Kory Gill Racing
250GP Race Report
AMA National, Phoenix International Raceway
February 12^th – 15^th, 1998

Summary:

This event was my first race of 1998, my first time to Phoenix International Raceway, and my first AMA National race, which started my 5^th racing season. Phoenix International Raceway is an 11 turn, 1.51-mile road course making use of about 75% of the tri-oval. 42 bikes were present for qualifying, 40 bikes made the final grid (a full grid). Out of 10 rows of 4 bikes each, I started the 25-lap main event in row 9C. I completed 23 laps finishing in 26^th place. There was 1 restart as 1 bike went down in T6 and 5 bikes went down in T11 on the first lap.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
ELF RACE FUELS & LUBRICANTS GRAND PRIX SERIES MAIN EVENT
25 LAPS ON A 1.51 MILE ROAD COURSE

Time: 00:26:37.140, 85.090 mph
Margin Of Victory: 00:00:00.410
*Bonus point paid to the rider leading most laps.

9 bikes either did not start or did not finish. To the best of my knowledge, they were:

9:45am - Goal: To learn the track, watch how others go around the track, work on tuning the bike.

This was a 45-minute session. I got in about 35 laps at around 1:15 lap times. I was really tired after that outing, especially my left hand and wrist. I put all stock clutch springs in due to the amount of shifting I was doing; I would also switch to 4 fingers instead of 2 to pull the clutch in. I wanted to re-measure my deck height since I was running the stock heads and wanted to go to high compression heads. I dropped a small washer and thought it fell to the floor, but after I could not find it, I had take the cylinder off…sure enough, it fell into the water jacket. I was a tad high on deck height on one cylinder, so I put in a thicker base gasket and put on the high compression heads.

2:00pm – Goal: Go faster.

This was another 45-minute session. I went out on the first lap, and the clutch was slipping. I figured it was about time, so I came in and quickly put a new one on. My left hand was still a bit sore, but I got in about 15 laps before coming in. I got down to a 1:13.8, but ran 1:15 to 1:16 lap times. Still learning the course.

All this practice made for a total of 50 laps or 75 miles!

9:30am – Goal: Improve on yesterday.

This was a 20-minute session. The 250GP class gets screwed at AMA events (while others do not). In morning practice, the 600 class had a red flag and the clock stopped at 10 minutes. In our practice, we got a red flag after 4 laps…the clock kept running. We finally got back out on the track for another 4 laps. So we only got about half the laps we should have. All was not lost. I got down to a 1:11.76 lap time!

1:00pm – Goal: Drive harder into T4, carry more speed into the "bowl".

The tires on my bike were not totally worn out, but I felt "bad" running them, so I put some new tires on to eliminate any source of worry. I got a soft front and a medium rear from the Dunlop folks. My chain was about gone too, so I replaced that too as a preventive measure – now I have a spare. This was a 25-minute session. I went out for 20 laps and came in slightly early because I was getting a bit tired and did not want to crash out due to a mistake. I turned another fast time of 1:11.6, and several 11’s and 12’s. To me this meant that I was learning the track and was starting to become even more consistent.

9:00am – Goal: Try something different and see how/if it works.

I dropped the rear pressure from 29 to 28 and raised the front from 29 to 30. I also added a tooth on the rear sprocket as I was not getting enough drive out of the corners and not coming out of the "bowl" fast enough which would not allow me to shift into 6^th on the straight. I figured, if I could ride to the end of this gearing, I could always go back to the "faster" gearing. I went out for 13 laps. I really liked this new gearing. I was coming out of the corners a lot harder and was now getting some better speed down the straight. Unknown to me at the time, the AMA was getting some speeds at start/finish for us (probably to set qualifying grids). I came in at 119 MPH while others were at 130…I think Sands was at 133 or something. Carrying more speed into the "bowl" was something I had to do if I wanted to lower my lap times. I decided to keep the new setup for qualifying. As I was putting the bike back together, one head bolt did not want to torque. I get them to about 6 pounds by hand then torque them to 8 with a torque wrench. I turned all the others about a half turn or so, but one just didn’t seem right. I knew it was "tight enough" by my hand tightening, so I decided to just STOP and run it.

5:00pm – Qualifying Heat #2 (my group) – 5 laps.

Goal: Make the main event, which meant beating at least one person.

I got a decent start and fell into the back of a group of about 5 guys. This was a short 5-lap race, so I had to charge hard. I never managed to pass anyone, but I held my own behind this group. I had to remind myself to breathe in the corners a few times, but after the race, I found out why. Not only did I qualify by a safe margin, I turned another fast lap of 1:10.96! All was good. Tomorrow would be a great day. I of course pulled the heads to check jetting, and upon reassembly, a head bolt snapped as I torqued it to spec. At least now I knew it was the bolt that was fatigued instead of the threads in the cylinder (it was a different hole, must have been the same bolt). This bolts were probably 3 years old. I will make it a point to get new head bolts once a year…they are too cheap to not replace. Well, tomorrow called for RAIN after being sunny all weekend…and of course Monday was supposed to be sunny too. Pray and wait was all that could be done. We went out for a great dinner that night (I will not disclose this place here because it is pretty popular/crowded, and I want reservations next year). Had a great blackened Ahi and a good local microbrew.

12:00pm - It rained HARD overnight, but the skies were clear in the morning. YES! Racing would happen. The radar of the area was clear, and any rain shower would be very minor. It took a while for the people to dry the track, so we were about 1 hour behind schedule. 250GP was the last practice. It was supposed to be at 10:40am, but we got out at about 12:00pm. (finally, we got a practice at 60 degrees F instead of the normal 45 degrees as in previous mornings). We got 12 minutes of practice, and I got in about 10 laps. The air was almost identical to yesterday afternoon, so I ran the same setup. The bike ran great, and I had really put the track together in my head and felt I "knew" the track.

My dad, brother, sister, and step-mom were at the track and came into the pits after practice and watched as I pulled the heads to check jetting. My dad was checking the bike out and noticed a small crack on the right cast-iron rotor. After closer inspection, almost every "lightening hole" had a crack in it! Lesson: check your rotors at least 1 time a day! I grabbed the stainless steel (SS) rotors off my rain wheels and threw them on. I would not have the braking power of the cast-iron, but my main worry was having never run the SS rotors on this bike. Oh well, no time like the main event!

4pm – 250GP Main Event – 25 Laps

I was gridded in row 9C (or 35^th out of 40). The start at PIR was with lights. The board would show a ‘2’ when everyone was set. Then it would go to ‘1’. 2 to 5 seconds after the ‘1’, the red lights would turn green and the race begins. Went from ‘2’ to ‘1’. I held the throttle at a high RPM…the light turned green, and I launched 2 rows before the other bikes were hardly off the line. I lofted the front, but not too much, leaned forward, and held it wide open. I grabbed 2^nd and the front wheel came up slightly again. I was 3 to 4 rows ahead by the time I reached the start/finish line. I think this was the best start of my life. Now I am in the middle of 40 bikes all heading for T1 (a left). Everyone start "herding" to the inside. I choose the less safe outside line and rail around a few more bikes. Now I am on the outside and need to get around T2 (another left). As all the bikes position themselves, I need to get to the inside to make the corner. I squeeze in (somewhere) and make it to T3 (a right) and we start to "fall in line". I notice that I am 2 spots behind Bruce Lind who started in row 5A. I was somewhere near 20^th place! Get a strong drive to T4 (a left) and drive wide on the exit and setup for T5 (a left). I setup for T6 (the 2^nd apex) and gas it hard to keep up with the field in front of me to T7 (a short left kink) and T8 (a short right kink) on the "back straight". I think it was Terranova who lost it on the exit of T6, now it is the drag race to T9 (a left) which comes onto the banking. I take the wide line and get a good drive to the "bowl". I stay low (to let any REALLY fast guys rail around me on the outside). I got a decent drive out of the "bowl" and start heading down the straight on a lap I know if the fastest I have ever turned here, and the red flag comes out. Crap! We come back around the track and it turns out that 5 bikes when down in the "bowl". There were bikes, parts, and people everywhere. Crashing on the banking in the "bowl" is never that pretty. I did not know everyone, but a pit-buddy Rob Reich could not avoid a downed bike and crashed. Chris Ulrich was also involved, and some said his bike was "totally destroyed". I am not sure if there were 2 or 3 ambulances at the track, but they all left. (I always hate it when fellow racers get hurt). So now we had to sit around and try not to think about what happened (which could have been me) and wait for the ambulances to come back. We must have gotten underway around 5pm.

Restart: Took another warm-up lap. The track was clean and dry (good work all you corner workers!!!). I did it once before, I was going to do it again – get a great start. Same drill as before…I get a good start, but nothing like the last one (both were captured on videotape by Janet, my fianc�e). I could not take my outside line of before into T1, so I was forced to "herd" into the middle something like 4 abreast into T1. I got squeezed out of a few spots into T2, but I could see Bruce Lind in front of me so I was close to the middle. I did not get a good drive out of T2 to T3, but I was in good shape. I ended up behind a familiar bike from practice of (I think) Shoemaker (gray leathers, red writing). In practice, we were pretty even, so I thought I was probably in a group of bikes of my speed/skill-level so I figured this was the group to try to beat. We were a group of 5 or 6 bikes heading into T4 and T5. This was going to be a good race. I can’t remember when I got by "the guy in gray leathers", but after a few laps, it was just me and David Pare running together…at least from the view AHEAD. I had not idea what was happening behind me. I chased him for a few laps. He was better in the "bowl" and faster down the straight, but I would close in on him every lap going into T1 and catch him in T2. He carried a bit more speed into and through T3, but I charged harder through T4 and into T5 every lap. I almost rear-ended him one lap as he braked "way too hard" for T5…that’s what I get for following his line. A one-finger oh-shit braking maneuver and the crisis was avoided. This was where I was going to get him on the brakes into T9. I was not going to brake till he did (and remember I have the SS rotors which don’t works as well). He braked, then I braked. He slowed faster and I barely was showing a wheel when I let go of the brakes and threw the bike in. I was safely ahead of him and I maintained a relatively high line onto the back part of the oval heading to the "bowl". I was not letting him past! I tucked, held it wide open, and let off less than normal and held a tight line around the "bowl". I knew I got a good drive because I shifted into 6^th sooner than "normal". I held it wide open till brake marker 3 and really flew into T1. As faster traffic came by (like Sorenson, Sands, Mori, Renfrow), I held my line, but in future corners, setup wider than normal to allow them to dive inside. On the "bowl", I held a low line and let them "rail" around me. At about lap 18, Bruce Lind lapped me in T6. (also caught on tape). Since Bruce is a friend of mine, I really charged hard to keep up as long as I could. By the front straight, he was gone, and I was back to running my own race and keeping Pare behind me. Well, he got me into T2 a few laps later. Some faster traffic came by and we both them by. This was on the white flag lap. He held a inside line as did I through T6 and stayed wide into T7 and waved the fast group by. (a very nice and safe gesture on the last lap!) As the last bike came around, I was right on his tail. He realized the fast guys were gone and it was ME that was behind him. Well, he quit waving and got back on the gas. I could not get by him and he finished 25^th, and I finished 26^th. The race was awesome. The competition was great. Each rider out there was consistent and professional. Simply awesome!

I came into the pits glowing (I am sure) because I had not only qualified, but FINISHED my fist AMA National 250GP road race! Everything was packed but the bikes. It was 5:40pm. The plane Bruce and I were on left at 7pm! You thought we were fast on the track, you should have seen us load our stuff. Strip the leathers off, put clothes on, throw the bikes in the trailer (so we would be satisfied with their placement for the ride home), throw in miscellaneous boxes, and head out. The clock in the rental car read 6:08pm. We stopped by my parent’s motor home to pickup Janet, but her parents (who live in Tempe) had already taken her to the airport. We did not break any land speed records getting to the airport, but we were not slacking off either. Pull into Avis, jump out of the car. The guy starts asking questions…Bruce says, "we are in a hurry, see you at the gate Kory"…the attendant hands me a receipt, and I take off. I actually met Janet at the x-ray machine. We got to the gate for checking with 15 minutes to spare. My seat could have been given away 5 minutes earlier, but we all made it on. I got a Jack Daniel’s and 7-Up as soon as I could and finally R-E-L-A-X-E-D.

My racing could not be possible without the help of my family, friends, and sponsors.   I would like to thank:
I-90 Motorsports,
Sandro at Galfer,
Kristen at Motul,
Jon at White Brothers,
Terry at TPowell Photography,
Northwest Link for hosting this web site,
Janet, my fianc�e, and
Bruce and Edith Lind.

For other race reports, please see http://korygill.net/korygillracing-retro/racereports.html.

I hope you enjoyed my race report. If you have questions, comments, or want any specifics on my race setup or anything else, just ask.

Kory Gill
#150 AMA/WMRRA/OMRRA in 1998

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