Z2 Endurance Report for Code4-Racing Team

Even though this event was an exhibition event, CODE 4 was there with a team to representation our sponsors, including Z2: Who was stepping out of the “trackday” role to promote and organize a full race event at a new track. No other provider has taken on such an event, and Z2 really made a great event for The spints, endrunace race and hosting two rounds of USGPRU.

The plan for this race was to take our Novice rider Steve Hylan and his 6RR Kawasaki, throw in another CODE 4 rider, one of our CODE 4 friend and see what we could do. The practice day was spent doing suspension work just attempting to accommodate to the bumpy track and 3 different riders. The team made many adjustments and sacrifices to get the bike set up to work well for each rider.

Super Pole:
This is a type of qualifying used in outside the US. You have one lap to make your qualifying time as opposed to a 20 min. session. Everything falls on how well you hit your ONE lap. Steve Hylan nailed his qualifying lap, running a 1:55.9 giving us a 4th starting position for the Las Mans start.

Sunday:
There were 5 sprint races on the schedule before the start of the endurance. Steve entered the Novice Trophy Dash for some additional fun. Unfortunately, Steve ended up crashing after he “tucked” the front end trying to avoid another crashed rider. Steve faired well, but the bike needed a lot of attention. Everyone from CODE 4 jumped in to lend a hand…clean here… replace parts there… straighten here…and the bike was ready.

The Endurance:
The La Mans start is also something typically done outside of the US. For this start, the bikes are on one side of the starting grid while the riders are on the other. At the green flag, it’s a running race to mount your bike and head into turn one. It’s a lot of fun for the rider, but even better for the spectators. Matt Brooks was our “runner” and first up to set the pace. With the pressure of Steve’s SuperPole finish, Matt lined up, ready to race. The green flag drops, there is a mad sprint to the bikes and Matt is hard on the gas. After a miss shift and a solid ‘Clunk’, we were off to a mid-pack start.

The first rider change, found Matt focused on turn 1 and not on the pit board giving him signals :D. Rusn, who was also counting off the laps for us, figured it out and got matt into the pits. As Chris began his stint, we were 4th overall and 1st in our class.

Chris started clicking off laps, known for his consistent, smooth, and rhythmic riding style. Unfortunately, the bike was beginning to show some issues from the earlier crash. Chris hammered down and made great passes until it completely failed, and as a true racer, Chris pushed the bike back into the hot pits.

Once CODE 4 found and formulated the solution, we had the bike tech‘d and back on the track. Steve was on the bike for the last leg. We knew that we were too far behind to win, but in CODE 4 fashion we never stop. Steve took his ride and ran it like a beast to the end of the race to see the checker flag.