An impressive debut for Fong

Wampum, PA – It was supposed to be a pretty smooth weekend for the team. After the chaos of Sonoma which saw Cam Petersen get injured, the departure of Jayson Uribe and the addition of Bobby Fong, Pittsburgh International Race Complex was supposed to be easy going. The weather was supposed to be a non-factor, so many other things were supposed to be non-issues, but this is racing. Things never go as they are supposed to when people are pushing mechanical devices to their limits in the great outdoors. On this particular weekend, despite things not going exactly to plan, it was a pretty awesome weekend!

Like the metaphor of a duck on a lake, where from the shore it appears the duck is nice and calm but underneath the work is being done, this weekend looked easy going while the team was actually in high gear trying to get Bobby and the Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda working as one. With only one day of testing prior to arriving, the crew got immediately to work setting up the Honda CBR1000RR SP2 for the rolling hills course. While the Western PA circuit isn’t the most technical of all tracks, it does have a few quirky corners where the riders exit heading up a hill. These would be particularly challenging for the Big Red Machine. Nailing the set-up would be even more critical as this track can be made more difficult by an unknown track surface that doesn’t respond well to the wrong compound of tires.

Friday morning and its time for Bobby and his temp crew (Using Cam’s crew) to take to the track for their first taste of the circuit. What became immediately apparent, the track and tires were not going to jive. The track had undergone some improvements and Dunlop, basing everything off of last year’s notes, brought a compound tire that was too hard for the surface. While this is a problem, it was a problem shared by all teams equally. What this effectively meant, set-up was going to be a bigger challenge than previously thought. Despite the tire issues, Fong was quick right out of the box. Circulating the track with his typical aggressive style, Bobby was riding with fervor! By the end of QP1 he was in P5 and optimistic about upping the pace for QP2. Giving Scotty and the crew all the information he possibly could cram into a few hours between sessions, Bobby was eager to get back out in the afternoon and make his bid for Superpole. As QP2 got underway, it was clear that the changes were effective. Bobby was again flying around the countryside; problem was that as he made progress, other teams had made even greater progress. While Bobby had upped his pace, he didn’t make the leaps that his competition had, and when the checkers flew he crossed the line in ninth for both the session and the day overall.

As the sun came up on Saturday morning, the team arrived to the track one main goal, “Get the most out of Superpole.” There’s no time to think ahead to the race when qualifying will be set during the fastest 15 minutes in racing. A night spent reviewing data and tweaking settings would be put on full display when Bobby leaves the pits for his first stint on the super sticky Dunlops. With his two flying laps completed, Bobby pulls into the pits and has a fresh rear tire put on so that he can go back out and push his machine to its absolute limits. With time winding down, Bobby heads back out on track to put his chips on the table. Timing it perfectly, he began his flyer with just enough time. Pushing and pushing, Bobby made quick work of the 19 turns and crossed the line as the seventh fastest rider just missing out on the second row.

Now that Superpole is finished, it’s time to prep for race one in a few short hours. At this point in the day the weather was giving no indication that it was plotting its own surprise.  The crew was prepared for a dry race believing that they had found a working combination of set-up and tires that would allow Bobby to rise through the pack during the race. As the bikes sat on the hot pit with tire warmers on, the ten minute call comes over the radio. At that exact moment, the skies opened up and the water began to fall. What had been a humid and cloudy day became a wet mess that looked to bring utter confusion to the awaiting superbike grid. A hold was called, then came the news that the teams would be given a 10 minute session to determine their comfort level with the changing track conditions. Wet or Dry? That was anyone’s guess. In the words of Bobby, “It’s too wet for slicks and not wet enough for rains.” When the three minute call came out, the team would have to decide on slicks or rains and the choice was made to roll on slicks and gamble that the track would dry during the race. The teams made their decisions but the weather was still wavering and as the riders took to the grid, it was still anyone’s guess as to what would happen. The track was a complete mixed bag of conditions and as the lights went out, the superbike grid was a mixed bag of comfort. Josh Herrin was clearly the rider with the most positive attitude. He made a gigantic leap of faith and was rewarded with a few second lead by halfway through the first lap. Bobby made a start similar to everyone else, cautious and calculated. Coming down the chicane on the first lap, the entire field was spread all over the place. No-one was going to be setting lap records in race one.

As the race progressed in a rather frustratingly odd pace, the other rider making headway was Jake Lewis who had come from the back of the pack and stayed on the dry line to move up to the sixth position. The majority of the grid waited until almost the three quarter race distance before the pace was picked up. In what may go down as the most confusing race of the season, Bobby crossed the line in eighth place. Not one to accept external factors as a reason for results, Bobby shook his head, apologized and said, “I have to be better in the wet! The bike was great but I just have to do better in the rain.”

Overnight storms that lasted well into early Sunday morning would make for a very muggy venue with a green track surface. Sunday morning warm-ups are only 15 minutes long and that provides just enough time to try out basic setup changes. The weather was supposed to be decent but the dark clouds caused anxiety that Race Two would be a repeat of Race One. However, as the teams began their preparation, the sun began to shine and cautious optimism began to permeate throughout the team. As Bobby approached his starting position, there seemed to be a small issue with the electronics. Thankfully, a few button pushes was all it took to clear the issue and Bobby was all set for a 15 lap fight. Making a solid start, Bobby was firmly in the lead group as the superbike field made its way around the 2.8 mile circuit. Some incidents ahead of him created a gap that allowed Toni Elias to begin opening a gap ahead of the chase group. For more than half of the race Bobby was battling in that main chase pack and was showing competitiveness that the team couldn’t help but be proud of. However as the race wore on and the tires began to fall off, Bobby would find himself loosing contact with that group and circulate on his own until the final lap. Bobby would end Race Two in the team’s highest finish of the season in P6.

What makes this result so significant, is that it showed the competitiveness of the Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda. The team has been closing in on the leaders all season with the development of Cam and now with Bobby riding the second machine, that gap will continue to shrink and the team is eager to finish the remaining rounds stronger and even closer to the coveted top five

Bobby Fong – 50

Danny Walker – Team Principal

Scott Jensen – Crew Chief