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So, I was really up in the air about doing Penguin this past Friday. My bike was not going to be race prepped and money is kinda tight due to the Gap trip next week. Kurtz being the nice guy that he is said I was more than welcome to use his bike for the Rookie Race. Last minute decision...... I decide to go.
-Friday morning unload the bikes and register for Penguin. I'm all anxious to get out on the track but we won't see any track time until 10:30. Penguin is dragging on.....Its a pretty basic class if you've done trackdays but its a little too much info to take in if you've never done a trackday. First track session we did follow the leader followed up by another classroom session. Second session of the day consists of 3 follow the leader laps then an open session. After the 3-laps of follow the leader my instructor waves me by for the open session. I haven't been to Loudon since June of 08.......damn is this track bumpy!!! I was picking up the pace feeling pretty good on my bike (600RR).....I missed a couple of upshifts but thought nothing of it......I figured it was just sloppy shifting. I come down the straight start my pre-turn and start braking/downshifting.....I tip the bike in for T1, feel really smooth when all of a sudden I can't feel what the bike is doing.....what the hell is going on? Thats when I realized that I was sliding on my ass! Watched my bike slide as I come to a stop I look behind me to make sure I wasn't about to get run over, hop up and pick the bike up. By this point Mike Martire is stopped behind me asking if I was ok. He then looks down at my bike and tells me to get it off the track. Bike was pouring coolant all over the edge of the track. I wait until the session is over and get my bike back to the pits. Realize that there was a loose bolt that holds the shift linkages in place as well as a coolant line. This caused a coolant leak that dripped onto my rear tire. I finish draining the rest of the Engine Ice out, throw some distilled water in there, thanks to Jamie (saxman)! I get the bike back together and head out for 2 more practice sessions picking up right where I left off.
-Saturday (Practice) get to the track buy my race license, pick a number, get a transponder, and register for a race. Run around some more getting numbers, plates, ect to get through tech inspection. Hurry around so we can get out and practice. The track is wet from the rain the night before but it should be ok, I'm in the 3rd practice session so the first two session should dry out the track. First session gets called........NO ONE goes out and the same goes for the second session which means the track is still wet and I'm riding an unfamiliar bike. (SV 650) Since no one was going out for practice they decided to go to open practice. I was getting anxious to get out there so Keith (CatahoulaBuldog) and I decided to head out and see how the traction was. Run two warm up laps and notice that the race line is dry with the exception of T12a onto the straight. I decide to pick up the pace and see how I feel on the SV. Hmm.....not bad....not bad at all! I come in pretty happy with the way I'm feeling out there. Second practice session I head down hot pit and see people stop.....what the hell is this....do we have to wait to go out or something? Ahhh.....they're stopping to practice their starts! I guess I should try this since I have launched a street bike like once in my life! I get the revs up to about 7k load the front end and launch. Wheel comes up an inch or two and stays there, shift into second and gone. Wow, that was friggin easy! So I head out on to the track and its completely dry. I work on nailing down my braking/shifting points. I was using the same braking/shifting points as I was using on my 600RR which obviously doesn't work! I was having a big problem with T1....I'd try and catch 2 downshifts but was only able to downshift once.....When I tried to downshift the second time the shifter would not budge as if I was in first gear.......this would put me around 3k-4k rpms which had me bogging through T1a-2 and killed my drive down to T3. I fixed this by catching the second downshift while transitioning the bike from T1 to T1a. I continue to sort out the braking/shifting points until practice ends. Come in, look at my times and see that my best lap was 1:27.xx.... Wow, not bad! I'll take that for being on an unfamiliar bike.
Saturday (Rookie Race) We get called out and we line up......I'm kinda nervous but not really. I definitely thought I'd be a little more nervous than this. I watch the waves take off until its our turn. The 1 board is up and turning slowly.....green flag drops.....yep.... the front wheel is in the air. I get that under control and realize I didn't get such a bad start after all! I'm running in 2nd behind #332 Keith Joy on his Husky Motard. I hang in 2nd and just follow #332 around looking for a place to pass. I was able to carry more corner speed than him in most places so I kept my options open. I went for a pass coming down into 6 on lap 2 but he cut off my line causing me to check up.....damn it, that just killed my drive up 7! So now I have to play catch up. I get back on his ass by 12-12a and we get the white flag. Damn, last lap, I have to get around him soon. I'm all over his ass at this point just waiting for a mistake but he's riding pretty consistent and I definitely don't want to pull a banzai move and crash in the rookie race. I know I can carry more corner speed so I decide I'm going to get him down the straight by carrying more speed through T12-12a and onto the straight. I slow up a bit coming into T10-11 so I can get a nice drive onto the straight without him interfereing with my drive. Come into 12a, flick the bike over quickly and get it pointed down the front straight, and just hammer the throttle.....here comes the drag race to the finish.....its going to be close but I know I got him! I take the checkered for 1st!
-Saturday Race #8 Thunderbike is called and I get out there with a couple of Born/RSP Racing members. Damn, we're early.....there is no one else coming out yet......maybe its a small race? Wait a couple more minutes and then people start rolling in.....I look back and see a good amount of people. Now my nerves get to me....its like getting out on the track for the first time all over again. We line up and wait for the flag to drop.......Goes green......you bet, the front is in the air again but this time I see gas tank which means this fucker is up there! I ride it out a little bit so the front doesn't come crashing down get it settled and see that my start is pretty shitty. I"m running 2nd to last. I try and settle down and work on picking off the person in front of me. I start closing the gap on the guys in front of me which is a pretty decent sized battle (about 4 riders) I try and get around the guy in front of me but I couldn't get close enough.....I get pretty close in T3 but I couldn't get around him. I actually had to check up a bit and then bang, bang, two guys get passed me and now I realize I'm in last place. I shake my head and realize what a mistake checking up was. This isn't a TRACKDAY! So now I'm fustrated and start making mistakes.... wrong gear, shitty drive.....braking too early......I start to settle back down and try and put my head down and make up some time, I come into the bowl and brake a little later then the guy in front of me get right on his ass but he's on a 748 and killing me on the drive going up 7. As I flip the bike for 8 I see a bike spinning and a guy sliding on the ground.....I pick a line that will get me through but I slow down realizing this is Dave (Io-Bot) on Jim's bike..... This hammers the thought home, Hey, you're on a borrowed bike too don't take too many chances. I get my head back in the race and see Kevin #748 in front of me so I put my head down and start to gain some time on him. I'd make up a lot of time in T1-1a, lose that time on the drive out of T2....gain some time going into T3's braking zone......lose a little up T4-5.....gain some in T6 braking zone.....ect. So basically I don't have the drive to get Kevin out of turn so my only chance is to get him on the brakes or an inside pass. I show him a wheel in T12 but he gassed it a bit to hold me off and gained a good amount of time down the front straight. I closed the gap back down by T3 until we ran into some lap traffic.....Kevin gets around and I get hung up going up T4.....Shit, now he's got a good sized gap on me....I fought to close the gap but never got around Kevin, I managed to pull another 1:27 but ended up finishing that race in last place. I now realize how important starts are and I need to be more aggressive. I'm used to trackdays where I'll check up to wait for a safe pass as not to spook anyone. I had a blast and can't wait to get back up there in July to do some races on my own bike!
I definitely need to work on being more aggressive but at the same time I didn't want to take too many chances on a borrowed bike. I had a blast on that SV and I'm considering racing one next year to lower my costs a bit. We'll see how this year goes on the 600RR in MW. I plan on racing in July, September, and October.
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Originally Posted by GixerJockey
Trying to have kids is in the near future so making racing cost a bit less will help.
