Bryant Rosas.
Gilbert Silva
Thursday, May 11, 2017
The ChaChaCha Contingent - Images From WERA West, Round Two, April 2017 - Part Five
Terry Heard doesn't just race. He brings new racers into the sport and helps them through their early days on the track. A few of the riders who race under the ChaChaCha Motorsports umbrella:
Bryant Rosas.
Gilbert Silva
Wayne Gann.
Bryant Rosas.
Gilbert Silva
Monday, May 8, 2017
Images From WERA West, Round Two, April 2017 - Part Four
Saturday, May 6, 2017
A Privateer's Life - Jake Gagne
Sometimes it's hard to remember how hard, how very hard, it is to make a living as a professional motorcycle road racer. And then you get a glimpse, just a peek behind the curtain, and you realize how close it is to not racing at all for some riders.
American Honda Racing is supporting Team Genuine Broaster Chicken, with team manager Danny Walker and rider Jake Gagne, in the Motul Superbike class in MotoAmerica competition in 2017. Honda says it is kicking in bikes and technical support. That's enough to give you something to race. But scraping together the rest of the program ...
This is an image of the team's bike at the Circuit Of The Americas pre-season test. Two things caught my eye as I walked past. The first was the swingarm, a massive aluminum alloy sculpture, beautiful, something from a MotoGP machine of not too long ago. It is completely stock.
The second was the rear stand. Yep, it's the $39.99 Pittsburgh low profile motorcycle spool stand from Harbor Freight. Sometimes making it to the grid means the team cuts costs wherever it can, and if that means buying rear stands from Harbor Freight, then you buy rear stands from Harbor Freight.
The rider makes compromises and cuts corners, too. Note the tearing Alpinestars undersuit worn by Gagne as he watches the team fettle the new CBR1000RR.
Gagne's proven himself. He's an AMA/DMG Daytona SportBike Champion, a MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Champion, even a Red Bull AMA Rookies Cup champion. He's paid his dues, but even a rider with the credentials he brings to the table still scrapes and struggles to get to the grid.
It was deeply satisfying to see Gagne finish third of the Superbikes in Race Two at COTA. Here's hoping that all the struggles, all the sacrifice, pays off. Nothing but respect for the private teams, and especially the privateer racers.
American Honda Racing is supporting Team Genuine Broaster Chicken, with team manager Danny Walker and rider Jake Gagne, in the Motul Superbike class in MotoAmerica competition in 2017. Honda says it is kicking in bikes and technical support. That's enough to give you something to race. But scraping together the rest of the program ...
This is an image of the team's bike at the Circuit Of The Americas pre-season test. Two things caught my eye as I walked past. The first was the swingarm, a massive aluminum alloy sculpture, beautiful, something from a MotoGP machine of not too long ago. It is completely stock.
The second was the rear stand. Yep, it's the $39.99 Pittsburgh low profile motorcycle spool stand from Harbor Freight. Sometimes making it to the grid means the team cuts costs wherever it can, and if that means buying rear stands from Harbor Freight, then you buy rear stands from Harbor Freight.
The rider makes compromises and cuts corners, too. Note the tearing Alpinestars undersuit worn by Gagne as he watches the team fettle the new CBR1000RR.
Gagne's proven himself. He's an AMA/DMG Daytona SportBike Champion, a MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Champion, even a Red Bull AMA Rookies Cup champion. He's paid his dues, but even a rider with the credentials he brings to the table still scrapes and struggles to get to the grid.
It was deeply satisfying to see Gagne finish third of the Superbikes in Race Two at COTA. Here's hoping that all the struggles, all the sacrifice, pays off. Nothing but respect for the private teams, and especially the privateer racers.
Thursday, May 4, 2017
Images From WERA West, Round Two, April 2017 - Part Three
More images from the WERA West event in April 2017 at Auto Club Speedway.
Justin Simons took a career-first podium in Formula One competition and moved into the points lead in the class.
Helmut Kohler Jr. on his Yamaha YZF-R1.
Ryan Arthur Davis and the sinister YZF-R1.
Gray Pham took three podiums, including the win in D Superstock.
Justin Simons took a career-first podium in Formula One competition and moved into the points lead in the class.
Ryan Arthur Davis and the sinister YZF-R1.
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
MotorBike RoadRacing - The Quarterly
The first issue is available, and it features interviews with WERA racers Terry Heard, Jerry Flores, all-around and veteran racer Jack Baker (on his life with a SuperSingle) , a pile of images of WERA West racers and race results from WERA West and CVMA.
It also has a few of my favorite blog posts from motorbikeroadracing.com, the ones on Marc Marquez and living on the edge of madness, the FIM Endurance World Championship title-decider, the re-emergence of World Champion Terry Rymer and the first of a regular feature called Best. Race. Ever. The first one of those is about the GEICO Superbike Shootout and Mr. Editor Ulrich saving U.S. road racing (again!), and has one of my favorite portraits that I've ever shot, an image of Martin Cardenas after winning the Superbike race.
The plan at the end of the season is to compile the best shots and stories into the yearbook. But this gives me a chance to get more racers into print, showcase some of my better writing and photos and tell a few stories about racers that might not otherwise ever get told.
The first issue is 40 pages, glossy stock, saddle stitched, $11, mailed to your home. Paypal to morbidelli17@yahoo.com. Thanks to WERA, Friction Racing Products, Caliphotography and a special thanks to Tony Serra for making this possible.
The plan at the end of the season is to compile the best shots and stories into the yearbook. But this gives me a chance to get more racers into print, showcase some of my better writing and photos and tell a few stories about racers that might not otherwise ever get told.
The first issue is 40 pages, glossy stock, saddle stitched, $11, mailed to your home. Paypal to morbidelli17@yahoo.com. Thanks to WERA, Friction Racing Products, Caliphotography and a special thanks to Tony Serra for making this possible.
Monday, May 1, 2017
Images From WERA West, Round Two, April 2017 - Part Two
Images from the second round of WERA West, April 2017 at Auto Club Speedway:
Michael Gilbert started 14th in the B Superbike Expert race and 15th in the C Superstock Expert race. He won both. I'm proud to say that coming through the ranks, Gilbert's family bought one of my SVs and the youngster learned some of his skills on one of my old racebikes.
Jacques Cochran (757) and John Knowles (520) head out onto the back straight.
Krystyna Kubran on her Yamaha YZF-R1.
MotoAmerica Superbike top-10 finisher Sebastiao Ferreira.
David Anthony has a quiet smile after notching another win.
Michael Gilbert started 14th in the B Superbike Expert race and 15th in the C Superstock Expert race. He won both. I'm proud to say that coming through the ranks, Gilbert's family bought one of my SVs and the youngster learned some of his skills on one of my old racebikes.
Jacques Cochran (757) and John Knowles (520) head out onto the back straight.
Krystyna Kubran on her Yamaha YZF-R1.
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Images From WERA West, Round Two, April 2017
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