British Italian Motorcycles - Racunica Race Report

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Racunica Report May 10-11, 2008

Saturday, May 10, 2008

When we arrived at the racetrack on Saturday morning, I decided not go for wet practice. By the time the practice sessions were over the racetrack dried out. The first qualifier was 600SS and once again I had a bad start. I qualified for third, which put me in the front row for the main race. The second qualifier was Open SS and in this race I qualified for third place as well. The first race of the day was Superbike Race 1. I struggled with a bad start once again. On the brakes into turn one I lost two positions. Riding hard and with no mistakes, I recovered my position to finish the race in fourth place. After the race, in the pit box I noticed my rear tire was wearing out on the left side. For this race weekend I switched the rear tire from medium to soft compound. Trying to get more grip upon exiting corners, my Pit Crew Chief, Al, made adjustments to my suspension trying to save the tire for the remaining races. In  600SS I had one more bad start, once again losing a few positions but I didn't give up and I rode as hard as I could catching up to and passing riders in front of me to finish second in the race. In Open SS, I started the race from the front row and pretty much held third position throughout the whole race to finish in third place. Superbike Race 2 was the last race of the day. We had two warm up laps and two riders crashed in the warm up laps. The weather was not looking to promising and in the last warm up lap the back section of the race track was already wet. Because of some crashes earlier in the day, we were a little behind schedule, so all racers in the Superbike race went out on DOT and slick tires. Due to the weather, the Race Director told us (the riders) that we didn't have time to change to rain tires and his question was whether we would like to continue with the race or not. The decision was made unanimously by a few pro riders to cancel the race.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

The morning weather was just awful and not promising at all.. The pits were flooded from the heavy rain fall from the previous night. I did not have any other choice but to go practice on the wet track. We set the suspension for wet conditions and I went out. The first few laps I didn't push hard but a couple of riders did and they found themselves sliding down the race track. This is the first time I used Pirelli rain tires in Mission and they felt great. The tires gave me lots of confidence and I felt ready for the qualifiers. 600SS qualifier I started in the front row but because of the heavy rain we had the red flag after two laps. The race was restarted and I finished fourth. The next qualifier was Open SS and I was ready to go out but for some reason the engine didn't want to turn over. It took us about a half hour to find the problem and it turned out to be a faulty voltage regulator. Luckily for me, one of our corner workers, Ann, had the same bike and let me borrow her voltage regulator. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ann for lending the part I needed from her bike. The bike was ready just in time for the first Superbike race. The race track was still wet but it wasn't raining. I had a good start for a change but Sean passed me on the brakes into turn one. I was riding pretty good and I had secured third place but halfway through, Sean low side out of turn one. Between me and the rider behind me was remarkable gap so I didnʼt need to push hard to finish the race. Finishing second in wet conditions was a great achievement for me. The weather turned in our favour and the 600 SS race was a dry race. In this one I had an excellent start and Andrew and Sean went past me on the brakes into one again. However, I managed to stay with them and by the end of lap one, I out-braked Sean into turn one for second place. Andrew was still ahead of me but couldn't pull away. One more time out of turn one, I passed Andrew for the lead. I put my head down and I rode the hardest I could trying to brake away from second and third place riders. Finishing the race a good two hundred metres ahead of second place. Open SS I had a good start again but because of the rear tire problem I couldn't push any harder. I was battling with Andrew throughout almost the whole race and setting up my fastest lap this year so far at 1:13.8. Finishing in second place, I was a happy rider. Superbike Race 2 my rear tire looked terrible. No matter what we do to the suspension set up the tire still was wearing out fast. One more good start and I managed to stay with Andrew only for about three laps. I was sliding out of every corner, losing grip but I still managed to finish second in the race. One first and two second places was more than an excellent race day! I'm looking forward to seeing you guys in July. I would like to thank my family, my friends Goran, Nikola and his sister for coming on Saturday and Sunday and helping me out. Also, I would like to thank my boss Charles and his wife Darlene for coming out and supporting me. A big thank you goes to my Pit Crew Chief, Al, for his patience with me and all of his help. And thank you to all my friends who came to support me. Next sopt is Calgary -Canadian Superbike Championship June 26-29 & Mission WMRC Championship July 1st.

I would like to thank all of my sponsors:

British Italian Motorcycles, Triumph North America, Pirelli Tyres, Pazzo Racing, Type 14 Web Media, Shark Helmets, Kimpex, The Morrissey Irish House, Leader Pest Control, Pacific Driveline, Wilkinson's Automobilia, Rocky Mountain Motorcycle Holidays, Protect All, Motovan

Best Regards,

Niko