Four out of five ain't bad for Brad Hendry
by Nina Groves
As well as his participation in the recent 8 Hours At Daytona race at the
International Speedway circuit, BMW R 1200 S racer Brad Hendry also
produced a fantastic display of riding at the CCS/ASRA Race of Champions
series held at the same racetrack. The Foothills BMW dealership-sponsored
rider scored three wins, one runner-up spot and an eighth place finish (due
to the wrong tyre choice) in the five races that he competed in.
Brad Hendry at Daytona
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The `GT Lights' race saw Brad off to a strong start from 16th position in a
field of 26 riders on an assortment of Buell, Ducati, Suzuki and Honda
machines. However, it was the San Jose BMW being ridden by Brian Parriott
that got the holeshot and soon pulled out a considerable gap. Meanwhile, Brad
was working his way towards the front and by lap two was challenging the
second placed Ducati 1000 of Jason Edmonds. With a superb pass coming out of
Daytona Speedway's famous horseshoe turn, Brad moved into second place and
soon opened up a gap. By the final lap both BMWs were well ahead of the rest
of the pack but then the San Jose machine was forced to retire, which left
Brad and his R 1200 S to take the chequered flag and the victory.
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Brad's second outing was in the `CCS Thunderbike' race. Heavy rain before
the start meant that the Foothills Racing Team decided to run with full
`wets'. From 16th on the grid in a field of 23 riders, the BMW R 1200 S rider
had a tremendous start and quickly moved into second place behind a factory
Buell 1200 while being closely followed by two other Buells. Brad slowly
pulled away from the third-placed Buell during the first three laps but then
the track dried up faster than
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expected, causing his rain tyres to overheat. This slowed the R 1200 S down
significantly resulting in a final finishing position of eighth.
The `Lightweight GP' race saw Brad starting in eighth place against a
competitive field of 16 Ducati, Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki machines. An
excellent start by Hendry soon saw his R 1200 S up into second spot behind
the Florida rider Jason Edmonds on his Ducati 1000SS. Close dueling between
the two riders continued for the next two laps before Brad was able to use
the superior torque of the R 1200 S coming out of the International
horseshoe bend to edge ahead of Edmonds. Once out in front, the BMW R 1200 S
rider pulled away from the field to clinch his second win of the race weekend.
The next race in the `Lightweight Superbike' class saw the BMW seventh on
the grid against a 13-rider field similar to the Lightweight GP class.
However the rain had started again and the entire grid was on full rain
tyres. An excellent start to this wet race saw Brad Hendry pass the leading
Ducati 1000SS into the first corner. The BMW and Ducati riders then slowly
pulled away from the rest of the field and were involved in a very close
battle in difficult conditions before Brad managed to pull away Edmonds on
the Ducati 1000 who then unfortunately crashed, leaving the BMW well ahead of
the rest of the field and resulting in another great win for the
BMWXPLOR.com-sponsored rider.
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The `ASRA Thunderbike' class promised to be an excellent race with four
BMW R 1200 S machines in the starting line-up and three factory Buell riders
- including the Canadian National Thunderbike Champion - among an entry of 25
riders on Buells, Hondas, Ducatis and Suzukis. The rain had stopped but the
track was damp, making tyre choice a real gamble. Brad's team decided to go
with full race slicks while most of the other teams were on intermediate
rains. The Foothills rider got a great start and was up to second place
before an accident on track required a re-start.
This delay allowed the other teams to quickly change to full slicks. The
re-start saw the factory Buell XB 12R of Dave Estok take the lead with Brad
in second, closely followed by the two other factory Buell riders. While
the lead Buell pulled away there was a great battle between Brad and the
two factory Buell riders until the third lap, when he entered the famous
horseshoe too fast for the damp conditions and was forced to stand the
R 1200 S up, which sent him onto the grass! The Colorado-based rider quickly
re-joined the chase in fourth position and shortly after, one of the factory
Buells crashed, taking down his Buell team-mate as well. Their misfortune
was Brad's gain as he moved back into second position and held that spot
to the end of the race.
"This was a very challenging race weekend," said Brad after the final
podium celebrations. "The R 1200 S performed excellently up against its true
competition. The excellent torque delivery in the damp and wet conditions
gave me a good advantage and the late breaking capability allowed me to
catch my competition in the corners. However tyre choice was very tough
and our gamble in the CCS Thunderbike just did not work. Other than that,
three wins and a second - what a great weekend!
This feature originally appeared in November 2007 - Updated: 04/25/08
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