Grattan Raceway 7/9/2011 - 7/10/2011
July came and went with Peak Honda Racing visiting the teams home track, Grattan Raceway for a WERA double header weekend. Read on to see how it turned out!
Weather at Grattan turned out to be near perfect for racing. Sunny with a few rolling clouds and warm temperatures meant good track conditions for some heated battles. Saturday started off with the normal practice sessions. The #91 of Oliver Gooden would be making his return to racing since his should injury suffered at BeaveRun earlier this season. Feeling 90%, Oliver decided to enter two classes on Saturday and hold off entering Sunday’s races until he knew how he’d fair under race conditions.
As the sprint races got underway, the #53 of Nicholas Lefurgey headed out for his first race of the day, 600 Superbike. After some heated racing with the regular fast guys, Lefurgey ended the race a respectable 4th place finish. Next on the list was 1000 Superbike, where the #53 earned a 2nd followed up with another 2nd in 1000 Superstock and a 3rd in 600 Superstock. The 1000 races were impressive results, considering Lefurgey was campaigning a CBR600RR against the liter bikes and cutting a new personal best lap time in the process of 1:21.5!
Next up on Saturday’s agenda would see the #91 of Oliver Gooden return to competition after a lengthy break to heal up. In the Formula 1 race, Gooden was able to capture a 3rd place finish, very respectable. Next up would be the 750 Superstock race. Still healing, the #91 was only able to place 6th in the race. After some discussion with the team later that night, it was decided that Oliver should sit out Sundays racing and give his shoulder a bit more time to gain back the strength needed to compete on back to back days.
This left Sunday’s program to the last remaining Peak Honda Racing rider of Nicholas Lefurgey to fly the flag. With another four sprints on the table, the team quickly got to work. Beginning with 1000 Superstock, Lefurgey carved out a 2nd place finish aboard his 600cc machine before griddling up for the 600 Superstock race. Back on a level playing field, Lefurgey eked out a disappointing 6th place. Headed into the 600 Superbike race, the crew made some changes and Lefurgey was able to 3 rd place finish behind the always fast Sam Gaige and David Grey. This race also saw the #53 cut his Saturday’s personal best lap time down to 1:21:2. With one race left, the team took to the grid against the 1000cc machines for the final time of the weekend in the 1000 Superbike class where Nicholas wrapped up the day with another impressive 3rd place finish.
All in all, a good weekend for the team with times dropping and Oliver building his shoulder strength to finish out the season strong. As always, a special thanks to all of our sponsors: Scorpion, Leo Vince, Sportbiketrackgear.com, GP Tech, Knox, Vortex, Pit Bull, Hotbodies Racing, Chicken Hawk Racing, Uber Racing, Pirelli, Sportbike Tire Service, Witchkraft Motorsports and Peak Powersports.
