Irnie Treads Lightly in Washington: HD Video Documentary

VIDEO AVAILABLE AT IRNIERACING.COM

For a couple of reasons, Kelowna BC’s Marcel Irnie went into round 2 of the Washington Motorcycle Road Racing Association (WMRRA) series at Pacific Raceways with some trepidation. First, a recent knee injury suffered in a dirt bike crash left Irnie wondering whether he was fit to ride. Second, fresh in Irnie’s mind was a spectacular 130 kmph crash that ended his last race at Pacific Raceways just four weeks earlier. April was not exactly a banner month for Irnieracing.com. The April 3rd race-crash left Marcel scrambling for replacement parts for his damaged 2005 Kawasaki zx-6rr. The April 25th dirt bike training accident had Irnie spending many hours with his physiotherapist and personal trainer as they performed intensive therapy on his injured knee. Before his departure for Washington, Roy from Pinnacle Physiotherapy left him with the stern admonition.

"No wipe outs... Definitely no wipe outs!" Roy Gillespie

This did little to help Marcel's confidence. For this event, Irnie mounted two GoPro HD cameras on his bike and one on his helmet. As usual, he has produced an HD video chronicling the weekend.

Irnie gingerly rode the first Saturday morning practice session. The goal was to gain confidence back and get a feel for the knee. Irnie also limited his pace in the second practice session, recording corner speeds that were 10 kmph lower than fellow competitors.

As Irnie finished fourth in the previous 750 Supersport race on April 3rd, he earned a spot on the front row for this event. Irnie opted to ride his 2005 zx-6rr for this race. As first gear hesitated violently, making it unusable, Irnie rolled off the line in second gear. Two riders passed him in the opening straight and he cautiously settled into 6th position. Riding on used tires from 2009, Marcel was extra cautious in the corners. He was careful throughout the race not to spin his rear tire, which is normally a routine occurrence.

"I looked behind me after two laps to discover a large group of riders right on my tail. I could her them buzzing away like bees attacking an Ant Colony. I wish had my GoPro tail camera facing backwards for this race... Doh!" Said irnie

Irnie eventually relinquished 6th spot to Ryan Sutton, closely followed by Allister MacKinnon. On the final lap, Michael Tobin passed Irnie to claim 8th position leaving Irnie to finish in 9th out of 22 riders.

Irnie was quite surprised to find that despite his ultra-conservative riding style, his best lap of 1:31.00 during the race was actually 0.75 seconds faster than the previous race weekend. Ironically he had slowed down to go faster. With something new to learn at every event, this race illustrated how a smooth riding style can ultimately lead to better pace. Irnie felt that a healthy knee, fresh tires and improved confidence will lead to greater results in the future.

On Sunday morning, Irnie again rode a very conservative practice session. As his knee was quite sore, Irnie chose to skip the 600cc Superbike race and instead enter his 600cc bike in the 750 Superbike race which was starting later in the afternoon. This would give his knee a full three hour break. Marcel used this downtime to ice his knee, and take his 2008 zx-6r forks over to his technical consultant Dave Alexander from Fluid Suspension Science. Dave is also the crew cheif of AMSOIL-sponsored AMA Superbike racer Larry Pegram. The AMSOIL Shock Therapy Oil was changed, and the air gap was adjusted to suit Marcel’s weight and riding style.

Later in the afternoon, Irnie took to the line on his 2005 zx-6rr. As he had never ridden the 750 Superbike class, he was relegated to the back row. The Superbike class is faster then the Supersport class as more modifications are allowed as well as slick tires. With Irnie riding a 600cc bike on last years DOT tires, he had his work was cut out for him. A bad start left him in 22nd spot on the first lap. Irnie again settled into a very conservative pace, but was able to slowly pick off riders as the race unfolded. As the checkered flag fell, Irnie finished up in 16th spot out of 25 riders. As the race was only six laps long and the competition quite tough, Irnie was pleased with this result.

Considering the difficulties that came with him to Washington, Irnie was pleased to go home with some reasonable results and no further damage to his bike or body. While it may have been easier to stay home and recuperate further. A determined Marcel Irnie chose to make the trip to Washington to work through the adversity and make further strides in preparation for his ultimate goal for 2010: The Parts Canada Superbike Amateur National. Irnie certainly left Washington with more confidence than when he arrived, so he feels that much better days are ahead.

Irnieracing.com would like to thank the following people who made this weekend possible. Thanks to Jeff Comello of Kawasaki Canada for providing a free titanium exhaust for Marcel’s 2005 Kawasaki zx-6rr. Irnie’s April 4th crash demolished his exhaust system and Marcel was having great difficulty sourcing a replacement unit. Marcel would also like to thank Pinnacle Physiotherapy for their invaluable work on his injured knee. Thanks also to World Gym and trainer Ryan Brown, who help him train through and around his injury.

Irnieracing’s next event is Spokane Washington on May 29-30. Marcel will be racing in a brand new "X12" helmet provided by Jeff Vanderzalm at Kreater West.

Irnieracing.com is supported by: AMSOIL Synthetics, Blue Streak Racing, British Columbia Trailer, EBC Brakes, Fluid Suspension Science, GoPro, Kreater, Magna-Tech Services, Muller Motorsports, Munro Cylinder Heads, Pinnacle Physiotherapy, World Gym Kelowna, and Valley Moto Sport.

 

Way to go Irnie! I love the perseverance! Good luck with the Parts Canada Series. I assume you are skipping the Mirabel round to focus on the double-headers?

 

Yuppers.. I'm looking forward to the Calgary National. I'll buy my first set of new tires for 2010 too. yahhh.

 

Spokane Motorsports Park, Spokane WA May 30, 2010

ONBOARD HD Video Documentary available at irnieracing.com


Superbike racer Marcel Irnie of Kelowna enjoyed a productive, albeit abbreviated trip to Washington State for a May 30th race at Spokane Motorsports Park. Leading up to the weekend, weather forecasts predicted wet, stormy weather for the Saturday race, but pleasant conditions for Sunday. Irnie opted to skip the Saturday races and instead get set for Sunday. His decision paid off as Sunday turned out to be sunny and relatively pleasant. Irnie had considered saving his resources and skipping Spokane altogether, but felt that he needed to get more racing under his belt before the Calgary Superbike National on June 26th. As Marcel had not been to the Spokane track in over a year, he would have to relearn the nuances of the technical racecourse.

For the first practice, Irnie rode his 2008 zx-6r for the first time in 2010 under dry conditions. Irnie had been using his 2005 unit for his previous races. The 2008 model had been revamped with a fresh engine top-end courtesy of Scott from Munro Cylinder Heads and front suspension re-working from Dave Alexander of Fluid Suspension Science. Says Irnie, "Riding for the first time on the '08 felt really weird. The bike's springs are much softer then my '05, changing the dynamics of trail braking and mid corner lean angle under throttle application. I haven't been to Spokane in a year, so I had to relearn the track, and figure out how to brake and turn in for turn 1-2; a very tricky section."


ONBOARD HD Video Documentary available at irnieracing.com

The combination of riding the seldom-used '08 and the relatively unfamiliar track left Irnie with a tentative 1:36 lap time in practice one. Before practice two, Irnie removed some preload from the front suspension and increased the rebound damping to the back shock. This improved the feel of the bike and Irnie was able to clock a 1:34.

The first race of the day was the 750 Superbike class. Irnie started from the back of the grid on the 2008 unit. His next race would be the 600 Superbike class which was starting a mere 20 minutes after the 750 race. His 2005 zx-6rr was prepped, fitted with tire-warmers and ready for the next race. Irnie rode a methodical and uneventful race, making up 5 spots and finishing 14th of 20 riders. His fastest lap was a 1:33:789 with a 95.960 MPH average speed. Irnie had just enough time to switch the GoPro cameras and GPS lap timer to the 05 unit. Luckily, Marcel has been training diligently with personal trainer Ryan Brown from World Gym. This has enabled Marcel to race back to back races without feeling too exhausted.

Irnie would also start from the back row for the 600 Superbike race. He executed a magnificent start, passing over half of the pack by the time the race roared through turns one and two. As Irnie moved up to 6th spot, chaos ensued as two riders made contact in turn six. Irnie recounted, "Riders are everywhere; complete mayhem indeed! One rider takes out another rider because he missed his braking point or something." Irnie was running four GoPro Cameras mounted on his bike/helmet and filmed a clear shot of the crash which is included in his race documentary available at Irnieracing.com.


ONBOARD HD Video Documentary available at irnieracing.com

As Irnie slowed to film the carnage, Mike MacConaghy slipped by to grab 6th spot, followed by Wendy Leber who drafted Marcel on Spokane's huge straightaway. Wendy made it by Greg Gibson in the hair pin with Marcel following closely. Marcel battled back and forth with Gibson for the remainder of the race. Irnie finally made a pass stick and he towed Gibson to the finish. Irnie’s official result was 8th position with a fastest lap of 1:33.450 with 96.308 MPH Average speed.

At the end of the day, the 2005 zx-6rr was .338 faster than the 2008 unit. Irnie offers, “The ‘05 has more torque, but the’ 08 seems to have a good top end. Both excel in different areas, but I think I’ll run the ‘05 in Calgary. More testing is ahead and I’ll figure out more in Calgary practice.” Irnie looks forward to putting both bikes on the dyno at Calgary to see where they currently stand.

It was then back to Kelowna for repairs and video editing. The next event for Marcel Irnie is at Pacific Raceways, Kent Washington on June 12-13. This will be the final tune-up before the Calgary round of the Parts Canada series.

Irnieracing.com would like to extend special thanks to Todd from Advanced Motorcycle Gear for supplying Marcel with a new set of Falco gloves on warranty after Marcel’s 130kmph crash at the end of April. Says Marcel, “This is the best warranty policy I’ve encountered since I learned about AMSOIL's.”

Marcel would also like to thank Canadian GoPro distributer Pointofviewcameras.ca for quickly shipping Marcel more cameras before Spokane. This allowed Marcel to run a 4-6 camera setup. "Four cameras was great, but I think I'll run a five camera setup next round. I'm addicted to my GoPro's...everything must be documented!"

Irnieracing.com is supported by: AMSOIL Synthetics, Blue Streak Racing, British Columbia Trailer, EBC Brakes, Fluid Suspension Science, GoPro, Kreater, Magna-Tech Services, Muller Motorsports, Munro Cylinder Heads, Pinnacle Physiotherapy, World Gym Kelowna, and Valley Moto Sport






ONBOARD HD Video Documentary available at irnieracing.com

 

Great write up as always.....:up:

 

Thanks. always great to hear.

 

Irnie Survives Seattle Superbike RD4

WMRRA Round 4 Pacific Raceways Seattle WA, June 12-13, 2010



Kelowna BC’s Marcel Irnie has been toiling in the ultra-competitive Washington Motorcycle Road Racing Association (WMRRA) circuit all spring in preparation for this summer’s Parts Canada Superbike National. Irnie traveled to Pacific Raceways near Seattle to hone his skills and finalize bike adjustments before the Calgary National at the end of the month.

To start off the weekend, Irnie took part in half of the Friday track day. He used this time to put more miles on his Seattle Tool 2008 zx-6r. His trusty 2005 race bike has been used for the bulk of his races so far, so more testing was needed to determine which bike will be best for racing in the Calgary Natonal.

Saturday brought sunshine and the first warm weather racing of the season for IrnieRacing. Irnie’s intense physical conditioning program would pay dividends in today’s heat. The first race of the day would be the 750 Supersport race. Irnie opted to ride his 2008 600cc unit against the faster 750cc bikes. Starting from the second row, Irnie entered the first turn in fourth spot when disaster nearly struck. The rider to his right swooped into his racing line causing Irnie to lift off the throttle in heavy traffic. He missed the rider by millimeters, but the sudden deceleration caused two trailing riders to rear-end Marcel. Irnie recounted, “Kevin Klemmer and Andrew Brackett were coming up behind me and when I lifted off the throttle to avoid a collision, I was hit hard. Kevin hit my left handlebar, bending my clutch lever forward. His brake lever was bent upright. We both separated into head shakers. I managed to bring my bike back under control at an estimated 150kmph. Kevin was not as lucky. His handle bar was ripped from his right hand, and he was falling off his motorcycle to his left. He was right off the seat, only hanging on with his left hand and it looked like he was going to fall off, but then Brackett ran into Kevin. Brackett's shoulder pushed Klemmer back onto his motorcycle and they both went off track.”











Irnie was shaken and concerned that perhaps he had sustained damaged to his swingarm. He quickly regained composure and pace, battling with the riders following him. He finished the ten lap race in 11th spot out of 24 riders and managed to register his best lap time of the season at 1:30.969.

Just thirty minutes later, Marcel was at the line for the 600 Supersport race on his 2005 Falco zx-6rr. He started this race from the back of the grid. Irnie got a clean start but opted to cautiously let the large pack spread out before making his way through the field. If there was one over-riding theme this weekend, it was to get the job done without risking bike or body and putting the impending Calgary race in jeopardy. By lap two Irnie was able to go to work, picking off over half of the field to finish in 13th out of 28 riders. His fastest lap was slower at 1:31.330. Irnie was pleased with a clean race and prepared for Sunday’s events.

For Sunday, Irnie purchased a set of used Dunlop GP211 slicks from fellow Kelowna racer, Jon Friesen. Irnie had only used treaded DOT-style race tires in the past so this would be a big change. Irnie explained, “I have never raced slicks before, or tried such a large DOT tire. With a 125 front and a 195 rear, I was in for a treat. For the past three years, I have only been running Pirelli 120 fronts and 180 rears, due to the Canadian Amateur National Spec Tire. The bigger tires should allow more corner grip, while sacrificing straightaway speed due to the extra rubber weight. I added a tooth to my rear sprocket to make up for the taller tire, so my gearing should be close to what I had.”

Sunday’s first race was the 600 Superbike event. The slick tires allowed for greater cornering speed. “I had much more confidence mid-corner due to the larger tire, but more-so because I finally had tires with less then 250laps on them.”, joked Marcel. Irnie had been running the same 2009 front tire for all four WMMRA race weekends and a rotating cast of used rear tires, so relatively fresh rubber was a treat. Irnie brought his 2005 unit home in 14th spot out of 28 riders. The hot weather took its toll and Irnie was thankful for the custom training provided by Ryan Brown of World Gym Kelowna. A knee injury sustained in an early spring dirt bike training crash was aggravated during this race, so again with the upcoming race in Calgary in the back of Marcel’s mind, no chances were taken. The slick tires did allow Irnie to cut more time off of his fastest lap, turning in a 1:30.599.



The last race of the weekend was the 750 Superbike race. Irnie was hampered by his sore knee, but still managed another personal best lap of 1:30:258. He brought home his '05 Falco zx-6rr in 15th spot out of 24 riders. The mid-pack finishes were of little concern to Irnie as his goal was to make equipment refinements, improve his fitness and simply log more race time. With the tasks completed, it was back to Kelowna for IrnieRacing.

IrnieRacing is pleased to announce an exciting new partnership with Seattle Tool. This dynamic company has supplied Marcel with a service cart full of aviation quality tools. Marcel will be providing research and development reports back to the company. The initial response from fans and fellow-racers alike has been tremendous. Says Marcel,” I love my new Seattle Tools! The aviation grade tools and high quality service cart are a must-see. ”Be sure to stop by and have a look at this beautiful line of high-end hardware.

IrnieRacing would also like to offer special thanks to Todd at Advanced Motorcycle Gear for supplying Marcel with Falco race leathers. Marcel says, “I have really enjoyed the comfort and protection offered by my Falco gloves, and I look forward to running my new Falco suit for the Calgary Superbike National!” Falco is a quality Italian apparel company distributed by Advanced Motorcycle Gear in North America.

Thanks also to Tara Simpson from OneOnOneDesign for creating the IrnieRacing logo and posters. Next on the graphics front is a new action logo for the Royal Cargo trailer. Says Marcel, "Tara is an amazing designer, and I can't wait for my new trailer decals to be printed." Tara also designed the new Bluestreakracing.ca logo, which became an instant crowd favorite. Tony Blue from Blue Streak Racing stated, “Now people actually ask for my stickers.” Look for the new logo on Marcel's bikes, and Canadian superbike sensation Jodi Christie's race bikes.

The next stop for IrnieRacing is the Parts Canada Superbike Amateur National round in Calgary on June 23-27th. In the 2009 event, Marcel scored a 2nd place finish in the Amateur Sportbike class. He has been waiting all year to see if he can improve upon this result. If you are attending the race, be sure to stop by his pits and pick up a limited edition 2009 IrnieRacing poster. They won’t last long!

Irnieracing.com is supported by: AMSOIL Synthetics, Blue Streak Racing, British Columbia Trailer, EBC Brakes, Falco, Fluid Suspension Science, GoPro, Kreater, Magna-Tech Services, Muller Motorsports, Munro Cylinder Heads, Oneononedesign, Pinnacle Physiotherapy, Seattle Tool, World Gym Kelowna, and Valley Moto Sport.

 

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I read you got dq'd at Mosport and banned til July 2011? WTF? Hope it all works out for you dude.