Bryce Prince Earns Three Podium Finishes At WERA West
Bryce Prince won the C Superbike class and came away with two additional podium finishes at the Las Vegas Classic Course this past weekend during WERA West’s third round event.
Sunny, warm and windy conditions proved to be favorable for Prince as he clicked off consistent results with his Yamaha YZF-R6. Starting off with a 3rd place finish in Middleweight Solo 20 Expert on Saturday, he followed it with a win in C Superbike and 2nd in C Superstock on Sunday.
“The weather was great,” said Prince. “The bike set up was great, and we were trying the new Dunlop NTEC 6875 compound tire. I really liked it, and the grip was fantastic.
“We were working on some setup things on Saturday, so I just wanted to race as well as I could, but still get the set up taken care of. I knew on Sunday I would have to really work to beat Joey Pascarella. I had a really good time racing him, and in C Superstock, I made a mistake and didn’t drive the back straight as hard as I should’ve, and he got me, I couldn’t quite get back underneath him. It was a good weekend, and I am looking forward to my next race.
“I also want to thank my sponsors for all their help and support this weekend: Motoyard Track Days, Knology Tuning, Dunlop tires, Motorex, Heroic leathers & gloves, Factory Bodyworks, Zero Gravity, Arai. I really appreciate all of your help and support.”
Bryce Prince’s next event will be WSMC Round 4 at Willow Springs International Raceway, April 16-17, 2011. For more information go to: ~http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bryce-Prince-The-Prince/188511334520359~
More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone:
Spanish Grand Prix debrief with Hirohide Hamashima Round 2: Spanish GP Post-race debrief Jerez Circuit, Thursday 7 April 2011 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear: Soft, Medium Bridgestone wet compounds available: Front: Soft. Rear: Soft The Spanish Grand Prix started with the bright sun and fine weather the AndalucÃan venue is known for, but on Sunday the rain arrived and the first European GP of the season was also the first wet race since the Malaysian GP in 2009. Early on in the weekend the laptimes were very fast and several riders dipped under the lap record. The race however started wet so every rider used Bridgestone’s wet tyres for the first time since the Portuguese GP last year, but as the track started drying by the end of the race the conditions became very tricky. The race was punctuated with crashes with several of the front-runners falling, handing Jorge Lorenzo a dramatic victory ahead of Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden. Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima Director, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development The laptimes in the dry were very impressive, especially during qualifying. Why were they so fast?
“Track conditions were good on Friday and Saturday which was a large factor, and the temperature was also neither too hot or too cold. Immediately on Friday morning the times at the front were fast, although free practice two on Friday afternoon was slower as by then the wind had picked up and was quite strong, and the gusts made it difficult for the riders. But again on Saturday morning in the final free practice the times were very fast again. On just his second flying lap Dani Pedrosa was faster than the existing lap record, and his third lap was 0.9seconds faster than it. By the end of the afternoon’s qualifying session, Casey Stoner was a full one second faster than the lap record, so from this I can say that clearly slick tyre performance was good, coupled with a track temperature of 33 degrees Celsius, good track conditions and very little wind. It also demonstrates the result of the development work undertaken by the teams over the winter.” The race of course was run on wet tyres though which was the first day of wet running this season. What challenges did this pose?
“Well the morning warm-up session was the first time that the teams have used our wet tyres with their 2011 bikes, and also for the MotoGP rookies it was their first time riding in the wet on our tyres too. The warm-up gave them just 20 minutes of running to arrive at good setups for the race which was a great challenge, despite the fact that all manufacturers have a great deal of data at the Jerez circuit from past races and tests here. From our side, the main role was to work closely with the teams and riders to support them in their setup decisions and provide them with any data that we could to help with this process. There was no concern for tyre selection however as under the current regulations we can only select one wet tyre compound for each grand prix, so every rider must use the same.” The race itself was very difficult, both for riders and tyres, because of the conditions. What can you say about wet tyre performance?
“Actually I can say that I am satisfied with the way our wet tyres worked in very difficult and demanding conditions. For sure tyre wear was quite high, but this is because the circuit was becoming increasingly less wet throughout the race and the tarmac at Jerez is abrasive, both of which lead to a higher level of tyre wear. The grip level dropped throughout the race but it did so consistently which made it a little easier for the riders to manage. I can say that the conditions we saw in Jerez were unusual and very tough for our tyres; the toughest situation we can expect to see. I am happy with our wet tyre selection too because compound selection is always a balance between grip level and tyre life, and in such slippery conditions the soft wets provided more grip and riders will always prefer a safer level of grip rather than a tyre that can last much longer but offers no traction. Even if we had the hard compound wet available in Jerez, I believe not many riders would have chosen it because the start of the race was full wet, and even if they did in such tough conditions it would only have given a few more laps.”
More, from a press release issued by South Central Race Center:
The second round of racing with the CMRA sees action at the famous Texas World Speedway circuit. Saturday was highlighted by an 8 hour long endurance race. The race was going smooth for the Quadwealth/SCRC team, until their rider made a small mistake and fell during the 3rd hour, while extending the 2 lap lead they were enjoying. They rejoined the field after repairs, in 7th overall and 8 laps down from the leaders. The team fought back to just 2 laps down from the leader, but ended up 3rd overall and 2nd in A Superbike. The team owner, John Hutchinson, was quoted as “We just ran out of time. We could consistently lap 4 to 5 seconds a lap faster than the field, but just ran out of time. The laps are rather long here, so when you fall behind; it just makes it that much harder to catch back up. I’m proud of our team, and the way we fought back. We could have easily lost the season with all the points on the line for an 8 hour event.” Pirelli teams of Team Penetration ended 6th overall and 3rd in C Superbike, while NORDCO Racing finished 9th overall and 3rd in A Superbike.
Sunday brought the sprint racing action of the weekend, and Pirelli riders were up front in every class. Setting the pace for the weekend was Ty Howard aboard a KTM RC8R setting the fastest lap of the weekend in route to winning the A Superstock race, shod with Diablo Supercorsas and the new 200/55 rear tire. Then ending his weekend early when he got caught out in a turn 1 incident, on the start of his second race. Derek Wagnon went 2 for 2 aboard his GSXR 600, while running the same set of Diablo Supercorsa 120/70 front & 180/60 rear tires. William Guthrie won 2 races, while running the new Diablo Superbike Slick in the 200/60 size. Guthrie put on a great show, battling the Michelin shod bike of Danny Kelsey, but in both cases Guthrie won out. The new Diablo Supercorsa 180/60 rear perform superbly, aiding Eddie Thornton to take his second consecutive victory in the Rookie Expert class. In the Heavyweight Twins class Ryan Andrews Piloted a Boulder Motorsports built Pierobon F042, shod with Pirelli Diablo Supercorsas to a strong victory over the Pirelli shod bike of Ronnie Hay (reigning Hwy Twins Champ). Randy Del Greco also netted a win in the Unlimited Motard class aboard a Aprilia SVX 550.
In Novice action Rune Medhus grabbed 4 wins aboard his Ducati 1198S; as well as Craig Thomson snatched up 2 wins aboard his Pirelli DOT shod Yamaha R6. Rounding out the Novice winners was Jeff Kulchinski netting 2 wins for the day, and wrapping up a very strong day for Pirelli riders.
This weekend was the official launch weekend for many new tires from Pirelli. The 180/60-17 Diablo Supercorsa and 200/55-17 Diablo Supercorsa, as well as the new 200/60-17 Diablo Superbike slicks, were all debuted this weekend and the results show how well they performed. SouthCentralRaceCenter is the official Pirelli race tire distributor for the CMRA as well as the Texas/Oklahoma region. They can be reached at (281) 255-6004 or you can order tires online at www.scracecenter.com