Racing Reports

October 6 - 8, 2007

THIS RACE: Jennings GP, October 6-7
NEXT RACE: Daytona International Speedway / National Championship races, October 19-21

RESULTS:
Steve Hill: 2/1/1
Scott Robertson: 3/2/DNR

Weather: Race day dawned and it as hot and sunny through lunch. But by the time our races came along it poured buckets. It was great!

The Track: Jennings GP is the best motorcycle track in Florida with the worst pit facilities. Carved out of 100+ acres of beautiful North Florida pine, the track is a motorcycle-only race facility that has perfect pavement and lots of run-off room for errant motorcycles. It's also located in a dust-bowl that turns to a mud hole when it rains. Essentially consisting of a fast front section and a tight back section, there are 14 turns with everything from fast, knee-down full throttle kinks to back-to-back, flick-the-bike-side-to-side decreasing radius turns. Tons of fun on a tight technical track. You can see a track map here. This year the track seems to be losing a lot of grip and most of us are running slower lap times than on previous visits.

#82 Steve Hill: 2/1/1
Steve had a great weekend, maintaining his points lead in the Florida region in Expert Lightweight Supersport and closing the gap on Lightweight Formula 40 and Lightweight Superbike.

"My most exciting moment", by Steve Hill: My first race was Formula 40. I'm locked in a tight battle with #13 Todd Keesee for 2nd in points and super-fly Mark Teen has a small lead over both of us. It started raining like crazy and I am very confident in the rain on my Pirelli-shod #82 Network Inc/H2 Ducati 1000, so I was looking forward to a good race. I had a great launch into the first turn, slipping under Scott to chase Mark Tenn through turn 2. Mark was running SLICKS in the rain and the pace he was able to keep was incredible. We diced briefly and I missed an opportunity to pass him on the second lap and Mark slipped away to take the win. Todd Keesee finished way back in the pack so I should have overtaken him in points.

My second race was Lightweight Superbike where I am also second behind Garrett Rick who has a huge points lead. The rain continued to fall as Scott and I sliced through the field, passing people 2 and 3 at a time. I had a ball, leading the entire race and we eventually lapped the entire field up to fifth place! Garrett was having some trouble this weekend and I was able to narrow his points lead somewhat. My final race was Lighweight Supersport. The track was drying somewhat and my rain tires started to get greasy. I was again able to lead from flag-to-flag and finish on the top of the podium. It was a gooood weekend!

#9 Scott Robertson: 3/2/DNR
I was getting worried as the races started to click off on Sunday. My times on the #9 Network Inc/H2 Ducati in the dry were nothing to write home about and I figured I'd be lucky to make the podium. But my rain dance paid off and the skies opened up just before our first race. I love racing in the rain so I pulled my little Suzuki rain bike out of the truck and prepared to open up a can of whup ass on the field. Unfortunately I underestimated the competition. I think Steve may be riding the best he ever has. Steve and Mark Tenn took off like a bandit in race one and I had nothing for them. In the second race (LW Superbike) Steve again got out in front at the start. I was actually gaining on him in the back section and I thought I might be able to work my way up to him. But on the 4th lap my clutch cable let go and I spent the last 2 laps just cruising around. I had a ton of fun splashing around in the rain and the gap from me to the next guy was huge in both races. In fact, Steve and I lapped the entire field up to the 5th place guy! Unfortunately I didn't have time to replace the cable before our next race so I left satisfied with finishing behind Steve in both races. He's having a great season and is really good teammate. We work well together and he's fun to hang out with so it's great to see him doing so well. But you can bet I won't be so diplomatic at Daytona...

Next we're off to Daytona for our national champoinship races. Check this site for new photos, race schedule and cool stuff for sale.

Ride safe and keep the rubber side down and the shiny side up.

Scott