MotoAmerica/Michelle Lindsay 

TOBC Racing had the opportunity to try out some “new toys” at the Dunlop Preseason Test last week at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. Every team loves to test and only wishes they had the resources to do so more often. With the ever-growing complexity of motorcycle electronic components, however, the amount of time required to fine-tune all of the possibilities also increases. Not only are you in a race against yourself (wanting always to do better) and other teams, but you are also competing against the clock.

New rules allow MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 teams to make modifications to the motorcycle that they weren’t able to do before. With these changes, there is greater opportunity to adjust different parts of the motorcycle to ultimately give us each team an opportunity to go faster. Of course, any team is excited by the possibility of going faster; most crews are happy to have the potential to fine-tune aspects of the bike in ways that they previously couldn’t.

Unfortunately, there are not always enough hours in the day—or two days, for that matter. Danny Eslick and Anthony Kosinski did a great job adjusting to the changes on the bikes and making suggestions to improve performance. The team got through the majority of what they wanted to try… until they didn’t.

They missed a test session for Danny and a portion of one for Anthony. As long as it is safe, you always want a rider on the track and not missing any precious minutes to test. Tension in the garage was high while trying to work out the kinks and get the riders back on the track, and Danny isn’t one who likes sitting on the sidelines. Ultimately, they were able to get back on the track albeit a session later than hoped for.

The road back to COTA started again for TOBC Racing as soon as they got back home. The crew is hard at work readying for the first MotoAmerica race, which is just 16 days away. Coming off last month’s Daytona 200 win, they would've liked for the COTA test to have run more smoothly, but rest assured TOBC Racing will be ready come April 20.