De Keyrel Racing trains at Dakota County Technical College with www.ridingcourse.com. riding course is owned by Steve Bowman. Steve was the only one that would allow Kaleb and Mason to ride when they first started road racing and De Keyrel racing tries to ride with riding course as many times a summer as possible. This being the last date that Steve would have for 2011, Kaleb and Mason hit the track with very specific training goals in mind. Kaleb would be working on body positioning and Mason would be working on lean angle.

De Keyrel Racing is not the only one working on skills

De Keyrel Racing was not the only one working on skills. There was a gopher that was working on his skills too (as you can see from the picture) The gopher had great success. He was just slow enough to get in the picture and just fast enough to not get hit. It was a great day for DeKeyrel racing, and an even better day for the gopher.

Kaleb had planned on racing three different bikes for the CRA August weekend. His MD 250H, Scott Christopher’s SV 650 and John Anderson’s R6. The weekend started off with practice on Friday. Kaleb ran a few laps on the MD 250H to make sure it would be ready for the weekend, than turned his focus to the SV 650 and the R6. Kaleb would ride the R6 in fast practice and the SV in medium practice. The day was going well until Kaleb started to hear a noise in the SV. They checked it out, but could not hear anything in the pits. Kaleb went out for another session on it and made it to turn two before shutting the motor off, because he was still hearing a noise. After getting the SV back to the pits, the crew discovered there was something comming apart in the valve train and the SV was done for the weekend. After this happened Chris from little red ninjet came over and asked if Kaleb would be interested in racing one of his Ninja 250’s in Saturday’s SS race. The De Keyrels talked it over and decided Kaleb would do it. Kaleb had to start last in the race, yet managed to work his way up to fourth place. It was a great ride.

On Saturday afternoon it was time for the endurance racing. Kaleb was scheduled to race the SV 650 on a GP2 team and the R6 on a GP3 team. With the SV having motor issues Kaleb decided to just race the R6 with Team World Wide Machining and Engineering. Team owner John Anderson had equipped the bike with a quick-change front and rear end, so the team decided they were going to use this time to practice for the five hour race in September. Team World Wide was the only team to use the same bike for the entire three hours and the only team to do a tire change. Kaleb was able to ride the first 50 minutes and the last 45 minutes of the race. The team had great success, finishing in fourth place. A lot of fun was had by all.

Kaleb would be in three races in a row. He would race the Moriwaki first, then 600,and then the Moriwaki – all back to back to back. This would happen two times on Sunday. The De Keyrel Racing Team handled it very well, not missing a single start.

The weekend was a huge success for De Keyrel Racing and Team World Wide. Kaleb set a new personal best Lap time on the 600cc R6 of 1:42.6 during his first stint in the endurance race. Kaleb rode four different bikes and adapted quickly to all of them. Louie Diaz came up and ran the GoPro on Sunday to get some race footage. Les and his wife from Dunlop were on hand to watch the racing action. Kaleb had great results all weekend.

Results:
UL GP 1st
SP MN 1st
UL SB 2nd
LW GP 3rd
N 250 4th
GP3 4th
HW SB 10th
LW SB 10th

This weekend had so many events that made it great. The weekend needs to be rewound! I want to tell you how BLESSED De Keyrel Racing really is. The weekend started off with the  De Keyrel’s going to church Saturday night as usual at 6:00 pm. After Church they went to grab some dinner and headed to the Bleakly’s to hangout. This is where the first blessing of the weekend started. Tom had made and printed new De Keyrel Racing posters for the team. They are awesome. (Thank You to the Bleakly’s)

The plan was to leave at 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning for the Mountain bike race in Superior WI. While in Superior, we would be returning the YAMAHA R6 that John Anderson had let Kaleb ride the previous weekend in Brainerd, MN. Kaleb did an awesome job on the 600cc motorcycle. This was the second BLESSING. It is great to see someone so kind and giving to allow Kaleb to use the bike.

(Thank You John Anderson)

Alex Berge is one of the Team SHO-AIR MN racers and he would be going to the race with the De Keyrel’s today. Alex allows Kaleb to race his mountain bike at all the races. This is the third BLESSING and Alex does not stop there. Alex also brought with his tuning stand, new shift levers and cables for Doug’s 27 year old mountain bike that Mason had been racing. Mason had been racing this bike with nub for a shift lever up to this point. This is the fourth BLESSING

(Thank You Alex Berg)

When De Keyrel Racing says it was a team effort most of us don’t know how deep that goes. When Kaleb and Mason are on the podium and they Thank GOD first, they truly mean it. With out GOD putting all of these kind people in the De Keyrels life, they would not be bicycle racing at all. That means no endurance training, which means lesser results on the road racing track, which means less great news to report.

So how was the De Keyrels weekend of mountain bike racing, truly BLESSED. It was about 98 degrees, humid and sticky. The course had long hard up hills and there was no breeze but Kaleb and Mason both won there class’s. GOD and the De Keyrel’s were rewarded again.

After a long day in Iowa on Saturday. Kaleb resided he wanted to do the Buckhill Mountain bike race in Burnsville MN on Sunday. Mason decided he would savor his victory and sleep in.

It had just finished up raining about an hour before Kalebs race was to start and the temps were climbing. It was to be a high of 98 degrees.

Kalebs race started at 9:30 am and he would go out in the second wave. The race was set for 2 laps and the course was layed out as a 5-1/2 mile loop.

The race started and Kaleb went right to the front. He had never seen this course before so he followed a rider for the first part of the race. After crossing to start the second lap Kaleb was in about 11^th place. He now new the course and was starting to push. Kaleb had worked his way up into 5^th overall in the race and first in his class by the end of the race. I asked him how the race went and he said great other than a crash on the cement section of the course. Kaleb said he just came in to hot and lost the front on the concrete. “It was fun”

Kaleb and his Dad hung out for awhile cheering on the other Team SHO-AIR MN racers. It was a fun Hot day of mountain bike racing.

Results:
Kaleb      1^st

De Keyrel Racing was invited by Alex Berge to race a crit bicycle race in his home town of Clear Lake Iowa. The race was part of the Bikes, BBQ and Blues Festival.

This would be the first time for Kaleb and Mason to even see a crit race. They did not even know what one was. All Alex told them was bring your road bicycles.

Mason got out front and was setting the pace early off. Kaleb decided to take the lead from Mason and an Iowa racer followed. Kaleb set a pace and the other race settled in behind Kaleb with Mason still in third. If Kaleb slowed down the other racer slowed down not wanting to pass. With the race being only 20 minutes Kaleb started to push to see if the other rider would go with him. They had lapped the entire field of racers except Mason. The officials misjudge the pace of the race and gave the racers three laps to go at the 11 minute mark. Kaleb and the other racer had still not caught Mason starting the last lap. Kaleb was still leading and picked the pace up even more. On the uphill the other racer started to pass Kaleb. With ½ a lap to go both racers we at a full sprint. Rounding the final corner was Kaleb and the other racer side by side with Mason directly in front of them. They crossed the line with a photo finish. The other racer, Kaleb and Mason just behind. By Lapping Mason they had lap the entire field.

It was a great day with Mason finishing second overall in the race and dominating his class for 1^st. Kaleb fought hard, had fun and learned allot. Thank You Alex Berge for the invite.

Results:
Mason      10-12 class          1^st
Kaleb         13-14 class          2^nd

De Keyrel Racing headed North for the 4^th of July weekend to race with the CRA at Brainerd International Raceway. The weekend was the largest spectator crowd in years and the racing that weekend will keep them coming back.

The weekend started out with the CRA granting Kaleb approval to ride a 600cc bike in practice. Thanks to John Anderson from Worldwide Machining and Welding, Kaleb had an R6 to impress the stewards and board members on. From there Kaleb was allowed to race the R6 that weekend. This was Kaleb’s second time on a 600cc bike and his first time racing it. John Anderson would race the bike in the Middleweight classes and allowed Kaleb to race it in the Heavy weight Super sport class. For the first time racing the 600cc bikes Kaleb did a great job showing that he deserved to be out there. Kaleb was pushing for the front. He ended up with an 8^th place finish on Saturday and better that with a 5^th place finish on Sunday.

With the weekend being a holiday weekend, De Keyrel had support for the weekend with Kaleb and Mason’s Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Paula, nieces, friends and sponsors. They all got to see Kaleb in racing action and Mason road at noon each day with “try the track.”

A lot of people focused on Kaleb riding the bigger 600cc bike. He did not let up at all on the smaller MD 250. In the UL GP and UL SB classes Kaleb went undefeated for the weekend with four wins. In the UL Sportsman class Kaleb ran up front pushing for the lead and wound up short for second both days.

http://www.cra-mn.com/wordpress/2011/announcements/press-releases/july-press-release

Results:     Sat          Sun
UL GP          1st            1st
UL SB           1st            1st
UL SPT        2nd          2nd
LW GP         DNF         DNF
LW SB          7th            5th
HW SS          8th            5th

The day started off with a class room session for everyone. After that they broke up into a street group and a race group. Both Kaleb and Mason where in the race group. I had been raining so Doug (Kaleb and Masons Dad) was busy getting the rain tires on the bikes.

The first two sessions of the day where in the rain. Then the sun came out for the rest of the school. With the rain the track walk was moved to after lunch. The day consisted of 20 minutes of track, 20 minutes of class room all day from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.  The class room sessions went over what the students were to work on for that session. Than the next class room the students and Jason went over pictures of the students taken in that session to see how they were doing.  After lunch they went from pictures to video that they would review.

On track there were more instructors than students. There were instructors like James Repsoli and Corey Alexander that were out setting a fast pace. Then there were the instructors following students and pulling them in with tips. After the third session Todd (one of the instructors) pulled Mason in and asked to move him to the street group. He wanted Mason to be able to work on passing. Not just on getting passed. The pace in the race group was fast for a track day. Even the street group was going good.

One of the best parts of the Stars School is the two up rides. If you have ever been a passenger on the back of a street bike before you can only imagine what it is like on the track. Jason himself does the two up rides. It teaches the students brake points, lean angles, throttle position and corner speed. Ok some of the students. Some are just praying for it to be over. It is not a relaxed pace. Jason wants them to be able to learn. It is a fast controlled pace for two laps. Most students take a lot of knowledge from the two up rides.

The school at Blackhawk Farms was a two day school. Some students took both days and others one day or the other. There was also a third day for the veterans. All in all a great school for the money.

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ktVXWyLpVE

THANK YOU TO JASON PREDMORE, MARK, TODD, CHRIS, GREG, JAMES, COREY, AND ALL THE REST OF THE INSTRUCTORS  for a great time and a great school.

De Keyrel Racing has a new helmet sponsor for 2011. HJC will be supporting Kaleb and Mason De Keyrel for the 2011 season. De Keyrel Racing is looking forward to the working with HJC and building a long lasting relationship. Kaleb debuted the new helmets last weekend at Brainard International Raceway with the CRA.

The weekend started with the 125 motor that was guaranteed to be to De Keyrel Racing on Tuesday being delivered on Thursday, 2 hours before leaving for Brainerd International raceway. Doug ( Kaleb’s Dad ) went to work and installed the motor and was able to get two heat cycles on it before loading it in. It was going to be a great weekend. It had looked like Kaleb was only going to have one bike for the weekend but now he would have both bikes. They arrived at the track at 10 pm on Thursday night and set up for the weekend. Kaleb and Mason were excited to show off their new helmet sponsor HJC.

Friday was practice all day. The goals were to get the 125 broke in and set the bikes up for the weekend. Kaleb would also be testing a 1996 TZ 250 of Brian Okabo’s. Kaleb road the MORIWAKI MD 250 in the slow practice and the HONDA RS 125 in medium practice. The weather was perfect for practice on Friday, sunny and 75 degrees. The MORIWAKI was set up and running great. Kaleb worked in the morning on breaking the RS 125 in. After lunch De Keyrel Racing started to dial the 125 in for the race weekend. The jetting seemed to be off and the bike was not running correctly. Kaleb said the throttle response was poor and the bike kept shutting off and he would have to bump start it again on the track. Doug checked all the electrical connections to make sure they were tight and everything looked good. Kaleb said the bike was still cutting out. Doug decided to have Brian Okabo take the bike out for a session to see what he thought it was. Brian did not even hit the track with it and said it was too fat on mid range. We made some jetting changes and Kaleb went back out. The bike made two more laps and seized up. Doug tore the bike apart and found bad destination on the piston and later learned that there was an air leak in the cylinder head and reed cage. Brian ended up crashing the TZ 250 that Kaleb was going to test so that was out for the day too. They put the 125 aside and focused on the MORIWAKI.

Saturday was a full day for Kaleb with 5 sprint races.  Practice went smooth and now it was time for racing. Kaleb started out the day with 2 seconds and was riding great. The light weight classes were going to be tough with the races being on the famous BIR long track. There is a lot of wide open section with the drag strip and then all the way into turn three. The bigger HP bikes definitely had an advantage.
At lunch the CRA has  “try the track” where anyone with a driver’s license can take 4 laps around the track at a controlled pace. Doug heard the announcement for this and decided to see if they would allow Mason to participate. The officials said yes. Mason suited up and was out on the BIR track for the first time. It was great to see Mason getting track time at a CRA event. Mason road the “try the track” both days and had a blast.

Saturday the last race of the day was an invite only race, The Framsted Cup. They take the fastest 2 racers from each class, use their best lap time, than start them all so they cross the finish line at the same time. The slowest racer starts first, then a gap by time. Then the next and next until the fastest racer goes off the start. The first racer had already done a lap before the fastest guy left the start. Kaleb was invited to run this race and started 7th.  It was a fun race to watch and Kaleb did great with a 4th place finish. Saturday’s races went late ending at 6:30 with the Framsted Cup. Church was scheduled for 7:00pm. Doug packed everything away for the night and Heather, Kaleb and Mason headed to church. Doug hung out with Levi as he was sick with the flu.

After church another racer offered to buy us all dinner at Zorbas. Zorbas was a sponsor of theirs and they allowed them to bring racers to eat and then Zorbas would pick up the bill.  Heather stayed at the track with Levi and Doug, Kaleb and Mason went to dinner with the group. Great food.

Sunday was another full day for Kaleb with 5 sprints again. The weather was perfect again with sunny skies and 68 degrees. Brian still wanted to see Kaleb on the TZ 250 so he let him test his 2000 TZ 250 in practice. Kaleb looked great on the bike for his first time on it. Sunday started out even better for Kaleb than Saturday by bettering his first two races with wins in both classes. The third race of the day was light weight superbike. Kaleb knew he would have to push hard in the turns if he was going to have a chance against the bigger HP bikes. Kaleb got a great jump and was running near the front. With 1 lap to go Kaleb did not come around. It was radioed in that 2 riders had gone down in turn 8. Kaleb was loaded into the ambulance and transported to the onsite medical center. When they opened the doors of the ambulance to move Kaleb into the medical center Kaleb hollered to his dad. “Dad I am fine. Get me out of here”. Kaleb was released to his Dad and mom with a sore hip. The other rider was ok too. We learned later that the other rider saw Rossi try this move on Stoner in a corner. Rossi lost the front too and took out Stoner. When the bike came back on the crash truck it was apparent that the weekend’s racing was over. Doug went to work cleaning the bike and started to load everything up. It was a great weekend. The new HJC helmet did its job, Cortech leathers held up awesome, weather was great, met some new racers, got a couple of young fan’s pictures on the bikes and Mason got 8 laps in. The family was together for the weekend and everyone was safe.

Results:

Race                                       Sat.              Sun.

Framsted Cup                        4th
Ultra light Sportsman           2nd                1st
Ultra light Superbike            2nd                1st
Ultra light GP                         2nd                DNS
Light weight GP                     7th                 DNS
Light weight Superbike         7th                DNF

Here is a link to more pictures of the weekend: http://www.momentumphoto.net/events/cra/2011/june/251/index.html

Cortech will be supplying Kaleb with Leathers, Gloves and boots. De Keyrel Racing is pleased to continue to build its relationship with Cortech. Looking forward to another successful year.

http://www.cortechperformance.com