For the final race of the season in 2022, G-Force and Dr. Farr Racing had a little surprise in store for the AFM crowd attending the season Finale at Laguna Seca. Dr. Farr contracted G-Force to build him the fastest Ninja 400 anyone had ever seen. Coming in at over 61hp to the rear wheel, they did just that!
The weekend started out with some troubles. Rider, Deion Campbell was letting his crew know that the bike would not upshift. A common problem with the Ninja 400 that we hadn't addressed. So, Saturday was spent trying to track down parts. With no luck, we proceeded to use our ingenuity, and repaired the issue. Long enough to make the weekend, anyway.
Come Sunday, all we had was 5 laps Sunday morning to know if it was right. Deion said he would come in after to laps if the problem persisted. 5 laps later, Deion came in at the checkered flag to the session. So, the problem appeared to be resolved. Now, we had no idea where we would be in terms of laps to get comfortable on a new bike with suspension not set for him. We all waited around like anxious children anticipating the results of the first race with the new engine.
The Green Flag dropped and they all thundered away with vengeance. Standing on the front straight, we could not tell how Deion did at the start, and had no viewpoint of the bikes until they streamed down the hill from the world-famous Corkscrew. The bright red bike of Daniel Lanuza was in the lead, but Deion was very close in chase. It was quickly apparent, we had a race on our hands. For this lap anyhow.
By lap two, Deion was in the lead and slowly opening a gap. There were only 5 laps in this shortened sprint-race, so he would have to work hard to have a decisive lead. By the end of lap-three, it was obvious that Deion had the faster bike, and the faster times. He just needed to keep the bike upright, with the gap he had, in order to win. But Deion is a racer. So, he continued to pull a lead until he crossed the line for the last time with more than a 7 second lead over Lanuza at the checkered.
As if that result was not impressive enough, Deion raised the bar again. He entered the bike in Open Twins against KTM 2190s and Ducati V2s. A Ninja 400???? He started at the back of the pack, as he had no points. And was in 3rd place by the first lap. Shortly after that, he took over 2nd place, and battled heavily with that rider. Before the end of the race, Deion was able to get away from 2nd, and started to make time against the leader. However, the checkered flag had come out. 2nd place in Open Twins against 1200cc+ motorcycles is quite impressive indeed.
Thanks for the amazing riding Deion.