SOAR Round #2 June 11-13 2010 Toronto Motorsports Park
Race Report: As written by Tim Toldnes
The weather for Friday practice was near perfect despite a gloomy forecast so I went out to see what the track was like running it backwards. It’s quite a bit different running in reverse with several decreasing radius corners that are a bit tricky. After a few minor suspension adjustments I felt like the bike was working well and I was learning the track pretty well. I also felt that the hay-bale chicane set up on the front straight was reasonable so I went ahead and signed up for Novice Superbike and Novice Open Sprint.
Saturday morning practice continued where Friday’s left off with me continuing to pick up speed. My first heat race on Saturday afternoon was Novice Superbike. Not having been at Round 1 and registering late I was starting from the 4th row but I knew I could move up. I managed to get a good launch and picked up a few spots before the first turn, after getting by a few more riders quickly I caught up to Eric Teal (one of only a few other riders on a 1000). After a really close 3 lap battle, sometimes only a few feet off his back wheel I managed to pass Eric and finished 6th. Later in the afternoon was Novice Open Sprint qualifying and that played out similarly, with a good start and focus on smooth riding I managed another 6th place finish. A good Saturday gave me two 2nd row starts for Sunday.
Sunday morning was wet. Uncertain of whether or not it would clear up I decided to get some wet practice in case I’d end up racing on a wet track. Not long into my first practice session I spun up the rear out of the right hairpin and ended up having my first highside. Both me and the bike were relatively unharmed and about an hour later I had the bike back together.
Novice Superbike Final:
The weather cleared up nicely so for the afternoon it was back to the Dunlop slicks (which made me happy). Again I managed to get a pretty good start and got through turn 1 in 5th place. Shortly after that I caught up to Eric Teal once again, having some time riding behind him I knew where I was stronger than him so it didn’t take me as long to get by him this time. After 3 laps I was in 4th place with Rick Goertz, another friend of mine, in 3rd who I was reeling in. After 2 laps behind Rick I made a mistake coming into the esses too late on the brakes then ran out of track and hit the right side of his swingarm with my left fork lower. We both ended up running wide but I managed to turn in below him and get through into 3rd place. After that my focus was on keeping Rick and Eric behind me for the last few laps. I managed to do so and finished 3rd in the Superbike final.
Novice Open Sprint:
I managed another decent start in this race but on the first lap Rick and I were side by side on the brakes coming into the hay-bale chicane. It seemed we were both willing to give up the line and both slowed down far more than needed to get through the chicane. I eventually tucked in behind Rick but we lost a lot of ground on the lead group after that. It took me a few laps to get by Rick and once again I found myself behind Eric on his R1. After a few riders ran off we were running 2nd and 3rd. I spent most of the race throwing every thing I could at the track to get by him but he had picked up the pace since the last race and was proving really difficult to get by. My hope was to keep the pressure on him so he would make a mistake and I could make a pass. On the last corner on the last lap Eric ran wide on the exit and I had my chance, stretching the throttle cables on my 10R I pulled beside Eric on one wheel but hit the rev limiter and lost my drive. I ended up missing 2nd place by about 3 feet.
All in all it was a really good weekend with some really close racing. Two podiums on my first race weekend at SOAR after a highside in the morning.
Big thanks to: Inglis Cycle, Pro6 Cycle, Trackside Tire Service and Dunlop Tires, Armour Bodies and PBI Sprockets. This wouldn’t be possible without their support!
This weekend coming up is RACE Round #3 on the Fabi Track! Check back soon for another race report.
Tim Toldnes #483
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