AFM Round 5 #250 Race Report

Todd250 · July 12th, 2011, 02:54 PM

With yet another round at Infineon, thanks to Mother Natures objections at the Thunderhill round, I was excited to really focus and earn some valuable points due to the inflated grids from the CA State Championship round and Washington visitors showing up. Little did I know the weekend would have hurdles, mayhem and a long walk back from turn 7.

My weekend personified.... :rofl

FRIDAY

Nick and I packed up the battle truck as usual, checked and rechecked our list and got on the road to Infineon. No more than 5 minutes from our driveway did the "Check Engine Oil Level" message pop up on the dash... sweeeeeet. So we went to get the oil changed and grab lunch no big deal just the first of many unplanned expenses of the weekend.

We arrived at the track to the immaculate Feel Like A Pro pit set ups placed our helmets in the rider area, and the rest of our gear in the trailer and went to get our heckle on with friends setting up their pits.

SATURDAY

I was looking forward to practice on the Ninja 250, I was focused on two of the 11 turn 2.2 mile circuit. Turn 4 and Turn 11 were the two turns that at best I had to limp through and were the tipping point to improving my laptimes and dropping that small gap to the leaders. The Feel Like A Pro bikes had been fitted with an RPM 3 way adjustable shock on the rear for this round and Pirelli had just taken delivery of a new compound tire for the 250s to increase tire grip and longevity. Here is were the hurdles came in. As with any new part it takes time; time to get a feel for, time to adjust correctly, time to retest, time that we all know is not in abundance during the AFM practice sessions. The rear shock turned into what would be a major headache throughout the practice sessions, fighting what it was doing to the bike making changes and the fighting the side effects of the new changes.
The day ended 3 seconds off pace, with a bike that wasn't listening and a tired body and mind from trying to figure it out.

SATURDAY RACES

I was not a participant in the clubman or AFEMME races, merely just a spectator but these races needed to be mentioned! During Clubman Heavyweight Nick & I watched from the infield grandstands as our good friend Blaine Bessler played hotel concierge and demonstrated to the rest of the field the proper way to check out. He rode a great race at the front of the pack, and with help from his fantastic Crew, lead by Ray Goff of pit wall managed the race from the front and finished in first place a commanding 14 seconds ahead of 2nd place! :thumbup

AFEMME saw another standout that Nick & I have see fly past us on a 650 in practice numerous times, Danielle Diaz. It was her first race, to our knowledge, on an R6 and we were keeping an eye on her throughout the race. She kept closing in on the front of the pack every lap and by Turn 11 on the last lap was in the process of taking over 2nd place. In one of the most exciting runs to the line I have seen to date her and the then 2nd place rider split a backmarker and finished inches apart. Congrats on 2nd place Danielle!:thumbup

SATURDAY NIGHT...

The paddock was alive once again, not since the Soldier racing slow bike races had I seen that much laughter and good times in the pits. Thanks to Mickey Fimbres for the awesome Margaritas, Bud Anderson & Family for a wonderful birthday celebration HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUD! And I am sure as most of you heard in the riders meeting the partying went well into the night and fun was had by all.

the 250 sandwich Nick, Adam Faussett & Myself

SUNDAY

I awoke Sunday to the usual laughter in the Feel Like A Pro pits feeling refreshed and ready to try and tame the rear shock issues and take every available point I could to improve in the championship standings. I was race 2, 4 & 7 with 250 Superbike and 500 Twins before 250 Production the race that mattered most to me as I was in a deadlocked tie for 3rd place with great friend, competitor and teammate Eric Kondo!

250 Superbike

I was gridded on the inside 3rd row, and wanted to try and keep contention with someone faster be it 250 or supermoto to see the strengths and weaknesses of the rear shock in a race situation. Going over the uphill right handed turn 3a I thought the gauge would be the 250 front runners Brian Bartlow and Kirk Korenko. As soon as the thought of being close to those to left my mind Washington's speedy Adam Faussett came flying by demonstrating just how well the front tire on the rear wheel 250 set up works! I hung in through turn 5 and the carousel only to see a familiar face show pull alongside me on the straightaway, my brother Nick. We exhanged waves and he tapped his tail section before going into turn 7 a sign we'd talked about previously to mean "Don't call mom and tell her I passed you, but lets work together to get the fast guys." We put our heads down and worked our way forward around a few supermotos and tried our best to work together and play catch up staying pretty much in formation to the finish line. My best lap a 2:00.739 and Nick's a 2:00.699.

During the race I noticed a few things, the right side of the tire was hosed with very limited traction in turn 11, and the shock was not as forgiving as the stock unit when it came to a tire going off. With a quick chat about the shock with the suspension tuner it was determined tire pressure was the issue that needed to be handled first. With only 1 race between the 500 twins race, there was not enough time to change to the improved SC2 compound tire that would have provided a band aid while try to zero in on the correct tire pressure.

Adam Faussett and I play who can touch the fender with the numberplate into turn 9

500 Twins

Oh hi Mayhem. It's me Todd, nice to meet you.:wave

I was gridded in the same spot for this race as the 250 Superbike race spot 41. I knew the tire/shock combo would be an issue in the race so I was focused on a good start and maintaining anything gained there throughout the race distance. Mayhem had other plans... on the warm up lap (I know, I know:facepalm) as soon as I tipped the bike into Turn 7 the rear tire was in front of me and I was sliding into the run off hoping everyone thought I was Nick haha. I was able to have a good view of the battles on track during my long walk from turn 7 down the esses and across the turn 9 seating area. Brian Bartlow and Dan Azar had a great battle for 2nd the entire race and I watched Nick attack and defend against Eric Kondo's amazing race craft! great race guys

Sidenote - Thank you Alan Cunningham for not hitting me and providing the great video as insight into the crash and something I could learn from!

Link to original page on YouTube.

this is what I was able to witness from the sidelines all race. Made me a proud brother for sure!

250 Production
After reteching my gear, repairing the damage to the bike and reteching that I tried to relax a bit and prepare for 250 Production. All the usual suspects were going to be fast in this one; Brian, Kirk, Eric, Nick, Joe Carrillo, Mark McKinney and the imports; Motorcyclist magazines Ari Henning, Washingtons Adam Faussett and Will Cameron. I started on the outside of the front row, and got a decent enough start but was immediately demoted by Adam, Joe, Mark & Eric. I fought hard on the brakes into turn 4 to gain a place back, and maintained through the carousel to earn another place on the brakes into turn 7. My wonderful brother once again got around me into turn 11 and as we crested turn two we split our teammate who apparently had bike issues as he immediately slowed and ran wide. I picked the wrong side to split and had to check up to avoid another crash. Nick ran away from there and I lost his wheel. I rode as consistent as possible still fighting the bike with limited set up time, only to find the red/yellow flash of Ari come up along the outside into turn 9. I used my braking strength to hold him off there but into turn 11 he was ahead by a wheel and I squared up the corner ready to battle into turn 1 he had the inside and got through the corner first with a lapped rider just ahead. He was held up over the crest in 3a and I made a pass on the brakes into 4. We battled back and forth to the finish line, and on the last lap were side by side into 11 with a yellow flag being held up by the corner worker. I maintained the gap and finished 10th with a 2:00.614 as my best time.

Ari and I exiting the bus stop

Braking duels on the 250s

THANK YOU's
- Thanks to Carmen and Carl for coming up and watching the races on Sunday
- Brian & Amy Bartlow, Dave Seyl for another amazing, albeit trying, weekend with the Feel Like A Pro team!!
- The Kondo Clan for all of the camera help and Eric for the competition
- Chris & CT Racing for providing an excellent tire and new compound
- Justin Brown and all of the AFM conerworkers you guys are awesome!!!
- AFM registration and Tech crews for being friendly efficient and saying "strippers" in a riders meeting :rofl
- Erich Stiegler for sponsoring the 250 Production class and taking great photos
- Joe Salas, Max Klein & Kevin Fanady for hilarity saturday night
- Dan Sewell for the chats always nice for a refresher course in how to enjoy the challenge
- All of the AFM friends/family out there in the paddock who make the pits and off track just as much fun as the competition.
- Mickey Fimbres for the excellent Margaritas!! Have the bloody mary mix on the way!
- Bud Anderson and family for the food laughs and good times! Happy Birthday again!

GoPro Cameras
Justin's Nut Butters - The best peanut butter & almond butter around
AMSOIL
Motion Pro
Clean Bottle - All you cyclists/runners should check it out, WAY easier to clean!!! and seen in the Tour de France
AXO
Dr. Aaron Gaily/Monterey Chiropractic... sure makes crashing a little less painless
Leatt Brace
ODI Grips
SPY Sunglasses
PowerBar
Biotearoffs.com the industries ONLY biodegradable tear offs
Kinesys Performance Sunscreen
MotoConcepts
4theriders.com
TrackDaz
KLeN Laundry
MotoPod An Amazing podcast about all things motorcycle racing!

Alex · July 12th, 2011, 04:06 PM

Fantastic writeup!

Rexbo · July 12th, 2011, 09:54 PM

Badass man... i wish I had been able to make it to this round!

Todd250 · July 13th, 2011, 10:45 PM

Thanks for the kind words Alex, and it would have been great to have you up here racing! Nick & I are going to try and get back down to willow & chuckwalla for at least a trackday if not a race weekend soon.

July 12th, 2011, 02:54 PM	#1
Todd250 ninjette.org member Name: Todd Location: Carmel CA Join Date: Jun 2011 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250R (street) Feel Like a Pro Rental 250 (Race) Yamaha R6 (AMA Racebike) Posts: 27	AFM Round 5 #250 Race Report With yet another round at Infineon, thanks to Mother Natures objections at the Thunderhill round, I was excited to really focus and earn some valuable points due to the inflated grids from the CA State Championship round and Washington visitors showing up. Little did I know the weekend would have hurdles, mayhem and a long walk back from turn 7. My weekend personified.... :rofl FRIDAY Nick and I packed up the battle truck as usual, checked and rechecked our list and got on the road to Infineon. No more than 5 minutes from our driveway did the "Check Engine Oil Level" message pop up on the dash... sweeeeeet. So we went to get the oil changed and grab lunch no big deal just the first of many unplanned expenses of the weekend. We arrived at the track to the immaculate Feel Like A Pro pit set ups placed our helmets in the rider area, and the rest of our gear in the trailer and went to get our heckle on with friends setting up their pits. SATURDAY I was looking forward to practice on the Ninja 250, I was focused on two of the 11 turn 2.2 mile circuit. Turn 4 and Turn 11 were the two turns that at best I had to limp through and were the tipping point to improving my laptimes and dropping that small gap to the leaders. The Feel Like A Pro bikes had been fitted with an RPM 3 way adjustable shock on the rear for this round and Pirelli had just taken delivery of a new compound tire for the 250s to increase tire grip and longevity. Here is were the hurdles came in. As with any new part it takes time; time to get a feel for, time to adjust correctly, time to retest, time that we all know is not in abundance during the AFM practice sessions. The rear shock turned into what would be a major headache throughout the practice sessions, fighting what it was doing to the bike making changes and the fighting the side effects of the new changes. The day ended 3 seconds off pace, with a bike that wasn't listening and a tired body and mind from trying to figure it out. SATURDAY RACES I was not a participant in the clubman or AFEMME races, merely just a spectator but these races needed to be mentioned! During Clubman Heavyweight Nick & I watched from the infield grandstands as our good friend Blaine Bessler played hotel concierge and demonstrated to the rest of the field the proper way to check out. He rode a great race at the front of the pack, and with help from his fantastic Crew, lead by Ray Goff of pit wall managed the race from the front and finished in first place a commanding 14 seconds ahead of 2nd place! :thumbup AFEMME saw another standout that Nick & I have see fly past us on a 650 in practice numerous times, Danielle Diaz. It was her first race, to our knowledge, on an R6 and we were keeping an eye on her throughout the race. She kept closing in on the front of the pack every lap and by Turn 11 on the last lap was in the process of taking over 2nd place. In one of the most exciting runs to the line I have seen to date her and the then 2nd place rider split a backmarker and finished inches apart. Congrats on 2nd place Danielle!:thumbup SATURDAY NIGHT... The paddock was alive once again, not since the Soldier racing slow bike races had I seen that much laughter and good times in the pits. Thanks to Mickey Fimbres for the awesome Margaritas, Bud Anderson & Family for a wonderful birthday celebration HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUD! And I am sure as most of you heard in the riders meeting the partying went well into the night and fun was had by all. the 250 sandwich Nick, Adam Faussett & Myself SUNDAY I awoke Sunday to the usual laughter in the Feel Like A Pro pits feeling refreshed and ready to try and tame the rear shock issues and take every available point I could to improve in the championship standings. I was race 2, 4 & 7 with 250 Superbike and 500 Twins before 250 Production the race that mattered most to me as I was in a deadlocked tie for 3rd place with great friend, competitor and teammate Eric Kondo! 250 Superbike I was gridded on the inside 3rd row, and wanted to try and keep contention with someone faster be it 250 or supermoto to see the strengths and weaknesses of the rear shock in a race situation. Going over the uphill right handed turn 3a I thought the gauge would be the 250 front runners Brian Bartlow and Kirk Korenko. As soon as the thought of being close to those to left my mind Washington's speedy Adam Faussett came flying by demonstrating just how well the front tire on the rear wheel 250 set up works! I hung in through turn 5 and the carousel only to see a familiar face show pull alongside me on the straightaway, my brother Nick. We exhanged waves and he tapped his tail section before going into turn 7 a sign we'd talked about previously to mean "Don't call mom and tell her I passed you, but lets work together to get the fast guys." We put our heads down and worked our way forward around a few supermotos and tried our best to work together and play catch up staying pretty much in formation to the finish line. My best lap a 2:00.739 and Nick's a 2:00.699. During the race I noticed a few things, the right side of the tire was hosed with very limited traction in turn 11, and the shock was not as forgiving as the stock unit when it came to a tire going off. With a quick chat about the shock with the suspension tuner it was determined tire pressure was the issue that needed to be handled first. With only 1 race between the 500 twins race, there was not enough time to change to the improved SC2 compound tire that would have provided a band aid while try to zero in on the correct tire pressure. Adam Faussett and I play who can touch the fender with the numberplate into turn 9 500 Twins Oh hi Mayhem. It's me Todd, nice to meet you.:wave I was gridded in the same spot for this race as the 250 Superbike race spot 41. I knew the tire/shock combo would be an issue in the race so I was focused on a good start and maintaining anything gained there throughout the race distance. Mayhem had other plans... on the warm up lap (I know, I know:facepalm) as soon as I tipped the bike into Turn 7 the rear tire was in front of me and I was sliding into the run off hoping everyone thought I was Nick haha. I was able to have a good view of the battles on track during my long walk from turn 7 down the esses and across the turn 9 seating area. Brian Bartlow and Dan Azar had a great battle for 2nd the entire race and I watched Nick attack and defend against Eric Kondo's amazing race craft! great race guys Sidenote - Thank you Alan Cunningham for not hitting me and providing the great video as insight into the crash and something I could learn from! Link to original page on YouTube. this is what I was able to witness from the sidelines all race. Made me a proud brother for sure! 250 Production After reteching my gear, repairing the damage to the bike and reteching that I tried to relax a bit and prepare for 250 Production. All the usual suspects were going to be fast in this one; Brian, Kirk, Eric, Nick, Joe Carrillo, Mark McKinney and the imports; Motorcyclist magazines Ari Henning, Washingtons Adam Faussett and Will Cameron. I started on the outside of the front row, and got a decent enough start but was immediately demoted by Adam, Joe, Mark & Eric. I fought hard on the brakes into turn 4 to gain a place back, and maintained through the carousel to earn another place on the brakes into turn 7. My wonderful brother once again got around me into turn 11 and as we crested turn two we split our teammate who apparently had bike issues as he immediately slowed and ran wide. I picked the wrong side to split and had to check up to avoid another crash. Nick ran away from there and I lost his wheel. I rode as consistent as possible still fighting the bike with limited set up time, only to find the red/yellow flash of Ari come up along the outside into turn 9. I used my braking strength to hold him off there but into turn 11 he was ahead by a wheel and I squared up the corner ready to battle into turn 1 he had the inside and got through the corner first with a lapped rider just ahead. He was held up over the crest in 3a and I made a pass on the brakes into 4. We battled back and forth to the finish line, and on the last lap were side by side into 11 with a yellow flag being held up by the corner worker. I maintained the gap and finished 10th with a 2:00.614 as my best time. Ari and I exiting the bus stop Braking duels on the 250s THANK YOU's - Thanks to Carmen and Carl for coming up and watching the races on Sunday - Brian & Amy Bartlow, Dave Seyl for another amazing, albeit trying, weekend with the Feel Like A Pro team!! - The Kondo Clan for all of the camera help and Eric for the competition - Chris & CT Racing for providing an excellent tire and new compound - Justin Brown and all of the AFM conerworkers you guys are awesome!!! - AFM registration and Tech crews for being friendly efficient and saying "strippers" in a riders meeting :rofl - Erich Stiegler for sponsoring the 250 Production class and taking great photos - Joe Salas, Max Klein & Kevin Fanady for hilarity saturday night - Dan Sewell for the chats always nice for a refresher course in how to enjoy the challenge - All of the AFM friends/family out there in the paddock who make the pits and off track just as much fun as the competition. - Mickey Fimbres for the excellent Margaritas!! Have the bloody mary mix on the way! - Bud Anderson and family for the food laughs and good times! Happy Birthday again! GoPro Cameras Justin's Nut Butters - The best peanut butter & almond butter around AMSOIL Motion Pro Clean Bottle - All you cyclists/runners should check it out, WAY easier to clean!!! and seen in the Tour de France AXO Dr. Aaron Gaily/Monterey Chiropractic... sure makes crashing a little less painless Leatt Brace ODI Grips SPY Sunglasses PowerBar Biotearoffs.com the industries ONLY biodegradable tear offs Kinesys Performance Sunscreen MotoConcepts 4theriders.com TrackDaz KLeN Laundry MotoPod An Amazing podcast about all things motorcycle racing!

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July 12th, 2011, 04:06 PM	#2
Alex ninjette.org dude Name: 1 guess :-) Location: SF Bay Area Join Date: Jun 2008 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE Posts: Too much. Blog Entries: 7	Fantastic writeup! __________________________________________________ Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club / cal24.com / crf250l.org / ninjette.org ninjette.org Terms of Service Shopping for motorcycle parts or equipment? Come here first. The friendliest Ninja 250R/300/400 forum on the internet! (especially Unregistered)

July 12th, 2011, 09:54 PM	#3
Rexbo CVMA / AFM / M1GP #250 Name: Steve Location: Los Angeles Join Date: Sep 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2009 Ninja 250r, 2011 Zero S, 2009 KLR 650 Posts: A lot.	Badass man... i wish I had been able to make it to this round!

July 13th, 2011, 10:45 PM	#4
Todd250 ninjette.org member Name: Todd Location: Carmel CA Join Date: Jun 2011 Motorcycle(s): Ninja 250R (street) Feel Like a Pro Rental 250 (Race) Yamaha R6 (AMA Racebike) Posts: 27	Thanks for the kind words Alex, and it would have been great to have you up here racing! Nick & I are going to try and get back down to willow & chuckwalla for at least a trackday if not a race weekend soon.