Daytona 300 Moto-ST race report (long)

Daytona 300 Moto-ST Race Report

2/26/08

There are 41 teams entered for the 3.5 hour or 500 kilometer Moto-ST
race that starts at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 2. Eighteen teams are
Super Sport Twins (118 hp max, 400 lbs. min), seven are Grand Sport
Twins (90hp max, 390 lbs. min) and 16 teams are in our class, Sport
Twins (75hp max, 360 lbs. min).

Of the 16 Sport Twin entries, 12 are Suzuki SV650s, two are Kawasaki
EX650 Ninjas (including the defending class champion Pair-A-Nines team
of multi-time national champions Jay Springsteen and Jimmy Filice) and
there is one other Ducati 800SS like the Screamin' Duc Racing entry.

There are seven Ducati entries total. In addition to the two 800 Super
Sports in the Sport Twins class, there are two 848s entered in the
Super Sport Twins class, two Ducati 1000 Super Sports and a Paul Smart
replica Sport Classic PS1000LE entered in the Grand Sport Twins Class.

Our old friend and former sponsor Rick B. is one of the GST entries,
riding a Buell XB9 with Rachel S., sponsored by Repsol and his new
shop, RnR racing of Sterling, Va.

We are team #24. Riders are myself (Tim M.), George V. and Jeff G.
Jeff is a Buell racer and he's the service manager for Groves
Winchester Harley-Davidson.


2/28/2008

Like most days at the racetrack, today had its high points and its low
points. We were at the track before 7a.m. It was below freezing. We
set up our garage, unloaded the trailer and George and I went to the
morning session of Team Hammer race school.

In the first on-track session, George was riding the "B" bike and it
only made one lap before it stopped running. Back in the garage after
the session, it was quickly discovered that a blown main fuse had let
the battery run down. A new fuse and a battery charge fixed the
problem.

I was on the "A" bike, and it was not running well. It was spitting
and missing and bogging at full throttle and anything over about 8,000
rpm. I managed to learn my way around the track in spite of the
running problems.

In session two, George's bike ran fine, but mine was still running
like crap. When we came in from session two Donnie, Justin and Mike
all got to work -- they tore off the custom race wiring harness,
installed a stock 800SS wiring harness, coils, ignition, ECU, switch
assembly and more. They just barely got it buttoned up before our
third on-track session.

The third session was the highlight of my day. I managed to get my
best lap down below 2:08; so I should be competitive for Moto-ST on
Sunday. George got his best time down below 2:14, even though he
missed session one entirely.

Session four was cancelled due to oil on the track. We prepped both
bikes for CCS tech inspection tomorrow morning, checked in and
registered for CCS and then packed up and left the track.

Tomorrow ... CCS practice and the CCS GT Lights race.

2/29/2008

Team rider Jeff G. and his fiancé Shelley arrived late Thursday night.

Day two at Daytona was even more frantic than day one. Arriving at the
racetrack at 6:35 a.m., we were the first into the garage when wonder
of wonders, the gatekeepers let us in early at 6:45. By 7 a.m. we were
first in line for CCS technical inspection. Both bikes passed without
incident and we were ready for our first practice session
of the morning.

After practice, in which I was fourth fastest and George was 10th
fastest in our group, we changed the gearing on the "A" bike. I wasn't
pulling sixth on the banking or the main straight.

In the second practice we both went faster, but unfortunately, so did
everyone else and we ended up sixth and 11th fastest overall.

During the lunch break, we went to register for Moto-ST on Sunday and
discovered that we would not be permitted to ride unless we were
upgraded to expert licenses
by 4 p.m. today. Unfortunately, our GT Lights race was not scheduled
to start until 3:30 p.m. and it was a 25 minute race!

Donnie took George and I to visit Kevin Elliot, CCS Director of
Operations. After explaining our situation, Kevin wrote a letter to
Moto-ST certifying that both of us were eligible to be re-licensed as
Experts, and that our credentials were in the process of being
upgraded. We took those letters BACK to Moto-ST, registered and had
our final rider list accepted.

After lunch, George sat out the GT lights race and I ran in it,
finishing eighth after running off track on the third to the last lap
and having four of the riders I had laboriously passed repass me. I
was able to get two of them back, but two of them stayed in front of
me. Sucked too, because I would've finished sixth if I had stayed in
front of them!

Anyway, got my times down to the 2:06 flat range, which is at least as
fast as the slower Moto-ST racers at Daytona last year, so hopefully I
won't embarrass myself
out there.

After the race, we took the "A" bike through Moto-ST tech inspection,
and found that it was two pounds UNDER the race minimum and the fuel
capacity is about 2/10's of a gallon ABOVE the race maximum! Donnie
is feverishly working to correct these items.

Tomorrow, LW Superbike for George and Jeff and I has ASRA Pro
Thunderbike. (Jeff is already running sub 2:00 minute laps on his
Buell). We will also have to have the "A" bike dyno-tested and see if
was are OVER the race maximum.

The fun continues!


3/1/2008

Yesterday evening Donnie discovered that the exhaust leak on the "A"
bike was caused by a blown-out aluminum exhaust header spigot. He
called back to Duc Pond Motorsports in Winchester and had a set of
stainless steel replacement spigots shipped overnight. They just
arrived at our hotel and Rhonda went to pick them up. Unfortunately, I
missed morning practice and will probably miss my Lightweight
SuperBike race as well.

The crew installed the rider communication radio system in the bike
this morning. The Speedcom technicians switched my radio helmet comm
system to another helmet, when it was discovered that the helmet I had
drop-shipped to Daytona last month was NOT Snell approved!

We decreased the fuel capacity of the "A" bike fuel tank this morning.
Between the stainless steel exhaust spigots, the radio and the weight
of the tank capacity diminishing materials, it should weigh 360 pounds
when we go back to tech in an hour or so.

The timing and scoring computer guy loaded the T&S program into my
laptop computer so our pit crew can keep track of how we're doing
throughout the race.

The weather is perfect, upper 60's, breezy and sunny. People from the
north are walking around basking in the Florida sun. Those who are NOT
wearing sunblock are broiling nicely!

More news later ...

3/1/2008 - Evening

It's a little after 7 p.m., the whole team is sitting on the porch of
the hotel overlooking International Speedway Boulevard, listening to
the soothing tones of open piped Harleys on the road.

We had another up and down day at the track today. George announced
his retirement from riding, but he'll remain with the team in his
capacity of cofounder,
co-owner and crew member. He assures me that there are lots of other
things percolating around in his pointy little head too. I'm going to
miss riding with him, though!

Meanwhile, Jeff got his first chance to ride the bike during Moto-ST
practice this afternoon. He immediately confirmed the wisdom of his
choice as one of the team's principal riders, running smooth and
consistent laps and getting a team-best lap time of 2:01.73 prior to
encountering a loss of power in the bike.

Donnie and Mike worked on the bike and managed to solve the problem
with the installation of a Ducati performance engine ECU that Mike
"just happened" to bring with him. That's about the third time this
weekend that Mike's parts have bailed us out of a completely untenable
position. We are deeply in his debt!

I went out after the bike was repaired and got down to a 2:06.64,
fairly close to my weekend best 2:06.4 in the CCS GT Lights race
earlier in the day, in which I finished 7th. The bad news is that I am
significantly slower than Jeff, the good news is that there are
numerous places on the racetrack where I *know* I can go faster. Jeff
and I are going to go out together in CCS practice tomorrow morning
and Jeff is going to school me on his racing line. I don't need to be
as fast as Jeff, but it would be very good to get my times down about
two more seconds per lap. That would make me very happy indeed.

I came back in with 18 minutes left in the practice session and Jeff
went out again. Both of us noticed that the bike had a pronounced
disconcerting high speed weave all around the NASCAR portion of the
track. The weave had NOT been there earlier in the weekend when we
were running Dunlop tires, only appearing when we switched to the Moto-
ST required spec Pirelli tires. Donnie is planning to make some ride
height adjustments tomorrow morning to try to rectify the situation.
The bike is weaving enough to spook both Jeff and I.

We had an official team meeting and got all our planning, duty
assignments and team member roles ironed out for tomorrow. Looking
forward to the 500 kilometer or three and a half hour race with both
excitement and some trepidation.

The race is at 2 p.m.

3/2/2008

Today was the warmest morning of our four days in Daytona, perhaps a
portent of things to come. In Garage B44, the Screamin' Duc Racing
Team went about its business in short sleeves, in contrast to Thursday
morning, when we were all wearing jackets and running two electric
heaters in the garage in an attempt to stave off fits
of shivering.

After the team meeting on Saturday night, during which Crew Chief
Justin M. had assigned duties and impressed on everyone the importance
of sticking to the schedule, things went very smoothly today.

Donnie and Mike changed tires, adjusted the suspension and Jeff and I
suited up and got ready for CCS practice group three. The plan was
that I would follow Jeff for two laps to go to school on his racing
line, then he would wave me past and follow me for two laps to see if
there were any specific places on the track where he could give me
pointers to help speed me up. It might have worked, except that there
were about 10,000 racers in the session and the on-board radio on the
"A" bike was not adjusted properly, so I was distracted by all the
chatter in my ears as I circulated around the racetrack. Suffice to
say, I learned nothing in that all too brief outing. After four laps
around, we both came in and Jeff went back out on the "A" bike to
check out the suspension adjustments that Donnie had made in response
to our feedback on Saturday. We both agreed that the bike felt
significantly better; the scary weave we had experienced earlier had
been about 90% banished. The funniest part of the session was that
Jeff's laps were recorded under my number, so it appeared that I was
both faster than Jeff himself, as well as friend and competitor Steve
K. on the official qualifying times sheet.

Donnie debriefed Jeff and I on the way the bike handled and ran. Jeff,
George and I went off to a Moto-ST mandatory rider autograph session.
While we had fun meeting the fans, signing their T-shirts and giving
away Screamin' Duc Racing swag, the crew was humping our pitside gear
from the garage to the pit wall a quarter mile away.

After the last CCS race of the day and after Jeff's last ASRA
Thunderbike race, a very brief (i.e. eat in five minutes while
continuing to work!) lunch break followed and then the entire team
reconvened down at pit wal with both the "A" bike and the "B" bike.
The rider order was Jeff, me, then George. George had already told us
he wasn't feeling up to riding and that Jeff and I should plan to run
extra sessions, unless there was some kind of emergency where George
simply had to ride. Meanwhile, George, Justin and Donnie coordinated
the whirlwind of activity required to get set up for the opening
ceremonies, gridding, parade lap, pace lap and warm-up lap.

At 2 p.m. all the preliminaries were dispensed with, and Jeff and the
other 39 riders took the green flag after the pace car dove into the
pits. Jeff immediately started turning competitive lap times,
gradually breaking below 2:02, then 2:01, while catching and passing
several other riders. By lap nine he was in 12th place, threatening
the 11th place rider, which would have put us one position out of the
monet paying top ten. Unfortunately, on lap nine the clutch started
slipping badly and Jeff was forced to radio in that he was coming in
the pits. Donnie leaped over the pit wall as the rear stand went under
the bike, and in one minute and 19 seconds bled the slave cylinder.
Jeff hopped back on the bike, fired it off and roared away ... only to
return to the pits with the clutch still slipping badly.

We had been having clutch problems most of the weekend. Donnie
resorted to installing heavier devil bike from hell (for those
unfamiliar with the model, that is a synonym for the Suzuki SV650)
clutch springs. After that, we hadn't had problems in the shorter
stints either of us put on the bike prior to the Moto-ST main event.

The team pulled the bike behind the pit wall. Donnie pulled off the
fairings and started a blower fan (thoughtfully provided by Steve K.)
to cool the bike down. We had a team huddle and decided to stay in pit
lane in the hopes of being able to go back out there later in the race
and to be running when the checkered flag flew.

We monitored the race in real time at the Grand American Timing and
Scoring Web site, while some crew members returned to the garage to
pack and load equipment and tools for the trip home. The rest of us
noted that one Sport Twin class competitor had stopped running at 19
laps, meaning that if we could go out and complete eight or more laps,
we would finish above the number 26 bike.

We formulated a plan for me to go out when the race countdown clock
got to 45 minutes and try to run smooth, consistent times -- baby the
clutch and bike as much as possible and see if we could move up one
place in the final standings.

That's exactly what I did, and even though the clutch started slipping
once again after about ten laps, I just stayed out there short
shifting the bike and never getting over 7,200 rpm under actual engine
load. It was a darn shame, too, because the bike was running
fantastic, the brakes were incredible and the suspension was near
perfect. The only thing on the bike that needed a lot of improvement
other than the clutch operation was the rider!

I managed to complete 23 laps and got my best lap time down to about a
2:04 flat (timing and scoring wasn't working, so I was getting radio
reports of hand-held stopwatch observations) before taking the
checkered flag, bringing the Screamin' Duc Racing entry home in 34th
place overall and fourteenth in Sport
Twins class.

There wasn't much celebration after the race, mostly due to the
disappointment of the clutch problems (for which Donnie has already
diagnosed and devised a permanent fix). Also, because we were given
exactly one hour to pack up the garage containing three racing
motorcycles, one pit bike, three EZ-ups, innumerable boxes and crates
filled with parts and supplies, chests full of tools, coolers full of
drinks, rider's gear and chairs, fuel, work tables and ... well, you
get the drift. Luckily, the hard work the crew put in during the
unfortunate break in the racing action meant that we were able to exit
Daytona International Speedway in a timely fashion.

We dropped Steve K. and Rhonda C. off at the airport and grabbed
dinner at Hooter's. After dinner the rest of the crew piled into our
three vehicles and drove north on I-95. George, Donnie and I arrived
back in Herndon at 9:30 a.m. after driving all night nonstop (except
for fuel, of course) and unloaded Screamin' Duc Stuff from Steve K's
trailer. Donnie headed back to Winchester, while George and I returned
Steve's trailer to his house. When Justin and Mike C. arrived in
Justin's truck hauling the big trailer, we unloaded all the Screamin'
Duc gear, parts, tools and the "B" bike into my garage. George and I
bid farewell to Justin and Mike as they headed to their respective
homes. Justin drove my truck.

George and I then took all of Donnie's stuff along with the "A" bike
up to Winchester and dropped it off at Duc Pond Motorsports. Next, we
went to Jeff's house and unloaded all of his Buell ASRA racing gear,
parts and pit accoutrements, along with his racebike and pitbike.

Afterwards, George and I drove back to Fairfax, traded vehicles with
Justin and headed back to my home in Herndon. Then George was finally
able to drive back home to Annapolis. He left at about 8 p.m. on
Monday night.

As I type this, I have been up for 40 hours straight, except for a few
catnaps in the truck while Donnie was driving north on I-95. But I'm
STILL excited about VIR next month, the next round of Moto-ST on April
27, the "out-of-the-box" goodness of our Duc Pond Motorsport prepared
Ducati 800SS and the changes that Donnie Unger will be making to the
bike between now and then!

Thanks to all of you who wrote and sent your encouragement and good
wishes. A special thanks to our webmaster Kimberly, who missed the
trip to Daytona due to illness, but still updated the webpage with my
ramblings, even though she had to work from her sickbed!

Most of all, thanks to Donnie for building us a terrific racebike, to
Mike for selflessly donating his personal 800SS to be scavenged for
parts, to Jeff for squeezing us in despite his own hectic and full
Buell racing schedule, to Rhonda and Shelly for everything they did to
keep things running smoothly, to Steve keener for helping out in
numerous capacities throughout the weekend, to Justin for running a
smooth operation in its very first outing (in spite of having raced
his own Spec Miata for his Undisputed Race Team just days before!) and
to my friend and racing partner George, co-owner of Screamin' Duc
Racing, for putting up with me and keeping my blood pressure from
going through the roof no matter what happened on the track or in the
pits.

Tim
http://www.screaminducracing.com

 

Tim,
Thanks for sharing an "inside" view of all the things
involved in a race weekend. Sorry about you troubles, but
best wishes in the future.

Bruce

 

Thanks, Bruce. In spite of the mechanical difficulties, it was,
overall, a successful weekend. Knocking the rust of seven years out
of racing (even though I did teach in race school for the first two of
those years and have done trackdays the last five) is hard work. I'm
just glad that - no matter how slow I am - the competitive fires still
seem to be burning.

 

Thanks. I'm a longtime reeky resident (I should probably be ashamed
of that, but the fact is that I've met numerous good folks there over
the years) but there is no doubt that this is a more appropriate forum
for race reports!

 

Thanks for the positive feedback! I'll post what I can. Right now,
we're resting a bit while trying to do some preliminary planning for
the April 27 Moto-ST race at VIR which is as close as we're going to
get to a "home track" this year. Unfortunately, while other racers
just LOVE VIR, I have never really gotten comfortable there, and I am
significantly slower there than I am at Summit Point or Roebling Road
or even Daytona, compared to what a decent lap time should be. I hope
to work hard on correcting that at a track day there in early April!