From a press release issued by Team Oliver:
Team Oliver Yamaha wins the Fontana CA AMA 250 Grand Prix race, on Sunday April 6th 2003!
Yamaha’s Rich Oliver led every moment of the 17 lap main event, finishing 14.459 seconds in front of Team Stargel Aprilia’s Chuck Sorensen, Simon Turner on his Priority Racing Honda and Colin Jensen on his Aprilia 250.
Rich was “getting down” on Saturday by qualifying on pole with a new track record time of 1:28.9. A last minute gearbox change proved successful as it shaved almost full second from his former laptimes.
This resulted in a great launch from the inside front row positon, and a clean first lap, followed by five more near track record laps to distance himself from hard riding Sorensen and Turner, who were battling themselves during the opening portion of the event.
Rich won the race in just over 25 minutes, with an average speed of 92.0 miles an hour.
Rich was asked later in the press room if this was the start of another perfect season?
He commented, “The key is our experience with each other and the 2002 Yamaha TZ machine, we understand what it needs now, and Robert and I understand each other very well. We have a great relationship that I hope will lead to more winning ways this year. After all, it’s the last year we get to race these great machines and tracks” Rich went on about the bike set-up for Fontana, “We have always had power, but never the perfect handling package to harness it all. Now we have more traction, because of a new set of stock forks set up by Jim Lindeman of LE Engineering. They worked so well I had to increase my cornering speed to a new level. It was fun to be able to go around the corners faster, and then lay into the power and wheelie off the turns. I was smiling the whole week after we put the new forks on!
Thanks to Robert Ward for a great job with the bike, and to my crew of Cindy, Robbie, Lisa, and Johnny and my fiancée, Karin.
An added thank you to Robyn from Discover Today’s Motorcycling for having us in attendance at their Saturday night dinner and in their suite to watch the Superbike race.
Next race, Infineon Raceway (Sears Point)
Hope to see you there!
Point Standings for the top 10:
75 Oliver (Mystery School)
64 Sorensen
58 Turner
54 Jensen
51 Melneciuc (Mystery School Grad.)
47 Pyles (Mystery School Grad.)
44 Marchini
39 Esser
35 Sorbo (Mystery School Grad.)
Team Oliver is Sponsored by:
The Rich Oliver Mystery School and www.richoliver.net, Yamaha Motor Corp., USA, Wilson’s Motorcycles, Advanced Motion Controls, Dunlop Tires, Shoei Saftey Helmets, Ferodo Brakes, Sharkskinz Racing Bodies, VP Fuel (MR-8), Kushitani Leathers, NGK Spark Plugs, Frenotec and Brembo, Paint by Sabatini (Greg and Lou Sabatini), AST Sports Science, Cytomax, Brian Turfrey Exhaust Pipes, Supertech Engine Polishing, EK Supersport Chains, AFAM Sprockets, GMD Computrack (James Randolph), LE Engineering (Jim Lindemann), Chicken Hawk Tire Warmers, I need stickers.com (Fresno, CA), Silkolene Lubricants, Micron Exhaust,
Please visit our web-site for more information about the Mystery School, the Team Oliver Yamaha Racing Team, and even see some wild abstract art!
You can find it all at: www.richoliver.net and please e-mail your comments to: [email protected]