LEXINGTON — There’s nothing wrong with mixing business with pleasure as far as Brian Healea is concerned.
The line between work and recreation is oftentimes blurred for the rural Galion man.
During the week, Healea is the Midwest regional business manager for Ducati North America. On the weekends, you can usually find him racing one of the iconic Italian motorcycle manufacturer’s most exotic bikes around some of the premier road courses in this part of the country, including Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course outside of Lexington in rural northeastern Morrow County.
The 43-year-old Healea, who moved to Galion two years ago after living in Mount Gilead, has been racing for nearly two decades. He usually competes a couple times a month, primarily in the North Central Region of the Western Eastern Roadracing Association (WERA) series.
“I was racing a full series, but with the job I can’t do it. I just don’t have the time,” Healea said early Saturday afternoon as he and his crew worked on his No. 10 Ducati 1199 in the lower paddock area. “But being part of that brand, we’re able to get the bikes out and showcase them and show what they can do.”
An Upper Sandusky High School graduate, Healea comes by his love of racing naturally. His father, Jerry, is a longtime car enthusiast who helps out on his son’s pit crew.
“It’s a deal where, you watch racing on TV and you think, ‘That would be pretty cool,’ ” Healea said. “My dad’s been a car guy for a long time and it just worked out for us.
“I started working at a shop and it went downhill from there.”
Healea has a full schedule at this weekend’s BikeBandit.com AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days. He was scheduled to participate in two races Saturday and two more Sunday, but was having mechanical problems after practice Saturday morning.
“The modern class here at Vintage Weekend is made up of mega twins and triples, and heavyweight stars,” Healea said. “So we have two races each day as long as we can figure out what is wrong with the bike.
“I’m not sure what’s wrong with it. We don’t think its a motor. The starter might have failed on it, that’s what we’re hoping for anyhow. She shut off out in practice.”
The BikeBandit.com AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days are a good tune-up for Healea as he prepares for the 2014 Pirelli/WERA Sportsman Series North Central and Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Regions event at Mid-Ohio on Monday in Tuesday.
“We come for the vintage weekend because Monday and Tuesday are the WERA nationals,” Healea said. “It is butted up against vintage weekend and is right before Superbike Weekend.”
Mid-Ohio will host Buckeye Superbike Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire next week. Healea will again be in action next weekend, but on the other side of the pit wall.
“I’ll actually be here crewing with a buddy who has a superbike team. His name is Justin Neyra and he is based out of Cincinnati,” Healea said. “They have … a local kid from Columbus riding.”
While Healea enjoys the work in the pits, he prefers the thrill that comes with racing a bike.
“We ride all over the place whenever we have time,” Healea said. “We’ll go to Indiana and Georgia. Anywhere we can make a series, we will try to attend it.”
No matter where he races, though, Mid-Ohio hold a special place for Healea. The 2.4-mile, 15-turn permanent road course feels like home.
“With it being so close and us coming here a couple times a year, we really do feel comfortable here,” Healea said. “We really do run pretty good here too. That is why it would be a shame and we can’t figure out what is wrong with the bike and get it running.”
The big crowds at BikeBandit.com AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days make the racing all the more exciting, Healea said.
“Vintage weekend is really cool because all the people here are really interested in the sport and its history,” Healea said. “We get a really big crowd, even bigger than the AMA Superbike Weekend.
“You look up in the crowd and there’s a lot of people watching. They will walk by the bike and stop to ask questions.”
Healea will continue to mix business with pleasure for as long as he can. He doesn’t plan on giving up his weekend hobby any time soon.
“I love riding this bike. Days like today, with out problems, make it a little tougher,” he said. “Overall we’re usually really happy and we have a lot of fun.”
“Vintage weekend is really cool because all the people here are really interested in the sport and its history,” Healea said. “We get a really big crowd, even bigger than the AMA Superbike Weekend.
