Race Report for Week 7: September 2 - 3, 2000
Find all of the weekends race results at the LRRS website here.
What a great weekend. Not only did I get my first trophy as an Expert and turn my fastest laps yet, I was able to road race *and* dirt track all in the same weekend. For someone hopelessly addicted to racing, life doesn't get much better!
Knowing that I had two bikes and two sets of gear to bring this weekend I did my best to start early. One of my dogs was getting over a case of pancreatitis so I was planning to return home Saturday night and go back up to the track Sunday morning. Amazingly enough I was packed up and in bed at a decent hour on Friday night.
Although it was wet Saturday morning and I passed through occasional showers, it was overcast but dry when I arrived at the track. I was through registration and unloading by about 7:30a. After the last race weekend I had decided to stick with yellow practice and was definitely glad for the extra time it gave me in the morning. I had new tires to scrub in so I took it easy in the first practice. By the time I was ready to wick it up I was behind a 600 that walked away on the straights but parked it in the corners. Second practice I was feeling good and had mostly clear track. I figured I was doing 1:26s. When I checked times later I found that I had run a 1:24.7! My first time below 1:25 and it was during practice! I was quite happy.
In between practices I went over to check out the dirt track that had just been built. It wasn't flat and the surface was very loose, not having had a chance to get packed down. Golf carts were being run around the track in an attempt to help firm it up. I went ahead and signed up for my race and was told practice would start around noon.
After the LRRS riders' meeting I suited up for the dirt and headed over. We were only given one practice session in an attempt to keep the track from deteriorating too quickly. I go out for practice and discover the track is more like a motocross track! It's soft, ruts quickly develop, and it's off camber in places. After practice the track is groomed and the effort to pack it down continues. There's some discussion about making this a non-points paying weekend because of track conditions but it's decided that everyone has to ride the same track and those that made the effort to show up should be rewarded with points.
The heat races don't start until 1:30p or so and I'm in the 6th
heat. I'll have no problem doing the heat but have doubts as to whether
I'll make the main. There are just four of us entered in the 125
class, Craig (1st in points), Gary (3rd in points), Brian, and myself (2nd
in points). I don't like the conditions and after catching my foot/leg
a couple times I back off a bit. The last thing I want to do is wrench
a knee before my road races. I finish fourth.
Race
6, GP Singles - 6th
I get an OK start and soon find myself behind Bob R. and Chuck
C. on their YZs. On previous weekends when I found myself in this
position they either pulled away or stayed just out of reach. This
weekend I'm right on their tails and looking for a place to get around
them. On about the third lap I get a good drive out of T2 and slip
under Bob just before the T3 braking chute. I briefly think about
going under Chuck in T3 but just follow him up the hill. Coming out
of T4 Chuck waves me by and as I get beside him coming over the T5 hill
he lofts the front wheel. :-) I know those guys are going to
be right behind me and just concentrate on hitting my marks and staying
smooth. I slow slightly toward the end and a junior on an RS125 manages
to get by on the last lap. Checking my times later I find that I
turned 1:24s for my last five laps. From never having turned a 1:24
prior to this weekend to running them consistently... I'm psyched!
My dirt track race is coming up but I opt out for fear of missing
my next race. Given the results, I should have run the dirt track
race and opted out of the road race! :-) Gary takes the win and moves
within 2 points of me thanks to my no show.
Race
9, LW Sportsman - 15th
Another OK start and I'm in a swarm of bikes heading through the
first set of turns. There's already a waving yellow for T2 as a rider
from the first wave (LW Supersport) went down. The run down the back
straight heading to T3 is chaos. Everyone is jockeying for position
and we're three wide in the braking zone. Suddenly Brian and I make
contact, he on my left, and he's on the ground sliding. I haven't
gone down but his bike is essentially under mine as I try to slow.
His bike comes free at the end of the chute and I topple over on the tire
barrier. My leg is stuck under my bike but the corner workers are
already there and one helps me get the bike upright. By now all the
juniors have gone by and, after making sure all my levers are still in
place, I re-enter the race. I take it easy at first to make sure
everything is working and then start to pick up the pace. I know
I'm way out of contention so I just have fun moving through the juniors
and even catch up to some experts. I turn another 1:24 on my last
lap.
I stop over to see Brian after the race and neither of us are quite sure what happened but we're both OK and both managed to re-enter the race so it's one to chalk up to "that's racing".
I get my stuff organized for Sunday and then head back home. Traffic is light and I'm home by 8p.
Morning comes all too soon but I had a good night's sleep and I'm back at the track by 7:30a. My two practices are uneventful and I find myself turning 1:26s. Slower than I want but I wasn't really pushing that hard.
Once again I sign up for my dirt track race after practice. I find that Gary hated the track as much as I did and decided not to come back today! There are three of us entered Craig, myself, and another guy on an XR200. Brian decided not to attempt squeezing in dirt track today and just concentrate on road races. In another attempt to preserve the track the decision is made to only give practice to those that weren't here yesterday. This also allows for starting the races sooner. Works for me!
Track conditions aren't any better today and while Craig walks away from us I stay close to the other XR but still finish third in the heat. Pete and gang are keeping things moving along so I'm pretty sure I'll make the main. I head back to the garage to check on the progress of the road races. It's still early in the schedule and with two GT races early, I'll have no problem fitting in my dirt track race.
I head back to the dirt track just as they're getting the mains
started. I slot in the inside position and fall in behind Craig at the
start. I hold second for a couple laps but the other guy on the XR
keeps showing me a wheel. He gets by about half way through.
I don't want to finish behind this guy and start pushing. White flag
and I'm right on his tail. He drifts a little wide coming out of
T2 and sneak under him. I hold him off to the checkered and take
second along with 10 valuable points.
Sunday,
Race 9, Super Singles - 3rd
Bob's Bimota isn't running right so he's going to run his YZ for
this race. Sweet! I got by him in yesterday's race and I know
I can do it again. I have a good shot at getting my first Expert
trophy if I can run as well as I did yesterday. I still have Nick
and Brian to contend with too but I'm confident. I tell Paul I'm
going for third. Eye of the tiger baby! :-)
Green flag and Nick gets an awesome start. Going into T3 I'm in sixth behind Galen. Jim is out to an early lead but Galen quickly works into second to give chase and the two of them are gone. At the end of the first lap Bob is third, followed by Nick, Brian and me. Bob is starting to pull away and I know I have to get behind him soon. I get Brian on the outside of T8 and I'm on Nick's tail coming out of T10. I briefly consider a pass in T11 but decide against it. I follow him down the straight and as he sits up to brake for T1 I stay tucked and on the gas for another fraction of a second. Bob is already heading in to T3 as I come out of T2 so I have some ground to make up. I put my head down and remind myself that I have a horsepower advantage and to just chip away at his lead without doing anything stupid. The gap slowly but surely shrinks and as we come on the front straight for the start of the last lap I'm right behind him. I beat him to T1 and tell myself not to do anything stupid. I know he's right on my tail but I make it to the checkered less than a second in front of him. Woo hoo! I'm a distant third behind Galen and Jim but I feel like I just won. My last six laps were all 24's with a new best of 1:24.363 coming on the 6th lap.
An awesome weekend. Period.
Where to start, where to start. First of all, I must send out many, many thanks to Micky Curry, who answered my plea to borrow a bike for this weekend and offered up his F3. Thank you! As some of you might remember, I managed to crunch my F4 last weekend during the Formula USA races. Even after seeing the crash pictures, Micky still offered his F3 to me to use!
Anyway, Friday afternoon I started packing up to head to the track, when I got a call on my cell phone. It was Kevin, he was stranded in western MA, his VFR had died on him. Great. So I hooked up the trailer, packed up all my gear, and set out on the two hour trip to where Kevin was. I find Kevin and the VFR, which is now running fine, so we decide he'd follow me as far as possible, and we'll trailer the bike only if we have to. I was going to lead, since I had the better lights and the radar detector. Well, it seemed like we got caught behind every yahoo on the road that night. We eventually got to clear road, and I was able to pick up the pace a bit. Kevin, for whatever reason, chose this opportunity to pass me and take the lead. Well, a few minutes later, I started picking up a blip on the V1, then it got stronger and stronger. I hit the brakes and slowed down. Kevin did not. Sure enough, one of new Hampshire's finest came around the corner, and the blue lights came on. The cop pulled a U-turn right in front of me, forcing me to brake very, very hard to avoid hitting him. If I didn't like my car so much, I probably would have hit him, just to make a point. Anyway, he pulls Kevin over and I continue on, pulling over a few miles up the road to wait for Kevin.
We arrive at the track around 10:30pm. I unload, say hi to Kit and Scott who are there already, set up camp, and head to bed. It takes me a while to fall asleep, since the folks camping next to us decided to stay up late partying. Grrrrr.
Saturday
I tried to sleep in a bit, but couldn't sleep much past 7am.
I got up, fed the dog, registered, and got set for practice. A quick trip
to Street and Comp for a new number plate and numbers, and new knee pucks
to replace the ones I lost in the crash, then I made my way over to Micky's
pit. We mounted up the plates, switched transponders and I headed out for
my first practice.
I took things slowly, trying to get used to the F3. It was geared very similarly to the F4, but had a stock suspension. I was touching down much earlier than I do on the F4, and the bike felt very loose. So after practice, I ran down Peter Kates to see if he could do anything. He poked and prodded for a second, then cranked the pre-load up all the way.
Second practice felt better. The bike felt a bit more planted. I was able to start running in the low 20's. Not quite on my pace, but not bad for a stock F3 that I had just got on.
GTU
A very small field, I was gridded on the 3rd row out of 4,
right next to Shandra! and Adam Vella. I got a good start and went
into turn 1 right behind Tony and the front pack. The field started
sorting itself out. Tony started to slowly pull away from me.
I didn't want to push too hard, since I was on a borrowed bike and all.
I fell into a groove, and soon found myself all alone. It stayed
that way for over half the race. Eventually, Scott Greenwood lapped
me, and soon after that, the next group of leaders came through.
And with them, the lead junior got by me as well.
At first, I didn't think much of it, since it wasn't for position or anything, but it soon became apparent that he was going to hold me up. He parked it in almost every corner, but I didn't have enough power to get by him cleanly, and I didn't want to chance it on a borrowed bike. So, I just hung behind him. That proved to be a mistake. He slowed me up enough that the next expert behind us caught up to us, then got by both me and the junior. That pissed me off. So I set to getting around the junior. I followed him for a few laps, setting up the pass. On the last lap, I got a good drive out of turn 3 and passed him going into turn 6. However, I could not close the gap on the expert who got by me. I finished 8th and managed to pull a 1:19. Not bad for being on a borrowed bike!
I cleaned up, then spent the rest of the day working turn 2. After the racing was complete, we all headed over to check out the pit bike races on the flat track. What a hoot! Then it was off to dinner, then back to the track. I headed over to the SRNE area to wish Gus a happy birthday, congratulate Tony on beating me in our little informal bet. I hung out with them for a bike, had a beer or two, then called it a night.
Sunday
Woke to another overcast but dry day. Both practices felt
good, I was starting to feel more comfortable on the F3, and got a bit
more confidence. I cut both practice a bit short, since I was feeling
good and didn't want to push it.
MWGP
A larger field. I was gridded on the 5th row, so I had my work
cut out for me. I got off to an OK start, and started to work my
way through traffic. On about the 4th lap, Adam Vella managed to get by
me going into turn 3. I sat on his tail and followed him around for
a few laps. I tested the waters in a few corners, looking for a a
good passing opportunity. I tried once going into turn 12, but did
not have a good enough drive. I had to stand it up, and cut through
turn 12. I lost a little ground, but set to getting back behind Adam.
On the last lap, I was right on Adams tail through turns 8-9-10.
Going into turn 11, Adam put on the brakes for some reason. I took
the opportunity, and shot right by him! It was a drag race to the
line, but I had him, finishing in 10th!
So, a great weekend overall! Two top 10 finishes on a borrowed
bike. I can't thank Micky enough for lending me his F3. Just
the opportunity to be out on the track, racing in my classes, I can't express
how much that meant to me. I would have gone crazy if I had to sit
this weekend out! Thanks again!
Did not race this weekend.
I Came, I Raced, I Broke.
It has been a season of unexpected changes. Aside from the "getting married" part, selling and buying houses, the race bike got pushed to the back of the bench, not because of the aforementioned events, but rather from the race engine builder who deemed my engine to be not worthy of his/their time to complete some rather simple work in a timely fashion - short story, I didn't get the engine back until June. Even if I had the engine back by April or May, I could've assembled it into the frame and had less work at the end. But by June, I was in full swing with the wedding, the house for sale and the ensuing house hunting and buying (longer story - not here).
Fast forward to August 20th:
I know what needs to be done to complete the bike and I pull togetherall
the necessary parts from having moved to a new house - lots o' unpacking.
My former neighbor once again graciously agrees to help weld up the pieces
for the exhaust system which now requires mufflers (that's a good thing
in my case) and on Wed. 8/29 we pull it together at his shop for 3 hours
of welding, cutting, shaping, fitting the new exhaust - looks great too!
Thursday night
I spend on the final details of safety wiring, pulling tools and
stuff to go.
Friday AM
I load up the truck and head up to the track. I arrive and set
up the starting rollers as Kit's driving in. She assists me in spinning
the motor over to pump oil thru it before starting, and then I start it
up - BAM! it fires and sounds really nice with the new cans! It even idles
! A quick trip around the pits and I park it for other things to be done.
I register for 3 races to get the points and advance to expert.
Sat. AM - first practice.
I'm expectedly tentative. I feel out the new motor, the wider rims
front and back, the suspension and it all feels like a good package. I
finished last year at 1:28's, my first practice best time today was 1:34.
Second Practice
Fire up, head out, now I'm gettin gmyself tuned up and back into
racer mode, picking shift points, laying into corners, faster, faster,
I drop 2 seconds from the first practice.
Sat.
PM Race 6 GP Singles
I'm gridded on the second row of Juniors and get a good start chasing
a KLR and Kevin Kennedy into T1. All the bumblebees (Gp125's) come tearing
around but I'm sighted on this KLR. Second lap, I take him on the inside
of T3 and put my head down. I'm really starting to feel better and the
race adreneline is kicking in! With each lap I can see coming out of T6/7
that I'm putting distance on the KLR so I keep pushing. I come around
for the last lap flag, and keep driving hard. Around T3, up the hill, down
into the bowl KREWEEEUNCH! I grab the clutch and pull off the track, thinking
I lost the chain - nope still there. But it won't shift easily so something
internal is ... really bad. One-half lap from the end, probably 3rd
or 4th place - gone. Kit comes to the rescue (with Wiley, thanks!) and
they help get the bike back to the garage. Again with Wiley and Mat's help,
I tear into the clutch cover to find bronze metalflakes all through the
case - some bushing(s) in the the transmission had finally had enough of
me thrashing the gears and was torn up. The engine must be completely torn
down, flushed, and repaired. A very short racing season indeed. I was not
good company Saturday night.
It's not over, yet. One more weekend and maybe Dave will let me race his SV650 to get my races and points to advance.
MIND OVER MATTER
Wow, it smells beautiful. What a wonderful day to sit in the park, watch people frolic, and catch a sunset over the city. Whoops, did I just write that? Well, once again the wonders of laptops prove themselves. I'm sitting in Central Park on a cool September Day trying to recall the fun and festivities of this Labor Day weekend at NHIS.
So what was it like you ask? It was a blast. This was the first year of the "Fall Round-Up" and it was lots o'fun.
I took Friday off in the hopes of getting a nice day of backroading in on my way up to NHIS. For the most part that's what it was. Beautiful roads and great scenery. That is until the bike broke, and mysteriously fixed itself, somewhere south of Brattleboro, VT. After many phone calls and some babysitting I arrived at the track with my trailer escort at about 11pm. Kit and Scott were still working on the CB1 and trying to solve it's gremlins... I'd share some of that here but I fear I've strayed off topic enough. On with the tale......
Saturday Morning dawned overcast and cool. Cold? I got up and rode over to Street and Comp to straighten out the tire snafu from the last race weekend. As it turned out the rubber hadn't arrived yet so I left the wheel and headed back to the pits to check on my team-mates and get my act together.
10am? I stopped back over to S&C and picked up my fresh wheel/tire. I had already missed the first practice so I took my time putting the wheel back on and then slipped out onto pit road to see if Dick Jalbert, our assistant starter, would let me run a few laps in the amateur practice to scrub in the new tire. Yup, out I went for two laps and when I came back in Dick checked the tire and said "go do two more and then come grid up for your practice". So out I went. In the process of looking at my markers I tried to tow one or two of my amateur buddies around for a lap or two. It's not often that we get to play together.
Expert Red Practice #2
I gridded up next to Matt and BJ and out we went. It was
nice to see Matt back out after that horrific starting line accident back
in May. He looked tentative but was basically coming up to speed
quickly. I was about the same. I'm guessing a leisurely set
of 27's-28's was the order of the lap times since my transponder didn't
register. I felt good nonetheless.
Saturday Afternoon
Due to the fact that my streetbike was likely to cost me unexpected
money I decided to save money and skip the LWSportsman race this afternoon.
Boy was that hard watching the boys and girls play without me.
As many of you know it has not been the greatest season for me. I know what I'm capable of doing. On my current equipment I should be able to run in 2-4th place in the production twins class. Well, whether by my direct doing or not I've failed to make that happen. Either the bike broke or I crashed out. Other guys, Micky, Brian and BJ, made it happen. It doesn't matter how fast you might be on paper if you don't cross the line ahead of them it matters naught. I swore to myself that I was going to run with my mind "in the zone" this weekend. Eye of the tiger as Bruce said in his race report.
Saturday night was beautiful and there where lot's of cool things going on. Pit bike races, parties and the like. Since I've already strayed off-topic once this post I'll let you view the photos and read about them in others reports. Suffice it to say that after some viewing, strolling, relaxing, and carousing we all went off to bed relaxed and happy.
Sunday Expert Red Practice #1
Felt good, felt smooth, played with Matt ran a string of low-mid
25's and one 24.
Sunday Expert Red Practice #2
Rinse, lather and repeat. Relaxed. Practiced my passing and
concentrated on staying "in the zone" Same approximate times.
Sunday
Race 6 Expert Production Twins
After thinking that I was not going to have the luxury (read confidence
builder) of using some tire warmers for this race Bruce came back in early
and hooked me up with his warmers for 30minutes before the race.
For those of you who don't think they make a difference... Have you seen
my starts in my last 4-5 races. I usually start from the third or
fourth row and am rarely farther back than fifth, more often than not I'm
even better, exiting T2. I know it's mostly mental but being able
to go fast right from the flag is great.
The Race... Grid Position Row 10B (third row left side for this
race)
I minute board, rev's two 7000ish and "one and two and three and
four" out goes the clutch and pinned goes the throttle. The front
comes up about an inch and I drive as hard as I can towards T1. I'm
"in the zone" I work my way all the way right for an outside run around
everybody right up to T1A. No more wussy stuff. I stuff myself
into 3rd right behind Doug Scheer and Todd Babcock and then drive out of
T2 and up to T3 while pulling some distance on the remaining pack.
I spent the next two laps putting an even larger gap between myself and
everyone else except FOG. I was trying to keep Doug and Todd in sight,
and pull some distance on Martovich but it's very difficult on bias-ply
tires with stock re-valved suspension. No excuses next year 17" upgrade
is a must if I don't want to be a perennial runner-up. On the second
lap I exited T10 HARD on the gas and the bike started to slide. According
to the T10 workers, Ann Demagistris, John Dahl and my team-mate Paul Luevano
I was so far gone the flagger already had the flag out. John told me later
"dude you were crashed you just refused to let go of the bike and fall
down". All that was going through my mind was "I'm not fu***** crashing
today". I basically held the throttle where it was, leaned further off
the bike, and steered into the slide. The bike started to hook up, bobbled
a bit and lifted me slightly out of the seat but it didn't get any worse
than that and I lost very little speed. Hmm... so that's what they
mean by flat-tracking. I gottah get me an XR100 and practice this
a bit more. I think the fact that I slowed a bit allowed Martovich
(BTW for those of you who don't know Bill Martovich suffice it to say that
he's what pit-bulls aspire to be. I'm sorry to the person whose quote
this is I just can't remember who said it) to catch me a bit earlier.
I may be mixing my race up but I think he passed me once on the straight
and I got him back in T1A/T2, and then used the lessons I've learned from
him to block him in T3. I thought I was holding him off but the he
made a "real racer type pass" on me running it up underneath in T11.
The workers in T10 thought we were banging bars. We were not but
I don't think you could have slipped magazine between us. I looked
at the inside of the entry to the chicane but I didn't think I could do
it without knocking us both down. After that I chased FOG for a lap
or two keeping only a bike length between us, at which point the metzelers
started heating and sliding again. I knew I couldn't stay in front
of him even if I got by so I just let him go and concentrated on finishing
in my nice comfy fourth. Scheer and Babcock had checked out long ago.
On the last two laps I was tiring quickly and suffering from forearm pump.
After a glance over my shoulder and the realization that Micky and Matt
where better than ten seconds back I decided to dial it back a bit and
cruise for my fourth. I thought I'd dialed it back more but it turns
out I just went from high 24's to low 25's to low 26's and then a 27 for
the last lap. FOURTH PLACE!! AND MY FIRST EXPERT TROPHY. I
wanted better and know I could do much better on upgraded machinery but
I'm happy with this finish. NO broken bike, no broken concentration
(stayed in the zone the whole race) and I finished ahead of all but one
of the guys, I believe, I should have been able to run down all season.
One weekend left. Let's see if I can do it again.
Major kudos to our sponsors for supporting us this season. We couldn't have done it with out you and we hope we have lived up to your expectations.
Well, folks that's all for now. I hope you've enjoyed the tale and thanks for reading. It's a beautiful night in the park and though it's gotten dark it's still pleasant watching the outlines of the pretty bodies running under the lights. I think I'm going to sit here and watch for a while longer......