Ace Racing Race Report: AFM Round 5, Thunderhill Raceway

 

Two More Podiums For Ace Racing At Thunderhill

The following is from by Ace Racing, LLC...
Photos courtesy www.4theriders.com

July 13, 2009

Mild temperatures in the mid-nineties greeted the riders Saturday morning at Thunderhill Raceway, which was a welcome change from the typical well over 100-degree temps that are the norm for the middle of summer in the area.  Ace Racing riders Brian Parriott and Ace Robey worked throughout Saturday’s practice sessions in revising the set-up of the CBR1000RRs and were confident of some good results on Sunday.  Parriott was able to match his best time from the last race weekend after only a few laps in the first practice session and methodically improved from there, with Ace also lapping faster than he did the last race.  Unfortunately, team rider Michael Hannas was unable to determine the source of a small oil leak on his CBR600RR after troubleshooting all day and made the decision to sit out the races to avoid potentially oiling up the track surface and endangering the other riders.



The first race up on Sunday for Ace Racing was Open Grand Prix, with Ace and Brian on the CBR1000RR machines.  Parriott was gridded on the third row as a result of his practice times being fast enough to acquire “Known Fast Guy” gridding, while Ace was gridded 22nd.  Parriott put the power of his Lee’s Cycle-built Mike Canfield-tuned CBR1000RR to the ground off the line and rocketed into the top ten before the first corner, and was up to seventh by the time the field hit turn three.  Parriott sliced through three more riders on the back section of the course and was up to fourth position by the time the pack crossed the line to complete the first lap.  Meanwhile, Ace was recovering from a horrible start and working his way into the top twenty.  Parriott made the move for third on the second lap and set off after the leading pair, who by this time had opened up a small gap.  Parriott spent the next three laps closing up on the rider in second place and was right on his rear wheel and ready to strike as the riders took the white flag signifying the final lap.  Parriott was strong on the back straightaway and on the brakes at the end of it and was looking to make his move there, but his attempt was thwarted when the pair caught up to some lappers in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Parriott was unable to make the pass and held on for third, and Ace Racing’s first podium finish of the day.  Ace worked his way into the top twenty and finished 19th, hoping for a better start next time.

The next race up was Open Superbike, with Parriott looking to repeat his podium finish of earlier in the day and perhaps even improve on it.  The Ace Racing squad scrambled during the three-race break between Parriott’s first race and this one, making wholesale changes to the set-up of the CBR1000RR in an effort to enable Parriott to compete for the win.  The rear Ohlins shock was ripped out and re-sprung, and the front ride height was altered as well, all in an effort to give Parriott a little more grip out of the Pirelli DOT tires he was running against the slick-shod bikes of his competitors.  With the changes completed and the bike transformed, Parriott took the grid, once again on the inside of the third row.  Parriott got an even better start this time and sliced his way through the pack, working his way up to fourth before the end of the first lap, and still within striking distance of the leaders.  The pace was hot and Parriott seemed content to sit there in fourth for the next two laps when the leader crashed out in turn 14 on lap four, bumping Brian up to third.  As the pack took the white flag and began the final lap Parriott was obviously not content to sit back and take another third place as he was now pressuring the rider in second and looking for a way around.  Parriott saw his chance as the pair exited turn two and shot up the inside going into turn three to take the second position.  Defending AFM Overall Champion Dave Stanton took the win with Parriott only a few bike lengths behind in second, securing the best finish of the year so far for Ace Racing.



However, there was no time to celebrate, as there was only one race in between Open Superbike and the big race of the day, Formula Pacific, and there was no way Parriott would be able to compete for the win without a fresh set of Pirellis.  The wheels were ripped off as soon as Parriott made it back to the pits and rushed over to CT Racing, who threw some new rubber on lickety-split.  The team had just enough time to grab the wheels and put them back on the bike before the final call was given for the racers to grid up, which meant Parriott would not have the luxury of tire warmers and would be starting with cold tires.  This wasn’t such a big deal, since Parriott has been racing since before anyone used tire warmers anyway, but the problem was that Pirelli’s recommended tire pressures are “hot” pressures, taken when the tire has already reached temperature from the tire warmer.  The team was forced to guess on the cold tire pressure and cross their fingers that they guessed right.

Parriott was forced to start from the fourth row, since gridding in Formula Pacific is solely based on points and there is no “Known Fast Guy” rule for the class, since everyone in F-P is supposed to be a “Fast Guy.”  Maybe Parriott should start every race from the fourth row because by the time the pack entered turn one, he was up to sixth place!  When the leader crashed spectacularly in turn two, Parriott was up to fifth.  He lost a spot to Chris Siglin later on the first lap and crossed the line sixth at the end of lap one.  The top six riders circulated around for the next few laps almost in a procession, with no one able to make much of a move, and Parriott seemed to be just hanging out waiting to make a move.  As a couple more laps passed, it became apparent that Parriott was doing all he could just to hang onto the lead pack and that making any passes on them would be difficult.  His lap times were stuck at the 1:50 mark and he seemed to be unable to go any faster.  He settled in and finished a strong sixth, at the end of the lead pack, but from the look on his face as he entered the pits it was easy to see that the team had guessed wrong on the tire pressure.  The front was close enough, but a quick check of the rear tire with the tire gauge confirmed our fears; we had guessed wrong on the cold pressure and now that the tire was hot it was six pounds too high.  Parriott confirmed that he just didn’t have any rear grip and couldn’t get a drive to make a move.  Lesson learned: Pirelli rear tire pressures rise significantly more that the fronts.



The final race for the day for the team was Open Production, with Ace gridding his CBR1000RR up in the 13th spot for the start.  Ace got a slightly better launch this time and entered the first turn in the same position he started in.  He began to try to work his way into the top ten over the next few laps, and by lap three was up to eleventh and pressuring for tenth.  At the end of the fourth lap Ace attempted to make a move for tenth into turn one but the door was closed on him and he was forced to regroup and try again.  As they took the white flag the next time by, Ace made his attempt stick into turn one this time and was into tenth.  He immediately pulled a comfortable gap over his pursuer and looked to have tenth locked up, when going into the final set of turns he shifted into a false neutral and almost ran off the track.  By the time he got it gathered back up he was repassed for tenth.  Ace almost had the steam to run the rider back down before the line but came up a couple bike lengths short and had to settle for eleventh.

All things considered, it was another successful weekend for Ace Racing, with two more podiums to add to the one earned last race weekend, and a ton more data and seat time for the riders.  Parriott will be looking to be on the podium in Formula Pacific as well next race out at Infineon Raceway on August 9, and hopefully make a visit to the top of the podium in at least one of his races as well.  We hope to see you there!



Ace Racing Results
AFM Round Five
Thunderhill Raceway
July 12, 2009

Open Superbike:  2nd Brian Parriott (Hon)
Open Grand Prix: 3rd Brian Parriott (Hon)
Formula Pacific:   6th Brian Parriott (Hon)

Open Production: 11th Ace Robey (Hon)
Open Grand Prix: 19th Ace Robey (Hon)

Ace Racing would like to thank our partners www.2WheelTimes.com, Bazzaz Performance, Catalyst Racing Composites, CRG, Concept Five, Epic Images, Kyle Racing, Leo Vince, Motion Pro, Parriott Motors, Pirelli, PSR, Shift, and Yoyodyne.

Please visit our website at www.AceRacingLLC.com for more info