RIDERZLAW/AGUILAR RACING WINS AT LAGUNA SECA
Last year, Jason Aguilar came into Laguna following a podium at Utah while riding with a foot that was broken in 5 places. For Laguna, the foot was plated and stitched just days before to allow him to ride with more weight on the foot than he could utilize at Utah. While having to walk with crutches, Jason could still ride. He put the repairs to good use, qualifying 3rd. Feeling like he had the pace to stay with the leaders, Jason set out in Sunday morning’s pre-race warmup to put down some fast laps. It never happened as Jason crashed in the Corkscrew, knocking himself out, ripping the stitches out of his surgically repaired foot, exposing the wound, and ending his race weekend too early as he left the track in an ambulance.
That was not how it was supposed to end. You see, it all started at Laguna Seca back in 2005. Jason was a big Nicky Hayden fan and had been following him since AMA Superbike. Nicky was due for a MotoGP win, and would never have a better chance than MotoGP’s first trip back to the U.S. and Laguna Seca in many years. Jason’s grandfather had bought him tickets for the race and Jason was elated to see Nicky dominate the weekend with pole position and his first MotoGP victory. As Jason was walking out of the Turn 4 grandstands with his grandfather, he looked up and told him “This has been the best day of my life.” Ever since, Jason dreamed that someday he would be on top of the podium at Laguna Seca.
Arriving at Laguna Seca for the World Superbike/MotoAmerica event races this year, Jason was coming off a double win in MotoAmerica Superstock 600 that vaulted him into the Championship points lead. Jason was fast in practice, but really wanted pole position, which has eluded him in his professional career. This time, Jason laid down a scorching lap time early and was leading the Superstock 600 qualifying until the last few seconds when he was pipped by just 22 thousandths of a second. While disappointed at missing class pole position, Jason was still starting from the 2nd position in class.
At the start of the race, Jason kept his qualifying position of 2nd for the first few laps. At the end of the fourth lap, the class leader made a slight error in the final corner and dropped back several positions. That was all the opportunity Jason needed as he grabbed the lead and rode a solid race to bring home the win by 1.3 seconds. The win extended Jason’s points lead to 21 points going into the next MotoAmerica round at Sonoma Raceway August 11-13.
Jason Aguilar: “Coming into the Laguna Seca race weekend I was very excited from getting back to back wins at Utah Motorsports Campus and landing my new title sponsor, RiderzLaw, for the rest of the season. I was able to be at the front of the field every session and just missed out on qualifying pole position. In the race, I had great pace and was able to run consistent laps that brought me home to another first place finish. I couldn’t be more stoked the way things are going so far and I’m hoping to keep improving every round. Big thanks to all my sponsors and especially RiderzLaw for joining me throughout the rest of the season now. Can’t wait for the next round at Sonoma!”
Thanks to all RiderzLaw/Aguilar Racing sponsors: Riderzlaw, Graves Motorsports, SolarMax Technology, Torco Advanced Lubricants, Yamaha Motor USA, Taylormade Racing, FTECU, Speed and Strength, Arai Helmets, Galfer, Motion Pro, Superlite Sprockets, SpeedAngle, Dunlop Tires, Thermal Technology Race, EF Signs, SBK Paint.
More, from a press release issued by Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda:
A rough return for Tomy Puerta
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – Monterey, CA
There is a lot to be said about the potential this past weekend had. Jake was making his World Superbike debut, Tomy Puerta was returning and the Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda was showing signs of strength. So, coming off an extremely disappointing weekend at Utah Motorsports Campus, the team was eager to hit the famous Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with one of their favorite riders making his return to the US. Tomy Puerta received the call to help the team out as Jake Gagne was called up to the World Superbike squad of Red Bull Honda. This round also marks the home race for the primary technical partner of American Honda.
With all these signs that were pointing to a potentially incredible weekend, what could possibly spoil this occasion? As it turned out, quite a bit. The weekend started off with a different feel. Maybe it was the lingering feelings that the crew had from Utah? Maybe it was the anxiety they all felt for Jake? Whatever it was, there was a difference in the air and only getting on the track and focusing on the normal tasks of racing would help the crew to shake those feelings.
Knowing that Tomy rides with a completely different style from Jake, Scott, Danny and Evan got to work immediately on establishing a baseline set-up for Tomy. The entire first practice session was dedicated to exactly that goal. With Tomy’s style, the chasis needed to adjusted in order to suit his aggressive body position. Once the crew established that baseline, they were to get to work on helping Tomy get used the new motorcycle as quickly as possible. The challenge, when there are combined events like this weekend, was (WorldSBK) the track time is often greatly reduced. Compounding the problem is that only FP1 (Free Practice) and FP2 on Friday are used to determine whether or not a rider gets into Superpole. With so much to adjust to and figure out, Tomy had a difficult time turning consistent laps on the Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda. The best time he was able to manage during those two critical session landed him outside the Superpole rankings and forced him to a starting position of 16th.
Starting back of the grid is certainly an obstacle that can be overcome. Fortunately with Tomy at the helm, he’s just the “Head Down” rider to attack the starts. When Race One was set to go, it was really anyone’s guess as to where Tomy would finish the race, but everyone knows he’s capable of riding the wheels off of a motorcycle. So as the lights went out, all that could be done was to watch him do his thing. And he did! He managed a decent start and was running up through the pack. However, by the third lap it was apparent that something was wrong. Tomy came into the pits with an electrical issue that he couldn’t resolve while riding by manipulating his settings via the on-board system. The crew was quick to address the issue and get Tomy back out to at least get some more laps and therefore more data. This didn’t last long, in fact, not even a full lap out. Tomy was forced to retire from the race with intermittent electrical issues. Scott and the crew had a lot of work to do before Race Two the next afternoon.
Over the night, the team worked to hunt down the electrical gremlin and prepare to put on a great display for the home crowd. With only a 15 minute warm-up session on Sunday, the concern was whatever the issues was would there be enough time to definitively ensure it was gone? The answer would only be revealed in the upcoming race. Once again, Tomy made his way to his starting position and awaited the lights. This time, however, he was a little more apprehensive on the start and that uncertainty was well founded. Once again, before he had even a chance to really get into the race, he was forced to come into the pits and retire from racing action. The frustration clearly on his face was bested by the anger on the Crew Chief’s face. With a frustrated rider sitting in the pit watching the race on TV and a solitary walk back to the transporter for Scott, the weekend was over.
The team heads into the summer break desperate for answers and seeking solutions to their problems. The first half of the season has been exactly what a development year is all about, but that does little to console them. The main positive that they keep focused on, is that this is leading somewhere. Each issue, each mechanical, all data is working towards developing a motorcycle that will be a championship contender. They all know that this is positive but that age old adage of “It’s tough to see the forest through the trees” is proving true. With this break, the team will be testing new parts that have arrived. They will be working with their partners to ensure that the second half of the season is strong and the new machine is capable of running up front.
Tomy Puerta – Superbike
“I want to thank Danny, Mick and Scott and for helping me get here this weekend. It was great to be back in the MotoAmerica series for this race. I love to race here in the US and Laguna is one of my favorite tracks and I was excited to be racing the new Honda. It was great to be working with Scott, Danny and Evan again.
I feel bad because we didn’t even finish the races. I wanted to put on a good race for Genuine Broaster Chicken and Honda as this is Honda’s home track. I felt pretty good on the bike once we got the chassis dialed in, but we just kept having problems with the bike’s electronics. I wish I had more time with the bike to help but we didn’t get a lot of track time this weekend.
Thank you to Genuine Broaster Chicken and American Honda for this opportunity! Thank you again to Danny and Mick for calling me up and helping me get here so quickly. I hope I can work with the team again and I enjoyed being back in the MotoAmerica Paddock again. “
Danny Walker – Team Principal
“You know there’s not a lot that can be said about how this weekend went down other than, ‘It could’ve gone better!’
We were really excited to have Tomas back with us for this race as we love what he brings to the paddock. We know he’s going to give a 100% all the time. We knew the set-up would need to be dramatically different and I know that Scotty and the guys made that switch no problem.
But these issues are something that aren’t easily diagnosed much less resolved without proper time to test the systems. We just didn’t have that time this weekend. There’s no fault isolation method and so hunting and guessing is what it takes to fix the problems.
The whole team is aware of the situation with respect to where we are in points and where we are with the development of this bike, so I know they take these weekends extra hard. We are focused on the long game and that’s what it takes when developing a new bike from scratch. I’ve never seen a bike come off the boat as a new model and win right off the bat, so we temper our expectations yet continue to believe that we will get these issues figured out and hopefully have this beautiful Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda up front by the end of the season.”
Scott Jensen – Crew Chief
“‘Coming into Laguna, we as a team were very excited to get another top rider’s opinion on our new CBR1000RR SP2, hoping with the help of Tomas Puerta riding the bike we could learn even more about making the bike work to its full capability. With the added excitement of seeing Jake Gagne make his WSBK debut it was shaping up to be a fun weekend.
At this level it is very surprising how differently riders want the feel of the bike to be, but after the first couple practice sessions we were making huge steps forward making the bike work properly for Tomas. We were all optimistic going into race one as we had made many changes and his confidence was up significantly with the bike. Unfortunately after a great start by Tomas race one ended early with an intermittent electrical problem. We tried to diagnose it during the race and send him back out to finish, but the problem remained.
Sunday morning, after scouring the data, we thought we had the issue resolved, but after 5 laps the problem surfaced again.
Race two brought many other attempts at a repair, but again after a handful of laps, the intermittent problem ended our race weekend. This weekend was obviously not what we had in mind and was very frustrating as, yet again, we were not able to showcase the capabilities on the new CBR1000RR SP2.
Now we come into our summer break with a load of work to accomplish before we arrive at our next race at the the technical Sonoma Raceway circuit.”
More, from a press release issued by Altus Motorsports:
(Altus, Oklahoma) – The Altus Motorsports Suzuki team came into the sixth round of the 2017 MotoAmerica series at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca after a small break following the race weekend at Utah Motorsports Campus. The Monterey Peninsula is home to one of the most famous road racing circuits on the entire planet, drawing an exceptional crowd of motorsports enthusiasts as MotoAmerica runs as a support class to the WSBK paddock. Therefore, JC Camacho and Jaret Nassaney experienced a tighter schedule than they’re used to with significantly less track time as well as one race only throughout the weekend.
The dry, California heat hung over the track on Friday morning as practice was set to get underway. The Altus Motorsports Suzuki riders found their feet during the first two sessions as they both contested the first practice group — Camacho finished the day with the thirteenth fastest time, a 1:32.830, whereas Nassaney finished one spot behind his teammate with the fourteenth fastest time, a 1:33.790. Both riders were able to make significant improvements on the bike overnight heading into qualifying, shaving a couple of seconds off of their lap times on Saturday morning. Camacho set a 1:31.146, placing him in twentieth position on the grid, as Nassaney’s 1:32.537 saw him take a trip to the LCQ. The Oklahoma native battled tooth and nail in the shootout for the final spots on the grid, battling to a third place finish as he earned a spot in the race.
The one and only Supersport / Superstock 600 race of the weekend got underway on Sunday morning and both riders did their best to push as hard as possible from the first lap of the race. Camacho barreled through the field on the opening lap, making up four positions in one circulation of the track. He found himself in fourteenth place overall as he crossed the line to start his first flying lap with his sights set on Andrew Lee ahead of him. The two battled for the majority of the race, practically glued together in a heated battle for the top ten in the Superstock 600 class. Meanwhile, Nassaney also made some urgent moves in the early stages of the race, propelling himself forward a couple of positions behind Robert Pierce. He attempted to stick with the YZF-R6, but he came under pressure from the Kawasaki of Danielle Diaz and the two of them battled back and forth for the majority of the race. The laps wound down and Camacho did his best to find his way past Lee, looking for opportunities in the final corner and down the main straightaway in attempt to open up a pass into the first sector of the track. The two of them rode within tenths of one another all the way until the checkered flag and the Texan barely missed out on ninth place at the line, settling for tenth position in the Superstock 600 class. Nassaney was engulfed in a battle for fourteenth all the way until the checkered flag, narrowly nabbing the spot from Diaz as they crossed the line half a second apart from one another.
Camacho commented “It was a weekend that I’m glad to be moving on from. It was a tough one, we still scored points with a tenth and left shiny side up. Sonoma preparations start now! Thanks to Altus Motorsports, Eric Gray, all my sponsors, my friends and most importantly my family and girlfriend for being such a great support group!”
“This weekend was a good one. I finally got to be in group one for practice so I just tried to stay with the fast guys. We ended up going to the LCQ where I got third and finished off the weekend with a fourteenth. All in all, it was a good weekend and we’ll learn from it and move on to the next,” said Nassaney.
The weekend had positives and negatives for the Altus Motorsports team at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The longest break of the season lies ahead before the seventh round of the series at Sonoma Raceway and both riders will happily take advantage of some rest and recovery in preparation for another west coast round. Although Camacho didn’t gain the points that he’s capable of, he was still able to salvage a solid chunk of points and rode a mistake free weekend while Nassaney managed to close the gap to the front with some of his best pace of the year.