Double Race Report From Germany

The U.S. teams were split between two venues over the weekend.

Jason and Jeff raced the ArtMotor Championship in Oschersleben, while Reese fought in the IDM/R6 Cup at the historical Nurburgring track. (Marson And Ron missing due to commitments)

Starting with free training:

Nurburgring: the entire weekend was completely unpredictable, most racing crews spent their time looking skyward rather than at the race data or the bike setup. Reese started the first free practice on slicks getting his times down to 1:38.2! Not bad, considering he was only able to put in a couple hot laps. The run on slick tires ended at the conclusion of the first free practice and Reese immediately switched to the Dunlop rain tires for the next free practice. The second session had all riders adjusting to a soft suspension setup, and the rain poured down during the entire session.

Oschersleben: Jeff and Jason were experiencing the same setup and tire
issue due to bad weather. Both riders powered around the twisty bits
while trying to get the infamous "triple left" down packed! Both riders continually dropped their lap times and gained more confidence in the Bridgestone rain tires. At the end of both sessions, both riders spent the evening BBQing and reviewing data from the day of training. In case you don't know about Jason's BBQ skills, ask Reese!! Oh wait, he wasn't
there and therefore couldn't enjoy the Euro famous Jason - BBQ!!!

On to the Qualifying session:

Nurburgring: Reese had both wet and dry tires in hand with only 30 mins to go before qualifying began. The weather took a turn for the worse, therefore, Reese mounted the rain tires for qualifying. Approximately 5 mins before the session, the rain stopped!! With the track still wet, Reese headed out in hopes of a good wet line to ride. Unfortunately, the track dried up rather fast, and Reese stayed out one too many laps on the rain tires. Reese was able to pit with a few minutes left. They switched to dry tires and Reese was able to get one hot lap in before the session ended. He qualified 27th from a field of 42 riders. The second qualifying was.....a wash! It was raining buckets which meant that the times from the first qualifying would remain the fastest for the race.

Oschersleben: Jason and Jeff both battled with the wet weather and frequent tire set up! Jason had a small incident with another rider who was getting familiar with the new entrance to the track via turn one!!
After a couple of $^%#@!* words, order was restored and Jason and Jeff battled hard qualifying in the top 20.

The race......the wet, dry, wet, dry, wet race!!

Nurburgring:

Race One: The grid was "a mixed grill" due to many riders not being able to come in a change tires during qualifying. Many fast riders were in the back and a few slower riders were grided as high a 10th!!! Once again, many racing crews had both wet and dry tires in hand. The track was wet, however, the sun was out. Decisions, decisions, decisions!!
Reese opted for the dry tires and got off to decent start. After a couple of laps, teetering around puddles with dry tires, the track began drying and Reese was able to pick up the pace! After passing a couple of riders, Reese was shooting for a possible top 20 finish. With 4-5 laps remaining, the skies once again opened up! Those on dry tires were "screwed"! Reese finished in 32nd place....not good in his eyes, but luckily for him......the R6 cup had a second race on Sunday.

Race Two: With the same "mixed grill" from qualifying, the riders were keen to push hard for redemption! Thankfully it was a completely dry race, and the start was bonkers! All riders made it safely thru turn one, however, by the end of the lap 5 bikes had crashed and red flag was out! The restart meant that the number of laps was reduced to 9 rounds.
Reese got off to a great start and battled throughout the entire race!
With 3 laps remaining, Reese fought back and forth with another rider for six or seven different passes! Great stuff! Eventually Reese got the lead and set off to catch another rider with one lap remaining. The only opportunity for a pass, was the fast chicane just before the final turn. Reese matched speeds and took the inside line. Reese held the pass and kept the fast pace to the checkered flag finishing in 25th place. Fastest lap: 1:39.2!

Quotes: "This was a crazy weekend full of last minute weather pending decisions and tire surprises. For the riders who crashed and were taken to the hospital, I wish the best for them and hope they are able to compete in Salzburgring. Many thanks to Michael aka J.B and to my snooky boogy for all their support and a special shout out for the best sandwiches in motorcycle racing!!"

Oschersleben (per Reuters news and JG/JV racing news):

Race One: Jason and Jeff were both gridded towards the front of the pack of 45+ racers. Both riders were off to a great start and battled from turn 1 until the very last lap. Jason was "in the mood" and caught many riders during the early stages of the race. Jeff stayed behind Jason for the first half of the race, and kept a fast pace as well.
With Jason bogarting his way thru the pack, he and Jeff were separated by a couple of racers. Jason came across the line 11th while Jeff battled to a 16th place finish.

Race Two: Almost a mirror of Race One, Jeff and Jason continued flying the U.S. colors passed many European competitors. Jeff had several battles ranging from racers seeking revenge from the last race, to new foes in Oschersleben. Jeff was able to stick it out and finish ahead of his demons!!! Jason kept it real.....real fast!! With not too many riders to fight with, Jason ran smooth and even put his stamp on the triple left! Both riders exceeded their best lap times during this race. Jason finished 13th and Jeff brought it home in 19th place.

Quotes:

"Man, tell me again why we spend all this time and money doing this stuff!! Oh yeah, for the feeling ya get when you fight all race long and beat your opposition across the line by tenths or hundredths of a second!!" Jeff, Suzuki GSXR600!

"The BBQ was off the chain, and the race, shoot I ran faster than I've ever run here at Oschersleben, triple left my a$$! That was a good race weekend for me!" Jason Van, Suzuki GSXR600! Here's the link to the Oschersleben race video: http://www.art-motor.de/SportbikeTV/index.htm

The next R6 Cup race is at Salzburgring this weekend. The next Pokal race is on 3-5 Aug at Most, Czech Republic, with the Seriensport at Nurburgring on 18 Aug. See ya there!


Editor/Writer/Publisher/Pimpin
Maurice Evans, Yamaha R6
Kiss Da Rings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

LOL...dude I love reading your race reports, always good reads. Keep it up and good luck @ Salzburgring. Maybe Ill see you at Hockenheim sometime...

<----This is Allan BTW, the new guy with all the tats that helps out Jason and gots the orange 636 ...