CSBK - Round 4 Report: Burns Racing

Round 4 Report: Burns Racing

Details: Category: Team News; Published on Monday, July 23, 2018 16:28 EDT

As always, the east coast trip is a fun one from the starting point. Our trip to Mopar CSBK Round 4 kicked off with a Tuesday evening departing from 613 Motorsports about 7pm. The team decided to drive with the idea of stopping in Edmundston, New Brunswick. The team rig arrived in Edmundston around 4 am Atlantic Time and still had the energy to continue on. Driver Aaron Burns drove straight through and arrived at Atlantic Motorsport Park just shy of 12 on Wednesday morning. It was a long 16 hours in the truck driving straight through and the team can check it off the bucket list of making the entire drive with one driver while Alan Burns was the co-pilot.

The rest of the Ontario crew followed suit arriving shortly after 12 and we began to set up, we established a nice U-Shape to make the home away from home a little more comfortable.

Thursday was the track day hosted by Pro Cycle which gave lots of us an opportunity to shake the cobwebs off or learn the track (in Shake and Bake’s case). We all started pushing along and got familiar with the lines and elevation changes which is one of the reasons that makes Shubie such a blast.

Friday brought the first official day of Mopar CSBK racing and it was clear to see the locals were not giving any pointers or line assistance as we pushed on. The locals definitely know the track and they go around well here. Aaron set out on a toasted Dunlop Q3+ rear tire and played around just taking it easy. He opted to skip the last session due to the tire being well abused and focus ahead for tomorrow. A possible Q3+ tire shortage saw a quick run to Pro Cycle to pick up an order for Pro 6 Cycle Inc. (it’s easy to mix the 2 business up) before Aaron’s first session. Loaded up the fresh tires in the 613 Motorsports truck and headed back to the track to just make his first practice session in the nick of time!

Saturday morning we put the Burns Racing Champion Powered Yamaha R3 through its paces running double duty with both riders running the CSBK national Amateur Lightweight Sport Bike class (Aaron) and the ARL Lightweight Invitational (Alan).

Alan qualified first thing in the morning and was a respectable 14th place having only run the track a few times this weekend and previously riding the bumpy track in 1992.

Aaron set out for qualifying and put his head down and charged. Laying down his best lap on his last flier with a 1:20.177 which at the time had him down to 6th place. With little time left and being on pit lane Aaron wasn’t able to get any more laps in and got bumped to 9th place. He was ecstatic with the time and even more excited for some close racing.

The Saturday race was in perfect conditions and everyone got away clean for the start. Aaron was struggling with handling and it was soon realized the bike settings had been adjusted for Alan and not returned back to the settings for the heavier rider. He was pushed backwards a bit but pushed through to a respectable 11th place finish.

Saturday evening was the annual lobster dinner at the track which cannot be done without the planning and preparation of a few key people. Lisa, Jenn, Jeff and Andrea put on an awesome event for everyone involved to enjoy.

Sunday morning was a downpour. Everyone scrambled for wets and Aaron was able to get out for a few wet laps to feel the track out. Having never ridden in the wet it was a short and sweet 3 lap learning curve as the session was two-thirds of the way complete before the R3 made it to the track. The weather took a wild turn and the rain stopped with the wind and sun starting to show. A mere 10 minutes before the go ahead for the race, crew chief/ racer Alan made the call to strip the wets for the Q3+’s just in time for roll out. Not all racers were that lucky and many headed out on full rain tires. After the sighting lap it was clear that Burns Racing had made the right call as the racing line was dry as could be.

The race got off well up until the beginning of lap 2. Weekend teammate and fellow racer Adolfo Silva was involved in an incident in turn 1 sending him tumbling down the steep bank on the outside of 1. A red flag halted the race while medical staff attended the scene. Rider is okay and enjoying his vacation now on out.

The red flag wait just improved the conditions on the track - for anyone that was on dry tires. The 6 lap sprint restart again saw Aaron get a great start and carry himself up to 7th place from his 10th place start. He battled with fellow Ontario rider Matt Simpson throughout the race trading positions before getting him at the line in an up hill drag race to the checkered. Unfortunately Matt was issued a jump start penalty and was not battling for true position on the sheets but none the less it was a great race. Aaron finished 7th in the end collecting valuable points.

Alan ran the Sunday afternoon invitational race and was holding down a solid 8th position before a last lap stumble saw 2 of the local racers get by him on the outside of the carousel (Turn 9).

In summary it was an amazing experience as it always is heading out east. The weather was better than predicted, the racing was top level and the company of the locals and fans was top notch. The east is always a great time and we can’t wait to continue on the tradition of heading out here for years to come.

A massive thank you to all the sponsors and supporters that give Burns Racing the opportunity to go race and do what we love:

Champion Parts

613Motorsports.com

Woodcraft Technologies

Windmilll Motorsports and Machine

Pazzo Racing

Orient Express Racing

VnM Sport

Snow City Cycle Marine

Hindle Exhaust

Fix Auto Ottawa Airport & Fix Auto Gloucester

#Flexiglass

From a press release