TRIUMPH NEWS
D & D Cycles Racing Qualifies In Just Five Laps
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
With Rob McLendon piloting the Triumph Daytona 675 for Team D & D Cycles at
Road Atlanta on August 29 and 30, it was literally a make or break situation for
the team and rider.
Only hours before, during the previous day's practice session, it was noted by an
AMA official that the motor was puffing blue smoke when starting the bike. This,
added to a decidedly noticeable loss of power during the practice session left the
team and rider with only one choice to make.
Since their back up bike was still having head work done back in Pensacola,
the choice was to ride it till it breaks, or pack up and go home.
Rob made up his mind quickly to try to qualify and trust that his Triumph
would hold together long enough to get the job done.
Knowing that he still needed to drop another 2 1/2 seconds off his best lap time
from practice and use as little of the bike's motor as possible, Rob had only one
option available to him....out brake the others in the turns.
Seems that strategy, and upgrading to a 190 rear tire, did the trick.
Rob qualified in 27th position, in only 5 laps, still over 1 1/2 seconds ahead of
the cut off time, to make the big show on Saturday.
After such a crazy but successful qualifying session the day before, the race on
Saturday seemed almost anti-climactic, with Rob passing in turns , then losing
ground on the straightaways, but managing to better his qualifying position by two
places at the end of the race to finish in 25th place.
"I knew this motor was in bad need of a re-build, with almost two seasons of
racing on it, but with the possible changes to the AMA horsepower rules next
year, I decided to wait out the rest of this season on the old motor, and hope for
the best. I can't believe this motor is still running and has not grenaded by now!!
Any other brand would have blown up long ago. Man, these motors can take a
lot of abuse on the racetrack, which is the major reason why I love to race Triumphs",
quoted McLendon. "I'm not constantly worrying about motor failure, like some of
the other racers, and that's a good thing, 'cause I don't have a stable of bikes to
pick from when one goes down."
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