THE BULLSEYE Newsletter of Team Precision Strike Racing

Similar documents
Desert Trek. Alex Tamayo. High Noon Books Novato, California

Mystery School Day Two

Sidecar Orientation for New Racers -- A Typical Race Day

On-Line Driver s Meeting Pack

Strategies for Elimination Races

Riders Guide to the 2018 Club Cyclocross Championship Race

Bike Flip By Xavier S.

FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE L'AUTOMOBILE. Press Information 2013 Korean Grand Prix Sunday Press Conference Transcript

Through The Esses Experienced Racing Great Creates Great Racing Experience

Peru National 200 Meter Match Sprint Championships

Chapter 1. A box had arrived in the mail for Mia.

TrackAddix Grand Prix Guidelines DRAFT RULESET NOT FINAL Revision Date 11/16/17

Kielder Iron Distance Race Report by Race Winner Rob Demetriou

WELCOME WMRRA! IT S GOING TO BE BUSY! QUALIFYING & GRIDS!!!! SCHEDULE & LOCATIONS VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TRACK DAY ON SATURDAYS WMRRA RACERS

Niner JET 9 RDO Review

Now because we never ran their event, we had to run in what they call the touring class. This was the slowest speed class at 95 to 124 MPH. So I have

W I T H O W I C K I T S S I. The O L I N. Golden Girl D E C L C I T I L E S O N U M L L B Y W E L E T A T C L I I A T O N E H O

Scoutmasters Guide to Camp Jackson s Pump Track

The Weekend Warrior. VeloSano Training Guide

Consolidated Race Class Information 2016 For the entire Rule Book see

MKA Motard Rules and Information (updated 4/2018)


PETER OYLER: We ll get er done this time!

WINDSURF SHOP SHELL KEY CAMP GROUND FT DESOTO EGMONT KEY

This is the peak of motorsports, applied to electric cars. That s what it is. Nothing less / / /

5 Free Fastpitch Drills ~ StacieMahoe.com

TRACTION CONTROL: BY BOB APPLEGET

American Lake Sailing Club

CUT- OFF TIME FOR DRAW IS 5:30pm! (Cut off time will vary at Special events.)

USAV Girls Junior Nationals ~ 15 National Division Shockwave 15-1

The Man.. the Isle. Man vs. Man

Park (mis)adventures

18-WEEK BANK OF AMERICA CHICAGO MARATHON TRAINING PROGRAM OCTOBER 7, 2018

3. Which word tells you that the driver

New York Cycle Club. C SIG FAQs

2016 AMA Vintage Roadrace Grand Championship Supplemental Regulations July 8-10, 2016 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio

TORN Racing, LLC MOTORCYCLE RULES. 1. Rules and Regulations:

AMA DISTRICT 16 COUNCIL AMERICAN MOTORCYCLIST ASSOCIATION Dirt Track / Ice Racing SUPPLEMENTAL RULES 2018

Joanne Boyd. Cover Art by Teodora Velica

California DMV Test. Mark the correct answers

Introduction for Coaches By Coach Andrew Blanks

AMA RACING: Expertise

Rory, if we can get some comments on just a phenomenal week.

The Abu Dhabi Experience Or 6 months ago I couldn t spell Screwtinear and now I are one.

JEFF GORDON BACK IN BAY AREA FOR THE DODGE/SAVE MART 350 AT INFINEON RACEWAY ON SUNDAY, JUNE 22, 2003

Valkyrie vs. Deer (w/pics)

New York Cycle Club. C-SIG FAQs

T R A F F I C S K IL L S 101

WELCOME! High Performance Driving School Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch April, Driver School & Safety Seminar SoCal Region

Potential Road Hazards

One of the following facts is false. Can you guess which one? Circle it!* *Answer is at the bottom of the page. 260,000 children

16490 Lone Star Circle East Justin, Texas panozracingschool.com

Race Report. Imogene Pass Run A. Cynic

QUICK LINKS IN THE WIND 30 LEADERBOARD 116 RACER TEST WE RIDE JONATHAN REA S WORLDSBK ZX-10R

18-WEEK MARATHON TRAINING PROGRAM

Teton County Fair Figure 8 Races Rules and Regulations

Conceal Defense Basic Explanation and Purpose The is an initial defensive alignment I saw watching a community college game a few

File No WORLD TRADE CENTER TASK FORCE INTERVIEW FIREFIGHTER KENNETH ROGERS. Interview Date: December 10, 2001

Contents. Introduction 2. Why Practice Skills 3. How to Achieve a Skills Award Certificate 4

A GUIDE TO GROUP RIDING FOR BEGINNERS By Colin Hughes, Phoenix CC (Cycling Ulster)

Brandt, if we can just get some opening comments on the round and what keyed you to the 59.

18-week training program

Group Riding Tips. Planning the Ride

FOLLOW THE LEADER. Skills Bike control, stopping, starting, safe following distance, signaling, shoulder checking, using gears.

Primary National Strategy. A Real Treat!

Definition: Having a confident expectation of something or someone; hope.

SOUTHERN RACEWAY TIRE POLICY. 10 th Annual Southern 100

COPENHAGEN ELITE RIDE. Ram Mudambi. miserable sodden riding, it was sunny and almost 60 deg. F. I had heard rumors of an

Foul Ball by Kelly Hashway

2016 Performance Driving Track Day Information Packet

VO2 TRAINING: IDEAS FOR DISTANCE RUNNERS. Derek Leininger Head XC/Track Coach, Snider High School

Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Quotes January 21, 2019

2018 U.S. Senior Open Championship Golf Course Setup Notes Round 1 (Thursday, June 28) Prepared by Ben Kimball, USGA

A PRIMER ON CYCLIST SAFETY WRITTEN BY PAUL HURDLOW (AVID CYCLIST AND PARTNER WITH DLA PIPER)

200 mph with no hands. Damn that d be cool right before the part where you die.

MHS Cross Country Menomonie Relays Girls Comment Sheet But I keep cruising, can t stop won t stop moving

Accidental Butterfly By ReadWorks

15KM 14-WEEK TRAINING PROGRAMME

A New Chart for Pitchers and My Top 10 Pitching Thoughts Cindy Bristow - Softball Excellence

Spec E30 and Round 6 at Buttonwillow Raceway Park!

the little boy 1 a good boy 1 then you give 1 is about me 1 was to come 1 old and new 1 that old man 1 what we know 1 not up here 1 in and out 1

C&O CANAL 100 RACE REPORT. sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you

2012 Supermoto Rule Book and Guidelines (Revision 1)

We will be meeting on Saturday morning at 11:00AM for a follow up meeting to review today's events and plan for tomorrows.

BMW Team RLL: Rolex 24 at Daytona 18-Hour Report


2015 BANK OF AMERICA CHICAGO MARATHON TRAINING PLAN JUST DO IT.

Powered by RACE REPORT: RD1 DONINGTON GP APRIL

AMA DISTRICT 16 COUNCIL AMERICAN MOTORCYCLIST ASSOCIATION FLAT TRACK / ICE RACE SUPPLEMENTAL RULES 2019

2018 ENDURANCE REGULATIONS

Mini Glider Manual. Your Glider comes partially assembled. The front wheel and the handlebars require assembly.

2018 FIA Formula One World Championship. Canadian Grand Prix. Post-Race Press Conference Transcript

Grade 4. Practice Test. The Hare and the Tortoise The Choppers and the Wrecks

**Series Handbook for the 2018 Season**

EFFORTLESS SWIMMING. Mastering Freestyle Technique: How to swim faster, longer and easier (and look good doing it)

By Joel Bender

YOUR CAR YOUR PASSION YOUR CLUB

THE APPROACH. When I m coaching, I can tell in the INTUITION: GYBING INTUITION: GYBING. Words & Photos: Guy Cribb INtuition

Reviewed WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY CAMERON MACKENZIE. Tere - Maori translation - Be quick, swift and fast

GAME STICK IT ON THE BODY PART ABOUT THE GAME WHAT YOU WILL NEED INSTRUCTIONS. Copyright 2016 kidscoachjason.

Transcription:

THE BULLSEYE Newsletter of Team Precision Strike Racing Vol. 1, No. 4 June, July, August 2003 Zac Highsides at ASMA s Round 4 by Elaine Seasly The race weekend of June 7 & 8 began with us cramming as many bikes into the trailer as possible. The 72 Honda CL 450 was race prepped and ready for the vintage race at Arroyo Seco. It actually fit nicely in between the MZ and the R6. With the Honda moped pit bike, that brought the total up to four bikes in the 6 X 12 trailer. I hoped we wouldn t need anything out of the trailer before getting to the track, since there was no way to get past all of the bikes to access the storage bins of gear and tools. Elaine (L) and Kim (R) getting a ride on the crash truck. Photo by Ryon Rich On Saturday morning, Zac took the CL out for a few shake-down laps, to ensure no major bolts were going to fall off, and that it wasn t leaking any fluids. The new brakes provided by vintagebrake.com were bedding in nicely. Throughout Saturday, Zac and I switched off on taking the CL out. My first lap out on the CL made me wonder how I ever learned to ride on such a bike. I had to get used to my elbows being up in the air, very little cornering clearance, and thin scrambler tires. Top speed on the CL down the straightaway was probably somewhere around 75 mph. Then one simply had to downshift a few times and carry the speed into the big sweeper. It was no problem carrying the cornerspeed through the twisties of the slower sections of the track, but both Zac and I got cut off several times by slower riders. Apparently they didn t realize that 1970 s braking technology didn t allow one to slow down and stop on a dime. Several times Zac simply stuffed them on the inside. Must ve been embarassing for some to be stuffed by an old vintage bike in the slower corners! In this Issue ASMA Round 4 1 CCS Buttonwillow Race 3 Summer Race Results 4 CCS Vegas Race 5 Calendar of Events 6 New Bike: 94 TZ250 7 Thanks to Sponsors 8 Accepting the 3 rd place ASMA Vintage trophy. When I got off of the CL after a session of several laps, I decided to take my MZ out. For some reason, the first few laps felt foreign on the MZ. I had gotten adjusted to the quirky riding position of the CL, so that when I jumped on the MZ it felt heavy, and the bars felt extremely low. After a few good laps I was back to my old riding style. I decided to spend the afternoon getting my confidence back up on the MZ. After the last two race weekends resulting in crashes, I was having a hard time trusting the bike again. I had hit a mental barrier, and it reflected in my lap times, as I was 6 seconds off of my usual pace. By the end of the practice day I was frustrated that I was letting my head impact my riding, but decided that finishing the weekend without crashing would be the primary goal. It turns out that Zac should have made that his primary goal as well. The first race of Sunday morning was Formula 2/Lightweight. I didn t get as good of a start as usual, and found myself towards the back of the pack going into Turn 1. I wasn t able to keep up with the people that I was usually riding with, so I focused on riding a smooth race. I could tell that my usual confidence was lacking, especially in the corners. I was hoping that by the end of the day, some of my confidence would have returned. I finished the Formula 2/Lightweight race in 9 th place out of 13. After my race, I quickly got out of my leathers and grabbed the video camera, to hopefully catch some of Zac s first race of the day, which was 750 Amateur Superbike. I missed the start, and by the time I got out to the hotpits they were well into the race. Zac appeared to have been doing well, running in 4 th place. Ryon Rich was in front of him, and I could tell Zac was focusing on ASMA Round 4 continued on Page 2 www.precisionstrikeracing.com The Bullseye 1

ASMA Round 4 continued from Page 1 closing the gap and trying to catch Ryon. Both Zac and Ryon have been running at a similar pace at Arroyo, so they knew how each other rode. Kyle Scott was catching up to Zac, and it was a jumble of bikes going into the slower sections of the track after Turn 1. At that point it is very hard to see individual riders while watching the race from the hot pits. I heard people yell that a rider went down, but couldn t see who it was. I watched as everyone came down the back straight, and Zac was missing in the group he was previously riding with. Off in the distance we could see a rider lying in the track, a bike off of the track, and the rider wasn t getting up to get the bike. I ran down to the announcer booth, and they confirmed that it was Zac that went down. The race had been red flagged, and Troy Gammill had come into the hot pits. Troy gave me a ride out to Zac, and as we approached I could see the paramedics were already checking him over. Roger Heemsbergen got to Zac quickly, and before I could get off of Troy s bike he told me Zac was conscious. Zac was still lying on the ground, but was at least talking. The paramedics helped him up and into the ambulance, and we rode back to the hot pits. The great thing about Arroyo is that just about everyone knows who everyone else is. While I sat in the ambulance as the paramedics checked Zac over, Zac s R6 got loaded into the crash truck, and friends had unloaded the bike and put it on its stand in our pits. Luckily Zac didn t break anything, but had a mild concussion. He didn t remember much about sitting in the ambulance or getting out of the ambulance. After the crash, his head was pretty foggy. He couldn t remember how the crash happened, or events right after the crash. After talking to those that witnessed the crash, we were able to find out what happened. Zac had just passed Kyle Scott going into the bus stop, and got a little too eager on the gas getting out of the corner as he tried to catch Ryon Rich. He hit a bump in the track at the wrong time, which caused the bike s rear end to start fishtailing back and forth. He almost pulled it out, but the bike quickly tossed him into the air. He had a low-speed (40 mph) highside, and landed on his head and left shoulder. The bike simply drove itself off of the track and fell over on one side. Except for being dirty and a few paint scratches, the bike was fine. Zac s helmet, on the other hand, was cracked and scuffed, and he had a bit of scuffing on the left shoulder of his leathers. Thankfully he didn t break his collarbone on impact. Zac actually finished 5 th out of 10 in that race, since the race was over half over when the red flag occurred. Needless to say, he wouldn t be racing in any of the other sprint races on his R6 that day. Zac s crash made me even more cautious on the track the rest of the day. The last thing we needed was for both of us to crash out the same weekend. I rode conservatively in both the Southwest Thunder and 600 Amateur races, finishing 12 th and 13 th out of 13, respectively. Then it was time for the Vintage race. Originally there were 4 racers entered, but one crashed in an earlier race. With only 3 bikes on the track, all I had to do was finish the race, and I would actually take home an ASMA trophy. Anything over 10 years old is allowed to race in the ASMA Vintage race, so I was severely outgunned being on the only bike from the 1970 s. But I was doing the race for fun, which it was. On the straightaways I adopted the dirt track style of racing of tucking down and keeping the left hand on the fork tube, like Zac showed me in practice the day before. It helped to lower the wind resistance a bit. By the end of the race I had finished successfully, and would take home some ASMA hardware. After the Vintage race I quickly downed some water and jumped on the MZ for the following race, which was the Formula Amateur 20 minute race. I was able to keep up the pace for the first 10 minutes, but the heat of the day began to get to me and I fell back. In the end I finished 17 out of 17. The last race of the day was the team sprint. In this race, two riders share the same bike. One rider will race for 20 minutes, and then will hand the bike off to the second rider, who will finish the last 20 minutes of the race. Zac was feeling better by the end of the day, and decided that he would be up for racing the team race with me on the Honda CL. The last time we did the team race was at the end of last year, and we raced my MZ. The CL is the only bike that Zac and I can share, for there is no suspension to adjust between riders. It is what it is, and it is a suitable bike for both Zac and I to share. This would be a good chance for us to resurrect our team name of Team Marital Bliss. Zac grabbed his back-up helmet, and we rode the CL to the hot pits for the rider s meeting. The race began with a LeMans start, where the first rider must run across the track to the bike, which is left running. Luckily the CL has a kickstand, so I didn t have to worry about holding the bike up while Zac jumped on. Zac did well in the race, and kept the bike upright the entire time. There was only a difference of about 30 years between us on the CL and the other racers on newer bikes. But the ASMA team race is the only race where we could pull this type of thing off. The transition between riders for our team went smoothly. After I got on the CL I quickly remembered to move my braking markers up. Compared to the MZ, the CL felt like a bicycle with an engine. Thankfully, the other riders had no problems getting around me. In the end, Zac and I finished a successful team race, and Team Marital Bliss finished 7 th out of 7. How many people can say they raced a team race with their spouse? Not many. Although Zac crashed that day, we were able to end the weekend on a high note. ASMA track layout courtesy of www.asmaracing.com www.precisionstrikeracing.com The Bullseye 2

Stars & Stripes Weekend at Buttonwillow by Elaine Seasly Zac and I spent our Fourth of July holiday by making an 11 hour drive from Tucson to Buttonwillow, CA for the CCS race. We saw several firework displays in the L.A. area as we drove through the early evening, so we were able to enjoy some of the holiday during the drive. Unfortunately, we made the mistake of cutting through downtown Palmdale at about 9 PM. Zac had been to Palmdale in the past for business trips, and figured we d be through the city and well on our way in no more than 30 minutes. Little did we know that the city allows the purchase and setting off of fireworks in the vacant parking lots all along the main street. What should have been a 30 minute drive took twice as long with all of the traffic. Late in the evening we got to the track, paid the gate fee, and were greeted by Jim, a friend of ours from college. Jim had traveled from Sunnyvale with his friend Stu, who races a 125 in the USGPRU circuit. Luckily Jim and Stu had saved us a pit spot, and we were camped just across from the entrance to the track. The next morning we got everything set up, and studied the track layout. This was our first time at the Buttonwillow track, so we would have to learn it during the morning practice sessions. Zac had made a guess at the jetting for the MZ, and put the largest main jets that we had in for this track, which was only 200 feet above sea level. The estimate was good, and I set out to learn the corners. Turn 2, the off ramp was tricky for me at first. It was an increasing radius turn that exited on a slight uphill. I figured out that I needed to slow down and not rush into the turn, and could get a good drive out on the exit. Everyone that rushed into the corner couldn t get on the gas until late past the turn. I remembered what my instructor at Arroyo Seco, Professor Peter Bonner, always said: Go fast in the fast sections and slow in the slow sections. Sometimes you need to realize that a section of the track is slow, and take it slow to be able to go fast. That reasoning worked, and I found myself getting a good drive out of the corner. The Buttonwillow track had some nice hills that made it interesting, especially since we were used to flat tracks like Arroyo, Firebird, and Vegas. After a bus stop section there was a fast sweeper leading up a hill. One has to hit the apex of a corner at the top of the hill, and thankfully the officials had a cone positioned at the apex as a reference point. Following the downhill on the other side was a straightaway, and then a fast sweeper that led into some nice, open esses. I was used to running the tight esses at Arroyo, so the esses at Buttonwillow were extremely fast. I found myself upshifting from 3 rd into 4 th after the first ess, carrying 4 th through the middle, and then shifting into 5 th for the apex of the last ess. I would be approaching top speed on the straight following that section, before having to slow for a 90 degree left-hand turn. Then it was back into 5 th down the start/finish straight. If we would have had more practice time, then I would have changed to a smaller rear sprocket on the MZ. But with the gearing and jetting that was on it, it was rideable, and allowed me to concentrate on learning the track. Zac also spent the practice day getting back into the groove of riding, after his highside at Arroyo the month before. His goal for the Buttonwillow track layout courtesy of www.buttonwillowraceway.com weekend was to get his confidence back, rather than worrying about lap times. The Sunday lightweight grids were quite small, probably due to the distance most have to drive to get to Buttonwillow, and the holiday weekend. I was able to race with Mark Spiegel and his SV 650 in Amateur Lightweight SuperSport, as we were both at the back together. I got in front of Mark during the 2 nd lap, and tried to hold him off for the remaining 3 laps. I would gain a gap in the corners, and he d make it back up with the power of his SV. The last lap we came out of the last corner, and Mark was right on my tail. Fortunately, the little MZ was able to stay in front, and we just barely passed the line in front of Mark for 6 th place. In Amateur Lightweight Sportsman I was the only one in my class, and Mark was racing Thunderbike in the combined grid. Even though we were in different classes, I decided to pass Mark early on in the sweeper just before the esses to see if he wanted to play. Luckily he did, and the race was similar to our SuperSport race earlier that day. But Mark was able to make the pass in the middle of the last lap, and took it to the checkered flag. We met up with each other after the race to shake hands and talk about how fun the racing was between us that day. Zac met his goal for the weekend of staying upright and not crashing. He was able to get some of his confidence back, and had a good time racing in Heavyweight SuperSport (10 th out of 13), Middleweight SuperSport (14 th out of 20), and Middleweight Superbike (13 th out of 15). He has also been trying different suspension settings, changing a little at a time to begin to see what works. The next major purchase will probably be a full CCS Buttonwillow Race continued on Page 4 www.precisionstrikeracing.com The Bullseye 3

CCS Buttonwillow Race continued from Page 3 exhaust and jet kit for the R6. The R6 currently has a loud backfire off of the straightaway into Turn 1 at many tracks. The jetting for the R6 is starting to become an issue since we run a variety of tracks that vary in elevation from approximately 4000 to 200. Our buddy Jim was also a great member of the pit crew. Even though he s primarily a car guy, he was content with wrenching on his friend s 125, giving riders emergency push starts, and helping with odds and ends in the pits. He was also reunited with Molly, our Honda Express 50 pit bike. Jim helped us pull Molly out of my parent s abandoned shed several years ago, and got her up and running. He currently holds the land speed record on Molly of 27 mph. Unfortunately, Molly bucked Jim off during a ride in the backyard one fateful day, resulting in Jim bruising his collarbone, and mild body damage to Molly (tweaked wire baskets). At Buttonwillow, Jim was able to do one last burnout with Molly before heading back to NorCal, while we headed back to AZ. Overall, it was a good weekend. We got to learn a new track, meet up with an old friend, and we didn t crash. The only downside was the long 11 hour drive back to Tucson. But for a great experience, it was worth it. June, July, August 2003 Race Results Elaine's ASMA Races Formula 2/LW Twins 9 13 Southwest Thunder 12 13 600 Amateur 13 13 Vintage 3 3 Formula Amateur 17 17 Zac's ASMA Races* 750 Superbike Amateur 5 10 Elaine's CCS SW Buttonwillow Races SuperSingles 1 1 AM Lightweight Sportsman 1 1 AM Lightweight Supersport 6 7 Zac's CCS SW Buttonwillow Races AM Middleweight Superbike 13 15 AM Middleweight Supersport 14 20 AM Heavyweight Supersport 10 13 Elaine's CCS SW Vegas Races 8/2 SuperSingles 1 1 8/2 AM Lightweight Sportsman 2 3 8/2 AM Lightweight Supersport 8 9 8/3 SuperSingles 1 1 8/3 AM Lightweight Sportsman 1 2 8/3 AM Lightweight Supersport 7 7 Zac's CCS SW Vegas Races 8/2 AM Middleweight Supersport 16 21 8/2 AM Heavyweight Supersport 9 17 8/3 AM Middleweight Supersport 9 11 8/3 AM Heavyweight Supersport 11 14 Pit crewmember Jim with a final farewell burnout on Molly. *No results for other classes due to crash. Trophy finishes in bold. Zac in the Off-ramp corner of Buttonwillow. www.precisionstrikeracing.com The Bullseye 4

Taking the August Heat in Vegas by Elaine Seasly Vegas in August? Are you crazy? Those were the questions most people asked us when they found out we were headed to Las Vegas for the first weekend in August for the CCS race. The answer: Yes, we probably were crazy due to the years of Tucson heat going to our heads. Luckily we were desert rats, and used to the extreme temperatures of summer in the southwest. Mountain biking in the heat has taught us the value of hydrating the day before you plan to be out in the heat, and to keep hydrated throughout the day. But even though we were still used to the heat, the weather reports were calling for an unbearably hot weekend, and wearing 10 lbs of motorcycle racing gear doesn t exactly help to keep one cool. The August race weekend was a CCS Twin Sprint weekend, so we would be racing on both Saturday and Sunday. We arrived at the track early Saturday morning and got a pretty good pit spot along the paddock wall that faces the straightaway and the entrance to Turn 1. Zac found our racing friend, Joel Dennis, and he set up in our pit space. Joel races an older RZ 350, so we would be racing together in the Lightweight Sportsman class. Since we had been to the Vegas Classic Course track back in May, we knew the corners of the track pretty well for the morning practice. My first race of the day was Super Singles, which was a combined grid with Ultra Lightweight Sportsman. I was able to race with Rick Cramer and his friend, who were both on Ninja 250s. I didn t get too aggressive on the track for my first race of the morning, especially since there was no one else in Super Singles to race with. The heat must have frightened everyone away, as many of the grids were lighter with fewer entrants than usual. Lightweight SuperSport was the best race of the day for me. Both Rick Cramer and I were racing hard with each other. We exchanged positions countless times each lap. We both would try to out brake each other into Turn 1, but I was usually able to fold the MZ over on the inside and get in front. I could hold good speed and an aggressive line through Turn 2. Rick would dive under me on the inside in Turn 4, and I d follow him through Turn 5 to set up the pass in the high-speed sweeper. The MZ was pegged as we flew through Turn 6, which is the fastest part of the track. Each time I got my knee down at over 100 mph in Turn 6 I realized it was the ragged edge of insanity and exhilaration. The corner is amazingly fast, but at the same time I always had the thought in the back of my mind that it would suck to have a mechanical failure at that point. I was able to get a gap on Rick after the sweeper, but he d catch up on the brakes for Turn 7. We would then change positions a few times between turns 7, 8, and 9. We d be hard on the gas down the start/finish straight and start the whole thing over again for Turn 1. This was also the first race where I was racing close to another racer. At one point I remembered going through Turn 9 on the outside of Rick, and Enjoying The Bullseye? An electronic version of this newsletter is available for download at www.precisionstrikeracing.com. Las Vegas Classic Course track layout courtesy of www.tz250racing.com his front wheel was close to my inside shoulder. Racing that close didn t freak me out, since most of my concentration was focused on figuring out how I was going to set up the next pass. In the end Rick was able to stick the pass in Turn 9 on the last lap and crossed the line half a bike length in front of me. Afterwards I met up with Rick in the pits and we congratulated each other on a great race. The final race of the day for me was Lightweight Sportsman, which was gridded with Thunderbike. Rick Cramer (Ninja 250), Joel Dennis (RZ 350), Mark Spiegel (SV 650 Thunderbike) and I were all grouped together for the first few turns. Mark was in front, followed by Rick and then myself. Rick took some time getting around Mark. I kept an eye on where Rick was setting up to pass, and hoped that would open up the door for me to get by. Sure enough, Rick passed Mark on the inside of Turn 4 as he had been doing all day, which enabled me to follow him through on the inside of Mark as we exited Turn 4. I got aggressive into Turn 5 so that I could set up to pass Rick on power for the highspeed sweeper of Turn 6. I made the pass, but Rick caught me again in Turn 7. Mark came back around, so I diced with him, which allowed Rick to open up a gap on us. But by the end I was able to stay in front of Mark and carry the lead to the checkered flag. Zac s races were riddled with red flags on Saturday. He decided to save money and tires and just enter AM Middleweight SuperSport and AM Heavyweight SuperSport. His first race of the day, AM Middleweight SuperSport, everyone went piling into Turn 1. Since we were pitted down by that corner, Joel and I were able to see the action unfold. We could see Zac in the middle of the group, and he was sandwiched between bikes. He had guys leaning on either side of him. Not your typical rubbing is racing contact, but bike on bike contact through the corner. He finally had to put his elbows out to get a bit of room. He thought for sure the guy behind him was going to hit his rear wheel, but luckily they all made it through the corner. However, the race wasn t without red flags, and the racers had to wait in pre-grid in the hot pits until everything could get cleared. Thankfully, the Pirelli tire guys were handing out water to all of their racers, so Zac was able to get water before I made it down CCS Vegas Race continued on Page 6 www.precisionstrikeracing.com The Bullseye 5

CCS Vegas Race continued from Page 5 to the hot pits. He finished that race 16 th out of 21. His Heavyweight SuperSport race also had a few red flags. One red flag was due to several riders going down. I grabbed our umbrella and got down to the hot pits to give Zac some shade while the mess was cleaned up. I guess I wasn t the typical umbrella girl, since I had just finished one of my races and was still wearing my boots and had my Wintex leathers peeled down to the waist. Zac appreciated the bit of shade, and successfully finished the race without crashing. He finished 9 th out of 17, as most of the riders behind him in the standings had crashed out. With so many crashes on Saturday, the grids were even lighter on Sunday. Rick Cramer and his friend stayed for the morning practice sessions, but had to leave early to begin the drive back to CA. Throughout Lightweight SuperSport I raced Mark and his SV again, but this time he was able to hold the pass at the end and get the checkered flag in front of me. In Lightweight Sportsman I was joined on the grid with Joel Dennis, and he led the group of myself, Mark, and another rider through the first couple of turns. I got around Joel in the high-speed sweeper. I knew I had to keep the MZ pegged and really commit to the sweeper each lap to be able to keep in front of the group. I didn t know where everyone was, but I wasn t going to turn around to check. I figured that as soon as I did that, someone would pass me. I rode the race as if there was someone right behind me, but in the end I was the one crossing the finish line in front of the group. SuperSingles was quite empty, which in a way was good, since I was tired and worn out from the hard Lightweight Sportsman race. Zac s grids were also lighter on Sunday, but his races were still red flagged. With all of the carnage he was able to finish 11 th out of 14 in AM Heavyweight SuperSport and 9 th out of 11 in AM Middleweight SuperSport. With the close of his last race of the day, we had finished a successful weekend of completing all races with neither of us going down. We figured this would make the drive to Tucson a bit more pleasant, but unfortunately a woman in a red Blazer decided to merge into the side of our RV on the Vegas freeway as we headed back. After a weekend of racing the only bodywork damage was to the RV passenger door. It s still funny to tell people that after a weekend of racing motorcycles, the motorhome is the vehicle that comes back with the most damage from the weekend. C ALENDAR OF U PCOMING E VENTS September 13-14 ASMA Practice & Race Weekend #5 Arroyo Seco Motorplex, Deming, NM September 27-28 CCS SW Practice & Race Weekend Firebird Main Track, Phoenix, AZ October 11-12 ASMA Practice & Race Weekend #6 Arroyo Seco Motorplex, Deming, NM October 18-19 CCS Race of Champions Daytona, FL Photo by PowerSports Photography. www.powersportsphotography.com Picture perfect: Pitching the MZ over in Turn 5 at the Vegas Classic Course. www.precisionstrikeracing.com The Bullseye 6

New Race Bike in the Stable: 94 TZ250 by Elaine Seasly As my racing has progressed over the season at Arroyo, I began to desire a different kind of race bike. The MZ is a great machine, but one can only get so much power out of one before reliability becomes compromised. I wanted to keep my MZ a good, reliable race bike, but desired to start running with the bigger bikes at Arroyo. I began thinking about the ideal race bike for me, and researching different options. It came down to the fact that I didn t want a big bike. To me, anything over a 600 was a big bike. They are great bikes for some, but I never got over how heavy the bikes felt. Since I m a lightweight rider compared to others at the track, I decided I should use that to the best of my advantage. So I started looking at the smaller, lightweight, fast machines. It came down to the Yamaha TZ 125 and TZ 250. In the end, I decided a TZ 250 would be my next bike. They still have the oddball factor that I enjoy with the MZ, and there isn t a ton of them at the track. The deciding factor was the fact that the TZ 125 is a single, and I already own and race a single. So the TZ 250 it was. As with most of my major purchases in life, I decided that I would save up the money and start looking around later on in the year. This was the same reasoning I used for the house, the RV, and several other purchases. Just when I start looking, a great deal creeps up that cannot be refused. The TZ was no different. In our search, Zac and I figured a 1994 TZ would be a good bike to get. It would be old enough to be cheaper, but not too old that parts from other model year TZ s wouldn t fit. Sure enough, a 1994 TZ 250 was for sale on TZ250racing.com. We watched the ad for a couple of days, looked around at other sites, but kept coming back to that ad. We went ahead and contacted the owner to ask him a bunch of questions, and a few days later made the decision to buy. A week later the TZ was in our garage. it made my MZ feel heavy. The riding position seems to fit me well, like the bike was made for a rider my size. Zac has already set to work changing the bike from a GP shift pattern back to a standard street pattern. My race MZ is a street pattern, as well as my commuter MZ and the vintage Honda CL 450 race bike. It made no sense to try to learn a different shift pattern just for one bike, especially since I still plan to race the MZ. I could just see myself getting confused on the pattern in a corner on one of the bikes. We made up a small batch of pre-mix, and started the bike up to see how it ran. Zac took it up and down the street in front of our house a few times, and was happy with how it felt. The first official test ride will be at the August 16 th Arroyo Seco track day. I ve had the most track time at Arroyo, and the track day falls on a non-race weekend, so we won t have the pressure of a race to worry about. We re just taking the TZ out, and Zac is brining all of his tools so that we can spend the day wrenching and setting up the bike for me. I m eager to get the TZ out on the track to see what it will do. For the fans of the MZ, don t worry, the MZ isn t going anywhere. The current plan is to compete in the 2004 Arroyo series on the TZ. Depending on how the track day goes, I may be racing it for the remainder of the 2003 Arroyo season to get more track time on it. I ll also race the TZ in the CCS Lightweight GP class for 2004. The MZ will still compete in the CCS Lightweight Sportsman and Super Singles classes. I think that by racing both bikes, I ll become a better rider, and faster on both machines. The great thing about this bike is that it s extremely easy to work on. Just about everything has a quick release, or isn t too tough to get to, compared to the street bikes that were converted to race bikes. The first thing I noticed was how lightweight the bike was. It was so light The new TZ250 with my own personal touch (purple hibiscus flower stickers). Stay tuned for future issues of The Bullseye with more TZ action! www.precisionstrikeracing.com The Bullseye 7

Elaine Wishes to Thank the Following 2003 Sponsors: www.tucsonreadymix.com Hair Glove by Head Gear www.hairglove.com Elaine & Zac Both Wish to Thank: CDS LEATHERWORKS www.precisionstrikeracing.com The Bullseye 8