Chase McFarland #993 Road Race
Race Report AFM Round 1 from Buttonwillow, CA
The first round of AFM series started out with great potential, during Friday practice we adjusted the suspension on my Bridgestone shod Suzuki SV-650R working better than it ever has. Conditions on Friday were great, no wind, a warm track, and no rain but that would change.
Saturday morning practice went very well also, the bike was working sweet except for an occasional missed shift; however Buttonwillow is a very bumpy track so the missed shifts really did not grab my attention. When practice times were posted I was thrilled to see that I was 3rd fastest in my class and only by 7 tenths of a second off first! That was a real confidence booster because I regularly go anywhere from 1 to 2 seconds faster in the race. Saturday night brought rain and severe wind to central California.
On Sunday morning I woke to a wet track and winds as my easy-up nearly blew away. Race morning practice was slow and cautious; being there was still some water on the track, although now the shifting problem was still happening and started to get my attention at this point. As my race neared I became more confident that I was going to do well I could feel it. I practiced several starts a few moments before my race just to make sure I was going to get a good launch, and it paid off! From a 12 place start I was in 6th by the exit of turn 1! I made a pass for 5th on the exit of turn 2 and in to 4th by turn 5, I couldn’t believe how it was going now only 3 guys between me and the top step of the podium. David Raff was the first one I had to get by it took me a couple laps but I got him on the exit of turn one on the outside. On to Dan Sewell (he won the formula 4 championship in 2008) it took less than a lap to pull up on his back tire. I was running out of time I pulled alongside of Dan a few times but couldn’t make the pass stick, it was going to have to be a last corner last lap pass. Except I never made it to the last corner, going into turn one on the last lap the motor started to seize and by the time I got to turn two the back tire locked up thankfully I got the clutch pulled in and got the bike off into the dirt.
After further inspection I found the oil pump failed and seized the big ends of the rods to the crank, so I have spent all week tearing down the race motor and the backup motor. The good news that came out of the weekend is that I am now working with Spears Enterprises, the foremost in SV-650 performance, and together we are going to make and even stronger setup for my race bike.
Stay tuned for my next race report…
Chase McFarland
