NINTH!!!
June 27, 28 and 29 marked the fifth round of the WERA National Challenge series, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. For this weekend I’d built a brand-new Yamaha R6 racebike with the help of Mike Castro of Fuzimoto Performance and Mike McClaine of RideStream Racing, and I was extremely excited to see how it’d perform. I traveled down as usual with Will Grenier and Corey Baum of ClimaCover Racing, Brandon Bones of Studio819 Photography, and Doug Kreckow and John Baum who were kind enough to help us transport all our bikes and gear.
Friday – Practice
The bike, as I mentioned, was brand new. With only two-tenths of a mile on the odometer, this weekend would be its break-in, bed-in, and rider-familiarization period all in one. I would get a total of 100 minutes of practice time before having to race it at a national level, so on Friday morning I was up bright and early and on a mission.
Long story short: I think, and the bike does.
Chris Sarbora @ Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 2008
It’s incredible. On my previous bikes, I would have to muscle the bars into a turn to get the bike to flip quickly. On the new R6, I would simply look at the apex, and the bike would arrow straight for it. On several occasions I nearly steered off the track… to the inside. The bike brakes better than I’d ever imagined possible, even with OEM pads. Combined with the slipper clutch, I found myself braking at the last marker and feeling comfortable, in corners where I’d been braking at the first marker and feeling scared. The slipper clutch is my new favorite toy.. I used to have to dedicate a lot of attention to my clutch during corner entry, and doing so added a nice degree of control, but it’s a lot easier to not have to think about it anymore! I can shift now literally after I’m tipped in, if I have to. The stock suspension, which I left completely unchanged – didn’t even fiddle with the dials – performed flawlessly all weekend, and I never even brushed up against its limits. Lastly, the motor (built by Mike Castro of Fuzimoto) pulls like a raped ape; there is no other way to describe it. I came to Vegas geared entirely wrong (eight or nine teeth too tall in the rear, I never even got into fifth gear), and I often short-shifted as I wasn’t used to wringing the motor’s neck all the way up to 16,000 rpm.. and it still pulled on everyone else. Thanks Fuzzy!!!
And yes, before anyone asks.. whoever had “second session out” wins the pool. I had one mishap this weekend – during the second practice session, I came up on a rider who looked new to the track due to his lines, and I tried to pass him on the entry into turn 7, a hard left-hander. Unfortunately, right after I committed to the pass he changed his line and hit the brakes hard, and I ran right into his back wheel. Apparently he was lucky enough to stay upright, which I’m thankful for because I definitely hit him and not the other way around, but as I was tumbling into the dirt and praying that my bike wouldn’t land on me, I couldn’t help but mutter every curse I knew at myself for not having the patience to pass him on the straight. The damage, however, turned out to be almost entirely cosmetic: Broken fairings, broken exhaust can cap, and dented tank. The right-side rearset was fairly mangled, but Lenny Albin of RaceTech Suspension was able to bend it back into shape for me and Gino of Team Zyvax Racing was kind enough to give me a spare exhaust bracket. With everyone’s help, we managed to repair the bike in time to miss only two practice sessions.. which was totally ok with me, as the track temperature was a brutal 150*F and my black leather suit would literally burn me if I was on the bike for too long.
At the end of the day, I ended up getting in six solid practice sessions. I remembered which way the track went, got familiar with how the bike handled, and didn’t do too much damage to the bike or myself. I kicked back, thankful especially of that last fact, and prepared to relax on my day off on Saturday as I wasn’t doing the endurance race this round.
Saturday – Endurance
Relaxed. Ahhhh 
Sunday – Sprints
On Sunday we got two last ten-minute practices, which I used to make sure everything was still in order and there wasn’t going to be any surprises, and then my first race up was 600 Superstock. I found out the hard way that I should’ve practiced starts on the bike – because mine was terrible. I watched probably a half-dozen bikes blow past me because I bogged the motor and couldn’t get a drive. Then, once I got going, I found myself caught behind a much slower rider than I, but one whom I was unwilling to pass due to my incident on Friday. After several laps of frustrating myself I finally got past him on the exit of turn 4 onto the straight, and my laptimes did drop a few seconds, but the race was stopped shortly after due to a red flag. I ended up finishing twentieth, although I think I could have done better had I not been gun-shy of passing. Still, it wasn’t last and I didn’t get lapped, and that was my goal for the weekend!
750 Superstock was up next, and it’s story is actually almost identical: Bum start, still a little gun-shy of passing (but not quite so much), 20th place finish.
The track temperature at this point in the day was a no-joke 150*F. In the shade, the air temperature was 112. We quite literally did not have to use warmers – you could simply place your tires on the asphalt, and they would be up to temp. About halfway into a race, they’d get greasy – even the BT-003 Type 2 Hards I was running specifically for this weekend.. I’ll have to remember to get the ultra-hard Type 1’s for next year. After 750 Superstock I had only a one-race break before 600 Superbike, so I didn’t even really peel off my suit; I just had my friends pour water into my boots and down my back. By the halfway flags of the race inbetween, I was dry.
Chris Sarbora @ Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 2008
Finally, my “break” finished up and I climbed back on the bike, determined to finish all four races despite the heat. I had a decent grid position, 7th row, and caught a start good enough to not get passed by everyone. After a lap or two I found myself behind one of the Team Zyvax riders, Scott Layman #717, whom I battled with for another lap before squeezing by in turn 4, a hairpin right. By this point my tires were beginning to overheat and slide around on corner entry and exit, but I guess thanks to me being used to the older bikes not having traction control and slipper clutches, this actually felt quite at home for me. I passed another couple bikes and then eventually caught up to my pitmate Mark Howell, who was fast as sin on an ‘06 CBR600. I chased him down over the course of a lap and then on the front straight, we received the white flag: Last lap. I wanted past him bad, and I knew it had to happen pronto. Through turns 1 – 4 I was on his heels like a dog, but because I was geared all wrong I couldn’t get a drive on him, and my rear was so hot at this point that I was slipping around too much under braking to make a clean pass. Finally on the back straight through turn 5, a sixth-gear (normally, fourth for me) right-hander, I got up next to him and dove in, absolutely determined to get the inside line. He hung with me for a second but then let off, and it’s a damn lucky thing he did because there’s a crack in the pavement around mid-track and as soon as I crossed it, the front tucked!! I pushed the front for probably about ten or fifteen yards, but thankfully the corner was fast enough and I was leaned over enough that I was able to pick the bike back up and get the wheels in line again before nearing the edge of the track. So, with Pucker Factor 9 in full effect and still leading Mark, I charged into the last three corners of the race and took defensive – and very safe and comforting – lines, to finish me off in 9th place with a best time of 1:22.803, a PR for me by over three seconds!
My last race, 750 Superbike, was more of the first two – poor start, not very good passing. I made one pass the whole race but because of a red-flag it didn’t end up getting counted, so I finished dead last.. whoops! I really didn’t mind though. I’d had the spectacular race prior and by this point in the day my bike, my tires and myself were all severely overheated, so I was really just intent on finishing the race. I did so, didn’t get lapped, and came in happy.
I’d like to specially thank Doug Kreckow and John Baum for carting all my junk the thousand-odd miles down to Vegas, and then taking care of and cooking for us all, to boot. I’d also like to thank Corey Baum of ClimaCover Racing and Will Grenier, my pitmates, and Brandon Bones of Studio819 Photography for convincing me to spend all my money and energy on this foolhardy racing business so that I could come have the time of my life with ‘em! Finally, last but never least, I have to throw out a million and a half thanks to all my sponsors, because without any one of ‘em, all my money and energy still wouldn’t be nearly enough to get me through even one race weekend: Studio819 Photography, Pennell Powersports/Bridgestone, Fuzimoto Performance, new sponsor V-holdR Cameras, MorePower Racing, Adrenaline Freaks Track Days, RaceTech Suspension, Vortex, Motorex Fluids, Pipercross Filters, Junior Monkey Design and of course, PNWRIDERS.COM. Every single one of ‘em knows what it takes to put together a race weekend and every single one of ‘em is needed. They support me, so please support them!