MAY UPDATE / BLOG
by Andy DiBrino
Atlanta Super Hooligans Race #2
Road Atlanta is one of my favorite tracks. Super Hooligans hadn't been there since 2022, and that was my last time there as well. If I had to make a comparison, I'd say Road Atlanta is as prestigious on the east coast as is Laguna Seca on the west coast. Lots of elevation and banked corners on the circuit that make it fun and exciting. Going into the round I felt really confident because I was able to do a club race back home at The Ridge Motorsports Park and win a couple races on the Triumph 765RS I am racing this year in Super Hooligans. I've also had more time to heal and just get back to normal. I am back to riding motocross, supermoto, and training like I normally do. So all around I was a lot more prepared for this round than Daytona.
Day 1 at Atlanta was not great. In the practice session my bike kept shutting off while riding which was really dangerous, and that was due to a bad killswitch that just was faulty. We changed that out before qualifying session 1. In that session though my clutch started going out and I wasn't able to get more than a couple half-decent laps in. Good enough for 10th on the grid, but not remotely where I should be.
Day 2 started out way better with a fresh clutch and a 5th in qualifying 2. The track was cold and green after rain showers, so even though I was 5th in that session, my lap time was still only good enough for 10th overall. I was just happy the bike was running well and I was feeling good now.
Race 1 I got a great start and found myself in a battle for 4th place! I had one of the Factory Harley's in front of me, and a Factory Yamaha. I wanted to be the top non-Harley in the race. Both the Yamaha rider and myself were faster than the Harley, but with the big straightaway on the backside of the track, the Harley could easily repass us. We were kind of stuck. I ended up hanging on for 6th place, which was my best result of the season so far. I was really happy with that, and I was the top finishing Triumph rider which is another goal of mine since I got a really competitive racer I am going up against who finished a couple spots behind me on one. I got into the 1:31 lap times which was excellent, and about 2 seconds faster than what I did on the KTM there back in 2022. After a tough Friday, this was a great step in the right direction.
The final day Sunday, I was really excited for my second race of the weekend. The goal was still to try to be the top non-Harley, and see if I could improve my result. When I pulled up to the grid, my bike went into a limp-mode which meant I had no quick-shifter or auto-blipper. Not the end of the world, but a little distracting for me. I got a poor start, not losing any positions but not gaining anything like I did in race 1. It kind of felt like power was being pulled from the electronics because of the limp mode when I let the clutch out and launched the bike. I made it a half a lap before the shifter on my bike broke coming onto the back straightaway. I had to immediately put my hand up and let people know I had a problem, because the pack was full of riders fighting for position. I was stuck in 3rd gear, so everyone flew right by me. My race was basically done right there. It wasn't safe to just roll around for 6 laps in 3rd gear. If the shifter broke with 1 or 2 laps to go, maybe I could've finished and scored points. But zero chance when a failure happens that early. I did go into the pit lane and get a jerry-rigged fix, but by then I was 2 laps down and I was forced to retire from the race. Definitely a huge bummer, but stuff happens. We will have to harness all that excitement and confidence we had going into the race for the next one.
And the next race happens to be at The Ridge Motorsports Park June 27-29! So I cannot wait for that. I think we can fight for a win, or a podium at the least. I am training hard for it! Between now and then I have some OMRRA / WMRRA races at Portland International Raceway and at The Ridge that I am looking forward to doing.