New combination has LE Tonglet enthused about Norwalk race

There’s no rain predicted this weekend for Norwalk, Ohio, a weather report that brings a smile from LE Tonglet.

A year ago, Tonglet – then the reigning NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle champion – did not qualify for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals after a persistent rain wiped out two qualifying sessions.  It is the only time in his 42-race Full Throttle series career he wasn’t in the starting line-up. 

He returns to Summit Racing Equipment Park Friday prepared to rectify that situation this weekend following a runner-up performance at Chicago last Sunday.  It was his finest outing of the 2012 season and followed a run to the semifinals at Englishtown, N.J. in his fourth race.  It also lifted him from eighth to fifth place in Full Throttle points and injected a giant boost of confidence into the Nitro Fish/Tonglet Racing Suzuki GSXR team. 

“We are very happy with the way the bike responded to the new tune-up in Chicago,” Tonglet said.  “We weren’t able to get the win there this time, but we still have a pretty good chance of running good at Norwalk.  We took the motor out so Vance and Hines could go through it and we got it back Thursday. 

“Everything is ready to go.  We would like to pick up the pace again and get some more round wins . . . even win a race.  We need it.”

LE Tonglet happy with runner-up finish at Route 66 Raceway

A rejuvenated LE Tonglet gave a reminder Sunday to the Route 66 Nationals fans of what his drive to the 2010 Full Throttle series championship resembled when he reached the Pro Stock Motorcycle finals for the first time this season.

Taking advantage of a new tune-up on the Nitro Fish/Tonglet Racing Suzuki GSXR, Tonglet combined two red-light wins with a hole-shot victory over reigning series champion Eddie Krawiec to set up a meeting with Andrew Hines. 

“Our combination is definitely there now,” said Tonglet, who jumped into the fourth qualifying position on his last run.  “We made one more change before racing Hines and I left four-thousands of a second too soon.  We know we are going in the right direction. We ran pretty consistently all day. 

“There was nothing for me to do in the finals but shut it off.  We didn’t want to hurt the motor.”  Hines was timed in 6.940 seconds at 192.69 mph.

Angie Smith fouled out in the first round and Tonglet motored down the quarter-mile track in 6.984 seconds at 190.22 mph.  He was ready for Krawiec, leaving with a .022-second light and finishing with a 6.993 at 190.75 to Krawiec’s .048, 6.971 at 192.03.  The winning margin was four-thousandths of a second.

In the semifinal, Hector Arana went red and Tonglet went 6.855 at 188.65. 

LE Tonglet hopes new motor brings good results at Route 66 Raceway

There’s a new motor in LE Tonglet’s Nitro Fish/Tonglet Racing Suzuki GSXR Pro Stock Motorcycle as the team prepares for a run at a third consecutive victory in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 Nationals this weekend at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill.

The new power plant became a necessity when the primary engine expired with a bang in Tonglet’s last race at Englishtown, N.J. 

“Route 66 Raceway has been very good to us for the last two years and you know we’ll give it our best shot to get that third win a row there,” said Tonglet.  “We’d like to bounce back from a slow start this year.  The new motor is fast and we should be running better than we did at Englishtown.”

The mechanical failure came in the semifinals earlier this month and the 2010 series champion was able to move into eighth place in Full Throttle series standings. 

Tonglet put his name into the archives with last year’s victory at Route 66 Raceway.  He failed to qualify at the previous event in Norwalk, Ohio, when rain shortened qualifying to two sessions.  He rebounded and became the first in his category to not qualify for one race and come back and win the next one.

This is the first of two back-to-back races.  The team goes back to Norwalk next week for the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals.

“The races are going to be tough fights,” Tonglet commented.  “It’s fun to race, but there’s a whole lot work and a lot of stress there, too.”