BMW rider perseveres through bike troubles, 100-degree temperatures to remain in contention for two MotoAmerica titles at The Ridge Motorsports Park
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 29, 2021
SHELTON, Wash. — There were plenty of setbacks for the Travis Wyman Racing BMW team at MotoAmerica’s Superbikes at the Ridge, yet the team found ways to overcome several technical problems and the brutally hot conditions to score a podium finish and remain atop the Superbike Cup standings.
The Las Vegas rider endured a rear tire problem and engine overheating issues with his BMW S 1000 RR on Saturday but finished the June 25-27 event at The Ridge Motorsports Park with a third place in Sunday’s Stock 1000 race and second-best finish among the Superbike Cup riders in Sunday’s Superbike race.
Wyman left The Ridge with a six-point lead in the MotoAmerica Superbike Cup points standings and is fourth in the battle for the Stock 1000 title.
Wyman and the other top four riders in the Superbike Cup practiced and qualified with the Superbike Class at The Ridge round. Wyman posted a best time of 1:44.120 in Superbike practice on Friday, which was the second-fastest time among the Superbike Cup riders and the 11th-best time when compared to the Superbike riders. Later Friday, Wyman finished the day’s qualifying session 10th with a time of 1:44.133.
Qualifying concluded Saturday morning with Wyman securing second on the weekend’s Stock 1000 starting grid with a lap time of 1:42.881.
The first of four races Wyman took part in — in searing 100 degree or higher temperatures — was Saturday’s Stock 1000 race. After getting a mediocre start, Wyman recovered to finish the first lap in fourth place. However, a problem with his rear tire affected his BMW’s handling and its ability to get good drive out of corners. After a near-highside as he exited the track’s last turn, Wyman dropped as low as eighth in the running order. He moved up one position on Lap 8 but had to settle for a seventh-place finish while running lap times about a second slower than the race leaders.
In the Saturday Superbike race, Wyman’s fast pace was brought to a halt by a problem with his motorcycle’s cooling system. Starting from 12th, Wyman had worked his way up to ninth place in two laps but had to retire from the race on Lap 4 when water began spraying from his BMW’s catch can.
The team worked on ways to keep Wyman’s BMW running cooler Saturday night, and its efforts proved worthwhile Sunday. In the day’s Stock 1000 race, Wyman recovered from dropping to fifth place at the end of Lap 1 to scoring his third podium finish of the 2021 Stock 1000 season. Later Sunday, Wyman got a good start in the Superbike race and brought his BMW home in 11th place, the second-best finish among the Superbike Cup riders.
The Travis Wyman Racing BMW team has two weeks to freshen up the team’s BMW S 1000 RR before it heads to the next MotoAmerica round, which is slated for July 9-11 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif.
Travis Wyman / No. 10
“It was a pretty frustrating weekend at The Ridge, but the good results I got on Sunday — especially the podium in Stock 1000 — made the struggle worthwhile. I’ve taught at racetracks around the world and can say the conditions were some of the hottest I’ve endured in my racing career. My crew chief, Steve Weir, and mechanic, Alex Torres, did an outstanding job this weekend, and we wouldn’t have found the success we did on Sunday without the hard work they put in Saturday night. I owe a big thank you to Steve Korol of Evol Technology LLC for being my team’s title sponsor for the Ridge, and it’s great to be nearing the halfway point of the season and still be in the mix for two class titles. There’s still a lot of racing left to go this year, and what we overcame here at the Ridge gives the team a lot of positive momentum heading into the next round at Laguna Seca.”
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Header photo credit: Brian J. Nelson
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