FIRST RED BULL AMA U.S. ROOKIES CUP TEST FEBRUARY 26-27, 2008

Tuesday morning the kids arrived at the track to find two transporters and one large tent, you could tell the kids were so just full of excitement and anticipation to look at the bikes. The excitement was like I remember as a kid waiting at the top of the stairs on Christmas morning!! The sheer excitement on their faces, as they looked down the row and found their bikes with their number as well as their leathers…. and then having them turn back around and giving me hi-five’s, was really cool. I shared with them that is what it’s going to feel like when you become a factory racer, with everything immaculate and brand new and perfectly prepared.

For our first AMA US Red Bull Rookies Cup test at Laguna Seca we were really lucky and had two very nice days of weather. We started around 10am with two groups of 12 riders, with fairly short sessions to get the bikes broke in. Mechanically, the bikes performed flawlessly over the two days for being our first test together…. 25 new bikes, 24 kids and myself and only one mechanical problem over the two days. We had some kids that went out and immediately went really fast to the opposite extreme we had some kids go really slow and work their way up to speed. Once a few kids asked questions early on the first day and my reponses helped them with their lap times the other kids started to ask questions as well. Once I had built a bit of a rapport with them they asked a lot of questions, especially the first day. There were numerous questions about the line through the corkscrew, as far as I know none of the kids had been around Laguna Seca. Try to imagine for a kid, somewhere between 12 – 16 years old, a private two-day test on a factory prepared KTM motorcycle at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway… what an opportunity!

At the end of the first day there were lots of smiles, and it didn’t seem like anyone wanted to go home they all wanted to stay with their motorcycles. We had a meeting about the program for the second day and you could almost see the disappointment on their faces that we weren’t going to get to ride anymore until the next day. I remember the excitement when I was a kid, how much fun riding and racing motorcycles… I never wanted to stop and it’s great to see that enthusiasm in the kids.

We stayed with the two group sessions through lunch the second day. After lunch we started back with all the kids on track for the last two sessions of the day. I think all the kids did a great job, they worked themselves in. We had a couple tip-overs the middle of the second day, fortunately with no injuries.

With the first test completed, I think I have a better idea of what all the kids need. Some need a bit more direction than the others. Now the challenge will be for their coach to try and remember what all their needs are and help them accordingly! I asked all the kids to write down anything that came to mind about the track, everything they struggled with. It’s so nice to be able to look back through your notes about a track we’re going to go back and race at and remember where you struggled, what was the most difficult part of the track etc. Trust me, as their Coach I will be seeing if they’ve done their homework! Great job guys, see you at Barber!