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Race 1 0f 15 / NHRA
Gatornationals
Gainesville, FL. / March 17 - 19 2006
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Images from - AutoImagery.com
Gainesville, FL. March
19th, 2006
 Recent
time spent on the sponsorship hunt didn't the
Lartigue / Treble Suzuki team in the performance
department at the season opening NHRA Gatornationals
in Gainesville, FL.
In
fact, the newly independent pair put a very fast Pro
Stock Motorcycle on the Gainesville racetrack, and
from the first pass out of the trailer they knew
they were in possession one stout bike.
"We
can now run a really big motor in the Suzuki's this
year, and believe me, these things are full of
power," said Treble. "The art of finding a sweet
spot to tune from is trickier that ever, but once we
have a good baseline for the new motors, this bike
will fly."
 The
Lartigue / Treble team came out strong on Friday,
opening with a 7.094 at 186.37 MPH. A second session
7.121/189.31 set the team in the 8th spot, just
.033 seconds behind the leader.
"We
went back and forth on the tune up trying to get as
much power to the ground as possible, but like I
said, this year we have more power to work with so
we are learning just how to use it all."
The
Saturday sessions produced two runs, a 7.093/190.11
and 7.117/192.14 to nearly match Friday's qualifying
effort, and place the team into the No. 11 spot in
final qualifying.
In
Sunday morning final eliminations, Treble faced
longtime friend
Karen
Stoffer on her Gieco Motorcycle Insurance Suzuki.
Stoffer was competing in her first race since being
sidelined in a freak accident involving the rear
door on their teams transport trailer last season.
In
the round one race, Treble left the starting line
with a good .032 reaction time, but was outdone by
Stoffer who grabbed a great .004 light and held on
to win with a slower 7.139 185.22, taking the stripe
by only 0.0035 seconds, approximately 12 inches.
 "We
laid down a pretty good run with our 7.114 187.14
first round, but that reaction time from Karen was
too much to overcome," said Treble. "Harry and
I
put a good tune-up in the bike, but we were just a
foot short today against Stoffer."
"I
was looking for the win light today, but I am happy
for the Stoffer camp too. They are a great group,
and after her accident, she just needed to come back
out and win some rounds for her team."
The
Lartigue / Treble team plans on some testing before
the next NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Motorcycle event,
The O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston
Raceway Park, March 31-April 2 2006.
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