Race Report for Week 3: June 10 - 11, 2000
Find all of the weekends race results at the LRRS website here.
The weekend started out well, took a dive (actually *I* took a dive),
and ended OK.
Saturday, Race 3, GTL - 22/35
http://www.lrrsracing.com/images/pdf/2000/june10-11/sat3.pdf
It was rather warm (my thermometer read 86F in the garage) and I
decided to just relax and use this race as practice. Just goes to
show that the saying "relax, speed will come" really has merit. I
turned a best lap of 1:25.641, was only 1 lap down to the leaders (21 to
their 22), and only 3 juniors got by me. I felt good at the end and
could have kept going. Pro Thunder is 24 laps and I'll probably get
lapped at least 3 times so I should have no problem going the distance.
Race 6, GP Singles - DNF
http://www.lrrsracing.com/images/pdf/2000/june10-11/sat6.pdf
On the second lap the rear stepped out in T4 and I couldn't catch
it. The resulting lowside didn't do too much damage and I probably could
have re-entered but the front brake lever was bent fairly far out and I
elected to wait it out. Rode the bike back to the garage at the end
of the race and set about making repairs for the next race.
Race 9a, LW Sportsman - 15/21
http://www.lrrsracing.com/images/pdf/2000/june10-11/sat9a.pdf
I wasn't feeling particularly confident in my tires and pretty much
cruised around.
Had new tires mounted between the first and second Sunday practice
but still wasn't feeling "on".
Sunday, Race 9, Super Singles - 7/9 (6 pts)
http://www.lrrsracing.com/images/pdf/2000/june10-11/sun9.pdf
I think I was last going into T1. Brian, Jack, and I get stuck behind Nick for a long time. Jack is well off his pace and I eventually pass him coming out of T12. I look at him and shrug as I go by. Talking with him later I learn his hand was bothering him (he has some problem that requires surgery but has been putting it off). Brian and I are still stuck behind Nick and I can tell that Brian is as frustrated as I am. Brian finally gets around Nick in T11 and, not wanting to let Brian get away, I go around Nick in T1. Brian and I swap places a couple times in the last laps, I have motor on him but he outrides me. We get lapped by the leaders (due to our slow laps stuck behind Nick) and Brian takes the checkered a half second in front of me.
My weekend started on Thursday. I should have known that this was not going to be an "on" weekend for me when the clutch on the Audi went out on the way up to the track. As I was heading to North Reading Honda/Kawasaki to pick up the LeoVinci pipe I had ordered for the F4, I pushed in the clutch pedal and, "womp", the pedal went right to the floor. Shit. Well, this is interesting. I managed to nurse the car to NRHK by clutch less shifting, and starting the car in gear. Oh what fun. Anyway, I made it to the track around noon. I unpacked, then picked up the bike from Peter Kates, who had had the bike to measure and straighten.
Tim showed up shortly after I got to the track and unloaded the EX and his gear. I pulled the wheels from the F4 and ran over to Street and Competition to get the rains pulled off and the slicks mounted. After that, I spent the rest of the day installing the LeoVinci pipe, which took much longer than I originally anticipated. After the installing the pipe, I mounted all the bodywork and safteywired the bike. Tim spent the afternoon running practice, the last 2 hours of which were in the rain. I guess it wasn't such a bad thing that I didn't practice! :) We packed up, and headed home for the night.
Friday:
The day started off sunny and hot. However, I did drive through
a shower or two on the way up to the track. Once I got to the track,
I unloaded, set up, and set up my tent. I decided that I was going
to corner work and practice in the afternoon, so I headed down to pit out
to talk to Sandy to see where she needed help. As I was leaving,
I took a fast left hand turn and got on the gas a bit too hard, a bit too
fast. I ended up flipping over backwards right in front of Sandy!
I scrapped up my right elbow, and earned a huge bruise on my right hip.
It could have been worse, since I was only wearing shorts and a T-shirt!
Those damn GoPeds are dangerous. :) I took a quick trip to
the medical center to get cleaned up, then signed up for practice and got
the bike teched.
Went out for my first round of practice. I felt good, but not 100% on my game. On the second to last lap, I started to see some drops of rain on my visor. By the last lap, it started raining pretty hard, no fun on slicks! I pulled into the pits, packed up, got my rain gear, and drove out to tun 12. I bagged practice for the rest of the day, and just worked turn 12. Looked like a good call, since every round was wet, except for the very last one.
Saturday:
Practice #1: I felt "ok" in practice. Not great, just "ok".
I basically just went out and followed #505, Peter Douvris around the whole
time. It was already starting to get a bit hot, a sign of what was
going to come for the rest of the day.
After my practice, I picked up a second set of wheels for the F4, so I could either have a set of "race" and a set of "practice" tires on dry race weekends, and have the rains mounted up on questionable weekends.
Practice #1: I felt better than the first practice, but I still
wasn't feeling 100% for some reason.
Race #1: GTU (Gridded 4D)
http://www.lrrsracing.com/images/pdf/2000/june10-11/sat1.pdf
By the time the race came around, it was hot. Really hot.
This was the first really hot weekend of the year, so I was very careful
to make sure that I was hydrated. I made sure to drink plenty of
water all morning. We all gridded up, and got ready for the start.
The green flag dropped, and we were off. As always, I got a shitty
start (I've *really* got to work on that), but got several position going
into turn1 and through 1a and 2. I soon found myself right right
behind Pete Feller (#124) and Pete Douvris (#505), both of whom ride right
on par with me, so I knew getting around them was not going to be easy.
And that where I stayed for the next 10 laps. Every now and then I was able to Show Peter a wheel, but at no time did I have a good enough drive to get a clean pass on him. After about 13 laps, I was really starting to feel the heat, and was starting to get really tired. My pit board was showing that I had a good 6-8 second lead on the next bike, so I started backing off just a bit. I didn't want to make a mistake because I was so tired. Just as I was thinking that to myself, Peter tucked the front end in turn 3, a victim to making a mistake because he was tired. That just reinforced the fact that making a mistake due to pushing too hard while tired can cost you a race finish. For a lap or two I pushed i a bit to see if I could catch up to Pete Douvris, but I was just too hot and tired, and switched to survival mode.
With 5 minutes left in the race, my pit board showed +6, so I backed it off another notch, just wanting to finish where I was. But I backed off a bit too much. On the last lap, #145 passed me in turn 11 to take 10th from me. Grrrrrr. So much for all top 10 finishes this year.
After the race, I came into the pit, and promptly collapsed for several minutes, recovering from the race.
Sunday:
Another beautiful day, but nowhere near as hot and oppressive.
Both my practices felt good, better than on Saturday. I felt confident.
Race #2: MWGP
I was feeling good, and was pumped, ready for a good finish.
Got another so-so start, and got down to the job of moving up to the front.
I once again found myself behind Peter Feller. I was riding faster
than him on this day, and showed him more than a wheel several times, but
once again, I just could not get a clean pass on him, and had to settle
for following him around for the whole race. Once again, I missed
my top 10 finish, and came home with a 13th.
Not my best weekend of the year. I was a little disappointed in my results, but I took it all as experience in preparation for the AMA weekend that was coming up the very next weekend.
I packed up my stuff a bit, and headed home after the races were done. But I wasn't done for the week! I was back up with Kevin and Bruce on Tuesday morning to take the Penguin Pro School, hopefully with the help of the school, I would be able to knock a few more seconds of my times, and play with the big boys in the AMA 600SS race! :)
I would once again like to thank everyone who came up to watch and
help out with the weekend. A a great big thanks to all out sponsors
for all their continuing help and support!
Ug. I went racing Saturday. Showed up, set up camp, went to sleep. Was a long work week.
Saturday, practiced, felt good. Have no idea what I was turning for lap times since Timing/Scoring didn't have my correct transponder number. But I felt good. Was being held up, but still felt good.
Race 9, LW Sportbike
http://www.lrrsracing.com/images/pdf/2000/june10-11/sat9.pdf
I was in race 9 that day, but should've been in race 9a. One of
these days I'll learn that I should enter Lightweight Sportsman, not Sportbike.
I was the only EX500, surrounded by SV650s and Ducati 750s. I think I held
my own, though. I pulled a 1:27.2, my fastest yet, and learned that if
I'm getting lapped, to follow that guy through the group of riders I'm
racing against. They often leave alot of room, and the racer lapping us
often slows down to not run us over. I finished 7th out of 17 in my class.
Rick Doucette was the only guy to lap me, and he did it braking into T11.
I'm glad he did, since there were a few riders breathing down my neck.
Went home that night after a great dinner in Concord. It's all Kate's fault that we got lost. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Monday, Vintage Races
Short version: I was a dumbass and crashed in the first practice
in the rain.
Long version: I knew I should've just turned around, went home, and gone back to bed when the fibreglass tailsection of my RD350 flew off the bike and prompty squashed by another car on the drive up. Heck, I should've stayed in bed when I woke up and saw it raining outside. But I didn't.
I showed up at the track around 6:30am. Kevin was still sleeping in the garage, so I tried to unpack quietly. Got registered and tech'd with no problems, and rejetted the bike for the cool wet weather. First practice was called, and I went out in the slow session just to get a feel for the RD and the wet track. Right off, the bike was pulling really well with just a slight stumble in the midrange. I worked on being smooth in the corners and on the throttle. After a few laps, I picked up the pace. Braking into turn one, the front end got a little squirlely, but I kept it under control. Heading into turn three, I hit the brakes too hard. The front started sliding, and I left off the brakes trying to catch it. Too late. Down hard on the left side. The bike slid down the track as I went into the dirt and took out a few cones. Not happy. My hand was killing me but I could move it, and my arm felt like I hit my funny bone. The cornerworkers helped me get the bike and get off the track.
Back in the pits, I hosed the mud off the bike and fired it up. It started right up, but had developed a funny rattle from the left cylinder. Everyone in the pits had a different suggestion as to what it could be, from a loose piston circlip to a stone in the exhaust. When I couldn't find anything in the pipe, I really didn't want to tear the engine down. And my arm was still killing me. So I pulled out of the races and helped cornerwork in turn three for the rest of the day.
The USCRA puts on some good races. After watching the sidecars slide around in the wet, I'm very tempted to start building one and Kevin even offered to be my monkey if I built one. :) Now if I only knew how to weld.... We'll see if I can slide that one past my wife...
BTW, Vanson kicks ass. They were doing free repairs, and repaired some stitching that I had worn through. They also put on sponsor patches for me. For free. They rock. And Chuck wants to buy my RD400. :)
Did not race this weekend. Actually, he was off getting married! Many congratulations to newly wed couple!
http://www.lrrsracing.com/images/pdf/2000/june10-11/sat9a.pdf
http://www.lrrsracing.com/images/pdf/2000/june10-11/sun6.pdf