We took 14th on Sunday but could have done better. We have a fast bike, good crew and a rider with potential. We knew what held us back on Saturday but failed to fix it.

I want to improve everyday.

We Qed 16th today, on the 4th row. Got a good start and were in 14th when the red flag came out for a crash on the front straight. After an OK re-start we were 15th but moved up to 13th before we killed the front tire by riding faster than the set up could handle because Villa got into the 1.26’s. Go, Villa go! We had to cool it for the last two laps but came home with a 15th.

At VIR we took 11th 2 times with some good luck. This time we Qed better and raced hard to earn another good finish. Peter Hively and I made some changes to solve our set up limit and now it’s Villa’s job to ride faster.

See you tomorrow.

When warned about Hurricane Earl, Santiago Villa said there would be “Hurricane Villa!”

We got lucky with the weather, mostly dry track in Practice and Basic Q. We did well today, the three of us, Villa, Peter Hively and I working well together. We were 15th in both Practice and BQ and are on track for our best Q yet, tomorrow.

Many friends have taken time to express there love for Peter Lenz to me today. I’m wearing my Peter Lenz 45 crew hat and keeping Peter and his family in my heart.

http://blogs.trb.com/sports/jjs-audibles/2010/08/emotional-day-at-the-speedway.html

I was worried about talking to a reporter because we are generally portrayed as dare devils in these situations. This reporter struck me as an honest person and I’m glad I took the chance to talk to him. Thank you, Jeremiah for your thoughtful story.

From the Lenz family:

“Peter Lenz passed away this morning from injuries sustained from a racing accident. On behalf of the Lenz family, we would like to thank Peter’s friends and supporters for all their help throughout the years. We are deeply saddened by this tragic loss, but know that Peter is racing even faster in the sky. Our thoughts and prayers are now with the other racer and his family, who were also involved in this tragedy.”

RIP Peter. You and your family are in my thoughts. I thank all of you for the time I was able to spend with you. We will keep racing as a way to honor your memory.

Love,
Ed

We got the other engine in and the bike ready in time for today’s race but it only made 31 HP compared to 33 for the new engine we had yesterday and most of the field.

Peter got a great start from the front row and was 1st into turn one. At the end of lap one he was 3rd. A few laps later he was dropped to 4th by a draft pass on the front straight but Peter’s bike did not have the power to pass even with a draft. He fought for 3rd for the rest of the race and was only .25 of a second out 3rd at the line.

Peter’s best lap was his last, 1.58.903.

We did not get torn down this time.

We looked into fixing the new engine that started making noise yesterday but determined we could not. So we took some weight off our race bike, installed the up-dated air box from the new bike and changed a few clickers to help mid turn.

My helper this weekend has been Liam Shubert. Liam is an ex MotoGP tech so he knows his stuff and how to work.

Tomorrow we’ll pit a T-Rex on the bike and go for it!

We race on Saturday and Sunday here at the Indy GP but we only go on track for the race. One warm up lap then race. Therefore, today’s one practice and two Q’s are all important.

Practice went fine. The track was dusty and green but we just wanted to learn it, we were 6th with a 2.05.543. Peter told me the engine was making a noise but I blew it off thinking it was just clutch basket rattle.

When I started the bike two hours later I knew we were in trouble. This engine was new but now, not so much. After checking a few easy things we had to go with the back up bike with a tired engine and the old suspension. 7th with a 2.02.373.

With only one hour to the 2nd Q we swapped the new suspension that I had worked up at Portland onto the B bike and sent Peter back out with moments to spare. 4th with a 2.00.350.

Then to top off a long day, USGPRU decided we had to tear down our engines so they could check the valves and pistons. This after dyno and weight checks and before the races!

We’ll be back at the track tomorrow at 8 am to put an engine in our B bike and turn it into our A bike. We race at 4:30 pm so we have lots of time.

Indy weather report: very nice and the track rocks, wish I could ride!

The California Superbike School has been sponsoring Peter for five years now. We spent the day learning how to work together while Peter worked on track with his coach, James Toohey. We made good progress and will be back at it tomorrow.

VIR weather report: You guessed it, hot.