A Day With A Crew Chief
or
Dad Gets Some Time Off
by Eric

Like all race dads, I work pretty hard keeping my son’s motorcycle roadracing program running. I think I do a decent job, but to be honest, sometimes it’s tough to stay on top of everything. It just becomes more than a one man job as you move up the ranks. As the bikes get bigger and faster, everything becomes much more critical. Pocket bikes were a lot more forgiving than what we ride now.

So as we prepare to step up to WERA, I see a post by Ed Sorbo advertising a personal crew chief for a day. The rate seemed reasonable, and I’ve seen Ed around for a while. A quick check with a few friends confirms that he is definitely an experienced guy. We talk and go over his program and what I could expect, and decide to meet up at Fontana for a track day prior to the first WERA event of 2011.

My son and I had plans to ride together, he on his RS150 and I on my ZX-6. When we showed up in the morning, Ed had already gotten us a garage and was all set up with tools and everything we would need for the day. I got there pretty early, but by the time we had unloaded and gone through registration, it was already time for the riders meeting. Ed sent us off to the meeting and started prepping the bikes.

Coming back from the riders meeting, I see both our bikes on stands with tire warmers on and tech stickers applied. I was liking this already. All we had to do was gear up and start working on our game plan for the day. We went out for a warm-up session, with Ed watching on from various vantage points. When we came back to the garage, he got to work on things like suspension setup, engine tuning, and riding techniques. It was great having the burden lightened, and being able to spend more time with stuff that sometimes gets overlooked, like taking some photos and, oh yeah, feeding the kid. Did you know a 10-year-old can ride for 8 hours without eating?

The second session didn’t start off so well. We were held on the pre-grid as the cornerworkers cleaned up a crash, and my son’s bike overheated in a cloud of steam. He shut down and leaned it against the k-rail. As I went to do the same, Ed ran up and said I got this, you go out. I reluctantly complied, knowing that Kenny had to be bitterly disappointed, but trusting in Ed to handle it. Sure enough, four or five laps before the end of the session, there’s my son on track, turning laps. Sweet! Now this is worth the price of admission, I thought to myself.

The rest of the day went perfectly from there on out. We got lots of seat time together, got our bikes dialed in nicely, and learned a lot from Ed. We learned the kinds of things that seem minor, like stay in 5th gear through there instead of 4th, or take a lower line through that section, but that ended up making a noticeable difference in our riding and our lap times. In the end it was a great experience for us, and well worth the expense.

Kenny won his race that weekend. I’m not saying he won because of Ed’s help, but it certainly made a difference.
Great job, Ed.