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2004 WERA :: The Rookie Expert Season

THE ROOKIE EXPERT SEASON

On paper, my first season as an expert went extremely well. I exceeded my own expectations, winning races and even an AMA National Championship. However those who have been close to the paddock this season know that my dad and I have had our hands full from the minute the green flag dropped on the season. Chasing problems and working on bikes more than normal was the top story, rather than focusing on getting faster on the track.

With running two Suzuki SV650s this year, we’ve always tried to pride ourselves on meticulously preparing our bikes and having them ready to go the minute they come out of the trailer. It just wasn’t that easy this year and it wasn’t for lack of effort. We had two engine failures on our Superstock SV which was a brand new, out of the box bike. What provided a small amount of comfort was that quite a few people were having engine failures with the new SV engines and Suzuki has supposedly been looking into the issues.

The Superbike SV on the other hand was rock solid. Jamie Hanshaw built a fast and reliable motor which worked great all season long. The problems we had with the Superbike were carburetor issues, along with an irritating water leak that kept showing its face every time we thought we had found the solution.

This year I raced mostly the entire North Central WERA schedule. After going two seasons without crashing, I seemingly balanced the law of averages by meeting the asphalt four times too many; the most costly happening in the off-track ruts of Nelson Ledges where I hurt my shoulder pretty good. I struggled through the few remaining races of the weekend and then sat out the final round of the season at Grattan Raceway, given the final point standings had already been determined.

The end of the season was the most frustrating. We planned the year around the WERA Grand National Finals at Road Atlanta; something I was really looking forward to given that I had done so well there last year. We made the trip down from Michigan and were ready to go, but the first practice would shut the door. It started to rain three laps in and four riders went down in one turn during the span of about 30 seconds. I was one of them unfortunately, landing hard and sliding into the grass.

After attempting to race in Lightweight Superstock injured, I came to the realization that the season was over. It was an extremely unpleasant feeling knowing that the winning laptimes were right where I was last year.

Amidst the challenges, there were highlights throughout the year. I started off the season at BeaveRun Motorsports Park in Pennsylvania, winning my first four races as an expert. I loved this new track and was ecstatic that I had set the fastest lightweight time, only seconds off the overall lap record set by Larry Pegram.

Mid-Ohio proved to be a lot of fun. I was there with WERA for the AMA Grand National Championships. Although it was my first time racing there, I was able to quickly get up to speed and win the AMA Sports Lightweight Superbike Grand National Championship, going against some of the strongest competition I had faced all year. I was extremely proud to be picked as part of the AMA Team Challenge as a member of the WERA Team, which went head to head against the four other organizations/teams in attendance.

By season’s end, I was able to win 11 races and clinch 3 class championships in WERA’s Formula 2, Heavyweight Superbike and Lightweight Superstock classes. Overall the season went well, but it would have been nice to win more races. :-) For 2005, I’m going to focus on one bike and riding it as fast as I can. While the Suzuki SV Cup has eluded me this year, I have plans to go after it again next year.

The main reason for this race report however is to give a sincere thank you to everyone. The support of all my sponsors and the whole Witchkraft team (my dad, Gina, Chad and Aaron especially) has honestly been a tremendous help. I could not have competitively participated in this sport without everyone’s help.

Thank you.

Thursday, January 1st, 2004 | POSTED AT: 12:04 PM
FILED UNDER: Race Reports