Be neat if this works... Hopefully it can handle the tags. ?
? A thrown together in WMM version of the warmup lap around Miller Motorsports East Course following Oliver/Ian in their ART F1 long chassis to the grid before the Sunday race at the Bonneville Vintage GP AHRMA weekend in September 2009. ?
? Sidecar Racers Assoc. West Sunday race at Portland International Raceway. Battling with Johnny Killmore for 5th place. Pushed Johnny so hard that he made a mistake passing on the inside with too much speed into Turn 4, lost it, and shot across my nose off the track out of frame and flipped his rig. He and his passenger were both fine. ?
? Sidecar Racers Assoc. West Sunday practice at Portland International Raceway. Playing around with the gang at a relaxed pace on a nice dry track. Lots of tight group footage and passing since we were mostly just goofing off and enjoying the nice weather.
Another Sixth on Sunday in the F1 class.? We had 5th in our sights.? As every racer always says, Another lap and I would have had them... ?
To give you an idea of just how technical the Miller East configuration is... Here's the Warm Up lap from our VHoldR.? Which due to the battery issues is the only video we got all weekend.? ?
The majority of the corners for the F1 outfits are high speed high-G-loading corners.? There are four major full drop-the-anchor braking points on the track that had me standing on the brake pedal to the point of locking up all three wheels more than once.
Cindy fights 2G's of lateral load trying to keep the chair down as I go WFO and aim for the candy stripes in 'Agony/Ecstasy' turn 7.? Yes the BARF twofinger logo is real.
My neck, back, hips, and arms are killing me because of all the fighting I did in the cockpit for three days straight.? But the amount of speed Cindy and I both picked up working together as a team was well worth the pain.? We're going to rule the next time out at Willow Springs on the big track.
Oliver/Ian on their ART lead Mr. Bill/Erik on their Becker in front of a packed house into turn 1.
Sunday morning first practice I was power sliding the rig around so much under power... fanning the clutch with my left hand to spin up the rear tire to get the chair wheel back down on the ground around lefts...? I actually destroyed a rear tire.? So between the first and second practice I swapped on a new rear and scrubbed it in during second practice.
One brand new Yoko shoe, and one very toasted Yoko shoe with cord showing.
They're both standard Yokohama medium-hard sidecar specific compound.
But I was going to need the traction if we were going to stay ahead of Johnny and Rizzo who were nipping at my heels in yesterday's race.
Fending off Johnny/Rizzo around turn 1.
And chase down Matt and Rondah who were on fresh rubber in a similarly matched Becker F1 that I knew if I pushed myself I could probably stay with and get around on the last couple laps to beat to the checkered flag.
Doing our best to chase down Matt/Rondah.
And with any stroke of luck catch up to the high end monocoque LCR and ART of Frank and Oliver.
Yeah, maybe... =D
Mr. Bill leads Oliver with Frank following in third.
Well, we were able to fend off Johnny who ended up cooking his brakes trying to stay ahead of us.? We put a block pass on him going into the chicane three laps in and then started charging to Matt and Rondah.? We were reeling them in and whittled down 1/2 a lap distance to about eight bike lengths when we finally crossed the checkers.? Just one more lap and we'd have been able to put a move on them for 5th place at the line.
Yeah you better be looking back, Rizzo.? I'm about to put a pass in on you guys so hard and fast it's going to suck the dye out of your leathers when I go by. =D
We've gone from dicing toe-to-toe with Johnny, to easily fending off Johnny and chasing down a team we thought was untouchable.? That's marked improvement in speed and consistency around the track as a team for Cindy and myself.? The Becker F1 worked flawlessy, the Suzuki GSX-R 1000 engine sang, the ?hlins suspension was fluid, the Yokohama tires were asphalt Hoovers.
Cool down lap, trying to get some air in my leathers as I bake in the cockpit.
Up at the front Mr. Bill once again was able to sneak by Oliver and Ian on their ART and fend off Wade and Xtine on their GSX-R 1000 powered F2, swapping positions every lap.? Frank was right in there doing battle as it was a four way race for the top three spots all the way to the checkers.
My favorite shot, Oliver and Mr. Bill, in perfect sync, both chair wheels floating in the air around the off camber turn 1.
Thanks go out to all our sponsors for the continuing support of Bad Cat Racing/Formula 1 Superside America.? Especally BARF and Budman for all the assistance so far this season.
Miller Motorsports, deluxe accommodations.
When we roll out on the track, -everybody- gets out of their seat.
Mike Jones / Cindy Creech
Bad Cat Racing, Currently Sixth in the SRA Championship Points Standings.
