing that the officials would automatically place him further up on the grid once his practice times came up on the computer, but this was not the case, and unfortunately he would be charging from the back. Nevertheless, Parriott ripped a monster start and shot up inside half the field going into turn one, then squared it up and wheelied up the inside of five more riders in between turns one and two. By the end of lap one, Parriott was up to eighth and charging. Parriott continued to pick riders off one by one and by the fourth lap he was up to fourth and challenging for third. Parriott used his years of race experience and followed for a lap, figuring out where he could make a move, then struck on the brakes at the end of the back straight, taking the final podium spot with only two corners to go. Parriott was able to use the power of his freshly-built by Lee's Cycle CBR1000RR to hold on down the final run to the flag to take a podium in his very first AFM race for Ace Racing, as well as the first podium of the season for the team.
Next race for the team was Open Production, with Ace Robey on the Ace Racing CBR1000RR Superstock machine. Robey was also gridded near the back but rocketed off the line and up into the top fifteen into the first turn. Robey battled back and forth with a few other riders for the first few laps and then settled into fourteenth position, which he would hold until the finish. Although it wasn't quite the top ten he was shooting for, he was happy that he was able to drop his lap times a little more and was looking forward to going even faster in his second race of the day.
After his podium early in the day, Parriott was hungry for more in the featured race of the day, the "Run What You Brung" Formula Pacific main event for the fastest riders on the fastest bikes. Once again starting from the back, Parriott put on a carbon copy of his start from earlier in the day, once again shooting up the inside of half the pack into one, then squaring it up and shooting past a few more on the rear wheel on the run to turn two. Once again, Parriott was able to work into the top ten by the end of the first lap, but this time he seemed to have a little more trouble continuing his charge. He ended up in a battle for fourth with two other riders but was having trouble making a move anywhere. As the laps went on it became apparent that Parriott was giving it all he had on his Pirelli DOT-shod machine to simply keep the other slick-shod riders in sight and that getting around them was going to be next to impossible unless one of them made a huge mistake. Parriott hung in there but the mistake never came and he was forced to settle for sixth. It wasn't the podium the team was hoping for, but for a bike still under development and still on street-legal tires, it was definitely an impressive result.
The final race for the day for Ace Racing was Open Grand Prix, with Robey gridding up the CBR1000RR Superstock machine for another go. Robey didn't get as good of a launch this time from the back of the grid and entered the first turn near the back of the pack. He was able to work his way around a few of his competitors during the opening lap and then tried to close the gap on the group up ahead of him. During the next few laps he was able to close the gap and by the time the field took the white flag he was on the tail of the rider in front. Knowing that he had more steam on the straight, Robey was content to hang behind and wait for the final run to the flag to make his move. However, his plan was thwarted when one of the riders from the second wave, which was another class racing on track at the same time, got between Robey and the rider he was planning to pass on the run to the line, which ruined his drive off the final corner and ended his last-minute pass attempt. Robey ended up 25th in Open Grand Prix but lowered his lap times even more during the race, which was encouraging for the next race in one month's time at Thunderhill again.
All in all, it was a successful weekend for Ace Racing, with the team scoring their first podium finish of the year and serving a clear warning shot to the rest of the AFM racers that Ace Racing will be a force to be reckoned with from now on. Now the team will regroup and get a little bit more testing done before their next race appearance, which will be at AFM Round 5 at Thunderhill again on July 11-12.
Ace Racing Results
AFM Round Four
Thunderhill Raceway
June 14, 2009
Open Superbike: 3rdBrian Parriott (Hon)
Formula Pacific: 6th Brian Parriott (Hon)
Open Production: 14th Ace Robey (Hon)
Open Grand Prix: 25th Ace Robey (Hon)
Ace Racing would like to thank our partners www.2WheelTimes.com, CRG, Catalyst Racing Composites, Kyle Racing, Bazzaz Performance, Leo Vince, Shift, Yoyodyne, PSR, Motion Pro, Pirelli, Parriott Motors, Concept Five, and Epic Images.
Parriott Takes First Podium For Ace Racing!
The following is from Ace Racing, LLC...
Photos courtesy 4theriders.com
June 15, 2009
Ace Racing went into the fourth round of the 2009 AFM Championship at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, California with high hopes, now that the newest team rider, Brian Parriott, had finally gotten one race on the Ace Racing CBR1000RR under his belt and was feeling comfortable enough to challenge for the podium. The other two team riders, Michael Hannas and Ace Robey, were also able to get some more seat time and development in on the Ace Racing machines since the last round and were eager to put the bikes up front where they belong.
Saturday morning greeted the riders with nice and sunny 85-degree weather, much more comfortable than the 100-degree plus temps usually recorded at this time of year at Thunderhill, but practice started off on a sour note for the team. Hannas was out in his first practice session when an oil filter gasket failure caused his CBR600RR to dump most of its engine oil out into the bellypan and then onto his rear tire at speed, which caused Hannas to go down at the end of the back straight still at over 100 mph. Hannas was uninjured in the fall except for some scrapes and bruises, but unfortunately his bike was damaged beyond repair and he was unable to compete for the rest of the weekend.
Meanwhile, Parriott worked through the set-up of his new Ohlins forks and shock, and generally got himself more comfortable with the CBR1000RR, which has significantly more horsepower than anything he has ever raced in the past. Parriott was able to get his times within a couple seconds of the fastest times on the day and was confident there was still more to come as he got the bike more dialed in. Robey also worked on refining the set-up of his CBR1000RR and getting back up to speed on the Thunderhill Raceway course, which he hadn't raced at since last year. With a good day of practice behind them, the team was ready for some good results on Sunday.
Sunday morning brought the same warm but not too hot weather for race day, and first race up for the team was Open Superbike, with Parriott starting from the end of the grid after failing to realize that he needed to personally request "Known Fast Guy" gridding to be placed higher on the grid, even though his times from Saturday practice were more than fast enough to qualify. Parriott mistakenly thought that since the AFM now uses AMB timing that the officials would automatically place him further up on the grid once his practice times came up on the computer, but this was not the case, and unfortunately he would be charging from the back. Nevertheless, Parriott ripped a monster start and shot up inside half the field going into turn one, then squared it up and wheelied up the inside of five more riders in between turns one and two. By the end of lap one, Parriott was up to eighth and charging. Parriott continued to pick riders off one by one and by the fourth lap he was up to fourth and challenging for third. Parriott used his years of race experience and followed for a lap, figuring out where he could make a move, then struck on the brakes at the end of the back straight, taking the final podium spot with only two corners to go. Parriott was able to use the power of his freshly-built by Lee's Cycle CBR1000RR to hold on down the final run to the flag to take a podium in his very first AFM race for Ace Racing, as well as the first podium of the season for the team.
Next race for the team was Open Production, with Ace Robey on the Ace Racing CBR1000RR Superstock machine. Robey was also gridded near the back but rocketed off the line and up into the top fifteen into the first turn. Robey battled back and forth with a few other riders for the first few laps and then settled into fourteenth position, which he would hold until the finish. Although it wasn't quite the top ten he was shooting for, he was happy that he was able to drop his lap times a little more and was looking forward to going even faster in his second race of the day.
After his podium early in the day, Parriott was hungry for more in the featured race of the day, the "Run What You Brung" Formula Pacific main event for the fastest riders on the fastest bikes. Once again starting from the back, Parriott put on a carbon copy of his start from earlier in the day, once again shooting up the inside of half the pack into one, then squaring it up and shooting past a few more on the rear wheel on the run to turn two. Once again, Parriott was able to work into the top ten by the end of the first lap, but this time he seemed to have a little more trouble continuing his charge. He ended up in a battle for fourth with two other riders but was having trouble making a move anywhere. As the laps went on it became apparent that Parriott was giving it all he had on his Pirelli DOT-shod machine to simply keep the other slick-shod riders in sight and that getting around them was going to be next to impossible unless one of them made a huge mistake. Parriott hung in there but the mistake never came and he was forced to settle for sixth. It wasn't the podium the team was hoping for, but for a bike still under development and still on street-legal tires, it was definitely an impressive result.
The final race for the day for Ace Racing was Open Grand Prix, with Robey gridding up the CBR1000RR Superstock machine for another go. Robey didn't get as good of a launch this time from the back of the grid and entered the first turn near the back of the pack. He was able to work his way around a few of his competitors during the opening lap and then tried to close the gap on the group up ahead of him. During the next few laps he was able to close the gap and by the time the field took the white flag he was on the tail of the rider in front. Knowing that he had more steam on the straight, Robey was content to hang behind and wait for the final run to the flag to make his move. However, his plan was thwarted when one of the riders from the second wave, which was another class racing on track at the same time, got between Robey and the rider he was planning to pass on the run to the line, which ruined his drive off the final corner and ended his last-minute pass attempt. Robey ended up 25th in Open Grand Prix but lowered his lap times even more during the race, which was encouraging for the next race in one month's time at Thunderhill again.
All in all, it was a successful weekend for Ace Racing, with the team scoring their first podium finish of the year and serving a clear warning shot to the rest of the AFM racers that Ace Racing will be a force to be reckoned with from now on. Now the team will regroup and get a little bit more testing done before their next race appearance, which will be at AFM Round 5 at Thunderhill again on July 11-12.
Ace Racing Results
AFM Round Four
Thunderhill Raceway
June 14, 2009
Open Superbike: 3rdBrian Parriott (Hon)
Formula Pacific: 6th Brian Parriott (Hon)
Open Production: 14th Ace Robey (Hon)
Open Grand Prix: 25th Ace Robey (Hon)
Ace Racing would like to thank our partners www.2WheelTimes.com, CRG, Catalyst Racing Composites, Kyle Racing, Bazzaz Performance, Leo Vince, Shift, Yoyodyne, PSR, Motion Pro, Pirelli, Parriott Motors, Concept Five, and Epic Images.
