We had a great day of riding this past Saturday at Atwater Kart track. The weather was nice, for January, and the track held up “ok” for most of the day. We go there around noon and got to hang out with some good friends of ours.
Dean Ketelsen was kind enough to take some cool shots of Anthony. Anthony was very happy to be sporting his new body work, painted by MotoGloss and with cust0m-made sponsor decals from ACE Graphics.
We are looking for a 5×8 trailer for the 2012 season. If you have one, or know someone with one, please let us know.
Our current trailer, 4×6 is just big-enough for one bike. We tried out a 5×8 trailer for the first round and it was big-enough for two bikes.
Please let us know.
We’re back from WERA West’s season open at Fontana. The weekend went well, if a little windy.
We arrived at the track on Saturday morning to a beautiful day. Wind was a pleasant 5mph (though that would drastically change) and the temperature gauge reached a nice 69 degrees.
All of practice went well. Anthony even got to ride his newest bike, an RS92, on the big track. The intention was to use that bike to give Anthony more track-time. He rode the RS92 for the last two sessions of the day.
By 5 o’clock, the wind picked up dramatically. It went from a pleasant 5mph to gusts of 60mph. A couple of our friends from NorCal came down to hang out with us, and we spent the evening with them. It was one of the nicest we’ve had. There was great food, drinks, and great company.
Sunday we woke up to the same winds from Saturday afternoon. At one point we wondered if it would be safe to even ride in those conditions. I talked to Anthony about it and he said he was ready so we too, got ready.
Anthony participated in three races; Mini, Formula 2 and 125GP. He rode well in all three and was able to take victory in the Mini and 125GP races, while he finished 2nd in the Formula 2 class. In the process he debut his new paint-scheme for 2012.
The wind is the only thing that put a damper on our weekend. But sometimes, Mother Nature, does not seem to be a racing fan.
Thanks to help from MotoGloss and Ace Graphics, Anthony’s 2012 paint scheme is complete.
Mike from Ace Graphics and Robert from MotoGloss did great job working together to make Anthony’s bodywork Super-Professional.
As you can tell Anthony is SUPER Happy about it and can’t wait to put it to use
To see more photos, please go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivanalonso/sets/72157628726520987/show/
Anthony helped me take the RS125 apart last night to get it cleaned up. We had a pretty tough weekend and there was much cleaning to do.
To my surprise, Anthony took MUCH of the bike apart before I got home; wheels, bodywork, drained radiator and forks. All he needed my help was to remove the engine and swing arm. Needless to say, I was very impressed.
Anyway, after the bike was apart Anthony picked up the frame and realized… wow, this bike is pretty light.
The 2012 WERA West Schedule has been finalized and the events will start on
Although the 2011 season is done, we are already beginning work for the 2012 season. Training is very important and we recently acquired an RS92. It’s basically an RS125, with a 92cc engine. The chassis is the same as his RS125, which means riding position, style and parts should all be the same.
Riding and racing the RS125 is very expensive. Part of the expense is track-time, but the biggest chunk of the expense is parts. For this reason we are very excited that Anthony will be able to train on a “similar” bike that is much more “cost-friendly”.
We met Marco Simoncelli in July of 2010 when he came to the D-Store in San Francisco as a promotional appearance for the USGP Race at Laguna Seca. We began to take notice of Marco, or SicWitIt as Anthony called him, when he was in the 250GP class. He was aggressive and courageous, something we always admired in a rider.
I remember, in 2009, when he rode at Imola on the RSV, thinking he’d give the MotoGP guys a headache when he arrived.
Then in 2010, when he made his debut, I remember him getting his bell rung at a Sepang test and Rossi saying that he needed “to be more quiet on the bike”. That year was tough for us, always having been Rossi fans, but Marco brought us hope.
This year, from a Rossi-fan point of view, has been terrible, but lucky for us, Marco was always there to bring us joy. I remember thinking that once Rossi retired, we’d have Marco to cheer for. Sure, Marco’s riding was not as “refined” as Rossi’s, but they shared charisma and bravado… he was definitely not a rider you wanted behind you on the last lap. He made racing exciting.
During that meeting, Anthony asked Marco “how do you fit all of your hair in your helmet?”. Marco responded, “it’s easier when it’s wet…”
That was the closest we ever got to Marco. This year, the D-Store held no such event and at the track we never got lucky enough to see him not surrounded by others.
As you can see, we never “really” knew him, yet somehow, we’re going to miss him a lot.
We’re back from our trip to Spain. Overall, the trip was a success. Though Anthony was not picked for next year’s rookies cup, there were many other positives we could not have found unless we had gone there.
Anthony is not a “fast learner” and we were really concerned about this. The selection process took place at a kart track he’d never seen. Originally we were under the impression the selection process would take place at the Aragon “main” circuit, but this turned out to be incorrect. We spent time reviewing video of the “main” circuit, to at least become familiar with it and it turned out to not matter.
The other factor was the bike. The biggest bike Anthony’s rides on a kart track is his NSR65. His RS125 has only ever been ridden on a “real” track. So ridding a 125cc on a kart track was a new challenge for him.
Yet Anthony rode well both days. On the first day he got 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon. His pace was “ok”, but not as fast as the kids familiar with the circuit.
On the second day, which consisted of the same amount of track time as the first, both of his sessions were red-flagged due to accidents. One kid suffered an injury which required a trip to the hospital (I believe a broken hand/wrist), and the others suffered no injuries.
However, even with these disruptions to his concentration, he improved his pace and got closer to the fastest “local” kids.
He didn’t crash, he improved lap after lap, carried himself well and made a bunch of new friends. Most importantly, he was on track with European riders. It’s always been very important for us to figure out where Anthony’s pace is when compared to other kids. We need to improve here, but we’re on a good trajectory.
The selection process does not provide feedback as to “why”. From our perspective, this is something that should improve, as it leaves a void.
Anthony was invited to stay for Wednesday’s tryouts. He is one of four Americans which were asked to stay for tomorrow.
He is in group A, and will be the only American in group A. Anthony is very excited and hopes to do better tomorrow.
Here are photos from today’s event
