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Rodrob
| Posted on Monday, November 21, 2011 - 03:38 pm: |
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All races were in rain with very low temperatures. Formula Twins Heavyweight - 1st - Lapped the field Open Superbike - 1st - by at least half a lap. Toyota Cup F1 - 2nd Shawn ran 1st for more than half the race and was pulling away from Aussie Dave. After a near off track excursion, Shawn started sitting up on the bike and opening his visor which allowed Dave to get the lead. By the time Shawn was able to get back up to his pace, Dave was too far ahead to catch. For the F1 race the temps had dropped to almost freezing causing Shawn's visor to fog up to the point where he could not see the track. He had no rain protection for his summer leathers and by the time he came off the track he was hypothermic. We had to use a heating pad and tire warmers to warm him up. Shawn's effort was heroic. The lesson for me is to never compromise your rider's comfort, especially under extreme conditions. When I saw that there was a high probability of rain and near freezing temps, I should have made sure that we had the right visor and outer gear to keep Shawn dry. Aussie Dave had all of the above. In retrospect, I put too much focus on the tires and bike and Shawn simply does not complain. Working with Tony Romo from Dunlop was fantastic. He's a great guy who knows his stuff. I think he was pleased in spite of the second place finish. He indicated that we would talk more this week. Details to follow in the videos. Again, thanks to all who came out to help. You were fantastic. Great pic Brett! |
Slaughter
| Posted on Monday, November 21, 2011 - 09:13 pm: |
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Rob has an AMAZING resource in Tony Romo (no relation to the ball player) From Dunlop's News Release:
quote:The following is from Dunlop... Dunlop is pleased to announce that Tony Romo has joined Dunlop's Motorsports Race Team in the position of Motorsports Technician. Tony will provide key support to all aspects of Dunlop's road race motorsports service, which includes attending road race events, identifying and providing product servicing needs of contracted race teams and riders, and assisting in the development and implementation of service strategies to ensure maximum value of the motorsports teams. Tony brings a wealth of experience to the team, thanks to his deep background in professional road race competition in the USA as well as in World Superbike racing. Prior to joining Dunlop, Tony was a crew chief for Pat Clark Motorsports, and for well over a decade he has worked with other prominent motorsports organizations including Yamaha Motor Corporation, Perry Racing Services, Graves Motor Sports and Muzzy Kawasaki Racing. Over his career Tony worked with Superbike and Supersports riders, Formula USA Unlimited racing services, AMA Formula Extreme racers and in the World Superbike Championship series. Tony will report directly to Sabastian Mincone, Dunlop's Manager Road Racing. "We are very pleased to add someone of Tony's caliber to our support services team," said Mincone. "Tony is well known in the AMA paddock and he is very familiar with tracks all around the country and with the tire needs of the AMA teams. We have a great match here and we know that he will immediately prove to be an asset to our team."
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Slaughter
| Posted on Monday, November 21, 2011 - 09:15 pm: |
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ANY time that Tony speaks - you should have a notebook in hand. He is a helluva resource in team organization, publicity and general "professionalizing" |
Geforce
| Posted on Monday, November 21, 2011 - 10:44 pm: |
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Wow, sounds like a lot of podium finishes for that 1190RS! Way to go Shawn and Rob! You guys need to start a new trophy shelf. |
Rodrob
| Posted on Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - 12:16 am: |
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I also have an AMAZING resource in Steve Slaughter and Sunny Clarkson who not only housed and fed us all, but were at the track to help out in the pits, including loading up after the race, in the rain. You guys are simply the best. Thank you! |
Lemonchili_x1
| Posted on Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - 12:21 am: |
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Very cool |
Nattyx1
| Posted on Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - 12:51 am: |
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I literally started shivering empathetically at the thought of how cold Shawn must have been in that freezing rain... ROB: get him one of those clear moto-gp style plastic oversuits! And I have an electric vest he can borrow for cold race weekends if you're running the stock electrical system! |
Ratbuell
| Posted on Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - 07:06 pm: |
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If its a Gerbings/HD vest, I probably have a spare pigtail and on/off switch around somewhere I could kick in... Oh, and AWESOME RESULTS. "all races in cold rain / 1st place, lapped the FIELD". Freakin' LOVE IT!!!! Do the rain tires still look like the D616 from the Ulysses? |
Rpm4x4
| Posted on Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - 08:17 pm: |
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Fantastic job guys. Very exciting to hear |
Mountainstorm
| Posted on Thursday, November 24, 2011 - 12:08 pm: |
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Tremendous effort by everyone involved. So impressive. Take care of your rider! Looks like the bike can take care of itself |
Blake
| Posted on Thursday, November 24, 2011 - 01:43 pm: |
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Camaraderie with Ducati racers was bound to happen sooner or later. It was a fun gig to employ while it lasted. Next time the excuse needs editing before publication. Something more like "Shawn finally decided to try full throttle on the EBR 1190, but the vicious acceleration rendered him momentarily incontinent"? Great job Rob and Shawn! |
Geforce
| Posted on Friday, November 25, 2011 - 08:07 pm: |
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I really wished I lived closer to all this action. I'd love to have the chance to help out with this. Surely I could make myself useful as a coffee runner and/or towel boy. |
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