RIM Racing
The last race weekend of the year for RIM Racing’s Mike Morgan took place at New Jersey motorsports Park and was filled with ups and downs.
Mike Morgan:
“With a nice long break in between mid-Ohio and New Jersey we were able to get a new motor built and have everything ready to go for the last race of the season. This has been a very successful year with a restricted budget and no title sponsor. I have been in the top 20 in all but two races and was hoping for a strong finish at this last race. Having a freshly built motor and one track day to get it broken in meant we were ready for the weekend. I also got a little bit of help from Constance and George and that made the weekend just a little bit easier and a whole lot more fun.”
Qualifying went well and I was positioned just outside of the top 20. Pushing too hard in Q1 when there are two different sessions is not worth the risk, simply for a better grid position. A good start can easily overcome a mediocre grid position. I was relying on Saturday mornings second qualifying session to improve my times after making some suspension changes. Poor weather in the morning and a damp track surface prevented that from happening as planned. In race one, I was in a good position and had two fellow competitors right in front of me running a good pace. I knew if I could stay with them that I had a good chance of passing at least one of them and being inside the top 20. Unfortunately, there was a small mechanical issue that arose on lap five and I had to pit in order to fix the motorcycle. The crew did a great job of running back to the trailer to get the correct part while I started to work on the motorcycle. We were able to repair it and I went back out, even though several laps down from the leaders. In racing, you never know what can happen and wanted to gain as many positions as other riders exited the race. We ended the race five laps down and had a finishing position of 23rd, outside of the points and any paying position.
Race 2 went much better and was made easier by having the whole row in front of me succumb to the previous day’s accidents. Right away, I was inside the top 20 with a decent start. This allowed me to focus and have a little bit more fun racing the people around me. Two fellow competitors were on my tail from the very beginning and we swapped positions a few times. We had a red flag in the race from a major crash that took out several riders in the lead group. One rider left the track and went through a large mud puddle that threw water back onto the track. The officials did not see this. I was allowed a better grid position for the restart. I started racing the same two guys that I was dicing with before the red flag. One of them got in front of me a few times but I could not let him beat me. Every chance I got I made a pass on him and was able to hold both of them off all the way to the end of the race. I ended up in 15th position, the best result I had this season.
Thanks to all the sponsors, fans, and the people who made the weekend and this year possible! Check out all the great pictures that the crew took this weekend on Facebook. Thanks Connie and George!
RIM Racing is sponsored by ZipLine, Barnett clutches, Autolite spark plugs, Fram oil filters, Motul oil, TCX boots, Yoshimura R&D, EBC brake pads / rotors, World Wide Bearings, Kenwood, NEXX helmets, Superior Body Works, SRP Graphics, Vortex components, Zola acai drinks, Spider Grips, Advanced Auto Parts, Pilot leathers, Held gloves, Hotbodies, Lockhart Phillips
For more on RIM Racing’s Mike Morgan please visit www.mikemorganracing.com
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Mike Morgan
ZipLine RIM Racing #11
