August 17th, 2010
After a crazy busy last 2 months I'm getting my website up to date. Images from ARL Rounds 2, 3 and 4 are now online. I will
soon update with images from the final 4 rounds of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship. Keep an eye out for images from Indianapolis MotoGP in the next few
months.
Thanks!
Brad.
Only a week after their first test of 2010 Steeves Motorsports was back on track May 14th-16th 2010 for Round 1 of the Atlantic Roadracing League Atlantic Championship. Things got underway Friday morning with the team aiming to adapt the bike to Pirelli Tyres after it being previously run on Dunlops. After several changes the team was able to find a set up that suited the tyres. Unfortunately the day was over by this point and we were no further ahead than we were at the start of the day.
Saturday we were greeted with overcast skies and the threat of rain. Both the ambient and the track temperatures were low making it difficult to get any useful feedback. None the less the team pushed up and found a decent set-up. It was all in vain though, as the skies opened up and soaked the track, making for a wet qualifying session. The team softened the bike up some and Terry went out and put down some laps. In the end he qualified on the front row of the grid, in 4th position.
Though happy with the front row start, the team was worried. The rain had stopped, and with only shortly more than an hour between qaulifying and the first race it was going to be hard to predict the conditions for the race. To make things more complicated 2 races were to run before the Superbike, increasing the chances of a dry track. After waiting as long as possible the team made the call to go out on wet tyres. Terry went out for the warm up lap but promptly pulled back in at the end of the warm up lap. Though there were patches of wet track, on the whole the track was too dry for rain tyres. Unfortunately this race would be a did not start for us.
Sunday morning we were greeted with sunny, blue skies. After yesterdays dissapointment the team was looking forward to a better result in race 2. The team was still have some setup issues so the morning warm up sessions were spent making suspension changes. After a slight improvement the team was hopefull of a top 5 result in their second and final race of the weekend.
After Saturday's DNS in race 1 Terry was relegated to the second row of the grid. Starting from a row back Terry made a great launch and was locked in a 3 rider fight in turn one. Unfortunately the rider inside Terry stood his bike up mid corner, hitting Terry and forcing him into the gravel on the outside of turn 1/inside turn 2. Terry was unable to rejoin in turn 2 as he would have been riding into a huge pack of riders which was out of the question. He fell over in the gravel bending his shifter beyond use. He was out of the race. Thankfully the bent shifter and some cosmetic damage were the extent of the damage to the bike. Terry is OK aswell.
Though it's hugely disapointing to leave round one with 2 no scores and not a single lap completed under race conditions the team remains optimistic for round 2 and the coming season. The bike is ready to roll again and Terry keeps getting faster each time he takes to the track. On the upside, the DNF and DNS means we have a set of 1 lap rain tyres and a set of slicks with about 2 minutes time on them sitting on the tire rack and a full tank of fuel we didn't have to burn. We will be back on track June 18th-20th for round 2 of the Atlantic Roadracing League's Atlantic Championship. See you there!
As always we would like to thank our sponsors Importations Thibault, Vicious Cycle, Suomy, Pro Cycle, Suzuki, Pirelli, Slim Gyms Fitness for Men, Eject Helmet Removal Systems, Dionne Signs and Brad Boutilier Photo and Press. Without them none of this would be possible and we are very thankful for their support
