G-RRfun

As posted on SB.WS by ED Who,

Short Version: EDR PERFORMANCE RIDERS SWEEP ALL 6 MAIN AM EVENTS! TAKE HOME 4 of 6 MAIN EVENTS!!

Oh and I actually slept today...a lot.

Long Version: Damn where to start..guess i could by saying today was first time in over 2 years i slept more than 5 hrs...actually slept 13hrs! (might be a record) Ill start with three things about the lead up to sunday, then do full sunday report....please note i dont hide anything...sure we had a problem with our R6 bike (read below) but unlike alot of race teams we have no problem discussing it..racing is racing...sometimes bad..sometimes good. IMO failure is not hitting bottom...its not GETTING BACK UP!

Read on if ya like.... PLEASE REALIZE ITS LONG...but i get alot of PM's from folks all over (and i link this thread to alot of our out of town customers/friends) asking me for the detailed reports....some folks that cant attend i hope can appriciate...thanks

All week long we at the shop have been just slammed with our usual summer street riders and also the normal late night last minute racer details...but then on top of it all we had a few "new" things to work on. One was a new customer/racer from OMRRA that has had alot of difficulties with his bike/shop he was using and as such missed most of the first weekend...his bike was a MESS! (ill leave name out, im sure he'll post up) but my crew and i spent probably over 10 hrs with him all week trying to fix the multiple issues/problems only to find his motor was loosing a head gasket and as such we informed him he should not race it...he found another same bike and decided to swap motors on FRIDAY! Come saturday night we met him back after hours at the shop to make sure all was ok (i told him "better to find a loose bolt/oil leak/etc on dyno than on track"....which we did..but fixed) we got the bike mapped with a quick map and i felt that he would have a good weekend. Like i said, i hope he posts, but i heard he got top 10 this weekend and after the races came up and just to see this guy so happy to not only make the weekend, but not have any issues and such you could see the pure joy in his eyes....makes the long hours worth it!

Also this entire time we had one of our top supported racers and friends Jason Bluth's bike in the shop. He had a "problem" with his bike (ill let him give details) and turned to us to help him out...we (EDR and Jason) spent ALOT of late nights and early mornings (sorry if intel stock dropped a bit last week..ha) working on his bike. Jason is the type of top supported rider a shop aims to have...not only fast of course, but VERY appriciative and one that knows if he has to..puts his own pride aside to ask for help and meanwhile is not afraid to get his hands dirty (watchin a racer swap motors and taking almost 7hrs to do it IS kinda fun for us...sorry jas) My crew knew this weekend was important and we needed to give him as much help as possible...we did not get his bike 100% until sat at 7pm! (see below on how he did )

The third little "prequel" to this weekend was our Team EDR R6 superbike. We finished building the motor (Zmax added since Carol Shelby believes in it.. lol) and in seattle WMRRA round it ran AWESOME! (see old thread) So i was confident all week leading up to that the lil yami would show folks that once in a while i can still polish what someone called "a turd". We basically just changed oil/coolant on the bike and loaded her up. Come sat am mark hoped on it with the old wmrra tires and immediatly was up to speed knocking off several 10's in the first session of practice...the 2nd session it went wrong. He came in with the bike overheating...i thought "shxt..maybe i didnt bleed the cooling system well enough" so we retopped off, checked it all and sent it back out...2 laps later it came in spitting water out the pipe...FXXX GREAT! So with some help from blinky HUGE THANKS!!!!!! we got the R6 outside of the track and loaded into Lukes truck (HUGE thanks to luke too!)

I arrived back at the shop at 2:30pm....with a bike that had a blown head gasket and was not looking good to race on sunday. I knew that anything my competitors could use to throw stones at me with would only make them believe they are stronger...i could not let that happen! My crew, Ben, Jay, Gary and Chris all stepped up BIG TIME! Jay stayed as late as he could (it was his bday!) but gary and ben stayed late with me. We dropped the motor out in record time (13 mins) and got the head off...yep...another cometic gasket failure (i thought) so we scramble around shop...FXXX i dont have an OEM R6 head gasket....Gwynne called Beaverton Honda and sure enough had one! Again Luke stepped up and said "finish bluth and xxxxx bikes" ill run and get it. So while i was on the dyno with bluth, ben/gary helped out racer xxxxx to double check his newly "built" bike to make sure it was ok. Luke returned, and i had finished with bluth's GSXR so back to the R6. We double checked the surfaces and surprisingly they were all ok....cleaned up the deck/head...installed new gasket...started to TQ it down...FXXXXXXXXX one of the studs pulled! (common on kawi and yami's) so back off...dont have the correct sized helicoils...Gary jumps in his truck and races across town to get one at 5pm. Back on the dyno with XXXX bike and after we found/fixed a few missing parts/bolts got her mapped and on his way. Gary returned, we installed new helicoil....head back on...TQ....the helicoiled one held perfectly..but FXXXXX. the last one pulled! Goddam it someone "upstairs" is saying give up..i felt like Rocky in Rocky whatever when Apollo is getting killed..i wanted to throw the towel in! My guys wouldn't let me...we went back fixed it all...Tq'd it down perfectly...then got motor back installed again in record time (it is a great feeling when THREE guys can work together to get a motor installed 100% perfectly the first time...no loose parts/oil leaks/etc all weekend after this!) Finally a little after 9pm we throw it up on the dyno...pull..pulll...pull....man i think it runs BETTER now...she is ripping like never before. finally at 10pm we high five each other and go home (i VERY much like to apologize to Jay..he has been one of my best friends for almost 10 years now and worked with me almost the entire time and i was not able to make his bday bash due to all this..was not easy for me..but work always comes first)


SUNDAY!

YES! Rain...i personally HATE rain...but love it on race weekends because it is a GREAT equalizer...takes out the tires/hp and other little things and makes it the BEST RACER WINS IMO! (although the big hp helps...hehe)

Morning QUalifiers: All went just as perfect as one could wish for! The EDR R6 superbike being torn apart just 11 hrs previously was out and running great "Dorn..i think its even faster..i mean good god its fast" Mark Gulin told me/my crew.

Morning AM Qualifier Results: EDR PERFORMANCE WINS ALL MORNING RACES

600 Supersport: 1st, 2nd and 4th! Mark Gulin taking the win over Tom Wertman. Pete Bertram coming from dead last to the front in only 4 laps!(amb doesnt show him thou..hmm)

600 Superbike: 1st, 2nd and 4th FINALLY! The EDR R6 superbike is not only alive...but throws down the hammer by winning it by over 4 seconds in only 4 laps! The EDR built bikes had the 3 fastest lap times (and yes...wertman rides on pirellis even!) Pete Bertram came from dead last to finish on the front row for the main!

750 Supersport: 1st, 2nd! Jason Bluth won the qualifier and like i always say..stuff like that makes the longgg hours so worth it! Not too mention Mark Gulin on a SUPERSPORT 600CC bike got 2nd! Beating everyone with the fastest lap time even in the event!

750 Superbike: 1st, 2nd! the little 600 that could!! GIT SUM.. Mark Gulin takes the EDR R6 superbike back to the front winning pole on the 600 in the 750 big boy class...narrowily beating fellow EDR rider Jason Bluth.

Open Supersport: 1st, 2nd, 3rd! Clean sweep....even without my preverbial big bike designated hitter, Dan Wilson (congrats papa!) Tom Wertman showed why he is good in the wet winning it. Jason Bluth on his 750 used it as a practice race to get more seat time and still managed 2nd. While EDR's Pete Bertram again came from the back on a still new to him R1 to grab the 3rd place.

Open Superbike: 1st and 3rd! Tom "The Rainman" Wertman put the smack down and took the win with Pete showing folks he was there to challege for the $$.

I think that is Team EDR Performance's best OMRRA qualifing race weekend to date...we won ALL SIX MAIN CLASSES! I felt great at lunch!

MAINS:

600 Superbike: save for last..

600 Supersport: 1st, 2nd and 4th! It felt so good to be back in 600 winning! I have focused less on 600 over the past few years and finally getting back into working with my guys on the 600 program. Our 3 R6's were by far the fastest 600's out there! i dont think anyone will deny that. My guys all rode amazing. Pete Bertram showed folks who he was! (i have had alot ask me "whose pete bertram" i just said 'wait and see') Pete won both WMRRA 600 races last weekend and continued on this race..winning by OVER 12 secs to his EDR teammate Mark Gulin..Pete did almost 3 secs/lap faster than the next fastest guy Mark Gulin!.. Fellow EDR tuned R6 jason hickox impressed alot of us, even me, with his speed/smooth riding to take a 4th place over the current #1 plate holder. Very big race for Jason!

750 Supersport:2nd, 3rd...well we had to give them one win...jk. our competitor rode a great race. this was a very close race for all the laps...the finish was only a mere 1 sec between all 3 of them..Jason bluth showing he is there to push hard rain or shine...and Mark gulin once again on the EDR R6 (yes 600 down about 20rwhp!) was able to hang with them all race to take the podium!

750 Superbike: 1st place....YEAHH BOY! This felt better than fxxxking sex! If you read the above and saw how much we went thru to get the EDR R6 superbike ready this win was even sweeter due to the fact that our rider Mark Gulin was ready to quit for the day only mins before the race because he had crashed the bike TWICE (read 600s/b below) and the entire EDR Crew would not let him and we busted our ASSES off to get the bike back to race shape! Mark said to me "im pissed..im gonna go out and win this fxxxker" i could tell he was very serious...Mark took the EDR R6 (600!!) to its first main race win by a big margin..it was bitter sweet for me, since the entire race was a battle between two of my best riders...Jason Bluth made a small error in last turn and lost the front...Mark took the win and while it sucked for me to see Jason not finish, the win was so rewarding just becuase of what we had to go thru to get it off the track!

Open Supersport: 1st, 4th, 5th. Jason Bluth upset with himself for making a small mistake went out and smacked the big bikes on his EDR built 750. Jason won by over 4 secs from one of the NW's fastest Mike Sullivan...Pete Bertram got a very respectable 4th while still not coming to grips wiht his new R1..and Shawn Harris pulled down a great top 5 on his EDR 750 as well. Very good race.

Open Superbike: 2nd. Pete tried to give a good race to Mike Sullivan, but Mike as we all say "had rent due" lol and needed that Yamaha 2k for the win. Im sure once Pete becomes one with his R1 he will be a force to recon with. Our "superstar" of this class was at home with his newest addition..but DPW will be back to reclaim his throne in Open Superbike.

600Superbike: 1st!!! and 3rd..... Man...if you were there...where to begin??? This "was" the 1st main event after lunch. We got the EDR R6 superbike all ready to go....then last min the rain stopped and track dried...like every top 10 guy our crew swapped out the wets for slicks...BAD choice by all of us in the top 10! The race started and it rained INSTANTLY...on lap one there were i believe 7 crashes. The red flag came out...no Mark Gulin...Pete comes in pits "mark went down hard..but is ok" I hung my head..this is where im 50% upset/ 50% worried for my rider...my crew scrambled to get the supersport bike ready..knowing we would have to start from back, but i have alot of faith in mark, esp in the wet...the bike came back and i paused "how much time we got?" Lash was watching "its gonna be a while for the ambulance" i said to my crew "fxxx it...the superbike is not that bad...lets fix it" immediatly my entire crew, Gary, Chris, Steve, and few others were tearing into the bike...swapping this and that from the supersport.."LAST CALL" comes across...we get the bike to tech just in time (HUGE thanks to Shawn Gist!!) and onto the grid with 1 sec to spare...im getting too old for this....the race restarts..lap 2 mark is again up front in 2nd....then "RED FLAG" comes out...FXXXXX WHERE IS MARK???? "Bike #95 down in T3 rider up and ok" My ass he is ok...i bet he is beating the sxxx out of the ground right now..mark is very passionate about is racing and dedicated and does not accept mistakes. Again we get the bike back and FXXX the SAME side got hit...so now i have busted BOTH right side woodcraft rearsets...Tom Berk lends us a set of Vortex (yuck) but huge thanks to him for doing so!! My guys got the bike fixed AGAIN in under 15 mins for the 750 superbike race that was up next (He won it! see above).... the end of the day came and 600 superbike was to be only 5 laps..but mark's confidence was up...until the grid board came out... MARK GULIN ROW I SPOT 4...thats the LAST ROW...ROW 9! wtf! Well thats the rules..so mark goes "ill do best i can" He NAILED the start carrying the front wheel almost 100 yards...and off they all went.... Mark got up to 5th immediatly..and started picking off guys one by one....LAST LAP...he is in 2nd behind Mike Sullivan (who is STUPID fast when its a contg. $$ weekend) Don Beck (mikes' mech) turns to me "hey...gulin is 2.5 secs behind him...and just did a 2.6sec faster lap" I look at barry wressell "fxxx this is gonna be close...i just hope he is on him out of T9 cause i know we got the hp" They come out of T9 last time...mark is on him like white on rice...sully gets a GREAT drive...Mark spins up bad taking a wide line...shxxt.....he is just behind him at the bridge...commmmeee onnn horsey power.......YES! Mark pulls along side him and motors by and wins by only maybe 2'! Good god just typing this im excited all over again! To win is one thing...to win OVER mike sullivan is another...to win from DEAD last is yet another thing....then add in TWO crash repairs...and one head gasket the night before there is no sweeter way to win!


I want to give HUGGGGGGGGGGE props to my crew...honestly these guys are the BEST in the NW..if not country. Late nights...early mornings...crash repairs...having me for a boss...yet they pull thru every single day! Thanks so much Jay, Ben, Gary, Chris, and Gwynne. Cant do it without you.

Also HUGE thanks to those that helped...Redeyed Steve Sxxxer() for help in the pits...really helped out...Justin Lowitz aka Letrik for running home at lunch to grab his Dunlop rains so we could have a second set!! Luke Morgan for his help all weekend, plug doing an AMAZING JOB for omrra (EVERY RACER SHOULD THANK HIM!!!), Mike Mcd the prez for handling the problems like i have never seen before...janice logan for yet another great job all weekend...the corner workers (PLEASE THANK THEM! they were in the rain ALL weekend for YOU GUYS!)...Columbia River Daryl and Jason (the beer/food/hospitality) also all of team EDR;s riders....alot did not race due to rain...others did and every single EDR built/tuned bike ran perfectly once again (allbeit a pc issue on one we fixed) i cant thank everyone enough. Thanks to DUNLOPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP tires and KFG..honestly i could not ask for a better friend/sponsor/supporter than Barry Wressell...one of the true great ones out there! thanks "Belly"!!

The entire atmoshpere of the weekend was amazing...i even had to go over and shake tbones hand(paw?) and congratulate him on a well rode twins race...i spoke with some guys i have not for a long time..it just seemed like everyone said "enough bullsxxt and drama..lets all move on and have fun" and it was!!! Honestly folks if we can all have that much great racing, positive outlooks, and just plain FUN this club will be once again great! This was by far not only my best weekend results wise in a long time, but honestly the most fun i have had in the OMRRA pits in a LONG TIME! Thank you everyone!

-Eric Dorn
EDR PERFORMANCE

BTW: DUNLOP TIRE ROCK! (sorry chuck..had to throw that in there for ya.. )
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prana425

Wow man! I got all tensed up even reading this, haha. I'm glad you had a great turn-out and Awesome results. Good job! EDR is always hard at work it seems. I'm not in there all that often but when I do pass through there, the staff is always BUSY putting things together. I guess all that hard work payed off.

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