Daytona AHRMA Race Report
In addition to MOTO-ST, I competed in the AHRMA races at Daytona Monday and Tuesday March 5-6. I raced both my R1200S and my R75/5. The R1200S is legal in the BOT (Battle of Twins) F2 (Formula 2) class in AHRMA. This class includes SV650's built to Superbike spec. and 2-valve 1000cc Superbike spec. Ducati's among others. The R75/5 is legal in many of the 750cc vintage classes, depending on how it is configured (fairing, brakes, etc.) I typically race it in BEARS or Formula 750. Still riding San Jose's R1200S, I finished on top of the podium both days in BOT F2. I led the race flag to flag each time. Monday's race was not too exciting, as I ran away from everyone and was never challenged. I had fun trying to correct my lines and be more precise. Tuesday I had a DS1000 Ducati chasing me the entire time, and he almost managed to draft pass me at the line. I managed to hold him off though. Richard Chambers interviewed me after the race and I told him I was on basically a stock bike that anyone could experience by going out to the BMW Demo Truck outside the speedway and taking one for a ride. I'm not sure he believed me! I entered the BEARS races on the R75/5, and these were exciting. On Monday I had a rider highside in front of me in turn 4 on the first lap. We were running nose to tail, with him in second and me in third position. I nearly ran him over and ended up in the grass outside the turn going around him. I lost some positions but made them back quickly, settling into second place behind Tim Joyce on a very well built Triumph. There was a sizable gap back up to Tim, and I was not able to make it up, but second is pretty good, considering the last time I was at Daytona on the R75/5 I crashed out of the race! In Tuesday's BEARS race I came in second again. This time I lead the race until the last lap, when a rider on a Triumph passed me for the lead. I followed him through the infield thinking that I would draft pass him at the line. His bike was a little stronger than mine, and as we pulled onto the banking for the last time he was able to just stay in front of me. Bridesmaid again. All in all the AHRMA races were alot of fun. We really showed everyone what the R1200S is capable of doing, took home some trophies, and had a good time. Ivan
Posted 2:06 PM, Mar 12, 2007 by bmwivan
