Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Tom Kipp led most of the first two laps of the AMA Supersport race at Sears Point, but then started a slow drift rearwards on his Suzuki GSX-R600 as he lost rear tire grip.
The problem came down to tire choice, a choice complicated by a dramatic rise in ambient temperature on race day.
Kipp and the team had not encountered similar conditions and track temperature during runs in practice, and the extra heat on race day made the tire test data from the rest of the weekend invalid.
Kipp was upbeat after the race and said he was looking forward to the AMA National at Road Atlanta in two weeks.
