Racing Reports

September 25, 2007

THIS RACE: Jennings GP, September 8-9
NEXT RACE: Jennings GP, October 6-7

RESULTS:
Steve Hill: 2/2/1
Scott Robertson: DNF

Weather: Pretty good. Hot and sticky, but no rain.

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: 2/2/1

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: I had a tight race with #17 Jason Edmunds in the Superbike race, even coming together at one point, so I knew that Supersport was going to be more of the same. My #82 Network Inc / H2 Ducati was working perfectly and I had a great launch off the line, leading the field into Turn 1. There was some sorting out going on behind me and that allowed me to eke out a small gap. I led comfortably for the entire race with consistent lap times. But it was clear that the track surface is losing grip and I continually pushed both the front and rear tires in the fast sweepers. Scary, but controllable. As I passed the white flag indicating the last lap, I glanced behind to see that the #17 had drawn up on me a bit. I was determined to keep Jason behind me and ran my fastest lap of the race, a low 1.23. I maintained my pace through the tight back section of the track and got on the gas hard on my way to the T12 kink. I drove through the kink and caught a downshift for my run through the final two turns. I felt both tires begin to slide as I tipped the bike into the fast right-hand T13 sweeper, my knee skimming lightly over the surface. Eyes up, I aimed for the exit of 13 and started turning on the throttle to get a good drive. Suddenly both the front and rear of my Ducati 1000 lost grip, pushing me wide of the racing line and out to the edge of the track. With both tires sliding, I slammed my knee to the track and maintained my throttle (to chop the throttle would've meant an instant high-side, the worst crash possible). As I drifted out to the edge of the grass I was certain I would not make it. However the Gods of Racing were on my side that day and at the last possible instant the tires gripped just enough to keep me on the track. I stood the bike up and grabbed a handful of throttle, beating Jason to the line by half a bike-length.

#9 Scott Robertson DNF

Here's the only thing positive I can say: I had the worst weekend you can have without crashing. I had trouble with my truck (fuel pump) so I borrowed a truck from former Young Gun racer Matt Sewell. Driving through Tampa I had a tire blow on the trailer. Thank God for big, grassy medians! After practicing Saturday on the slippery sandbox of a track they call Jennings GP (can you tell I don't like it there anymore?) I had trouble with Matt's truck (transmission shift solenoid). By the time race day came along my brain was fried. I had absolutely no patience and no focus. Thank you to Kelly for putting up with me. I ran 4 laps of my first race. I went from 3rd into Turn 1 to about 10th on lap 4. I was making so many mistakes that I knew I was either going to fall or cause somebody to run into me. I raised my hand and pulled in, electing to choose safety over bravado and live to race another day. Somebody accused me of "growing up". I'm certain that's not the case.

We have another stint at Jennings in a couple weeks, then onto Daytona for our national champoinship races. Check www.RobertsonRacing.com for new photos, race schedule and cool stuff for sale.

Ride safe and keep the rubber side down,

Scott