Gigi Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 Here is my newsletter from Daytona DAYTONA, SUN TRUST MOTO-ST: GENEVIEVE LESIEUR IS BACK On October 18, in Daytona, the Sun Trust Moto-St hosted for the first time in its history a women’s team. Racer Genevieve Lesieur had the chance to participate in this prestigious 8-hours long endurance race, along with Marie-Josée Boucher (Canada) and Melissa Paris (USA). The three young women —invited by Vallely Racing— began their on-track training on Thursday: “I’ve already been on this track two years ago, but the configuration was different, so I have been able to familiarize myself with the track and the bike”, Lesieur says. On Friday afternoon, the whole Vallely team went on official rehearsal: “It was the first time we were participating in that kind of race. We had so many regulations to assimilate, and we had to do some pit stop practices, test the communication systems, the lights on the bike, and to be sure that each team member could also perform the task he was assigned for the race. It was a real foretaste of what we were expecting for the next day!” Very enthusiastic and determined, the three pilots started the race on Saturday at 1 PM. On the SV1000 Vallely Racing, Melissa Paris started 13th on the grid and put the entire team in an excellent position before being relayed by Marie-Josee Boucher. Unfortunately, Boucher had to come back to the pits because of a mechanical malfunction. Lesieur then replaced her, once the bike fixed, but the mechanical problem was soon back again, forcing the three pilots and the entire team to spend several hours in pitlane trying to fix it: “The engineers worked so hard to help us, but it did not work… What a disappointment after so much efforts! This race has nonetheless been a dream for me, I’m so grateful to everyone, it was exceptional!” In the pits, the enthusiasm of the people for the “Vallely Girls” was at its peak. They occupied the 4th place when the mechanical problem started. They finished 25th out of 35 teams, with 131 laps completed: “Better luck next time. We've gained experience and we will be even better prepared! I would like to point out how much we have been well-treated in this competition, as much by the organization as by the other teams. It was an extraordinary and positive experience. I met incredible people and we had great energy in the pits!”, concluded Geneviève. The pilot wishes to thank Tom and Gail Vallely for their exceptional support and energy, Sport Patoine, Hardgym Performance for its assistance for this event, Mark Rozema, Alain Larouche, William, Melissa Paris, Josh Hayes, Dave, Jason, Matt, Ryan, Jim and all Vallely Racing team and the Boucher family. She also thanks all the fans who came to support her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Kane Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 Gigi, I was hoping that you would share your SunTrust Moto story after your post last month; you sounded stoked about the opportunities to race in that event. There are many here who would love to race at even Club levels but for various reasons cannot so reading about others who can and do race are fun posts to read. Those who race in national events are even more fun. Despite the mechanical problems, you ladies should be extremely proud of your 25th place finish, especially since you were running in the top 5 before the troubles hit. I can't speak for the School but I bet Keith and your coaches at your CSS events will be extremely proud of you (they are in the middle of the CodeRACE School so I don't expect any of them will be up here until Wednesday). Thanks for sharing this and don't hesitate to share more stories in the future... Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer Posted October 27, 2008 Report Share Posted October 27, 2008 What exactly was the mechanical probelm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigi Posted November 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 What exactly was the mechanical probelm? They did not find the problem... we had a B bike that we cannot use during the race, but they remove almost all the parts on it to put on our A bike and the troublem wasn't fixed unfortunately... I thought that was a problem with the pump because when the bike was very lean, the trouble was worse and when I get it up that was better... And it was like if the bike was running out of gaz... but they change almost all the parts about that also... Looks like an electrical problem... At the end I cannot go faster then 90km/h and over 8RPM, on the banking, that sucks! lollll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer Posted November 6, 2008 Report Share Posted November 6, 2008 Bummer. Better luck next time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobie Fair Posted November 6, 2008 Report Share Posted November 6, 2008 Bummer. Better luck next time! Yes for sure better luck next time. I hate electrical gremlins CF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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