AHRMA Gingerman 2019

davidd

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Gingerman Raceway is in Michigan and is a nice track, as I remember it, but very flat. Here is a link to the layout:


Today's race went well and it took a while to get the gearing correct. Alex McLane on the Norton was first, David Tompkins was second , David Roper was third and Scott was fourth. David Roper is on the Dondolino:
Dave Roper Dondolino 2019.jpg

David Tompkins was able to lower his lap time 6 seconds from last year, which is a nice jump.
Gingerman 2019  (1).jpg


David
 

davidd

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The Sunday races turned out the same as Saturday's in terms of order with Alex, Dave T., Dave R. and Scott finishing 1 through 4. Alex now feels he should be in all the Vincent photos!

20190804_095530.jpg


David
 
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davidd

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How non-standard is the Norton motor? Is it a short stroke?
I would say that it is very standard. You are not allowed to change the stroke. That said, it has been updated every way possible that the rules allow. Stu Rogers built the bike originally and raced it in AHRMA for Bob McKeever. Maurice Candy took over the building in recent years and Maurice is a master also.

The Vincent motors are also pretty standard. A stock Carrillo rod, a new CP piston and the intake valve is 2" instead of 1.88". Stock Maughan gears and a Megacycle Mk2.

I should mention that Dave dropped another three seconds off his lap time on Sunday. That means he went from 2:11 last year to 2:02.

David
 

BigEd

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........ Stu Rogers built the bike originally and raced it in AHRMA for Bob McKeever. Maurice Candy took over the building in recent years and Maurice is a master also.

I should mention that Dave dropped another three seconds off his lap time on Sunday. That means he went from 2:11 last year to 2:02.

David
I bumped into Stu Rogers a couple of weeks ago at the Vintage Club's Founder's Day Rally. We had a good old chat about our past involvement in Vintage Racing.
He told me he is keeping busy, he has over 20 Norton engines to build!

Well done to Dave Tompkins. In an era when 0.1 seconds is a significant improvement, he must be very pleased with his outstanding reduction in lap time.
 
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timetraveller

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Meanwhile this side of the pond I recently heard from Mike Hawthorne. He already held the lap record for the Chimay track for his class with his Comet/GreyFlash 500. He tells me that he just knocked two seconds off that time so congratulations to him.
 

Nulli Secundus

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Meanwhile this side of the pond I recently heard from Mike Hawthorne. He already held the lap record for the Chimay track for his class with his Comet/GreyFlash 500. He tells me that he just knocked two seconds off that time so congratulations to him.
Did he tell you about his crankcases Norman?
 

greg brillus

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Interesting thing....."Lap times"...... I've found you definitely seem to get better times when you are in close competition with someone rather than out front and on your own. Just as an example.........the small track we race at Stanthorpe, which is only a 1000 meter circuit, we race at about twice a year. The lap record for the older period 3 bikes from 1946 to 1962 is a 37.6 second lap. This was done by one of our now retired members on his 500 twin Triumph, both the bike and he were very competitive. Back in 2016 when I still had the Vincent racer, I managed a 37.7 second lap..........This was against others on 650 pre-unit Triumph twins. On my current bike which is a slimline Norton with a 500 ESO/Jawa speedway engine, the best lap I have done is a 38.1 and this proves that having the extra power definitely helps to get better lap times, even though the Vincent was much heavier. I have been trying to learn better body position, that is getting my butt off to one side and my knee down somewhat, but at the last race meeting a couple of weeks back, my lap times did not improve at all, and in fact my fastest lap was a 38.4..... It is obvious that to make up extra 10ths of seconds in corners is going to the next level of confidence that i am still struggling to get to.......It is very impressive to watch others who are very confident at fast cornering, and to see how much confidence they have in their tires, as you can see by the sides of the tire very shredded up.............Reg Bolton told me many times that it is all psychological, and I'm convinced he is correct 100%............
 

timetraveller

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Hi Dave, no I haven't heard about the crankcases. Do tell. I do know that he has split two different UFM with a combination of high revs and cornering forces.
Regarding Greg's comments re lap times, he might be right. I do know that Mike often rides with a GoPro, or similar, on his bike. In every video of his I have seen he just overtakes everyone else, straights, corners, inside and outside. As I have said to him the rest of the competitors must hate him. Perhaps this time he had someone who pushed him but I also know that there was another mod to the engine which might have helped.
 
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