Motorcycles and news

The decision to race the AHRMA round came after Mike’s absence from the GNF the previous week and the team’s eagerness to test the suspension and weight loss changes they’d made to the bike after testing in September. As a last minute entrant Mike was forced to start both races from the back of the field, which proved little of a challenge for the ex-factory racer and his lightweight Millona.

It took just two laps, of the eight lap BOT race to take the lead and begin the battle with Mark Hatten’s 749R, his closest competition. But the Millona’s corner speed proved no match for the Ducati and Mike took the checkered flag with a five second lead.

The Sound of Thunder race was more of a challenge. Mike had another excellent start, taking the lead early, but was met by resistance from a Daytona 675. The duo quickly broke free of the field. Mike was able to hold off the Triumph and finish the eight lap sprint race with a three second lead.

From the moment Mike Smith rode the NCR Millona R in its stock state at Barber in April he saw it as a winning bike. “Whoever built this bike knew what they were doing,” he said. “It’s like a supermotard. You can change your line anywhere in a corner and put the bike anywhere you want on the track.” This explains the 1.32 lap time he pulled at Barber the first time he rode the Millona that came straight out of the box. Smith also commented that it leaned more than anything else he’d ever ridden.

“We thought it would hard to improve on the Millona,” said team owner Mark Sutton, “We’ve been able to improve the suspension and used the stock 1000DS engine to develop our performance parts since the start of the year. We’ve adding 18 horsepower and lightening the bike by 16 pounds. Mike was instrumental to the suspension improvement and his expertise has helped us no end to develop the bike to be a real competitor in a field of big bore superbikes.”