2008 start of season

Start of the Season

2008 sees some new faces and products for NHF Racing, as they have dropped their contract with Dunlop tires. NHF spent their entire first two seasons using only Dunlops products, and both Zack and team owner Aaron Phinney are sorry to have to drop their affiliation with the company. Instead, NHF will be on Michelin tires

this year, and are hoping for big things. Michelin worked hard during the off-season to acquire the services of Zack and NHF Racing, in the hopes of mutual success. After 3 rounds of competition the results have been good, with the NHF GSXR already dipping below the fastest Middleweight/Michelin lap times of last season. Both Michelin and NHF are pleased with the results, and are hoping for continued success

Mike Martire

	We just wanted to mention that we added Mike Martire to our list of great riders. He is a well accomplished rider of many different venues. Moto-ST, Motard, and CCS, including winning the Loudon Classic in 2006. He also runs the NY GMD computrack. We look forward to helping him any way possible.

Mike graduated from high school in Shelton, CT and attended the University of New Haven’s mechanical engineering program. Mike is a highly trained welder and worked as a welding engineer for seven years before opening G.M.D. Computrack NYC in 2001. Mike raced BMX for 12 years growing up (with great success) and started road racing in 1996. In 1998 and 1999, Mike had multiple top three championship finishes in the unlimited classes. Again in 2002, he finished the season on the podium in the 600 Superbike class. Mike has also had top ten finishes in AMA 600 Supersport and Formula USA national events. Mike’s years of education, work and racing have given him the knowledge and experience to understand how a motorcycle is supposed to perform under normal riding or racing conditions.

Michelin Motorace Sponsorship

We are pleased to announce our new sponsorship by Motorace. They have provided us with generous support and have provided a fantastic tire that serves well in all conditions. Durabilty, predictable, and excellent side wall grip.

Thanks Motorace!

Adam's Recovery

On May 12^th of this year our friend Adam suffered a simple low-side in Loudon’s Turn 2. He tumbled out towards the air-fence, destined for scuffed leathers and a lesson learned just like so many before him. New Hampshire International Speedway has never been famous for motorcycle racing safety; just the opposite in fact. NHIS’s bad reputation, combined with an oversized serving of bad luck for Adam left him changed for the worse.

There are a lot of fancy words that people go to school for a long time to learn that could better describe the extent of his injuries, but here are the basics: he hit the top of his head on the bike as it bounced off the wall and compressed his spine, breaking three vertebrae in the thoracic region

(middle) of his back. One fractured, and the other two burst to the point that it meant taking out what was left and replacing it with more bone. Multiple surgeries later, Adam had sacrificed a chunk of his hip and most of one rib to aid his body in re-growing the missing pieces of his spine. The grafts and ‘mulching’ of bones were helped along by large amounts of titanium; some used for rods that align the middle of his back, and some in the form of cages built around the most damaged areas to help encourage bone growth. The work of the surgeons has for the most part been met with great relief for Adam and everyone around him. He is currently able to walk without the aid of a cane or a brace, and he hopes to be back at work soon.

His struggle towards recovery from these injuries has not come to an end though, and probably never will. The pain he feels in his back when he performs simple tasks is annoying, as is fighting off the after-effects of months of nauseating antibiotics. He will also have a hard time forgetting things like the pulmonary embolism (look it up) that he suffered through post-surgery; not to mention the reduced mobility that will affect his livelihood forever.

As it is with every crash, it could have been worse. He escaped fatal infections during surgery, paralysis, and extensive damage to his spinal cord. His accident does serve as a very real reminder for all of us that the simplest mistake in racing can have vast consequences, and that we are all lucky to live each day the way we please. Adam also escaped this horrifying ordeal without bitterness; he has adopted a very humble ‘oh well’ attitude on racing, and still sees it for all of the positive things it has done for him. It is precisely for that reason that we at NHF Racing are glad that he is around; after all he has been through, he makes our sport look good.

2007 Wrap Up

	2007 was something of a transition year for NHF Racing. The campaign started with the same 2004 Yamaha R6 on which we had great success in our rookie year, but 07 accomplishments were short-lived. The speed from 2006 was within reach, but NHF suffered a crash at the pre-season race at Summit Point Raceway caused by
an unlucky mechanical failure. After a vicious highside in Loudon’s Turn 10 that sent Zack to the hospital, the R6 was never quite the same. An executive decision was made to upgrade the motorcycle and start new development.
Enter the current 2006 GSXR 600. Early stages of development saw major teething problems with race-prepping and setup. It became clear early on that NHF Racing had become unusually fortunate with the previous mount. The GSXR was much more difficult to adapt to, not to mention the original seller had been less than honest. To make matters worse, once the bike was prepared and on the track, finding the speed from the R6 was also tricky. It was evident that changes would need to be made, and it was during the latter-half of 2007 that the relationship between Mike Martire and NHF Racing expanded. Big changes were made to rear ride height and swingarm angle to combat a massive loss of traction when exiting corners. As it turned out, the GSXR came into its own, and as fate would have it, the profile of the new Michelin tires for 2008 have helped make the bike much more nimble.
Some of the 2007 championship results suffered due to the changes made mid-season, but it has benefitted the 2008 season a great deal. Having a motorcycle that has already seen race time is invaluable, as any rider knows, and further adjustments can be made quicker and more confidently. 2007 was not famously successful season for NHF Racing, but one that had its lessons and is not to be regretted.