Skagit Powersports Racing
 Big
Results on a Little Bike
The recent influx of Ninja 250 roadracing classes are tailor-made
for Bill Cameron and Adam Faussett. The duo behind Skagit
Powersports Racing have known each other for twenty years, but it
was a feature class for the Ninja 250 that convinced them to be
teammates.
Photo: Adam Faussett and Bill Cameron prove
that you don't have to have the biggest bike on the track to win a
lot of trophies. Being a top competitor on a Ninja 250 means a lot
of heart, a lot of fun and a great LeoVince exhaust.
Cameron is the owner of Skagit Powersports in Burlington,
Washington. As a district sales manager for Kawasaki, Faussett is
used to working with Cameron on a regular basis. They have both done
plenty of mini racing together on indoor tracks, but had never
teamed up to go roadracing until this year.
"Kawasaki came up with the Ninja Cup and we thought it would be a
lot of fun. Since Adam is a Kawasaki rep and I'm a Kawasaki dealer,
we put it all together, called LeoVince and some other folks, and
put together our race bikes. We had a lot of success and got a lot
more guys involved during the year," Cameron explains.
Cameron and Faussett competed in two OMRRA classes and two WMRRA
classes during the 2011 season. Cameron, who has owned Skagit
Powersports since 1992, finished the year with solid championship
standings. He was fourth in WMRRA's Ninja 250 Cup and third in their
LeoVince UltraLightweight Sportsman class. In OMRRA competition,
Cameron took third in the UltraLightweight Sportbike class and sixth
in Lightweight Superbike.
When he looks back on his season, Cameron says, "The highlight
was winning a race at Portland. Winning is always good. Adam has my
number every day, but I did get him once."
Faussett, whose roadracing history includes multiple OMRRA and
WMRRA championships as well as a year in the AMA's now-defunct
Formula 2 class, took home three championships in 2011. He was the
victor in WMRRA Ninja 250 Cup, WMRRA LeoVince UltraLightweight
Sporstman and OMRRA UltraLightweight Superbike. He also finished
second in OMRRA's Lightweight Superbike class.
Faussett's most memorable moment of the season was "the very last
win because that was a string of twelve straight to end the season."
Those consecutive wins culminated in the final WMRRA LeoVince
UltraLightweight Superbike race at Pacific Raceway.
Faussett also admits that he lives in Kent, Washington, because
of his love of racing. "I moved here four years ago just to be close
to the track," he says.
With such an impressive year, it's little wonder that the Skagit
Powersports Racing Ninja 250s are some of the best-tuned machines on
the track. "Our shop has got a lot of experience on these 250
Ninjas. If anybody wants help, we can help them," Cameron says,
adding, "The LeoVince pipe is the best exhaust for a Ninja 250. None
of the other pipes make as much power as the LeoVince. It's a
tremendous increase in power."
Faussett agrees, saying "We did a lot of dyno work and stock,
(the bike) was 25hp. Adding the LeoVince pipe, not even touching the
carbs, we were at 31hp. I've never gotten a 20 percent increase just
by changing the exhaust, and I've been around bikes my whole life."
For 2012, Skagit Powersports Racing will be racing a selection of
OMRRA, WMRRA and AFM races. Competing in Oregon, Washington and
California is a lot of territory to cover, but they are excited to
be a part of the growing trend in 250 racing.
"The Ninja 250 class is growing really fast," Faussett says. "The
coolest thing in the world is to be able to take what people think
is an entry-level bike and go on the track and have a bunch of
people competitive with it."
"It will be fun, and there will be more 250s this year," Cameron
says of the 2012 season. "I've got pictures of me and Adam racing
where we're an inch apart. We would do that lap after lap. A lot of
times you're going faster in the corners than the big bikes. The
250s are pretty exciting to ride."
They're pretty exciting to watch, too, when you have riders like
Faussett and Cameron battling at the front. Keep an eye on Skagit
Powersports Racing as they continue their Ninja 250 domination in
2012.
Reproduced courtesy of
LeoVinci News/Fall 2011 |
