Saturday - Practice
This is my first time at SIR on the TZ250, and my 5th season racing there. I don't have my notes in front of me, but I think my best time on my 900RR was about a 1:35 to 1:38. I would get four practice sessions today.
It was 54F for Practice 1, so my goal was to go out, inspect the track, check my gearing, learn shift points, and warm-up my brain.
Practice 2 was where I was going to start turning things up a bit and come up to "race speed". The temp changed to 61F, but the track still seemed a bit "cold" to really push it. Turn 2 has old pavement and is still really rough as is turn 9. Turns 3 and 4 are great! Tons of traction. Turns 5, 6, and 7 are still favorites. From the turn 10 (the bus stop) to the straight is really rough, and with the track modifications this year, the line is a bit trickier, but manageable. If it rains, I think either there will be many crashes on the front straight or we will have to have some sort of no passing, single-file rule. Upon inspection, the top cylinder was detonating a bit. I was +.05mm on deck height. For some reason, lately, my gaskets have been "compressing" after use. So I put in thicker base gaskets in the top and bottom cylinders.
Practice session 3 ended with the bottom cylinder ending in that sound every 2-stroke rider hates...going from 12K RPM engine singing to that blaaaaghhhh sound...it wasn't the "seize" sound more of an out of gas sound. I was close to the pit exit, so I rode it in. The top piston looked fine, the bottom one was all wet, but not seized. My reeds had broken off the corners. An easy fix...put in new reeds in the bottom cylinder. I did get timed on this outing and was turning 1:40 to 1:42 lap times. Still a bit slow.
Practice 4 would be the best one all day. While I should have gone down a jet size or two, I stayed on the safe side given all my problems today. I got a full 9 laps in and the bike ran great! I ended up running with #118 who was on a 600 I think. We traded "positions" passing one another which helped us turn some good laps and "practice" being in traffic at SIR. I turned faster laps again: 1:37.24 to 1:41. I can typically click off faster laps every time I go out as I try to slowly learn how to go faster. The day ended very well, the bike ran great. I pulled the heads to check jetting, and as expected, I was 2 jets too rich.
Sunday - Practice, 250GP Main, Formula II Main
10am Fast Practice: It was nice and sunny. Good weather would prevail all day. (this is Seattle, we take what we can get) These were supposed to be 20-minute sessions, but due to problems in the Slow and Medium practices, we only got 4 laps. Oh well, it was enough to check jetting and get the brain going. I turned a 1:36.85, my fastest time on the 250 yet. As expected, I was 2 jets too rich, so with the help of Jeff Earls, we put the heads back on and rejetted the bike since my race was 2 races away! I should be setup perfectly for 250GP (this is foreshadowing).
11:15am 250GP Main: Temp is up to 65F, so I run just 3/4 of a strip of tape on the radiator. The bike seems strong and jetting just right on the warm-up lap. I am gridded in row 2. The board goes sideways, the green light comes on, and I drop the clutch and get a great start and am in the lead going down the straight. I put my head on the tank, pull my arms in, and go as fast as possible into turn 1, and carry tons of speed into turn 2. I notice my clutch is slipping a bit and wonder if it will make 10 laps or not. I lead all the way through turn 7 where Ferrazza (sp?) passes me up the hill towards turn 8 where my bike starts to make this horrible blaaaaghhhh sound and is slowing. I quickly pull the clutch in and get a hand in the air to signal that I am slowing. After the field passes me, I pull off to the side at the top of turn 8. I will watch the next 9 laps from the sidelines with just memories of my 3/4 of a lap where I led the race. The track was partially repaved down the straight where the NHRA runs, but there was a small section of dirt/rocks that everyone had to cross to enter the track. On the warm-up lap, everyone picks up rocks from this area, and somehow, a few of them (pea to lima bean sized pebbles) ended up getting into my airbox, through my carb, and into my transfer ports, where the smaller ones would pass and get pulverized by my piston thus seizing my top cylinder. Damage: cylinder needs replating, piston and ring toast, crankcase full of "grit". I have about 3 hours to fix the bike or I could go home. I came to race! Fix the bike!
Afternoon Bike Fixing: The short version is that with the help of Jeff Earls as an extra set of hands, we pull the top cylinder off, take the motor out of the bike, and we pour gas in the top (half) of the crank and "wash" it till it is clean. Reinstall the motor, replace the top reeds (now I have new reeds in the top and bottom!), put in a newly replated (by Langcourt Limited) cylinder with the "A" piston I sent with it to correctly size it, put in a new power valve since the other one was damaged, clean the heads, put in new plugs. There was not the "correct" amount of time to properly heat cycle the bike, but we fire it up and bring it up to temperature. As it cools, we put in a new clutch. I pull the plugs to check them out and the lower one doesn't even look like it was firing (but it sounded like it was). So I fire the bike up again and check ignition...both cylinders are firing fine. I let the bike cool. I will race with one good heat cycle (supposed to have 3).
4:30pm Formula II Main: Temp is 67F. I am gridded on the outside of row 1. No strips on the radiator. I was careful to avoid all rocks on my warm-up lap. This class is mainly 250GP and 600 Superbikes. I get a good start and am 4th behind 3 600's going into turn 2. Joe Ferrazza and Craig Harry both on 250GP bikes get by me as I brake too early while the 600's are dropping anchor. No big deal, we are all running real close, and I have 10 laps to decide what to do. Plus, I can make time on the 600's in the back section. Going into turn 3, all 3 of us (the 250GP bikes) pass one of the 600's. We all go through 4 cleanly and charge for turn 5. We run real close all the way around the track. It's anyone's race. Once again, all 3 of us pass another 600 going into turn 3. For the next few laps, we run a 600 (I can't remember the guys name) first, Joe 2nd, Craig 3rd, and myself 4th. Joe has a mechanical and pulls off. Bummer for him, good for me. Craig and I trade positions now and then, but the 600 has motor on us down the straight. We catch him in the first corner, but neither of us has enough to make it stick. On lap 8, I get Craig. I tail the 600 in 1st waiting for a mistake that never happens. On lap 9 going into turn 2, my rear tire feels slippery. I slow a bit to not toss it and at turn 6, Craig passes me and I make a mistake shifting/braking. We are still running 3 feet apart 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and that is how we finished. It was truly a great race and hopefully fun to watch. I turned my fasted lap ever: a 1:33.63!
So I had some downers this weekend, but nothing I could not overcome. In the end, things turned out great and looking back all I remember is the great racing, not the breakdowns or all the work.
I have to thank Jeff Earls for all his help, Bruce Lind for technical advice, and all the WetLeather folks that came out to watch and who also gave me plenty of room to work on my bike when I needed it. As with any successful racing day, my sponsors played a big part in making it happen. I-90 Motorsports, Galfer, Motul, TPowell Photography, and Team WetLeather all contributed to my race day. Thank you!
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, and
Janet, my fianc�e.
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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