From a press release issued by Dr. Rob Tuluie:

Tul-aris Scores Another 1st Place and Three 2nd Places.

Tul-aris rider Steve Johnson piloted the Tul-aris to its 2nd win this year and an additional three 2nd places during the CRA races at Mid-America Raceway. During the 3-day race weekend, we completed a total of 96 laps, or 220 miles of racing at the twisty racing circuit without any mechanical problems or failures. In fact, not a single wrench was turned all weekend other than to make suspension adjustments, shock linkage ratio changes, swingarm pivot height changes and tire changes. We changed jets once, never changed the plugs and just enjoyed the super reliability and great acceleration of our Hot Seat Performance 780cc motor. Steve made every practice and race start to finish and never missed a lap. Some Formula One teams would kill for this level of reliability from a home-engineered machine.

While we could enjoy great reliability, we did spent most of our time chasing the optimum setup. A severe thunderstorm hammered the track Thursday night, creating infield lakes, washing mud across the track and removing any rubber that had been laid down previously. Hence Friday morning practice consisted of sliding our way around the track and wondering if Michelin DoT tires would be a more suitable choice than our Michelin Pilot slicks for this very peculiar track surface. Thankfully Tom Mason of Mason Racing Tires headed us in the right direction with his recommendations for tires compounds and pressures. So, while we might not have quite found the best combination, we certainly made significant improvements in tire life and grip thanks to Tom and Walt Schaeffer Michelin.

In addition, Tul-aris team member Stefan Herdel and I tried typical damping adjustments and preload changes in the search for more grip on corner exits, but this only yielded minor improvements. After studying the data from our PI data acquisition system, a change to a softer rear shock linkage ratio yielded a bit more grip, and a final change to the swingarm pivot height finally produced our fastest laptime (which was faster than the lap record we nearly broke here earlier in the year, but not quite fast enough for the new lap record, set by Robert Jensen this weekend).

After winning the Heavyweight GP class in the 12-lap Trophy Dash race, Steve and the Tul-aris were looking for our 2nd win during the Heavyweight GP sprint race. Steve gained the lead on the 2nd lap and held it for 1½ laps, but fell back to second place in a long left-hand sweeper exit where we had been struggling for grip all weekend long. Steve put his head down and the Tul-aris shot back into first place with great corner entry speed going into turn 1, only to be passed again on the pen-ultimate lap in the same sweeper exit. Unfortunately, Steve’s advantage (turn 1) is the first turn after the checker flag, so we ended up a very close 2nd place. In addition, Steve also finished a close 2nd in the Unlimited GP sprint race and in the Dash-for-Cash race as well.

With the lack of traction during the corner exits, it was incredible to watch Steve light up the rear tire, spinning it so you could clearly hear the changes in engine rpm, and then pulling big 100-mph power wheelies once the tire hooked up again!

In summary, I must congratulate our rider Steve Johnson on never crashing the Tul-aris all year in the dry (one minor get-off in the wet not withstanding) and riding the wheels off it. His feedback and setup skill are second to none. Thanks to Steve and our sponsors, we made significant improvements throughout the year, which netted us 2 wins, many top-3 finishes and one lap record. Our reliability has been fantastic all year, with mostly only rain causing Steve to pull in a few times this year. In fact, in eight race weekends (with several races each weekend) we only had 2 mechanical DNFs all year, one a slipping clutch and the other a failed power valve controller early in the year, which since than has been working flawlessly.

Our next event would be the Formula USA and CCS national championship races at Daytona, but is not certain that we will be able to make these at this point. Our final tally for the regular racing season is:

Two 1st places
Five 2nd places
Two 3rd places
One 4th place
One 7th place
One lap record (Blackhawk)

None of this success would have been possible without the support, advice and good-will of our sponsors and the volunteer support of all the Tul-aris team members. Our sponsors are: Walt Schaeffer Michelin, Hot Seat Performance, Nutec Racing Fuel, Mason Racing Tires, Ohlins USA, MTS Systems, Lofgren Racing/Manley Cycle, Yoyodyne Titanium, GP Tech, Headhunter Racing and DCM Services. Special thanks also to Jim Hubert, Chad Pierce and Eric Christensen. Steve Johnson is sponsored by Delano Sport Center, Hi-Per Sports, Mason Racing Tires, EBC Brakes and Lockhart Phillips.