2008 US Rotax Nationals

[Ihor Bilyy]

Day 1 wrap up.
Track is very hard, people improving their times by seconds.
Matt Tilden did 4 practice sessions and Michael Bilyy did 5 (of 6). We both missed early morning sessions because of unloading and pit setup.

Michael had smile on his face after first session ("it is like roller coaster!"). After second he felt pain in his right hand, after third it was whole arm and the rest of the day he was dealing with completely tired condition.
Lap times are over 1 minute and they have 12 minutes practice. I don't know how many turns, but there is 0 flat ground turns, they are all with up or down elevation changes.
In 5 sessions we made 0.5s improvement. There were no visible chassis problems, driver is not complaining. I guess he just need to get comfortable to try it differently.
1:06.4, 1:06.0, 1:06.3, 1:05.9, 1:05.9. Front runners are in 1:04 (don't know high or low).
Matt improved from 1:05.9 to 1:02.5.

I saw 7 MicroMax drivers today, looks like Pato is the fastest so far.

[Ihor Bilyy]

Day 2 wrap up.
Full day of practice, no rain, cold (58F-60F).
We are down to 1:05.4, front runners are below 1:04.
Matt stuck his new engine after missing first practice and 2 break-in sessions. He had 1:02.30 in session 5 with his Sunday engine and did unsuccessful experiment in practice #6.

EKN posted entry list for all classes. Looks like attendance is lower than last year.

John, there is a driver from Norcross, GA in Masters class. Do you know him ?

[John Wehrheim]

Ihor,
Sorry to hear about Matt's motor. Hopefully he can get another one to use. Of course if they weren't sealed you could hone it and pop in a new piston at the track. Been there, done that numerous times.

I have never heard of Nelson Canache and I do not believe he is a member of our forum. Maybe you can introduce yourself and find out more.

Good luck to you Michael and the other Georgia Racers
_________________
John
Board of Directors
Sr. 2 Cycle Director

[Jeff Sikes]

Thanks for the updates Ihor. Good luck guys we are cheering for you.

Jeff and Simon

[Rick]

[clarence]

Tear it up!
_________________
Mr. Sideways

[John Wehrheim]

Rick, that is why I put a smiley face. Just busting chops. Have I personallly honed, no but Kyle Adkins and Lynn Haddock have for me. Glad to hear they have the service at the nationals so you can hone the motors and have them resealed at the track.
_________________
John
Board of Directors
Sr. 2 Cycle Director

[Rick]

Here is my

[Ihor Bilyy]

Day 3.

Today was official practice day. All classes, except DD2 and Micro, divided to group A and B. 4 practice session for each participant.
We making steady improvements. Morning session was 1:05.6 on old tires (11 sessions on used tires after full 2 day weekend in Ocala).
Practice 2: (new tires) 1:04.87
Practice 3: 1:04.85
Practice 4: 1:04.74
There are 28 participants and we got 20th place, 1.501 off the first place.
8 of first 10 are from Florida. We are close to guys in front of us and will try to move up a bit.

In Masters, Matt was the quickest of all GA/AL drivers (1:02.17 in third practice) and 16th of 34 drivers, just 0.5s from first place. In forth practice local guy did 1:01.49 and Matt slipped 0.2s by trying something different. Keith Karr lapped with 1:02.22 and Mac McCormack 1:02.6. Nelson Canache DQd with lap time 1:02.25.

In Micro Jesse and Ross did they first practice sessions. Competitors have advantage by doing practice during unofficial days. First place is Devlin DeFrancesco with time under 1:10. Justin Wood and Patricion O'Ward second and third.

Tomorrow morning is warm-up, Qualifying and Heat 1.

[Rick]

Ihor, Why was Nelson DQ'd, never heard of anyone being DQ'd in practice.