Table of Contents
- The Team
- The race bike
- The start of the 7hr
- Winner Circle
Our team has always been into the racing scene from drag racing, drifting to road racing. Once we started racing our Groms, we were hooked. Endurance racing is a whole new level for us and we decided to challenge ourselves with a 24-hour race presented by UMRA. A 24-hour race is not as simple as it sounds but with planning it’s not as crazy either. It takes dedication, a good team (riders, pit crew) and most importantly experience. Since this is going to be our first 24-hour race we have a lot to learn. Having a good prep bike and endurance experience. Endurance racing is way different from sprint races and a 7-hour race is a good start into endurance racing. There are going to be about 20-24 teams with over 100 racers with various skill levels and speeds in the 24. Our team for the 7-hour had three riders, Andrew, Erick, and myself.
The Team
- Andrew Horn - He has always been involved in racing from cars to motorcycles.
- Erick Yuman - The type of guy that will race anything he can get his hands on.
- Ely Hernandez (me) – Just has the need for speed.
The Race Bike
- Honda Grom 125 - stock 125cc with Tyga fairings and a lot of aftermarket goodies.
The Start of the 7hr I started the race and within the first few laps led the race in 1st for the Grom class. Unfortunately, it didn’t last as I low-sided 30 mins into the race and bent the foot peg, causing us about 5-10 minutes of repair time. Each lap is about mid to low 50 seconds, so we were behind about ten laps after the crash.
Photo: Holding it down for the team
Being Andrew’s second time at Apex Kart Track and very little seat time tracking period he was able to keep a fast and consistent pace. Andrew had two minor off-track incidents during his session. One incident caused us another ten minutes of downtime because a rock was locked up in the front rotor and caliper after the fall. Photo credit to Karen Ott.
Our new rider for the team, Erick, it was his first time out on the track with the Grom so he was getting used to our bike. As he finally got comfortable Erick had a pretty bad crash.
Photo: Erick managing his way through traffic on a hard left-hander
Winner Circle During Erick’s second stint, he had a bad fall and tore both ligaments from his left collarbone with only 90 minutes of riding. This means Andrew and myself had to finish the race leaving us with 3 hours each of total riding. The game plan now is to maintain our pace and complete the race.
We ended the race with 3rd place and only 18 laps behind 2nd place and 39 laps behind 1st. Overall we had a good time and learned a lot from the 7-hour race and are excited for the upcoming 24 hours.
Huge thanks to UMRA for the awesome event.
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