In case you haven't heard... I crashed. :(

[Doc]

Tony's trackday today...

Turn 3...

3rd session of the day and feeling good... Coming into 3 hard on an Orange Kawis butt, turn in and start getting off the brakes and lookin for the apex cone in 4... well the guy in front of me didn't go through 3 as fast as I did and my line was the same as his... I came up on his ass fast and was just on the inside of him so I couldn't go wide, I grabbed a little too much brake while at too much lean and tucked the front.

Ass over tea kettle and bike over Doc. Bent my nice new woodcraft rearsets, smashed my throttle, and BROKE the frame (where the rearsets mount) I am fine, a rashed knee and shoulder, scratched my helmet but no impact and walked my bike back to the pits...

Sat out most of the day and slowly pieced the bike back together, JB Welded my rearset mount point, Had a spare throttle, pop rivited my exhaust back together, bent my rearset back to almost straight and duck taped up my tail a little bit... Passed Tech again and went out for the last session. Defintely slower but I was out there..

I am sore and gonna nurse myself with a few cervaisas, run home tomorrow for some sympathy sex and try to get my bike welded, load the trailer with a few more spares and then I WILL be back for friday practice.

Thanks to all who checked on me at the track. I should know better, First trackday of the year and I was pushing pretty good...

(The guy on the Kawi had Amatuer plates)

[neuthunder]

that sucks man hope the recovery's quick

[xxdcmast]

Sucks to hear but at least the bike is fixable. I probably wont be up there riding this weekend but I may stop in just to see whats going on

[a13x]

that sucks man hope the recovery's quick

+1

You are riding a new bike and new to racing. Take 'er easy..

[Doc]

+1

You are riding a new bike and new to racing. Take 'er easy..

Yep, I have to agree... I was pushing it trying to catch Gino and Scott. I think I was keeping pace but I wasn't gaining on them.

My last session I was MUCH smoother and didn't lose ALOT of speed. I am learning.

[BMFR6]

glad to hear you are okay and also glad to hear you are getting back out there. it sucks to crash but its good to get back on. we'll see you up there, swing by the dnf pits if you need anything.

[a13x]

My last session I was MUCH smoother and didn't lose ALOT of speed. I am learning.

Good. Be smooth, work on doing your thing, and don't worry about chasing down people just yet. Wanna make sure we make it thru a full weekend of racing coming up!

[smf]

Yep, I have to agree... I was pushing it trying to catch Gino and Scott. I think I was keeping pace but I wasn't gaining on them.

My last session I was MUCH smoother and didn't lose ALOT of speed. I am learning.

seriously.... THINK when you're out there... you were chasing an expert racer who was leading someone who isn't fast, but is faster than you while they were trying to get through slower traffic. what would've happened had you caught us then tried to dice quickly through a fair amount of traffic?

you should've looked through the turn, saw some person there and made sure you were NOT going to run into them regardless of any idiotic move they did. it's YOUR responsibility to pass safely, especially on a track day.

it was great to see you ok and the bike easily fixable, notch one up to rookie mistake and don't do that again. -end lecture-

[KB]

You were following Ken Condon maybe????? I only saw one other kawi orange there. Heal up and get well for the coming weekend.

Take your time bro, take it easy, #1 learn the bike, #2 learn the track, then learn to close in on the MAN and take him down. But not until you are comfortable with Numero 1 and numero 2

Good luck. I gotta get those boots frm yah this weekend. If your pitting with the Hawk gang I'll come find yah.

KB

[KillBill]

Oh man, glad you're alright.

Atleast you get some sypmathy sex

[MissTwisties]

Glad you're OK Doc, take it easy now and get some rest.

[Evil_Weasel]

glad to hear you are okay and also glad to hear you are getting back out there. it sucks to crash but its good to get back on. we'll see you up there, swing by the dnf pits if you need anything.

crashing sucks, but atleast you got it out of the way early, now knock it off

[Chris]

crashing sucks, but atleast you got it out of the way early, now knock it off

[bigred875]

bummer

[TheIglu]

Very easy to get the newbie excitement overload. I did it my second weekend. Clocked off a 1:24.1, then crashed the very next lap. I slowed down, upped my laptimes, but rode smarter and did better in races because of it.

Trackdays are about riding your own ride, don't worry about chasing people down. It may be fun but racing passes are not track day passes. If needs be, catch up, then slow down, pit in, and try to catch up again.

You will make mistakes in your first season. I sure did. Waving to the crowd during a race (which is signaling to other racers), trying to take a podium finish on non-rain tires in the rain, etc. I've made a few, I'm sure I'll make more. Everyone who races understands so don't worry about it and learn from them. Trackdays aren't so forgiving since it is not competitive, you shouldn't be airing it out at them.

Hope you got some rains for Saturday!

And remember, you don't have to have the fastest laptime to win, just have to be in front of everyone else!

[selltekk]

Wow that sux. Look at it this way, If the frame is unfixable, at least you have another Hawk frame to use..

[selltekk]

sorry to hear, Doc. Heal up. Make the Mrs. wait on you hand and foot.

[selltekk]

GD double post.

[Geebo]

Yep, I have to agree... I was pushing it trying to catch Gino and Scott. I think I was keeping pace but I wasn't gaining on them.

My last session I was MUCH smoother and didn't lose ALOT of speed. I am learning.

It was good to see you get in at least one session at the end of the day. As a newbie myself, I found myself pushing it a bit too much at times and almost ate it in turn three (same situation as you). I also muffed a downshift coming in to the chicane. Thankfully, the bike was a bit forgiving.

Good luck this weekend and hopefully I'll see you guys on the track again soon!

[Doc]

You were following Ken Condon maybe????? I only saw one other kawi orange there. Heal up and get well for the coming weekend.

Take your time bro, take it easy, #1 learn the bike, #2 learn the track, then learn to close in on the MAN and take him down. But not until you are comfortable with Numero 1 and numero 2

Good luck. I gotta get those boots frm yah this weekend. If your pitting with the Hawk gang I'll come find yah.

KB

Definately NOT Ken Condon I have the boots in my trailer.

Thanks for the advice guys, I was chasing the carrot and not paying attention to how unsmooth I was being. The previous lap I was telling myself to get back in a rythym but I didn't listen. Definately a rookie mistake.

I blame no one but myself. : Thankfully I didn't do more damage to the bike and will be able to race this weekend. It could have been much worse.

The corner workers were Johnny on the spot with the flags and I got up off the pavment in time to see Gino and Scott going through 10.

FWIW my wife took it very well that I crashed.

Oh and by the way... If your leathers don't have hard armor get some that do, That would have helped a great deal.

This weekend should be interesting.

[Ken C]

You were following Ken Condon maybe????? I only saw one other kawi orange there. Heal up and get well for the coming weekend.
KB

It wasn't me, but I don't recall another orange Kaw.

Anyway, I agree with what's been said here. We learn through mistakes like this. I had a rash of crashes that were the result of not looking past the rider ahead and not setting up a line to avoid any possible calamity. When they went down, I had no where to go. So, now I often go through corners thinking, "if this guy does something abrupt or crashes, is this where I want to be?"

[OreoGaborio]

You were following Ken Condon maybe????? I only saw one other kawi orange there. Heal up and get well for the coming weekend.

it was an old ZX6R, 95 I think & the thing was friggin BEAT. Huge dents in the frame, duct tape holding shit together. The guy doesn't race, either, just has plates on it. And the reason why he wasn't accelerating out of turn 3 is because he had a serious jetting problem that he was told multiple times to fix. I even told him to talk to Paul The Jetting Master ASAP about fixing it. I saw a number of people run right up his ass in the exit of 3 while I was cornerworking during lunch & I knew it was only a matter of time before someone didn't leave enough of a buffer zone to react accordingly. Unfortunately it was Doc that was "that guy".

[joeswamp]

Oh and by the way... If your leathers don't have hard armor get some that do, That would have helped a great deal.

Sounds like a product un-endorsement... What kind of leathers/armor were you wearing?

Sorry about your crash, but it was good to hear you weren't injured seriously. Get that frame TIG'd up and the bike will be good to go.

[BLACK SQUIRREL]

Sorry To hear, But anytime these bikes hit the ground and you walk away thats good day

Leathers without armor?

are you High on crack rocks?

If you need I will have a spare set of leathers with me(vanson) Not that pretty with great freakin armour. Come borrow them if you Like (if its not raining) My garage is two to the left of Tech

You will be just fine

[rjh200]

it was an old ZX6R, 95 I think & the thing was friggin BEAT. Huge dents in the frame, duct tape holding shit together. The guy doesn't race, either, just has plates on it. And the reason why he wasn't accelerating out of turn 3 is because he had a serious jetting problem that he was told multiple times to fix. I even told him to talk to Paul The Jetting Master ASAP about fixing it. I saw a number of people run right up his ass in the exit of 3 while I was cornerworking during lunch & I knew it was only a matter of time before someone didn't leave enough of a buffer zone to react accordingly. Unfortunately it was Doc that was "that guy".

That would be the one. It was the guys first time on a track and he had picked up the bike for short money. I don't think he actually knew to much about the bike. He bumped from the Red group almost right away.