T
he 2019 racing season has
been flying by! It seems like
we were just in Atlanta and
now we've just passed the midway
point of the MotoAmerica season.
As usual, there have been
some ups and downs along the
way. The race weekend at Virgin-
ia International Raceway was a
challenging event for my family's
team. Bobby Fong crashed out of
both Supersport races, while Alex
Dumas injured his finger in Twins
Cup qualifying and couldn't race.
Sean Dylan Kelly (SDK) also failed
to start the Supersport race on
Saturday after crashing in final
qualifying. He rebounded to earn
a podium in Sunday's Supersport
race. Joe Blasius earned his first
top-5 of the season in Twins Cup
race, while Jake Lewis continued
to work hard on the Superbike and
took home a couple Top-5 finishes.
So it wasn't all bad.
The next race at Road Amer-
ica was great for the Supersport
and Twins Cup programs, but
challenging for the Superbike
guys. Fong and SDK finished sec-
ond and third on Saturday and
first and second on Sunday. It was
really fun to watch them both rac-
ing hard at the front of the pack!
Dumas also earned his first Twins
Cup podium of the season. Lew-
is and the Superbike crew had a
tough weekend, but came out of
there with two top-10 finishes.
We stayed at Road Ameri-
ca on Monday after the race for a
Sportbike Track Time track day,
so the Superbike crew could get
more time working on the MoTec
ECU. I took the opportunity to
turn laps on our SV650 Twins Cup
bikes since we were already there.
It turned out to be a really good
thing I rode the bikes. We learned
a few things about the chas-
sis and made geometry changes
aimed at improving the front end
feel. And I also had a ton of fun
ripping around Road America on
the SV650. I think a properly built
SV650 could be one of the most
fun bikes currently available for
track use. It was a really great day!
Next on the schedule was the
MotoAmerica race at UMC. The
set-up changes I made to the SVs
showed right away. Dumas and
Blasius ran up front all weekend
and went on to finish first and
fourth in the race, respectively.
It turns out the boss knows what
he's talking about! The Supersport
guys also had a good weekend.
Fong came out of the weekend
with second and first-place finish-
es. His win in the race on Sunday
was spectacular, pressuring his
rival into a mistake in the last cor-
ner which allowed Fong to win the
drag race to the line. It was excit-
ing to watch! SDK had another sol-
id learning weekend, coming home
with two top-five finishes. Jake
also had a decent weekend, finish-
ing fifth and sixth in the races.
The second half of the season
started with a combined WSBK/
MotoAmerica event at Weather-
Tech Raceway Laguna Seca. The
on-track schedule is always a
challenge for the riders at Laguna:
There is relatively little track time
and a ton of off-track PR stuff to
do. It's also extremely busy for me.
Everyone who is anyone shows
up at the World Championship
races, so it seems like there are
non-stop meetings. We also hosted
50 guests from the Temecula Val-
ley Chapter of the Harley Owners
Group on Saturday. My long-time
coaching client Daniel Mole's dad
is a member, and they rode upfrom Southern California to see
Daniel race.
All the riders did a good job
dealing with the challenges. Fong
won the Supersport race from the
front, this time by jumping out to
the lead and controlling the race.
SDK charged up through the pack
to finish fourth. Dumas finished
a close third in the Twins Cup af-
ter leading most of the race, while
Blasius fought his way to 10th in
a big field. Lewis finished fifth and
eighth in the two Superbike races.
And Daniel Mole fulfilled his goal of
racing at Laguna Seca in the Stock
1000 class. He improved during
every session, qualified, and had
a good race, eventually finishing
21st. I'm really proud of the prog-
ress he's made since starting as a
track-day rider in 2016 and now
racing as a Pro. Overall, it was a
busy, successful weekend consid-
ering everything we accomplished
on and off the racetrack.
As usual, my favorite part
was the Pirelli Track Day on the
Monday following the race week-
end. A ton of industry people show
up to ride, so it's always a great
opportunity to catch up with peo-
ple while also riding one of the
greatest tracks on the planet.
This year Pirelli representa-
tives asked me to test the latest
evolution of the 17-inch Diablo Su-
perbike slick tire line, scheduledto be released later in the year.
The latest changes increased the
width of the front tire, going from
120 to 125, while the aspect ratio
of the tire was kept at 70. I was
familiar with the direction Pirelli
was going with the rear tire since I
tested the prototype version at the
Pirelli track day in 2018. The goal
with the rear tire was to create a
more durable, more stable, and
higher-performing tire without
having a negative effect on han-
dling. So engineers kept the width
at 200mm, but changed the aspect
ratio from 60 to 65, giving the rear
tire a taller profile to increase the
size of the contact patch.
I rode my personal Suzuki
GSX-R1000R practice bike, which
is completely stock with some sus-
pension setting changes, so I was
already used to it and able to start
pushing after a couple of sighting
laps on the track. The first thing
I noticed was that the SC1-com-
pound front tire had more stability
on the brakes and a more direct
connection when I was applying
steering inputs than the previous
versions of the tire. The changes
also increased edge grip at high
lean angles. None of the changes
increased the effort needed to turn
the bike; in fact, the stiffer charac-
teristics reduced the effort need-
ed. The bike turns in with less bar
input because the tire doesn't flex
as much.
The SC0 rear tire was also
impressive. It still has some flex,
but the tire is massively more
stable than the previous versions
and it did not lose any edge grip or
drive grip in the process. The taller
profile helped engineers improve
tire life of the SC0 compound. Old-
er versions of the tire would start
to lose performance after several
laps of hard riding, while this ver-
sion is more consistent over the
life of the tire. It's impressive to see
how far the Pirelli brand has come
since my time winning on the tires
at Laguna in 2001!
I also had the opportunity
to spin a few laps on a race-kit-
equipped Energica EGO electric
sportbike around Laguna Seca. It
was my first time riding an elec-
tric around a racetrack, so there
were a few things I had to get used
to—one thing being the lack of a
shifter! I kept moving my foot for-
ward to downshift the bike every
time I put the brakes on! The bike
was actually enjoyable to ride, al-
though the weight is noticeable
compared to internal combustion
motorcycles. It was good to get a
taste of an electric racebike and I
look forward to doing a more thor-
ough test in an upcoming issue.
I'm also looking forward to more
success at the MotoAmerica races,
and to riding some more fun bikes!
See you at the track! RWAn EX
X
Laguna Seca: (Clockwise From Above) Trying the latest Pirelli 17-inch Su-
perbike slicks on a GSX-R1000; On the podium with Supersport winner
Bobby Fong (Photo by Brian J. Nelson); Getting ready to ride a race-kitted
Energica electric sportbike, with a quick-charger on the floor to the right.74—Roadracing World, August 2019