LRRS invading VIR AMA this weekend

[a13x]

Friday updates
-----------------

Cronin-
Christian ran a real good time today, 30.7, but had all his times DQ'ed after he failed a gas check. Basically he had some old (non-ama spec) gas left in the system and it didn't get flushed out enough today and some trace leftovers caused him to fail. Doesn't affect his qualifying however as tomorrow (saturday) is when he has to do all his Q'ing.

Christian had a pretty good wreck in Supersport. His voltage regulator died on him while coming out of the esses causing the bike to lose all power. He was then rear-ended by Corey Rech at a pretty good rate of speed and they both went down. Corey broke his wrist but Christian was okay, though his R6 was a bit banged up. It's all back together and it's ready to go for tomorrow.

Brent, Cory, and Shane are all doing pretty well. Shane's lapping in the 27's as I recall. Brent dropped some time in the afternoon and got to 31's and Cory's right there with him.

Wood-
Jeff's had a pretty good day. He was off in the morning practice but got it going in Basic Qualifying. He was P3 for a good while in Basic Q. The first run out he happened to be behind Mladin and ran with Mat for 3 good laps (setting his 26.1) before Mladin pitted in. Probably wasn't too stoked he had this nobody right on his bum for 3 laps! Made some changes to the rear shock after that and couldn't quite get that magic feel again nor good tow, plus Jeff was getting a little worked up. It was good for P8 thou and put him in Superpole ahead of the factory Suzuki of Blake Young, Factory Yamaha of BBoz (who didn't make superpole), Laverty on the Celtic bike, Jake Holden, and Taylor Knapp. Turned a few heads putting it in Superpole, his bike and setup def looks way out of place.

Superpole was good. Didn't go great in the 3rd split and lost a bit of time but held onto P8 which is good for 2nd row and pretty big accomplishment. Ahead of Tommy Hayden's factory Suzuki and was just .1 off Blake Young. Holden was 10th. Jeff has a practice session in the morning to try some stuff but the plan is to just get a good start and try to hang with the guys. Long 23 lap race and it's pretty darn hot here!

Oh AMA Tech pulled Jeff's bike after Superpole to dyno it and it made a whopping 167hp. Ludington laughed it out of the dyno room! That's ah... not much. Bike is 16th fastest in the trap speeds, it's def low on power compared to the guys around him.

[lrrs699]

alex thanks for the update. cant wait to see how everyone does.

[OreoGaborio]

That's fukkin amazing! Go Jeff!!!

[lrrs699]

Friday updates
-----------------Oh AMA Tech pulled Jeff's bike after Superpole to dyno it and it made a whopping 167hp. Ludington laughed it out of the dyno room! That's ah... not much. Bike is 16th fastest in the trap speeds, it's def low on power compared to the guys around him.

what is the general hp at the wheel?

[a13x]

what is the general hp at the wheel?

Yosh bikes probably around 190-200.

[a13x]

It's 2:15am, just finished the MJM releases and this one. Nightly night. Crew call is at 6:30am.. fuck.

---------------

Higgins Powersports / Roadracingworld.com's Jeff Wood makes his debut
AMA Superpole appearance and puts his 2008 Suzuki on the second row
at Virginia International Raceway

Team Higgins Powersports / Roadracingworld.com's Jeff Wood gave fans something to
talk about Friday at Virginia International Raceway by out-qualifying multiple factory
superbikes in only his fourth AMA Pro Racing appearance over the past two years. Wood,
battling a severe top speed disadvantage (16th fastest trap speed), did so by capturing
a spot inside the prestigious Superpole session that took place late Friday afternoon at
VIR. The Northeast-based rider set an impressive time of 1:26.102 during Basic Qualifying
on his 2008 Superstock-spec bike which had him in third position for the early part of the
session, eventually finishing eighth overall. That eighth overall Basic Qualifying time meant
Wood would be taking part in his first ever Superpole session, limited to the top ten riders
from Basic Qualifying.

In Superpole, each rider is given one-flying lap to set their best laptime. That laptime then
determines the starting position for those ten select riders in Round 10's feature National
Guard American Superbike races. As a Superpole rookie Wood wasn't quite sure what to
expect during his run and went for the conservative strategy, which may have hampered
his final split more than was intended. Regardless Wood put a solid lap together
and placed his Higgins Powersports / Roadracingworld.com Suzuki on the second row
and set a AMA Superbike-career best 8th place starting position for Saturday and
Sunday's races.

After Superpole Wood's motorcycle was randomly selected by the AMA (along with
three others) for a post-session dyno run where the true privateer machine came in at
167hp.

Jeff Wood - 8th 1:26.783
“Definitely can't complain about starting from the second row at the AMA National” said
Wood. “I really wasn't sure what to expect during Superpole and honestly was just pretty
stroked to make it in. Based off our times earlier today I knew we were doing okay and I
just wanted to get the bike home in one piece and get ready for tomorrow's races. I think
I left a few tenths out there in that last split but again we're still on the second row and
ahead of a few of the factory guys so that's cool. I know those guys are going to come
out swinging tomorrow morning however and it's going to be a battle ever lap of the
race. Come race time the plan is to get a good start, hammer out 23 laps, and we'll see
what happens.”

[lrrs313]

----------------Oh AMA Tech pulled Jeff's bike after Superpole to dyno it and it made a whopping 167hp. Ludington laughed it out of the dyno room! That's ah... not much. Bike is 16th fastest in the trap speeds, it's def low on power compared to the guys around him.

Isn't that similar to his FX race last year? Gotta make the factory guys feel great......

[BMFR6]

nice update, thanks alex.

[BMFR6]

[Pittenger5]

Those are some sweet red chairs.

[BMFR6]

yeah they are.

[Pittenger5]

I wonder where one can purchase such fancy chairs. They'd look fantastic in my living room.

[BMFR6]

i think the guy on the scooter is pointing to the red chair store. i bet you could find some there

[Pittenger5]

Sigh, theres no contact information listed for guy on the scooter. But the chick has a nice ass.

[BMFR6]

good luck finding contact info, i think that's michael jordan

[Pittenger5]

good luck finding contact info, i think that's michael jordan

I always thought he'd be tanner.

[JRide]

Thanks for the update!

[13]

I always thought he'd be tanner.

No, Bob Saget played Danny Tanner. Michael Jordan played basketball.

[-jro-]

yay, I likes da picture hell of a weekend, I will be chiming in later tonight with ride reports on all the ill-nasty roads in the VIR area. Anyone got any screen shots of me on SPEED?

[daviid]

Jro i got it on DVR

[a13x]

Higgins Powersports / Roadracingworld.com's Jeff Wood turns heads with Top Ten finish at VIR

Jeff Wood and his Higgins Powersports / Roadracingworld.com (HP/RRW) 2008 GSX-R 1000 entered Round 10 of the AMA Pro Racing championship with two goals in mind: to showcase the ability of the longtime club racer and crack the top ten of the premiere American Superbike class. They succeeded on both accounts with Wood, on a clearly underpowered 2008 privateer machine, causing a stir in the paddock all weekend long with his Superpole performance (P8) on Friday and then following that up with a impressive 10th place finish on Saturday before moving just one spot back on Sunday to finish 11th.

The AMA Pro Racing weekend at VIR marked the third consecutive weekend of National-level racing for the Northeast rider with Wood having competed in the WERA National series both weekends prior at Summit Point WV and VIR respectively. The final weekend proved to be the most challenging with bike issues plaguing the HP/RRW effort throughout the weekend causing Wood and mechanic Glen Piro to stay up late into the night Saturday swapping engines. With the additional help and support of a number of top-teams is in the paddock the privateer machine was able to make Race 2's start and finish out the weekend.

RACE ONE - 10th place
The first race of the Round 10 double-header saw Wood fourteenth (P14) into turn one after mistiming the new AMA starting procedures causing the #19 Higgins Powersports / Roadracingworld.com Suzuki to get a late launch. Undaunted however Wood put his head down and pushed his way through the field until he found himself behind the factory Honda of former World Superbike Champion Neil Hodgson. Wood followed the powerful factory bike for a number of laps before finally making a daring move on the brakes into Turn 1 to make his way past the #100 machine. Once past Wood quickly built up a comfortable gap which was fortunate as his GSX-R ran out of gas coming out of the final corner and was forced to coast across the finish line with the #19 machine just making it across in front of Hodgson for the final Top 10 position.

“Race went pretty good all things considered.” said Jeff Wood “I definitely didn't do myself any favors by botching the start but I didn't expect the light to come on and go off that fast! Once we got through turn one though I just got into a rhythm and kept trying to move forward. Got behind Neil for a while and that was cool to chase a World Champion like that and it wasn't easy to get by that factory machine. Finally got past and just put a little gap there and lucky it was large enough to keep me in tenth when I ran out of gas! We're still running the 2008 map that came with the bike that's for different fuel and the thing is just way rich so we'll see if we can get it sorted for race two. Overall I'm pretty happy with the result and to run with these guys and we'll see how it goes in the next one.”

RACE TWO - 11th place
Race two saw the HP/RRW team take to the grid on a entirely new machine. Wood and Piro were up long into the night changing out motors in a quest to find more power and made a bevy of setup changes to the #19 machine. All was untested however as a kinked fuel line in Sunday mornings warm-up cut power down to 119hp and had the bike spending more time in the pits than on the track as the team frantically tried to deduce the reason for the poor engine performance. With the assistance of a few competitor teams the #19 rolled onto the second row on Sunday ready to tempt fate. Wood was ready this time as the green flag flew and the 2008 Suzuki went into turn one in excellent position. By lap two Wood had remarkably moved into sixth position and looked poised to upset a number of teams as the race progressed. The untested setup changes struck shortly after however as the Higgins Powersports / Roadracingworld.com entry struggled with cornerspeed as the race progressed and the star-studded competition began to move forward. Wood hung on however for the team's second respectable finish of the weekend and finished the race just off the Top 10 with a eleventh place finish (P11).

“Got a great start this time so that was a nice improvement” said Wood. “The bike felt okay on the opening laps and I ran some mid 26's and then it just became a real struggle as the tires got fully up to temp. We changed everything on the bike coming into the race, gearing, ride height, springs, motor, you name it and we didn't really get to test it in practice. Either way we still finished up in good position (11th) and with a field this strong and the number of good bikes on the track you can't get too upset about that. We've had a good weekend here and I'm happy with the results as I think we've shown what we're capable of. I've got to take a minute and say thanks to all the guys who helped us out, you know who you are, especially the Roadracingworld.com crew. Thank you.”

The Higgins Powersports / Roadracingworld.com rider then followed up his weekend actives by appearing on the nationally-syndicated motorcycle show “Pit Pass Radio” on Tuesday the 18th. During the ten minute long interview Wood was asked about this weekend at Virginia International Raceway, what it's like racing as a privateer 'bounty-hunter', and his goals for the future. Pit Pass Radio averages over 80,000 listeners per show and Wood's interview is available for download on the Pit Pass Radio website (http://www.pitpassradio.com).

[-jro-]

congrats to Jeff for a very challenging weekend, he finished great considering all the obstacles in his way.

[-jro-]

as photographed by Daviid's cell phone of his tv lol

[13]

sweet!!

[Pittenger5]

Wow, I never knew how green it was in Virginia