Double Dalke this year and double podiums at Roebling Road Raceway
Posted March 19, 2008, 9:05 am
Welcoming the 2008 WERA National Endurance season, Dalke Motorsports and Team Westby have combined talents. Dalke Motorsports has tested running two teams each year with good results and has now partnered with Team Wesbty to run 2 teams the whole season. Dalke Motorsports 2 takes on title role and day to day operations of Team Westby endurance, which frees team owner Trig Westby to focus on Dane Westby’s sprint racing this year. Westby endurance riders Dane Westby and Dustin Meador are paired with Dalke Motorsports riders Giovanni Rojas, Wrenn Smith and Diego Rojas. The 2 teams line-ups will be Dane Westby paired with Giovanni Rojas on the # 7 Dalke Motorsports entry. Riders Wrenn Smith and Diego Rojas will pull most of the duty on the # 5 Dalke Motorsports 2 entry, with rider Dustin Meador having what is probably the most difficult task of riding for both teams as needed.

With tornadoes touching down in just northwest of Savannah Ga, the night before the endurance teams had to battle strong gusty winds sometimes causing a “shift” in the bikes willingness to turn. The cloud cover also caused changes in track temperature affecting grip and tire wear. The experience of the Dalke crew and Riders really paid off as # 7 Dalke Motorsports entry won the class and finished 6th overall and the #5 DM2 entry finished 2nd in class and 8th overall.

Dane lead off the Dalke entry on last years Interstate Cycle Yamaha R6 and adjusted to the Pirelli tires quickly getting up as high as 4th overall. Gio followed and kept the lead pace up forcing other teams to really sprint through the entire 4 hours at the expense of tire life. The strategy was working as the #7 Dalke entry stayed in the top 5 for most of the race.

Meanwhile the #5 Dalke 2 entry started Dustin with the plan of putting him on the #7 bike midway through the race to give Dane and Gio a longer break between stints. A red flag just before the halfway point changed the plan a little as it gave Dane and Gio the extra break they would need. Wrenn followed Dustin on the #5 bike and turned the machine over to Diego just before the red flag. The way the fuel stops worked Dalke 2 put a well rested Dustin back on with 58 minutes left in the race. Dustin came in for a last minute fuel splash and go and finished the race in second place a scant 32 seconds ahead of third place.

Team owner Brian Dalke was overcome by the 1-2 finish commented that “this is the best start to a season we have had yet.” In review of the race, the pit stop fueling and tire-changes by Chad, Dennis, Brian, Dave and Trig and pit wall communications from the entire team was a huge difference in the race as the riders were able to focus on riding and stayed out of fuel trouble and tire trouble all day long.

Dalke Motorsports would like to thank all of our returning sponsors Trackside Racer’s Supply/Pirelli Tires, Interstate Cycle, Yamaha, Vesrah brakes, Amsoil/Maxco Inc., Pit Bull motorcycle stands, Vortex sprockets and rear-sets, Held Gloves, LeoVince Exhaust Systems, Thermosman Suspensions and GPR Stabilizers.

Wrenn Smith Dalke Motorsports
Dalke Endurance rider Giovanni Rojas scores in Suzuki Cup
Posted October 18, 2007, 3:52 pm
In addition to doing so well in endurance racing this year Dalke Motorsports endurance rider Giovanni Rojas used one of last years endurance bikes in the Suzuki GSXR 600 Cup race and finished fourth in a field that included a World Suzuki Cup winner and a three time cup winner.
Double Dalke at the WERA-AMA Grand National Finals
Posted October 18, 2007, 3:41 pm
Fans of endurance racing were treated to beautiful October weather and one of the closest final points race imaginable at the final round of WERA-AMA National Endurance. Dalke Motorsports fielded two teams again in hopes of pulling out the class championship and once again getting a double podium. Dalke Motorsports team1 (DM1) jumped out to the class lead and moved up as high as fourth overall on their Interstate Cycle Yamaha R6. While Dalke Motorsports 2(DM2) started their identical Yamaha R6 at the back of the grid and slowly worked its way up to third in class and 11th overall as a result of early pit stop strategy that allowed the team to stay out beyond some of the competition. But running two teams sometimes means sacrifices by the second team, so DM2 had to do a second short stint on one of the riders in case he would be needed to finish the race on team one. This forced DM2 to make an extra gas-n-go stop late in the race and DM2 had to settle for 4th in class and 12th overall. DM1 took the lead and never looked back and won the class and held on to 6th overall to close out the season with a second win at Road Atlanta. Both teams opted for Pirelli’s yellow compound front and rear tires to run the whole race without a tire change and put the pressure on any team that chose softer tires and planned a change. With Vesrah’s SRJL brake pads and the Thermosman tuned Ohlins suspension the team made a great run for the class championship and after all the points were calculated DM1 finishes second in class by just 0.45 points.
Dalke Motorsports podiums at Nelson Ledges Road Course.
Posted September 25, 2007, 5:57 pm
Located near Nelson Kennedy Ledges state park just outside of Akron, Ohio sits the historic Nelson Ledges Road Course. Most famous for the 24hr sports car races the track hosted the 8th round of the WERA/AMA National Endurance series. This years round was originally scheduled as a “night” race from 4pm to Midnight just like the year before. After several teams expressed safety concerns over racing in the fog that rolled in the year before and the tracks lack of runoff before encountering huge piles of tire walls the race was shortened by WERA to 6 hrs and run completely in daylight. Roadracingworld.com action fund and several teams made arrangements with WERA to have 11 airfence modules in place at the most dangerous sections of the track.

Having top 3 results the last three years in a row Dalke Motorsports was anticipating another very good result at NLRC. The team spent Friday practice working on the set-up for their Interstate Yamaha R6. The roughness of the course had us chasing the sweet spot of suspension settings as the riders vary from 140lbs to 190lbs. This can be tough on the guys at the extremes of the weight scale.

Saturday morning the riders and crew were energized by new sponsor Red-Bull energy drinks and it was obvious Dalke’s Pirelli shod Yamaha was a force to be reckoned with as the team had the bike battling for the class lead the whole race and hovered tightly with the other 600cc superbike teams. The team stayed in a tight battle and finished second in class and 8th overall when the red flag came out for a crash in the high speed sweeper off the back straight. Because the race was not restarted Dalke could not improve on second in class and had to settle for 8th overall. This keeps championship hopes alive and the pressure on as Dalke and the closest competitor are locked in what has become a 2 team race.

Join us at Jennings GP, Jennings Florida, for the 9th round of the series Sept. 28th and then just two weeks wait for the final round at Road Atlanta.

Double Dalke
Posted August 23, 2007, 4:55 pm
That's right 2 teams at Talladega GP raceway. Since this is the last 4 hour race before the finals the team decided to qualify a second bike for the Grand National Finals and round 10 of the series. We hope that we have similar results at Road A! Team 1 won and team 2 started from the back and took the final podium position even though the race was shortened by lightening. Wrenn said "Man it was hot from the start, but we could not have asked for better results for the team." "Diego did a great job and stayed out long enough to give me time to recover." Team owner Brian was very happy with the results and was even happier to go home with two trophies.