Germany Race Report from Oschersleben

U.S. team member Reese fought in the IDM/R6 Cup during the annual Speed week World Endurance Championships!

Who: Reese
What: Yamaha R6 Cup
Where: Oschersleben, Germany
Weather: Warm and Dry for qualifying and wet conditions for the race

Free Training:

No free training due to the shorten schedule and the 24 hour race!

Qualifying session:

Qualifying was good, however, without the normal two free training sessions, many riders (including Reese) didn't have an opportunity to find the perfect setup and reduce individual lap times as they would
during a normal weekend race. Reese bested a 1:38.5 aboard his Dunlop
shod Yamaha R6 which landed him 27th on the large grid of 40+ riders!!

The race.....here comes the rain!!!

The Race: The Yamaha-Walz team had a really good dry set up for the
fast, but often twisty track. Normally all R6 Cup race teams are
looking skyward at the lurking rain clouds wondering which of the two different sets of tires to mount. Fortunately, everyone's choice was quite clear due to the heavy downpour one hour prior to the start of the race.

As in the case before, Reese needed a good start in order to push to the front and gain valuable.....ok, any points for the season!! Alas, a good start was not to be had, as Reese started Kangaroo style and after the 2nd lunge forward, he was off, but towards the back of the grid!!
Coming into turn one, no one could see more than a bike length ahead of themselves. Reese, therefore decided to follow a couple of guys thru the deep rain puddle in turn one, rather than throwing the bike away in the early stages. Reese caught and passed many riders throughout the wet conditions. The continuing rain made track conditions even more treacherous and as a result, several riders fell victim to the slippery conditions. The race averaged one yellow flag every other lap!

At the mid race point, Reese had fought his way up to 23rd place.
Regardless of the continued downpour of rain and with time running out, he continued setting his fastest times of the rain. At one point, Reese passed one rider on the inside of the fast right, and set up another rider at the very next corner for another inside pass. With one lap remaining, Reese was charging hard towards another rider, however, coming out of the same fast right-hand he previously passed a rider in, Reese drifted wide onto the wet/slippery rumble trip! After having "a moment" and coming out of the seat, he maintained control of the bike.
Reese was able to keep his fast pace and brought his R6 home in 19th place!! The Yamaha-Walz team chief noted that his fastest lap was equivalent to the fastest laps of the guys running in 13th and 14th place! They can smell the points!!!! We've got two races in the R6 cup remaining, hopefully we'll finish in the top 15 and take the cash and points for the U.S. team and the supporters in Stuttgart!!!!

NOTE: Due to the unsuccessful burnout attempt in Schleiz and the wet conditions, there was no attempt at a burnout.

Later that evening, the Yamaha-Dunlop R6 cup celebrated their 30th year anniversary! Reese did a televised Rossi interview impression on stage and was cheered by the crowd of Yamamen and women! Additionally, the new European Yamaha Racing boss and several racers from the previous year were on hand. There were two international phone patches made to previous cup riders, one in Shanghai and the other in Los Angeles! All in all, it was a great weekend and a truly memorable event...........having said that, the Yamaha-Walz team chief had a few incidents over the weekend. I cannot go into detail due to the severe laughter possibilities! Please contact Michael directly for the full story!

Quotes: "It was another great race weekend with my best finish of the year! I will still keep working on my starts!! Practice, practice, practice! Many thanks to Michael aka J.B. for all his support and unforgettable "moments" and to all the R6 cup racers, it was a really good weekend!!

Upcoming Races:
- R6 Cup race on 31 August at Most Race way in the Czech Republic.
- Final DMSB Supersport B race 15 & 16 September Oschersleben.

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