Brock's Performance | Feature Atricles

Great Comeback Weekend for the Former Champ
By: Jack Korpela - www.dragbike.com

After a two-season hiatus, Brock Davidson returned to competition on a 60-Inch Suzuki at the Spring Nationals from Rockingham, NC. Davidson, who won the 2000 AMA/Prostar Superbike championship, was back on the path to success, posting top speed of the meet and coming away with a runner-up finish.

"I never retired," Davidson said. "That is the great thing about motorcycle drag racing; you can get old and still do it well."

Davidson competed on his 1997 Suzuki Bandit, which was the first streetbike officially in the seven-second zone. The bike was primarily built for Streetbike Shootout and sported a 68-inch long wheelbase that Davidson had to shorten 8 inches for the 60-Inch Pro Sport Bike class.
"I always tell people as a general rule of thumb that every inch of wheelbase you add to your bike will decrease your times by about a tenth of a second per inch," Davidson said. "It works the same in reverse! I took eight inches off and lost almost exactly eight tenths. Now, the real question is, what can we do to overcome this? Gearing/power delivery/clutch settings/ballast adjustments/rider technique, the total number of potential adjustments is staggering. Answering these questions before the others is what separates the fast guys from the also-rans."

Davidson qualified his bike in the number-two spot with a best lap of 8.55 on Saturday.

"After going 8.58, 8.58, and 8.55, I thought hey we're there," Davidson said. "I left the bike alone and didn't touch a thing."

Oddly, Davidson fell off to a 9.03 in round one of eliminations, but caught a break when his opponent encountered mechicanical problems.
"We came out Sunday and I couldn't keep that bike on the ground to save my rear," Davidson said. "It was strange we didn't change a thing from qualifying."

Davidson redeemed himself in round number-two with an 8.63 with the fastest 60-Inch lap ever officially recorded at 177.21 mph.
"It was a great run," Davidson said. "We were having trouble getting the bike to 60-foot but it was running great on the back half."
Davidson had a bye in round number three but once again struggled to get off the line.

"On the bye run I came out and spent all my time looking up at the sky," Davidson said. "It doesn't matter who you are or how much you think you know, racing is a sobering experience. The whole race world works around combinations. Every time I thought we got our combination right something changed and it was probably me! That's just how it works without wheelie bars, the riders job is very difficult"
Davidson picked up his forth win of the day when he defeated defending series champion, Johnnie "Airtime" Locklear, with an 8.75 to Locklear's 8.82.

"Overall I was real proud with our showing for the first time out," Davidson said. To be able to go out and run with guys that have been in the class for a few years was awesome."

Davidson got a huge starting-line advantage in the final but could not match winner, John Flood's 8.53.

"I just wanted to concentrate on the light and get out in front of him," Davidson said. "I lost my front-half and John did his job."

Davidson has already committed to attending every Rockingham race this year and plans on having his new Hayabusa ready for the forthcoming events.

Davidson expressed gratitude towards his sponsors and thanked; Dave at World Wide Bearings, Ohlins Shocks, the girls at Bates Leathers, Nitrous Express and Terry McIntosh. Likewise Davidson thanked his crew; Marc Huelsman for his work with the chassis set-up, Brock's Performance Sales Manager Bryan Snyder for doing a fantastic job as fill in crew chief on his first attempt, Dustin Clark, and his fiancée Nicole. And of course my wife Dody for understanding the nature of this game and forgiving me for leaving her high and dry on Mothers day weekend!

Davidson owns and operates Brock's Performance Products which specialized in a vast array of performance products for sportbikes, for racing and street applications. Brock's Performance Parts can be reached at 937- 912-0054.