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