Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Chuck Sorensen, 2002 AMA 250cc Grand Prix Champion, broke the lap record for Jennings GP, formerly known as North Florida Motorsports Park, during testing Sunday, January 26 on his Team Stargel Aprilia.

Team co-owner Rocky Stargel and crew worked though weather-related engine tuning problems Saturday, January 25 during an open track day at the 2.0-mile road course located in Jennings, Florida while testing new chassis geometry numbers provided by the Aprilia racing department in Italy.

“When they looked at our chassis in Spain, they saw that we were doing a lot of things very different from what they considered the norm, which of course you would expect,” Stargel told Roadracingworld.com Monday. “We never had a guide as far as chassis numbers, and our chassis components are similar but a little bit different to theirs.

“They had gone back and worked up a big checklist of things, and said, try to set up everything here and you’ll be in the same ballpark as other teams. Some of the changes were pretty drastic, so we were kind of concerned how that would feel. So we just kept changing one thing at a time and going out. I was surprised when we made the biggest changes. Chuck really felt it would impact it negatively, but it seemed pretty agreeable and he noticed some definite improvement in some things. So we kept moving forward.”

On Sunday, progress stalled, according to Stargel, at Sorensen’s previous best times before the team decided to alter one of the front geometry numbers provided by Aprilia. “Immediately, he went from a mid-1:17 to a 1:16.4. Then he did a 1:16.2 and a 1:15.94,” said Stargel, pointing out that Sorensen’s times came during an open practice session with other riders – of varying speeds – on the track at the same time as Sorensen.

Stargel said he and Sorensen and the team were satisfied, ready to pack up, head home and watch the remainder of the Superbowl when, “One of the track managers came over and said at the end of the day he would give Chuck free, clean laps with nobody else on the track.”

That’s when Sorensen recorded three more 1:15 laps with a best of 1:15.81 on track officials’ watches, and Stargel said going faster was possible. “It was kind of tough. In the two, two-and-a-half hours (until the private session), the weather cooled off quite a bit more. At this point it was about 50 (degrees F), and it was fairly windy and there was no heat in the asphalt at all. The tire wasn’t working as well as it was in the 3:00 p.m. session.

“We were happy because from our best time last year to this test, we dropped 1.7 seconds. What a big chunk. The chassis on that thing is so adjustable…If someone had come to me halfway through the AMA season last year and told me to try the stuff that we tried, I would’ve argued there’s no way it would’ve worked. The neat thing is we ran out of range on the front fork springs, or Chuck thought that we could’ve made it even better still.”

The fastest official lap time prior to Sorensen’s effort was a 1:16.27 recorded by Steve Rapp on an AMA Formula Xtreme GSX-R1000 during private tests December 19, 2002.

More, from a press release issued by Team Stargel Aprilia:

Team Stargel Aprilia Reclaims Record At Jennings GP

One year ago, Team Stargel Aprilia traveled to North Florida Motorsports Park and set the track record at 1:17.53. As the year went on, other riders claimed to have tied the record and just last month the record was lowered to a 1:16.27. Team Stargel Aprilia returned to the track on January 25th & 26th in an effort to test new chassis settings for the upcoming AMA 250GP season.

After experimenting with chassis changes all of Saturday and most of Sunday, rider Chuck Sorensen put the revisions to the test at 3:00 p.m.. Although the conditions were quite cool and not optimum for the best lap times, Sorensen recorded a lap of 1:15.91. He did this time while riding in the midst of an open track day hosted by the track, sharing the race track with numerous participants.

The track personnel offered to let Sorensen have the track to himself after 5:15 p.m. at which time a dozen or so people would have their stopwatches ready. By this time, the track was even cooler, which compromised traction. Regardless, Sorensen ran a long string of 16s and then turned two laps in the 15s with a best time of 1:15.81. Track management declared this time to be the new track record.

Team Stargel Aprilia looks forward to defending their #1 plate in AMA 250cc Grand Prix in 2003.

Team Stargel Aprilia would like to thank the supporters who make their efforts possible: Aprilia USA, Aprilia Italy, Marco Bertolatti, Dunlop, VP Racing Fuels, Castrol, EBC Brakes, Shoei, Helimot, Daytona Boots, Fox Racing, Smith Sport, TC’s Specialized Graphics & Regina Chains.