Friday, March 12, 2010
Skip Salenius - Tankslappin' Blues
AMA Superbike racer Skip Salenius talks about his weekend at the AMA season opener of Daytona in his first CornerSpeedPhoto column. Be sure to check back here to follow Skip's progress as he contests a nearly full season in 2010 on the No. 63 Run 1 Racing Motorsports Team Yamaha R1.
Let me start off by saying that Daytona is not a very fun place on a tankslappin' 180mph GSX-R1000. That being said, I guess just making the grid at 107% was a feat in itself. I'm suppose to be on a new R1, which is actually in my garage right now. It's just not ready yet and I didn't get it in time for Daytona. So... not having a bike to ride wasn't an option. Thanks to a good friend of mine, Andy, for going out and picking up a streetbike for me to build for Daytona. I already had all the parts to bolt on the Gsxr. So, that was the quickest way to get a bike prepped in 3 to 4 weeks.
First qualifying was early Thursday morning, a 30 minute warm up. The bike was still not right. It was just shaking down every straightaway. Not fun. I managed to run a decent enough time, somehow, to put me in the show. With final qualifying still needing to be run at lunch, I knew I'd have to drop a little more time to make the show. The bike was still a mess. After trying more things with the bike, I went out for final qualifying. I made the show by the skin of my teeth. The race was ok for a couple laps. The way the bike was tankslapping in the draft, going down the straightaways, it was impossible to hold on to the throttle wide open so I lost the draft. The race was boring from there, I was just holding on. After the race I tore the bike completly apart. A frame and a motor.
Let me start off by saying that Daytona is not a very fun place on a tankslappin' 180mph GSX-R1000. That being said, I guess just making the grid at 107% was a feat in itself. I'm suppose to be on a new R1, which is actually in my garage right now. It's just not ready yet and I didn't get it in time for Daytona. So... not having a bike to ride wasn't an option. Thanks to a good friend of mine, Andy, for going out and picking up a streetbike for me to build for Daytona. I already had all the parts to bolt on the Gsxr. So, that was the quickest way to get a bike prepped in 3 to 4 weeks. Wednesday morning's 30 minute practice was literally the first time I threw a leg over that GSX-R1000. Everything was off! Gearing, suspension, my head. I hadn't ridden a race bike in 3 months, only dirt. I had another 1 hour session later in the afternoon to try to figure a few things out. Not! Just as I was about to roll out of the garage, I put the bike in gear and... Nothing. Bike cut off. Realized it was some kind of a clutch issue. I had changed the gearing after the first session and while I had the clutch plate off the side of the countershaft sprocket, someone had grabbed my clutch lever and sent air down my hydraulic clutch. I ended up missing the only full session before qualifying. Bummed!
First qualifying was early Thursday morning, a 30 minute warm up. The bike was still not right. It was just shaking down every straightaway. Not fun. I managed to run a decent enough time, somehow, to put me in the show. With final qualifying still needing to be run at lunch, I knew I'd have to drop a little more time to make the show. The bike was still a mess. After trying more things with the bike, I went out for final qualifying. I made the show by the skin of my teeth. The race was ok for a couple laps. The way the bike was tankslapping in the draft, going down the straightaways, it was impossible to hold on to the throttle wide open so I lost the draft. The race was boring from there, I was just holding on. After the race I tore the bike completly apart. A frame and a motor. Friday morning I got to the track and proceeded to rebuild my bike for the morning warmup at 11:45. I was really hoping I had addressed the problem. Not! I tried everything. My suspension guy, Lenny Albin, from Race Tech had done all kinds of stuff to try to accommodate my bike's handling woes. I thought it was my steering damper. I still think that was part of the issue. I had pretty much settled that race 2 on Friday afternoon, I was just gonna try to survive. Nothing I seemed to do could get my bike to go straight, very frustrating. I held onto the guys in the back for a minute, then proceeded to run off the track on lap 2 or 3 and lost touch. Another lonely race at the back which is somewhere I won't be again this season.
I'd really like to thank Monty Spears of Run 1 Racing for getting me to Daytona and VooDoo Racing for the bike. I'm ready to get on the R1! It's being prepped now and I should have it ready for Road Atlanta in April. See ya'll there!
Labels: AMA Superbike, Skip Salenius
