Archive for October 2010

A while back, Pete Chartrand attended one of 2Fast‘s track days to test ride the new Aprilia RSV4 R. He approached me that day in that polite way that people do and told me about himself asking if it would be alright to use my photos for a review of the Aprilia on SoundRider.com. Seemed like a pretty cool gig, and Pete seemed like a nice enough guy, so I obliged. Hopefully, I’ll see him out there again, and maybe he won’t be as timid as he was on that shiny new Aprilia (can’t blame him – that thing was gorgeous, especially when it retails at $16000).

Read his article here.

With WMRRA ending a month early due to a canceled last round in Spokane, I hadn’t quite been satisfied with my racing for the year. That and Mark at 2Fast provided the opportunity and more of a reason to come checkout OMRRA this last weekend (Sept 25-26) by picking up the track day before that’s normally hosted by Cascade Track Time. Another reason? My teammates of Team DFR convinced me to try out Superteams for the weekend as well – basically, a tag team endurance race lasting for an hour. How could I have said no?

Me holding up Tim (#910) during 2Fast the day before the race. Photo by Matt Eaton.

It was already a long week to start out with, having a 2Fast day at Pacific Raceway the Wednesday prior, then running to Portland the following night to setup for the track day on Friday. By the time the race weekend started I was already pretty close to being tracked out. I didn’t expect the atmosphere at Portland, greatly in part to the OMRRA crowd, to inspire me even more so that I wasn’t anywhere near being tired of the track. If anything, the attitude and excitement of the folks in the pits got me wanting even more by Saturday morning (booze and mean pranks the night before did help, I imagine).

With having been set up already in our pits, thanks to Team DFR (more specifically Donny and Tim), we were ready and revving to go when we got up. We were invited to pit over with Mark for the weekend, which was very generous of him, considering his fancy 2Fast set up with all the flooring and huge tents. The usual Team DFR pit was relegated to an extended storage area, where we kept food and equipment. It worked out pretty well, actually, since we didn’t want to clutter up Mark’s space. That and we were pitted right next to the track entrance, so we didn’t really need to pay attention to the time or horns – just kept an eye out for our groups lining up. Something to note about OMRRA: it was freakin’ beautiful that there wasn’t a specified “novice” practice session – you were grouped into the sessions that were appropriate for the times that you were running. It was heaven. There were no ridiculously gigantic gaps of skill where people would fly by you at twice your speed, and there was no traffic to deal with (unless you count me, the human lap marker). It was pretty freakin’ epic. Take note, WMRRA.

Continue reading ‘Race Report #4: Getting My Feet Wet at OMRRA…’ »

With the last round of WMRRA in Spokane being canceled, the final round of the season ended up being this last race at Pacific Raceway (Sept 11-12)  for everyone, and it turned out to be a great weekend, despite some poor weather on Sunday. The greatness not necessarily being due to the actual racing, but more for the camaraderie that came out of the woodwork throughout the pits, most prominently in Novice Row.

Saturday started out a little chilly. It was cold enough that face shields were fogging on the straight during practice, and I had to come in at least once to see if I couldn’t get the condensation off and the air flowing through my helmet. No luck, and I ended my practice early.

Continue reading ‘Race Report #3: The Last WMRRA Weekend of the Season…’ »

Two track days followed by an OMRRA weekend (race report to follow) all in the same week can be pretty cumbersome, but it was still a blast.

The last track day for Pacific Raceways was held by 2Fast on September 22, and it was a great way to end the season at the track. The weather was beautiful, the customers were happy, and incidents stayed low.

The following Friday, 2Fast was generous enough to pick up the pre-race weekend track day normally held by Cascade Track Time at Portland International Raceway. The Portland mist stayed away, and even less incidents occurred that day. It was awesome to be able to get out there myself, too, to get ready for my first OMRRA race that weekend – with WMRRA being over, and having been out most of the season, I was needing to get my race fix in. More on that later.

Brittany moments before getting her elbow down.

Oh, and before I forget: not only does the 2Fast staff run one of the best track day organizations in the Northwest, but they’re also bat shit crazy. Mark, Brittany, and Troy all dragged elbows at Pacific that week through turn 2. Mark decided that he needed to perform an encore through turn 9 at Portland, and I was lucky enough to catch them on film (or is that sensor?) on both days to make for some pretty rockin’ shots. Check ‘em out below.

Anyway, the photos are done!

PR photos are here, and Portland photos are here. Due to me riding on both days, they’re at the discounted cost, so enjoy it while you can. Also, all proceeds from the Pacific day will go directly to the Airfence Fund, as opposed to the usual $10 per gallery. So support the walls that save us all and buy your photos!