RICH OLIVER WINS THE 4TH ANNUAL ROADRACING WORLD 250/50 AT WILLOW SPRINGS, FINISHES WAY DOWN IN 32ND IN THE TOYOTA 200.

Race Report: Roadracing World 250/50 

Rich Oliver came out for his once a year race and gained pole position during the timed qualifying session on Saturday, with a lap time of 1:23.1. The main event Sunday was run in great conditions with little to no wind, and Rich was able to pull away from the field to win with a 30 second margin over Mark Watts and Eddie Brunet. 

Rich was hampered all weekend with severely torn meniscus in his right knee, so to win the race in that physical condition was very satisfying. Arthroscopic surgery to clean up the area will be performed in the next few days in Fresno, CA. by Oliver’s team of orthopedic surgeons at Sierra Pacific Medical Center. 

 Rich comments: “The weekend went really well overall. It turned out to be really fortunate that it was really windy during practice on Friday. Crew Chief Robert Ward suggested that to combat the high wind we should change from our normal settings on the bike. We were trying to get the bike to turn in the side winds better, so with some front end geometry changes and a few small suspension adjustments we gained a bit of stability. Also I had trained so much that I gained five pounds and that changed my rear spring pre-load setting! After talking with Jim Lindemann we had adjusted for the wind and my added weight just perfectly. 

‘Then on Saturday came another big improvement when we tried a set of Dunlop hard compound tires, which turned out to be about a second per lap over our standard awesome soft Dunlop set-up. Jim Allen from Dunlop USA made a great call on the tires and Dennis Smith’s guys from Sport Tire Services did a lot of hard work mounting tires for us all weekend.

 ‘This was the hard tire set up for the Toyota 200 that we were going to use in that race, designed to work with a full fuel load and 35-45 lap stint. I tested this on Saturday and we went faster right away, and the bike could maintain this speed for over 40 laps! So when the wind dropped on Saturday and Sunday we had a much improved set-up with all these changes.

‘My darn knee was just so swollen that it was hard to get to the foot peg on the bike, and to make room for it, I had to take out all the knee padding in the leathers. Once I did that, I got used to it after a few days, but I didn’t like to drag that knee puck on the ground, since there was no padding and it felt numb anyway. It’s funny, because I’ve ridden with much worse injuries like broken bones, etc., but this knee is quite frustrating because it’s so difficult to move around on the bike. We did go pretty fast this year even with the bum knee, our best time was a 1:22.7 in practice. 

‘Thanks to Roadracing World and Willow Springs for such a great event and we will be back for more next year! 

‘And on a very sad note, myself and everyone on Team Oliver Yamaha wishes to express their most heartfelt condolences to the friends and family of a great 250 racing competitor, Jesus Amezcua.”

Toyota 200 Oliver qualified 7th for the 200 mile race putting him in row two on the grid which turned out to be a very dangerous place! After winning the 250 race, Oliver was looking to capitalize on the teams pit strategy and the great hard tire set up they had found in practice. Unfortunately for everyone, Oliver’s bike lost fire to the upper cylinder on the starting line and almost stalled. All the other riders did a great job of avoiding Rich and he pulled into the pits after one lap in last place. Robert Ward, Andy Demming, Gregg Johnson and Ed Sorbo started to diagnose the problem, which was difficult as the bike would run on both cylinders from time to time depending on throttle position. After three slow laps in and out of the pits the team took the bike over the wall and changed the ignition system, disabled the electric speed shifter, changed the plug cap, replaced the coil and checked all the wires. After everything turned out to be fine the engine itself was checked and there it was, a broken reed petal was laying in the reed cage. At that point Oliver was 31 laps down, but the bike was fixed quickly and Rich rejoined the race. He was able to pass riders and was running great times but never really moving up in the standings because of the 35 lap deficit. 

Rich comments: “What a shame the reed broke, it’s my job to change those and I must have screwed up when I put it in. Everyone went to so much trouble to help us do that race and there I am floundering around in last place. At least we went back out and smoked around for 46 hard laps, and we did 20 great laps in the 250 race. Next year we will finish all 100 laps on Sunday! 

 ‘I do need to thank Ed Sorbo from Roadracing World Magazine, our friend Tyse and Pat and John from Wilsons Motorcycles for helping us out during the race. Ed really had a lot of good ideas for us and will help us improve as a team for next years 200. And to all our sponsors, a big thank you from all of us!” 

For more information about Rich Oliver’s racing career, there is a on-line biography here: http://www.richoliver.net/RichOliverBio

To find out more about Rich Oliver’s Mystery School, its courses and date offerings, visit http://richoliver.net or contact Rich Oliver at [email protected]. Write to Rich Oliver’s Mystery School, 33940 Sterling Lane, Auberry, CA 93602.

More from a press release issued by Spectrum Motorsports:

MAZZOTTA RACES TOYOTA 200 AT WILLOW SPRINGS RACEWAY WITH JUST TWO-WEEKS OF PREPARATION

Spectrum Motorsports enters the Toyota 200 on a stock 2004 999s with Hawk Mazzotta riding and finishes 29th despite only two weeks preparation time. The motorcycle was serviced and a Ducati muffler fitted to release the wonderful deep exhaust tone. It was lock-wired and made race ready. The bodywork was prepped and painted by Boris (California Cycle Design) with a beautiful Desmosedici paint scheme in only 36 hours. A few hours on the dyno to make sure the engine was solid and then off to Willow Springs.

The bike arrived at Willow on the Thursday before the race. This was the first time Hawk had seen the bike and also the first time he had ridden a Ducati. Practice went reasonably with numerous suspension changes and Hawk getting used to the different handling characteristics of the 999s compared with his R6. He was running 1-27 lap times in spite of the strong winds.

Unfortunately late in the afternoon the wind was a factor as he crashed in Turn 8. Luckily he was only bruised. The bike landed upside down damaging the subframe, headlight bracket, fuel tank and bodywork. Amauri and Brent (two of Spectrum’s techs) spent most of Thursday evening repairing the bike in preparation for Friday qualifying.

Hawk rode well and managed to qualify in 30th place with minimal riding time and a huge power deficit against the 1000cc fours. With the good news that he had qualified the rest of the pit crew (Adrian, James, and Aaron – all Spectrum employees) left after work on Saturday for the track. The bike was as ready as it could be with only two weeks preparation.

On Sunday we practiced pit stops for the first time. It was all new to us as this was the first time Spectrum had entered a race. We were excited and hoped we could get the only Ducati entered to the finish line. In the morning practice the bike had an electrical issue, which was traced to a chafed wire. We fitted the tire warmers and waited for the start. The bike looked fantastic and sounded awesome. We could hear it before we could see it.

Hawk got a phenomenal start and gained 12 places going into Turn 1. His first two laps were in the 1-25’s and then he settled into very consistent 1-27’s. The race was red-flagged on lap 13 with Hawk in 15th position. He came into pit lane and said the clutch was slipping. Brent replaced the clutch plates in under five minutes and we topped off the fuel.

After the restart we changed our strategy and decided to do just one pit stop at lap 41. The bike was running strong and Hawk was still running 1-27’s.

Hawk came in early on lap 39 saying he had no front brakes. This was quickly diagnosed as a damaged brake line. We did not have a spare and we thought our race was over. Fortunately Don Erikson (Aprilia racer and friend of the shop) said we could take the one from his bike. Don and Amauri raced to Don’s bike on the other side of the pits while we changed tires and refueled. We lost about twenty minutes but got back into the race with cheers from ourselves and the nearby pit crews. I really noticed the camaraderie amongst all the teams.

Hawk was back on 1-27 pace within two laps. Friends, family and the pit crew all watched anxiously hoping we could finish. Ten laps to go and we cheer every time the Ducati booms past counting down laps on our fingers. The checkered flag comes out and Hawk finishes in 29th place. We are all ecstatic. Our first race on a stock 999s and we finished with only two weeks preparation time. Hawk rolls into pit lane to a hero’s welcome. The only Ducati entered had performed magnificently and not missed a beat. Jamey Mazzotta (Hawk’s father, Spectrum owner and pit board holder) took everyone one out for a celebration dinner and we talked about next year’s race.

The whole event was a great experience for everyone involved. It was hard work but very rewarding when we finished. The other competitors were very friendly. The atmosphere on race day was electric.

I would like to thank everyone involved in the bike for all their hard work and especially to Boris for an awesome paint scheme and Don Erikson for saving the day. See you all next year!