Race Summary

A race summary from the CD-1 point of view. When the flag dropped Karl Smolenski and Phil Turkington took an immediate lead, which was expected, you're not gonna get the drop on these guys without some practice. The CD-1 held third place down much of the front straight but was I believe passed in the approach to turn one by another rider, this placed us in fourth. By turn 2 Mary was passed by another two riders and found herself in a comfortable sixth place and she seemed determined to hold that position, which was not difficult considering there was no one left to pass her. I was encouraged by her start and sprint down the front straight but by the time she reached the hill after turn three I could tell there was a problem. In the excitement of her first race she was having trouble with the reverse shift pattern on the CD-1 gearbox and upshifted instead of downshifted to climb the hill. Various stirrings of the gearshift lever down the hill and through turn six left her with no Second gear from that point on. Mary lacking much experience with mechanical malfunctions was quite bewildered by the whole situation, third gear was too high to climb the hills and first gear was too low. She had no option but to use first gear and hold the throttle wide open. By the end of the second lap this was taking a toll on the motor. I suspected before the race that the carb jetting was too lean and the ignition was not advanced as far as it should be, these factors combined with the excessive use of first gear conspired to produce a not unexpected overheating during the third lap. During lap three it was obvious that the motor was not pulling very hard in third gear and I was praying that it would finish the race. I was relieved to see her come around the last turn and on the front straight but now there was no mistaking that engine failure was eminent. She crossed the finish line a distant last and the motor seized about 100 yards past the checkered flag.

The day was not a loss though, the bike finished the race and that was goal number one. The chassis performed as expected with suspension, brakes and handling doing their job admirably. In the following weeks I will tear down the motor and attempt to discover it's weak points. Considering the use of a small valve head, relatively low compression, untuned exhaust and improper jetting I think properly tuned and with a new cylinder head that I could get another two HP out of the motor. Another two HP would probably make the bike competitive with the two strokes but it would still be down on top end power compared to the high reving two strokes. Mary will need some more practice on the bike also, her competition was all veteran racers who know how to get around a track smooth and fast. In the final analysis we came up short in both machine and skill, but we came up long in new friends and fun. The interest and support for the   CD-1 was very encouraging and made us feel quite welcome. We are already looking forward to the 1999 race season.

In the next few weeks I will post photos and information about the engine failure and what I plan to do to correct the problem. During the Winter months I will be posting further modifications and enhancements to the motor and chassis so stay tuned and follow the development of the CD-1a, Revenge of the Four Strokes.

Thanks again to the following
Mary Nolan - my rider
Marty         -  for advice and prodding
Michael Moore - EuroSpares, much advice and technical information on motorcycle design.
Karl Smolenski - advice, technical inf., organizing and disseminating 50cc inf.
Bob Coy    -   USCRA top dog and 50cc enthusiast
Bonnie and Elvis -  The Clever Dogs that kept me company during long nights in the shop

Race Results
50cc Screamers
1. Phil Turkington (Suzuki)
2. Karl Smolenski (Suzuki)
3. Will Herman (Puch)
4. Abbott Lahti (Honda)
5. George DeCamp (Honda)
6. Mary Nolan (Honda)