Rich Oliver will race his 2003 AMA 250 GP Championship winning Yamaha TZ250 at Willow Springs Raceway this weekend, September 16th -17th. 

 In addition to entering the Roadracing World 250/50 race that is specific for 250 Grand Prix machines, Oliver will also take on the Toyota 200 mile feature race. The Toyota 200 allows machines of all engine sizes to compete heads up against each other. Running both races will require completing 100 laps and 250 miles of competition around the Willow Springs circuit on Sunday, demanding peak physical condition from everyone on Team Oliver Yamaha. 

 The team that has the best combination of rider, motorcycle, and pit crew will be rewarded an incredible $50,000 in prize money for the win in the Toyota 200, and first place in the Roadracing World 250/50 is worth a cool $3500. 

Oliver will again team up with Crew Chief Robert Ward, on holiday from his AMA Formula Xtreme team for the 2006 Willow Springs event. This week, the team was able to rebuild their Yamaha with a few fresh engine parts sourced from various vendors, with special thanks to Jeff Jones at Yamaha for his work in obtaining rare parts for the engine from Japan. 

Oliver comments, “We have a better shot this year at the 200 miler than when we last raced it in 2003. That year I finished fourth but I think we can improve on that. Of course we are on a small bike and there are some really talented teams that come out to race, some locals and some from the AMA, so we’ll have to see if our lap times and tire strategy will be competitive with the big bikes. 

“As far as the 250 race goes, I’m feeling quite slow. My times have been dropping about a half second each year, even though I’ve won the race the last three times. My lap record is a 1.21.9, so I would like to get back in that lap time area and get my speed back to were it was when I was racing all the time in 2003. But riding once a year is hard because you inevitably get a bit out of practice. I’m lucky because I do still flat track all the time, and I have put in six really hard weeks of training on top of my normal conditioning and teaching the Mystery School, so I hope it will be enough to carry me through the 100 laps. I suppose the best way to find out is to come out and watch on Sunday!” 

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.