Daytona International Speedway - March 3-5, 2006

I raced 2 sprint races this weekend and in the Team Challenge on Friday. A local team (Team Vallely Racing) entered me and two other female racers into the Team Challenge on Friday. It didn’t go so well. I started the Team Challenge and did the first 9 laps. On lap 10 there was a red flag. I came in, and as I stopped in our pit box I noticed that my front brakes were grinding, almost as if there was sand on the brakes (the best way I could describe to my team). I said something to my teammate and he checked them out. Come to find out that one of the people helping with the bike when we changed tires put both brake pads on one side of the rotor. I went 10 laps grinding metal to metal! Needless to say I was not happy at all, and the problem couldn’t be fixed. The caliper was ground down so it prevented the brakes from being applied evenly. End of race. I was hoping to get a lot more track time during the Team Challenge.

That same night we went around the garage area looking for a spare caliper. It’s not something that many racers have spares of, so we took it to a machinist who evened it out and it was fixed for at least the rest of the weekend.

I pre-entered 2 sprint races -- Lightweight Supersport (LWSS) and Lightweight GP (LWGP). Lightweight Supersport is mainly comprised of all stock SV650s with the exception of one rider on a BMW (1085cc). I am amazed at how he rides this bike at Daytona! I started 9th on the grid of 11 in LWSS and made my way up to a finishing place of 6th. The 3rd, 4th and 5th place racers were all in a pack and at least 7-10 bike lengths ahead of me at the finish. I got stuck behind 2 other racers and never could make up the time in the 6-lap race.

On Sunday I raced in LWGP, comprised of SVs, 125s, 250s, Ducatis, Buells….you name it! Those 250GP bikes fly! I started in 14th place on the grid and made my way to a 9th place finish. The 8th place guy and I crossed the start/finish line within inches! He was a bigger guy who I drafted off NASCAR turn 4 but I think I made the mistake of passing him on the outside vs. the inside. I think I would have gotten him had I taken the inside lane.

I made such great progress this past weekend. My confidence level was up and I was riding so smoothly all weekend. Last year at this time was my first race on an SV and my first race as an Expert rider. I remember thinking that I will never make it into the top 10! It seemed impossible at that time and I felt so inexperienced. I had not ridden this new 2005 before, and unfortunately had no track time in the off-season. I am proud of what I was able to accomplish and I learned a lot in the past few days.

On the PR front…Godwin Kelly did a story on me in the News Journal. He thought it was a shame that I wasn’t racing in the AMA, hence the story in the Sunday newspaper.

RESULTS:

Expert Lightweight SuperSport Pos Number Bike Size Name

6 #16 SUZ 650 NICOLE HOFFMAN, PALM COAST, FL. JIM FRANCE, ARAI, MIKE HELTON, MECHANIX

Expert Lightweight Grand Prix Pos Number Bike Size Name

9 #16 SUZ 650 NICOLE HOFFMAN, PALM COAST, FL. JIM FRANCE, ARAI, MIKE HELTON, MECHANIX