April 29-30 at Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon
Oregon's unpredictable weather always keeps us questioning what we would get for the first round of the Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association (OMRRA) at Portland International Raceway (PIR). The weeks leading up to the race are always nail-biting. Fortunately, we lucked out and were given dry racing conditions and even a few rays of sun now and then.
This weekend was my first time riding my new Yamaha R1 at PIR. It had been well over a year and a half since I raced a 1000cc bike here, and I had some good competition to face off against. Friday's practice day was a learning day on the bike. PIR is extremely different to Chuckwalla Valley Raceway where I raced last February and had great success on the R1. Chuckwalla has a good amount of elevation change, lots of corners and even some banking. PIR on the other hand, is totally level with 2 long straightaways and few turns. Suspension and electronics changes were in order, as well as some seat-time to get comfortable on the new bike at my home track.