<img src="http://gallery.nitromater.com/files/2/0/G_Tonglet.jpg" alt="G_Tonglet"align="left"borders="0"/><img src="http://gallery.nitromater.com/files/6/5/a_hines.jpg" alt="a_hines" align="left"borders="0"/>
BRAINERD, Minn. (8/14/06) -- Andrew Hines and GT Tonglet will have to wait and see if the weekend's work is going to pay off. The two Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines V-Rod riders didn't have their way with Sunday's 25th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway but they learned enough to give them hope that the next event will be more to their liking.
Hines suffered a first round loss Sunday during final eliminations. Hines fouled at the starting line, handing the round victory to Marco Andreano and the VRoom Racing Buell team.
"My bike is perfect just the way it is, I just can't red light," the 23-year-old Indianapolis resident said. "We made some adjustments before the first round and the bike reacted a little quicker than I expected. But this V-Rod is running so well that we won't have to do much to make it race-ready for the next event."
Hines qualified in the No. 2 position, turning in a 7.105-second pass at 187.63 mph. It was the seventh time this season Hines has qualified in the top three positions.
Tonglet, however, didn't even have a chance to defend his 2005 Brainerd event victory. Tonglet posted his first DNQ of the season and first since the April 2004 event in Houston - a span of 52 races.
"It's disappointing that we weren't able to defend the win from last year, but it just didn't work out for us this time," Tonglet said. "We tried to make the adjustments and I think we did, just not in time to make the field. The good news is that it looks like we figured out the issues and we should have a competitive bike again by the next race."
The opening round loss left Hines in second place of the point standings, 15 points behind category leader Antron Brown. Brown rode his U.S. Army Suzuki to the event win en route to taking over the top of the standings.
Harley-Davidson Racing Manager Anne Paluso said the team has a short amount of time to turn the weekend's results into something positive. Paluso said that was a good thing.
"We learned a lot this weekend and it's good that we are going to be able to get right back out to the track," Paluso said. "We struggled a lot with GT's bike, but it seems like we've already sorted out the problems and we already feel better about what he can do in Memphis in a few days. It was a tough weekend all around for the team, but we have to take everything we learned and go from there."
Hines said the team has more than a few positives to work from.
"One bike qualified well and we know exactly what the bike did for each adjustment we made," Hines said. "There are five more races left in the season and we just need to stay focused on winning rounds."
The next NHRA event is the 17th annual O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park in Memphis, Aug. 18-20.
Screamin' Eagle Team Walks Away from Brainerd NHRA Event Armed with Information
Hines and Tonglet Ready for the Next Race
BRAINERD, Minn. (8/14/06) -- Andrew Hines and GT Tonglet will have to wait and see if the weekend's work is going to pay off. The two Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines V-Rod riders didn't have their way with Sunday's 25th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway but they learned enough to give them hope that the next event will be more to their liking.
Hines suffered a first round loss Sunday during final eliminations. Hines fouled at the starting line, handing the round victory to Marco Andreano and the VRoom Racing Buell team.
"My bike is perfect just the way it is, I just can't red light," the 23-year-old Indianapolis resident said. "We made some adjustments before the first round and the bike reacted a little quicker than I expected. But this V-Rod is running so well that we won't have to do much to make it race-ready for the next event."
Hines qualified in the No. 2 position, turning in a 7.105-second pass at 187.63 mph. It was the seventh time this season Hines has qualified in the top three positions.
Tonglet, however, didn't even have a chance to defend his 2005 Brainerd event victory. Tonglet posted his first DNQ of the season and first since the April 2004 event in Houston - a span of 52 races.
"It's disappointing that we weren't able to defend the win from last year, but it just didn't work out for us this time," Tonglet said. "We tried to make the adjustments and I think we did, just not in time to make the field. The good news is that it looks like we figured out the issues and we should have a competitive bike again by the next race."
The opening round loss left Hines in second place of the point standings, 15 points behind category leader Antron Brown. Brown rode his U.S. Army Suzuki to the event win en route to taking over the top of the standings.
Harley-Davidson Racing Manager Anne Paluso said the team has a short amount of time to turn the weekend's results into something positive. Paluso said that was a good thing.
"We learned a lot this weekend and it's good that we are going to be able to get right back out to the track," Paluso said. "We struggled a lot with GT's bike, but it seems like we've already sorted out the problems and we already feel better about what he can do in Memphis in a few days. It was a tough weekend all around for the team, but we have to take everything we learned and go from there."
Hines said the team has more than a few positives to work from.
"One bike qualified well and we know exactly what the bike did for each adjustment we made," Hines said. "There are five more races left in the season and we just need to stay focused on winning rounds."
The next NHRA event is the 17th annual O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park in Memphis, Aug. 18-20.
