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Semoff Bros. Racing
1996 results:
Round 1 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Did not compete in this event. Since the team was internally funded in 1996, there just simply wasn’t enough funding available to make this trip. The team agreed that it would be better to bypass this event and dedicate their efforts to the remainder of the races in 1996.
Round 2 - Road Atlanta
This was the first race for Semoff Bros. Racing in the 1996 season. We finished 2nd in our inaugural event. This set our hopes and expectations high for the remainder of the season. The event was won by a Kawasaki 600. This bike overpowered our bike by about 20 horsepower. Throughout the season, we were at a deficit due to the lack of engine power created by our 1995 Yamaha YZF 600. Since Yamaha’s contingency program is so good, the team thought is was best to give up power in exchange for the financial awards Yamaha offered in this class. The awards were the reason we were able to complete the 1996 season.
Round 3 - Summit Point Raceway
We were the favorites for this event since it was our home track. We fulfilled everyone’s expectations by dominating the 600 Super Sport class. In addition, we ended up 4th overall - the best finish for any 600 at this point in the year. It was after this race that other teams in our class knew that we were going to be a contender for the class championship.
Round 4 - Gingerman Raceway
This is where the team suffered it’s first major disappointment. We were dominating our class and running 2nd overall behind the many-time national champions Team Suzuki Endurance when we had a transmission problem. We still ran good enough in the first part of the race to finish 10th in class.
Round 5 - Grattan Raceway
This was a simple, consistent, non-eventful race for us. We ran a good race with consistent and competitive lap times throughout the race and came away with yet another 2nd place finish.
Round 6 - Indianapolis Raceway Park
This race track is very fast and demanding of horsepower. Since we, again, were lacking horsepower, we had to rely on the experience and ability of our riders to carry us through. Another smart game plan resulted in yet another 2nd place finish.
Round 7 - Putnam Park Raceway
We weren’t sure how this event was going to turn out since none of the riders had much experience at this track. We ended up doing better than we expected - 2nd. Our consistent riders and quick fuel stops were the key to this podium finish.
Round 8 - Memphis Motorsports Park
This was another track where our riders didn’t have a great deal of experience. We decided to just be consistent, safe, and have good pit stops. We were very satisfied with our 3rd place finish at this race.
Round 9 - Texas Motor Speedway
This was a very fast and extremely demanding race track. We were in 2nd place and gaining ground when one of our riders crashed with 40 minutes left in the 6 hour event. The rider was o.k., but the bike didn’t make out as well. The bike was repairable, but not in time to get out before the end of the race. We ended up 14th in class.
Round 10 - Road Atlanta
At this point, we knew we couldn’t win the class championship, but, we decided that we came this far, and a good finish would have gotten us up into the top 3. We had an excellent race and, as a result, we finished the year with our 2nd win of the season and 3rd place in class for the 1996 season.
Overall, we had a very good season. We gained a great deal of experience at the tracks we were at and showed that we were a very competitive team with the potential to be a champion in our class. We were competing against national teams with a great deal of funding and motorcycles with superior performance. Consistency, ability, and teamwork proved to be the key elements to our very successful first full season of endurance racing.