GNCC Racing

Jesse Robinson John Penton Race Report

by:
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 | 12:00 AM
Maxxis Tire/ HMF/ Ohlins/ Monster Energy Kawasaki
May 11, 2008
Round 6 , Millfield Ohio
 
At the beginning of each season you set down and assess the year as a whole. Where do we perform well? What do we expect at each event? There are two races that our expectations are different from the other eleven events. At these events, the preseason plan is to go and survive, try to finish the race and pick up some points. The first  is round 1 in Florida, where we're like a fish out of water in the sand and the second is the John Penton . The conditions there always seems to be unfavorable. Either so dusty you can't see or so muddy you can't see. The mud there is unlike any other place we race. It is clay and it's both slick and sticky.
 
I feel for Jeff Russell. I know he wants this race to be the best because it's his home track. Although the dates have been juggled around, trying the race in the fall and in the spring, the right time seems to avoid him each year. After an observation last year, there may only be a 15 minute window of what the racers call "perfect conditions" anyway. I noticed last year as they watered down the pit areas that the water became slick mud right away and within 20 to 30 minutes it was hard as brick batt and turned to dust. So there are only two options, dust or mud unless some miraculous weather phenomenon comes in and supplies the exact amount of moisture at the right tempature at the right time.
 
With rain coming this year, early morning re-preperations began as we changed to solid brake rotors, wider handguards, old plastics and mud tires. The ability to take care of your equipment in a race like this is crucial. In six years of racing, Jesse has never burnt a set of clutches. In fact, he runs the same clutches all year. The only time we've ever installed a new set was at Powerline Park in 2006, which was after the Unadilla mud fest where it seemed that everyone had clutch problems.  Jesse could sew up the 250 A championship at that race, so we took no chances and pulled the clutches out that we had ran all year. They still looked like new. Since we had it apart, we put in a new set.
 
The Kawasaki 450 has so much torque that you have to keep an eye on the clutches. Although the clutch wear has been good, new clutches have been installed after Ga. and S.C. After getting the best start of the season, one would think that the clutches were in good shape. Running 4th at the four-mile marker, Jesse drops off into a long rut and feels the clutch starting to slip. Making a quick adjustment everything seems ok until, just up the trail a ways, the bike quit pulling. The clutches were fried. The race was over in 4 miles. It's hard to understand how someone that is so easy on clutches can melt them down that fast. Maybe it's our Millfield plague, where odd things always seem to happen. Or I could say that the S/M Maxxis  tire hooked up so well that it put too much strain on the clutches. Or could it have even been that a "Higher Power" didn't want Jesse in this race for an unseen reason? What ever the case may be, it was very odd for this to happen. We will be ready for the next round at Ky. Thanks to all our sponsors.
 
Maxxis Tire, HMF, Ohlins, Monster Energy, Kawasaki, DP Brakes, Moose Racing, IMS, Motorex, RK excel, PG, Asterisk, Alpine star, Rekluse, Smith, Cycra, Polishsport, AXA, Works Connection, Renthal and the Trials Training Center.
 
 - Jimmy Robinson