Race Report: August 26 - 27, 2000
Formula USA
Check out the pictures in the Gallery,
and watch the race on CBS
on October 1st!
What a weekend! Originally the plan had been for Bruce, #1 sponsor Jodi, and myself to head down to Pocono and for me to race in the Sportbike race. Well, Bruce went and found himself in 2nd place in the flat track championship, so he had to head off to Maine to defend his position. So that left just Jodi and me.
Wednesday:
The original plan was for Jodi to bring all her stuff over Wednesday
night so we could be all packed up and ready to hit the road first thing
Thursday morning, but mother nature had other plans. It poured Wednesday
night, absolutely sheeting down.
It goes without saying, we bagged on the idea of packing Wednesday night.
Thursday:
Jodi arrived at my place around 9am. I had already loaded
up the trailer with the bike and most of my stuff, so it was just a matter
of loading up all her stuff she had brought for the weekend. We got
all packed up and were on the road by 10am.
Everything was going just fine, until we go to Hartford, CT. As soon as we got into Hartford, the road turned to shit. It was all grooved up, and there were pot holes everywhere. Just as we were about to reach the good pavement, there was a loud *BANG*. I knew right away what had happened, as I looked back at the trailer, leaning to one side. Now, being in downtown Hartford, there was no breakdown lane, so we were forced to drive to the next exit and find somewhere safe to pull over. We found a parking lot and pulled in. What we found was that the tire had exploded, and taken the fender with it. Of course the jack was under everything in the trunk, so we unloaded everything, and 45 minutes later were on our way again.
Now, we had just used the spare, and I don't like driving without a spare, so we now had to find a new one. In Waterbury, we saw a Home Depot from the highway. We got off and bought a new spare, and took the opportunity to get a bit to eat at the same time. After getting a bit lost in Waterbury trying to get backon the highway, and taking one wrong turn, we were back on our way.
We finally made it to PA. We opted to take route 209 through the Water Gap, which proved to be a mistake, as we got stuck behind a lot of slow moving traffic. We made it to the track by about 5pm, waved at Eric Wood who had also just arrived, and made our way to the garages. We unloaded, set up the garage, then proceeded to pull the wheels off the F4 to run over to Street and Comp to get new tires mounted, since I had to run DOT's this weekend. I decided to try the new Metzlers since everyone had been saying just how great there were. We set up our tents, Jodi's proving to be the more, um, difficult of the two, and then headed out for dinner.
After dinner, I finished setting up the bike. Since I had moved from Michelins to the Metzlers, I need to adjust the bikes geometry accordingly. Peter from GMD told me to drop the front by 7mm, and raise the rear by 4mm. I did that, an finally crawled into bed around 11pm. I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Friday
I was up and out of the tent by 7am. I tracked down Peter
from GMD and he told me to bring the bike over so he could measure it to
make sure I got it right. The geometry checked out ok, but the rear
wheel was way out of alignment. He lent me his long straight edges,
and with Jodi's help, I set about getting the rear wheel back in line with
the front. Once it was aligned, the rear wheel adjusters were way
off from each other. Peter assured me that that was no cause for
concern.
While I was messing around with the alignment, I missed the first practice, which, as it turned out, was not a big deal, as it was red flagged after only 3 laps, then canceled because it took so long to clean up. Score.
It was getting close to my second practice, so I made sure the bike was set, and got into my leathers. As 3rd call was made, I zipped up my leathers up only to witness the zipper busting open. Great. I tried to get it to catch, but it just wasn't happening. I ran over to Vanson, and Chuck Gilcrest tried his best to repair it on the spot, but the zipper was done. I climbed out of my leathers, and left them with Vanson to put a new zipper in. I missed my second practice.
During the Unlimited Superbike practice, local LRRS racer Rich Neenan crashed in turn 1 and was medflighted out with a broken ankle and other injuries. The latest news is that he is doing ok. We wish him the best.
Finally, I got to go out for a practice. I was very slow on the first lap, trying to remember where the track went, and getting used to the new tires. I really wish I had had those other practices! The first time I went into turn 1 at speed, I went in way hot. It tightened up much fast than I remembered! I leaned the bike over as far as I could, dragging my exhaust, toe, and knee, and just looked through the turn. I didn't even want to think about hitting the brakes, so I just hung on and hoped for the best, thinking to myself how stupid I was going to look if I crashed on the first lap of practice! Somehow I made it, and kept going. I came in a bit early, as I thought I had lost my right knee slider over one of the curbs. I hadn't, but I came in anyway. I was running 1:53's and 1:54's. Not great, but not bad.
Also finally met up with one of the team Sponsors, Harley Baldwin, from HJC. HJC was a major sponsor of the event, so he was there to promote HJC and take in the racing. I got new HJC stickers from him and a really nice hat!
As the day wound down, there was an announcement over the PA about a Aprilla party happening at a local brew pub. Not one to miss a party, Jodi insisted we attend. Well, after about 45 minutes of driving, following really bad directions, we arrived. What we found was a few people on a deck. There was a local radio station broadcasting from there as well, so we also had to deal with the DJ. After getting our own drinks, we were able to finally flag down a waitress, who took our order. An hour later, our food still was not there, so we got up, and left. We made out way back to the track and found another restaurant, but they had a wait because they were short staffed! So on to option number 3, which turned out ot be a really nice place. We then made our way to the grocery store to pick up supplies for the next day. Now the store is open to 11pm, it is now 9:30pm. We got to the deli, only to be turned away, as they were closed! We gave up and went back to the track. What a night!
Saturday:
Woke to another beautiful morning. This time I made it out
for all my practices! During the first practice I was able to get
my times down to the 1:50 range, and was passing bikes. I felt good,
but was shooting for mid 1:40's.
Second practice was much the same, felt good, had most of my markers down, and most of my shift points worked out. Although I was still working on a few corners, like turn 1, 3, and 12.
After practice, Jodi and I ran out to get some food and some groceries. During my practice sessions, my brakes were feeling a bit mushy, so I also picked up some brake fluid. When we got back to the track, I bled the brakes on the F4. Much better!
I also met up with Morgan Broadhead from Lockhart Phillips. He was there racing one of the Aprilla Cup machines. It was great to finally be able to put a face to the name and the voice on the other end of the line.
After only 3 practices, it was time to go out for qualifying! I had 20 minutes to pull it all together and rip off a fast lap. I got out on the track as about the 14th bike, we were lined up in two rows and sent out two at a time in about 5 second intervals. I started picking through the slower bikes, and tried to get to some open track to pull together a fast lap. Near the end of the qualifying session, 2 fast bikes came by. I stuck with them as long as I could, but we got into traffic, and they got through but I didn't. When all was said and done, I pulled off a 1:48.781, 37th out of 63 bikes and a 10th row satrting position! Only 3 bikes were cut, not making the 115% cut-off.
We packed up everything for the night and headed out with Gus Holcomb and his dad Bob, who were sharing the garage with us. Found a really nice restaurant, had a great meal, then returned to the track. Jodi and I headed over to the "music jam" that was going on at the track. The first band was ok, and we watched a few woman fight it out to be trophy girls the next day. Amazing what some woman will do on stage!
Sunday
The big day. I tried to sleep in, but our neighbors, who had set
up camp right next to us, even though there was plenty of space
elsewhere, were both trying to cough up a lung. So I got up and got
ready for the day.
We had one practice in the morning. I got stuck in traffic, but tried to make the best of it. On lap 5, the red flag came out. Two bikes down in turn 6. We returned to the pit lane, where we waited for the track to get cleaned up. Time to head back out. I turn on the bike and the fuel light comes on! I send Jodi back to the garage to get gas, and head out for a few laps. After 2 laps, I pit to find Jodi and Gus waiting for me with gas. Thank guys! I gas up, and get a few more laps in before the checkered flag comes out. I was running 1:51's, off pace, but I never had a clear track. I also missed turn 6 twice.
The sky was a bit overcast, and the forecasters were calling for rain in the afternoon, so we took the opportunity after my practice to brake down camp. I also inspected my tires, they were starting to look a bit worn, but I had not had any problems on the track, no slips or slides, so I decided to stick with them, since they only need to last 12 laps.
Kevin showed up with john Dahl, and helped out in the pits a bit. It was good to have some more people there.
The riders meeting: Because of the forecast, the swapped the Unlimited Superbike races and the Sportbike races, so now instead of racing at 12:30pm, it wouldn't be until 3:30pm. Great, so much for getting on the road early. Based on the schedule change, and the forecast, I got my rains mounted up, just to be safe.
I then sat back and just relaxed, taking some time out to watch a bit of the first superbike race.
Sportbike
Race
The call went out and I made my way out to the track. Gus,
Jodi, and Kevin came out and put the bike up on the stands, and the tire
warmers on. Getting the rains mounted worked! It was nice and dry and sunny!
We went through the introductions, then the parade lap, then the warm-up
lap.
It's show time!
We all got ready. The flag dropped, and we were off! Going into turn 1 was, um interesting. 60+ bikes, all jockeying for the same space. I had to slow down much more than I wanted to, but managed to get past several bikes going into 1 by taking an inside line, then more in turn 2 taking a wide line, and more in turn 3 with the inside. Well, you get the idea. I went off line to get by bikes, while most of the riders were all trying for the same line. Worked to my advantage.
As I came out of turn 5 onto the long back straight, I heard a bike go down behind me. I just hoped that he would not run into me and take me out. He didn't. As we made our way down the back straight, the red flags came out. We made out way back to the grid, where the bike went back on the stand, tirewarmers went back on, and we waited to get going again.
Things were cleaned up, and we did another parade, and another warm-up lap. The green dropped a second time, and we were off again. Once again, turn 1 was a mess, but we all made it through, and I set to the task of making my way to the front of the pack.
I made several passes in the tight infield sections, but would get passed on the back and front straights. The F4 dyno'd at 100.6hp, while a lot of the bikes were putting out 104+hp. That, plus the fact I weight a *bit* more than most riders, put me at a slight dissadvantage. I was forced to make up for it in the tight stuff, and to out-brake people at the end of the straights.
I was dicing with a group of about 5 bikes, getting passed on the straights, and passing them back in the tight infield sections. I was having a blast. This is what racing is all about! As I made my way down the front straight, Kevin had me in about 15th position. Two bikes drafted by me, on on each side, but as we approached turn 1, they started braking much sooner than I normaly do. So, I shot right by them, started braking at my braking marker, hit my two downshifts, leaned the bike into the corner, had my knee firmly planted on the ground and.........
I felt the bike just slip away from me. It felt like both tires let go a the same time, although, I'm pretty sure it was the front. I wasn't on the gas or the brakes, I was just rolling to the apex, at that point where I was off the brakes, but not yet on the gas. As I felt the bike slip away from me, I though to myself, "Oh well, I'm crashing. At least it is just a lowside." Or so I thought.
As I came off the track, both my bike and I encountered the gravel that had been put there for our enjoyment. I can only assume the right footpeg of the bike dug in, and the bike tumbled. At least from the damage. I do know I hit the gravel and started tumbling. I remember thinking to myself "You want to slide" and trying to put my arms out to stop the rotation, but it did nothing. Earth-sky-hit head, earth-sky-hit head, rinse, repeat.
After what seemed forever, I finally came to a stop on my back. I wiggled both my feet, and then my hands Everything worked. I took a few deep breaths. Nothing hurt. I slowly got up. Oye, I'm dizzy. I got up, signaled to the cornerworkers I was ok, and then realized there was another rider down. I waved the workers to go to him. I took off my helmet and looked for the bike. My vision was slightly blurry, but my heart dropped when I saw the bike. It was messed up.
The ambulance crew showed up, and directed me to the back of the ambulance. The other rider soon joined me. We were both OK. They drove us a few meters out, then let us out. Not even checking us out! The red flag came out for another crash in turn 6, and off went the ambulance! Just leaving us there! I was shocked and dissappointed that they did that.
Shortly Kevin showed up on the GoPed. He helped me pick up the bike, locate the transponder and the black box, both of which had gone flying, and sent me in on the GoPed. He worked on getting the bike back. Thanks a million Kevin!
Back in the pits, I got out of my leathers and tried to collect myself. I had a big bruise on my forehead, so Jodi got me ice wrapped in a towel. I cooled off and relaxed. Kevin came back with the bike, he had got it started, and managed to ride it back. We surveyed the damage. Oye.
Kevin and John had to take off, so after making sure I was ok, they bid us farewell. I took a long shower, and got cleaned up. I took lots of pictures of the bike while Jodi tracked down Peter Kates. Peter agreed to just take the bike back with him, rather than having me trailer it home, then to his shop, so that helped out a lot!
After watching the rest of Gus' race, we started packing up. We were on the road by 6pm, and made it home by midnight. I just put the trailer in the garage and went to bed.
I want to send out a great big thank you to sponsor, and all around great person Jodi Solomon, for all her help over the weekend. Not only does she sponsor the team, she shopped, cooked, and helped me around the pits in any way she could! I couldn't have done it without her. I want to also thank HJC for their great helmets. This is twice that their helmets have saved my head. I can't thank them enough. I also want to thank Street and Comp for all their hard work at the track, getting me my tires when I needed them and everything else I needed. I also want to praise Vanson for their trackside repairs. If they had not been there, I would have been SOL when my zipper broke. Also thanks to Kevin for making the trek out to help out where he could. And finally, but by no means least, all of our sponsors, without whom, I would have not been there in the first place.
Remember, the race is going to be broadcast on CBS on October 1st at 4:30pm, est, so check it out! Also, keep checking the Gallery for more pictures to be added soon!
