News Archive: May 2007

brian's song - at infinion

May 31, 2007
COPIED FROM THE ST. HELENA STAR NEWSPAPER:

Thursday, May 31, 2007 12:17 AM PDT
The saying usually goes “two outta three ain’t bad,” but for St. Helena native Brian Parriott, “three out of four” is plenty cause for celebration.

Riding his San Jose R1200 S BMW motorcycle, Parriott scored three out of four Main Event wins over Memorial Day weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. The one race Parriott did not take the top spot, however, could be deemed akin to victory.

The weekend featured four separate races with about 55-65 participants per race. The first race was the 750 production, where Parriott started ninth before winning. The second race was the Formula Twins Open, where Parriott started in the fifth spot. The third one was the 750 Super Bike, where he began seventh.

The final race of the day was the Formula Pacific, where Parriott finished eighth. That placement, however, is made even more amazing by the fact that Parriott started 27th and went against bikes with about double the horsepower he has.
“We were way back,” Parriott said. “The top seven guys were able to just take off and I had to go through 20 extra people to get to my finishing position. I had passed an awful lot of competition before I got into the eighth position. It was a tough deal. The leaders weren’t going much faster than me but ever so slightly in those opening laps and they’re able to open up a pretty big lead. They were also doing similar times when I finally got clear.”

This past weekend represented the fifth race in the calendar year of 2007.

Parriott returned to racing competitively in 2006 after taking a hiatus in 2005 due to the birth of his now 2-year-old son. Parriott’s progress in 2007 appears tangible.

“Every time I get on the bike, it gets a little bit better and a little bit better,” Parriott said. “In the first race of the year, we had one victory, a third place and a fifth place in the same three races I won this last weekend. Now, a couple of months later we’re able to win pretty much every race we entered with the exception of the premier race.”

Parriott has three more races in 2007, two more in July and one in October.

Parriott, who also operates his website of www.bp46.com, plans to “completely refurbish the machine. We plan on going to Miller Motor Sports Park in Utah on June 15-16 for a test race. We are going down to get more practice time and do more testing.”

As is his nature, Parriott also wanted to share the credit in his success most notably to San Jose BMW owner Chris Hodgson, who Parriott considers his “main mechanic and supporter. He does an awesome job.”

In addition, he expressed gratitude to Mer Soleil Vineyards, who have provided funding for Parriott in the past. Mer Soleil was present at Infineon over the weekend to allow spectators to sample Chardonnay.

Parriott is also promoting a jaw brace that he wears to protect his teeth, a few of which are cracked.

“What a lot of sports guys do is they install a jaw protector in your mouth,” Parriott said. “It protects the clattering of teeth in such a rough and vibration situation. Dr. Steven Rivas in St. Helena helped me with getting one of those sports braces.”

brain wins 3 out of 4!

May 29, 2007
What can we say about a rider that competes in classes where his bike is 25 to 50 pounds heavier and has 15 to 50 horsepower less than his competition - but still wins! Brian Parriott is an unbelieveable talent and we are very lucky to have him as our rider. This past Sunday, 5/27, Brian raced in 4 main events in one day and WON 3 OF THEM! He took: 750 Production, 750 Superbike and Open Twins. Brian also raced in the Formula Pacific race where our bike is seriously underpowered. Starting from 27th position, he finished in 8th place. (quote from Road Racing World Magazine): “My San Jose BMW R1200S was on the gas, and the crew at San Jose BMW really had their work cut out for them,” said Parriott. “It’s a Moto-ST bike, and the limit there is 118 horsepower, so we’re probably making a little closer to 114-115. The bike puts new meaning to the phrase ‘Putting your head down’ – I’ve been dragging the cylinder heads in Turn 2, Turn 5, and Turn 11 all weekend long! The Pirelli tires were working great, and we’ve been riding the wheels off of this thing, and it’s all thanks to the tuning from the guys at San Jose BMW.”
The SJBMW Racing Team did a fantastic job this weekend and we would like to thank our Sponsors, Friends, Family and Customers that were on hand to support us. For all the details and photos from the races, go to our SJBMWRacing.com website and click the 'RACES' button to find INFINION 5/27.

willie joins the elite few!

May 24, 2007
In September of 2006 - Willie Hodgson and his Bonneville Speedster, firmly placed themselves in the Record Books by breaking the existing Land Speed Record and later that same week - breaking his own record. Running in the Air Cooled-1000cc PushRod-SemiStreamlined-Pump Gas, class - Willie added 12mph to the existing record (a feat in itself). As a result, he is featured on this years Fastest Bikes poster advertising the 2007 Bonneville event in September. Willie is shown as photo #4 on the top left side of the poster (bike #496). When Chris was asked if he was proud of his son - he just smiles and nodds :)

this weekend - we race!!

May 19, 2007
SJBMW Racer - BRIAN PARRIOTT - will be running the Black #46 Saturday & Sunday (26th & 27th) at the AFM races in Sonoma. Our R1200S is eligible to complete in 4 different classes - so Brian will be on the track A LOT! Look for our Blue & Black BMW canopy in the pits.

does this get you excited?

May 19, 2007
BMW has released one of the most intriguing motorcycles in their history. The NEW F800 is likely to become a Sales Sensation! What makes this model different and unique is 4 things. 1. The Engine - vertical twin 800cc with '3' connecting rods. The third rod is connected to a lever that counter-balances the pistons (almost NO viberation) 2. The Driveline - which is a BELT. The advantage of a belt is weight and maintenance. The belt and pulleys weigh 1/5th as much as a shaft and the belt itself is only a pound. There are no adjustments required and you never have to lube it. 3. Weight. Full of gas the bike only weighs 450 pounds. 4. Fuel tank. The tank is under the seat - which lowers the center of gravity and makes the bike easier to handle. The F800 comes in 2 models - 'S' Sport and the 'ST' Sport Touring. What ever type of riding you do - there is a VERY GOOD CHANCE that the F800 will get you excited. We have DEMOS for qualified riders.

very interesting......

May 10, 2007
No, this is not a new BMW product. It's a custom made 4-wheel sporting machine. It has 4 wheel independant suspension, disc brakes and features the 2 spark 1150 motor. While Chris enjoyed the experience, he wasn't sure what we could do with it. It handles like a slot car, has great storage in the side pods and sounds as great as it looks. Would you pay $49,500 for it though? As we said - Very Interesting.

bmwna interviews brian parriott

May 2, 2007
San Jose BMW XPLOR Race Team Wins Moto-ST at VIR

The checkered flag waved back and forth at Virginia International Raceway on Sunday, April 29th, and crossing the finish line first was the #46 BMW R 1200 S of San Jose BMW XPLOR Race Team. It was the first trip back to victory lane for the team since their historic win last fall at the inaugural MOTO-ST race at Daytona International Speedway. Racers Brian Parriott and Nate Kern bested the field to grab their first win of the 2007 season.

Parriott and Kern took the victory with a time that was 23.028 seconds ahead of the field in the three hour endurance race around V.I.R.'s 3.27 mile course. The pair completed 86 laps with an average speed of 98.71 mph and led the entire race except for one lap...

Here's Brian Parriott with some details about BMW San Jose's first win of the 2007 season: "At the green flag, I took over the lead in turn 1. On the 4th lap, another team passed me by and by lap 5 we were leading throughout."

"Lap count was 86 and we lead 85 of those laps. Our winning race at VIR this past weekend was great. I loved it! The track was fantastic. This is probably the most fun track I've raced in North America. Also his was the first time that I raced the entire length of the track. Normally we race half of the track on non-endurance races."

"On Friday afternoon before the race we needed some technical support. Nate knows the folks at Morton's BMW in Fredericksburg and came to the rescue. Morton's pulled through for us. This is a great example of how BMW community pulls together and supports each other. Our San Jose BMW tech team worked on the bike until 2am to have the R 1200 S race bike ready for the 7:30am practice run."

"The BMW R 1200 S race bike that won the MotoST at VIR is 150% more evolved than the bike back in October that won at Daytona. This is totally a better tuned bike. Chris, the team manager and I talk on the phone all the time about ways to improve our race bike. We tweak parts to make them perform better and constantly come up with solutions to make this bike faster and lighter. Chris is so determined to make this bike be as best as it can be. I think we have managed to shave another 20lbs off. We now weigh in at about 406lbs and also have the power up too. Now we are closer to the MotoST's rule of 118 max allowable rear wheel horsepower. Lighter and faster, that's the key to our win. We now have moved to the 2nd position in the points lead."

"I do want to thank our sponsors who are behind us 100%: Mer-Soleil Wines, Parriott Motors, Dr. Rivas, Pirelli Tires, Arai Helmets, Batley Cycles, San Jose BMW and BMW Motorrad USA."

Currently, the San Jose BMW team has one win, as does Suzuki and Aprilia so these next three races will be hotly contested to see who comes out on top. Look for the team to go for another win at the next MotoST race on July 7 and 8, at Road America, in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.