Peter Lenz checks in from the road back from SoCal

Apr 17, 2007, From a Press Release

Peter Lenz leaning his primer (eggshell brown) Metrakit 80 into the corner during the 80 main that didn't go as well as he would have liked.

Start of the 50 light main.

The cancellation of the first round of the Canadian minigp national series freed up Peter Lenz (www.peterlenz.com) from his scheduled obligation to ride for Metrakit Canada (www.metrakit.ca) in the event and instead saw him head south. Peter in his own words tells us about his weekend, written while driving back from the event held 1100 miles from home.

Today I raced at SCminiGP in California. I left on Friday, April 13. My dad and I drove for 23 hours to get to Grange in California. When we arrived at the track on Saturday it was in good conditions for practice. Also it was good conditions for scrubbing in my new Bridgestone tires from PMP. The day before I left, Arai supplied a new helmet from Japan and it is an extra extra small Quantum. It is a lot lighter than the Arai I wore last year.

On Saturday it was take and go for suspension on the 80. The transmission on the 65 would not shift down and my dad and I knew it was going to be one BIG problem. It was a couple of hours until my dad and I figured it out. First we had to get the oil out of the bike and then we saw our problem right in front of us, it was the on drain bolt, it had metal shavings on it. It meant that the transmission was falling apart but that did not worry us, we found out what our problem was. We changed the oil and it got better, but still isn’t ok. For my next practice I rode my Metrakit 50. I also had to break in new tires on that bike too. It was an ok experience for doing it for the second time that day. There was nothing wrong with it thanks to GP suspension. The Metrakit 80 was not so good in the beginning of the practice but my dad helped and put more pressure in the tires.

Then came race day where big things happen and a lot of surprises, like crashing. When morning practice came it was raining and I was kind of upset to know it was raining. My first practice came up and I was nervous to go to it, but I knew I would have to finish it so I did it. When I went out I thought of the asphalt, if you think of rain then you will crash, if you think of something else you won’t. So that’s what I did and did not crash.

There were a lot of stalls and people crashing who just did not go smooth on the gas and that’s how some of them crashed. My dad and I did not have any rain tires so I ran my DOTs. For my first race, 50 light, I did well. I started last and worked up in the heat race and I got third in it. For my 80 race I ran my 65 because my Metrakit 80 had old slicks. I did not do super good but I did good in it, I got fourth, first on the second row of the grid for the main. For my next race, which is Formula GP, I ran my 65 in that class and I got first for the heat race and won by like 15 seconds.

Then came the mains where if you mess up you mess up for good. My first race was the 50 light which was one of the hardest races. I got by Ryan going down the hill and stayed in front of him by half a second and WON! My next race was not good at all it was the 80. I switched bikes back to the 80 and had tire problems and finished 6th. The next race was GREAT, I WON! I won against 18 people on my 65.

We are driving to my Grandma’s house, then I fly home to go to school tomorrow. My dad and I are happy.

Written BY PETER LENZ

Peter is scheduled to race next with the SMRRC in Stockton, CA at the end of this month. You can keep up with Peter via his website: http://www.PeterLenz.com

2007 Sponsors
Metrakit Canada, California Superbike School, Arai Helmets, Elf Lubricants, EDR Performance, MiniGPX, Pro Caliber Motorsports, Miller Paint and Graphics, All Things Drywall, Vortex, SpyOptic, Tranquil Velocity, Speed Graffix, Echo Alley Web Development, Performance Motorcycle Products.