California Superbike School finishes 2nd in the 8-Hour
Fri, Dec 16 2011

The California Superbike School Superstock 600 entry of Adam Raffe, Josh Galster, Kris Parnell and Luke Martin completed a drama filled Phillip Island 8-Hour to finish a close second in their class and eight overall. The 25 bike grid included Superbike, Supersport, Superstock 1000 and Superstock 600 machines with 22 entries completing the event.

Photo: MCNews.com.au

After qualifying 11th overall the CSS quartet opened the inaugural 8-Hour endurance race (previously the 6-Hour) with an increasing advantage over their nearest Superstock 600 rivals, WET4U Racing (Paul Grant-Mitchell/Colin Lewis/Murray Clark/Michael Thomas, ZX-6R). But disaster struck at the end of the third hour when the Team CSS Suzuki gear shifter broke.

After limping the bike back to the pits Team CSS managed a makeshift fix, which brought them back to the fray 11 laps down on the leading WET4U Racing Kawasaki entry –left with the difficult task to claw back the lost ground.

“Ben Fox, our mechanic came up with an impressive quick fix that got us back out on track, but the gear shift had to be relocated a long way forward, beyond the reach of rider’s foot. We had to take our foot off the peg for every gear change, and that was a little awkward,” explained Raffe, CSS Chief Riding Coach. “As a result it worked out easier to eliminate a few of the gear changes around the circuit and in the end we just use third, fourth and fifth gears.

“Also given that the stints were long, and we had a front tyre to preserve, we actually ended up pretty much racing around in three gears with light brakes. Funnily enough this is actually the riding format we use at the school for students in one particular exercise. To our surprise our times actually got faster riding in that way, and the tyre wear improved too!”

In a momentous effort, and after setting their best lap in the final hour, the CSS GSX-R600 came to within a lap of the Superstock 600 class winning WET4U Racing Kawasaki.

“We’re happy considering the challenges we had,” said Raffe. “We were pretty confident of a strong result if everything held together because we felt we had a strong rider line-up. Josh is one of our CSS coaches from the US and races in the AMA championship. Kris had completed the 6-Hour last year and was runner up in his class. And Luke, who’s one of or CSS students, has shown such promise in the training program.

“Luke, now 16, first came to us as a 14 year old junior. He has since completed all four levels of the school as well as being a regular in the CSS supported MRRDA road race series. We were at the final round of the MRRDA at Broadford, and I was working with Luke over the course of the weekend, when I decided he’d be a great teammate in the 8-Hour. He’s a level headed kid, and his riding has been improving over the last few years.”