The Dunlop/Raceworx/RES backed Village Idiots (Brandon Cleland, Chris Headley, John Orchard, Garet Tomlinson) powered their Yamaha R6 to win C Superbike at the 2014 CMRA Championship Endurance Series opening round at MSR Houston, Angleton TX, on Saturday, February 15. The Village Idiots are the current number #1 plate holders for the second year in a row and look to defend their overall title aboard a 600cc machine.
The race started off with Brandon Cleland grabbing the holeshot to put the #1 plate out front. He was quickly passed by several riders and settled in to 5th. “It’s always a tad frustrating when I see guys go by me on the first couple laps of the endurance race,” said Cleland, “But I always tell myself it’s about the entire hour plus stint and that I’ll see them again in twenty laps or so”. Cleland managed to settle in around lap twelve and made work of the riders who made their way around him on the opening lap. Cleland went on to turn the Village Idiots fastest lap of the race, running a 1:38.572 on lap 34 of a 44 lap stint. When Cleland signaled to pit, the Village Idiots were in the lead and veteran racer John Orchard was set to take the reins.
John Orchard, CMRA club President, rode an extremely consistent hour and fifteen minute stint.
Orchard is known for putting down some of the fastest and most consistent laps out of the entire field. When the fuel light shined bright, Orchard signaled it was time to pit and the Village Idiots prepared for a rear tire change and fuel stop. At this point, the Idiots were sitting in 1st. Chris Headley, the longest standing Village Idiot, was forced to sit out this race due to the short (4 hours) race distance. However, Headley’s talent and speed did not go to waste as he mounted a fresh, sticky American Dunlop tire in record time during the second pit stop of the race.
The third and final rider to take to the track for the Village Idiots was Garet Tomlinson. Tomlinson wasted no time putting down impressive lap times and began to catch the team riding in the overall lead. Within eight laps, Garet caught and passed for the overall lead and was looking good to take the overall victory. The Village Idiots had anticipated another fuel stop, but also anticipated the competition would be forced to do the same. Unfortunately for the Idiots, the trailing team was able to finish the race without an additional pit stop and the Village Idiots would end the race in 2nd overall and winning C Superbike.
Cleland shared, “It would have been great to get the overall victory, but it’s a long series and we are more than stoked to get the class win! We are looking forward to next CMRA round in conjunction with the U.S. National Endurance Series at Texas World Speedway.”
The Village Idiots would like to thank their sponsors: Raceworx, Dunlop Tires, Racing Engine Service, Scorpion Helmets, M4 Exhaust, Woodcraft, Lone Star Track Days, Vesrah, Yamaha, Silkolene, Supersprox, GMan, Moto Liberty, Shogun & Class Sponsors: HighPerformanceCrew, South Central Race Center.