LOUDON, NH (July 19, 1998) - It was a cold, rainy weeken--oops, wrong
weekend.  For once, it was a sunny, hot weekend -- the first of the
year in the dry for both Kevin and Paul.  Luckily, they both remembered
how to ride in the dry!


The short version

Paul came away from the weekend with a 11th place finish in GT2, and a
9th in MWSS. Not bad for the first races of the year in the dry, and
only the second weekend as a junior!  But Kevin was the story this
weekend, racing his first weekend as a junior, he came away with a 5th,
a 3rd, and a 2nd place finish, shattering his own personal best lap
times at NHIS!  What a weekend for TDR!


The long version

Unlike the last two race weekends, where a Jet Ski might have been a
better choice than a motorcycle, a sunny, hot New England summer
weekend greeted TDR. Saturday morning, both Paul and Kevin registered
for their races, and went out for practice.  Kevin running as a junior
for the first time, and Paul running as a junior for only his second
weekend.

Kevin was first out for practice.  He wasn't quite sure how to
approach a dry track; it had been that long!  He goes out, and finds
his line, just taking it easy, relearning the track.  Paul does the
same in his practice, just taking it slow and easy.

The second practices go off much like the first, with both riders
finding their "dry" lines and picking up the pace with each lap.  Both
were feeling confident.

First out for a race was Paul, GT2. He was gridded in the back, row
10.  One of these days he'll learn to pre-register! He got a decent
start and moved up a few positions and was running mid-pack.  Towards
the middle of the race, the field had spread out quite a bit, and Paul
was running with just on other bike in front of him.  They diced for
the better part of the second half of the race. On the white flag lap,
Paul went for the pass in turns 6-7, but couldn't get it to
stick. Finally, going into 12, Paul sneaks in under him, and beats him
by a wheel at the line.  He finished 11th (out of 17).

Next out was Kevin, for race 10, LW Supertwins. Kevin was gridded in
row 9B, which was the 4th row of the junior grid. There are a whole
bunch of riders on VERY heavily modified EX's and Hawk's. This is why
Kevin usually doesn't run supertwins! Kevin resides himself to the
fact that he is outclassed, and is going to just run his race, and not
get sucked into riding faster than he is able. The green flag flies
and their off into turn 1. Junior racing is much closer than the
amateurs are, people are a lot less afraid of getting close and
knocking shoulders. As they head into turn 1, Kevin gets stuffed and
is knocked back a few places.  He comes out of turn 2 in 6th or 7th
place.  Kevin sees a friend ahead (Rob) of him, and forgets he was
going to run his own race. For the first 2 laps, Kevin is pushing
himself to catch Rob.  That was the wrong this to do. He made more
mistakes than he would care to admit to. He would catch up a little
and then fall back, catch up, fall back, but at least he was passing
people in the process.

Kevin found himself being passed by the senior sportbike rider (the
3rd wave) with alarming regularity.  Finally, Kevin managed to calm
himself down and started to just run his race.  It worked.  He started
smoothing out and making fewer mistakes and was slowly catching up to
Rob.  By the white flag lap Kevin was sitting right on Rob's tale.
Kevin finally passed him somewhere between turn 1 and 4. By the time
they pulled into the pits they had no idea what position they finished
in.  Kevin thought somewhere between 7th and 9th.  Imagine his
surprise when he learned he finished 3rd! Kevin also ran his best time
ever, a 1:31.5!


Sunday: The practices went off without any problems.  Paul was running
a bit off pace, but was feeling good.  Kevin continued to pull
personal bests, as each lap clicked off!  After practice, Paul went to
cornerwork, since he wasn't racing until the end of the day.

Kevin was first out for a race again, running Race 3, LW Superbike. He
was gridded in row 12B, that put him on the 3rd (of 4) row for his
wave.  Again, Kevin was up against a lot of highly modified bikes. But
this time he knew he could be competitive. Kevin recognizes several
riders who he has been racing with all weekend, and knows he can do
relatively well.

The green flag drops and they're off.  Kevin goes into turn 1 in 9th
or 10th place. He gets good starts, but the other, modified bikes, are
able to out drag him into turn 1.  Kevin is feeling good and the bike
is running well.  The concentration problems of the earlier races are
no longer an issue. Kevin works on being smooth and consistent,
picking off riders one at a time.  Going into turn 1 on the second lap
in a group of 4, Kevin realizes he can carry much more speed than the
other riders can and passes them on the outside. He is able to make
the pass stick and holds onto the position coming out of turn 3. Going
through turns 4-6, Kevin puts some distance on the other bike. On the
4th lap, Kevin picks up two more positions as he follows another bike
past a slower rider in turn 3, then passes that bike going through
turn 6! Exiting turn 12, Kevin finds himself of the tail of the 5th
place rider and spent the next two laps trying to chase him down. He
finally got him using the draft and some late braking going into turn
1.  The other rider almost got the spot back on the white flag lap but
Kevin managed to hold the position. Kevin also pulled a 1:29.21 second
lap, his fastest ever!

Next up was Paul, for race #8, MW Sportbike (the 11th race of the day,
3 races were split). Paul was gridded in the 13th row (he **really**
needs to learn to pre-register).  Once again, he got a good start and
started working his way through the pack.  Like the earlier race, it
came down to a race between Paul and one other bike and the field
spread itself out. Paul was finally able to pass him through turns 8-9
and came home with a 9th (out of 24) place finish.  Not his best, but
we were all happy with it.

The last race of the weekend was Kevin's, race #10, LW Sportsman. Once
again, Kevin was gridded near the back, in row 14B.  This was the 4th
row of the junior wave, and the 2nd row of Kevin's race. This was one
of the most enjoyable races Kevin had ever been in.  There was a lot
of swapping and passing and close racing. Kevin slowly worked his way
through the field.  Around the halfway mark, Kevin caught up to a
friend, Frank Cupo, and it came down to race between just the two of
them. Kevin finally passed him, but was getting tired, and wasn't sure
if he would be able to hold the spot. He slowed down a little on the
6th lap, as the leaders were nowhere to be seen, so pushing it didn't
make sense.  On the white flag lap, Kevin took a quick glance over his
shoulder to see that Frank had closed the gap. Kevin put his head down
and charged through the bowl, and kept up the charge through turn 11.
Going into 11, Kevin hit a false neutral, was forced to coast through
the first part the turn, then lugged it out onto the front
straight. He was sure that missed shift would allow Frank to pass him
before the line, but Kevin held the position, ending up in fourth
overall amongst the juniors and 2nd in his race!

Overall, this was a fantastic week for TDR, coming home with a lot of
points, a lot of trophies, and a lot of experience.  If this is any
indication of the things to come, this is going to be a stellar year for
TDR!