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Where to start.....
Saturday (Practice) Wake up after getting hardly any sleep due to the horrible rain Friday night/ Saturday morning. The track is wet and there aren't many people out practicing. All I want to do at this point is get in a few laps on the new Turn 1 setup. I'm so pumped to finally be up there racing. Keith comes in from practice and tells us the race line is dry. I suit up and head out as its open practice due to the wet track. As soon as I get to hot pit a guy stops me and says they just closed open practice. (now I have to wait for my session which is #8) So I go back and wait patiently for practice session 8. I get in a few laps and realize that I'm pretty damn rusty at Loudon and T1 is really screwing with me. I'm not being smooth and I'm super stiff. I come off the track pretty annoyed at myself for riding so crappy.
Race #12- Heavy Weight Superbike: I knew going into this race there were going to be some big bikes in this class but I just wanted to get some more track time.I grid up mid pack and start to get really nervous. I've done this before but it feels like my first time gridding up! I get crappy start and head into T1 with bikes all around me.....(wow, this is a really cool feeling! I think I'm going to like this racing stuff) I see the lead pack start pulling away pretty damn quickly I tried making some passes to keep up with them but there was no chance, they were defintely a lot faster than I was. I put my head down and just tried to catch some people in front of me. I got passed by a yellow Ducati (#657) on lap 2. I tried to chase him down but he was slowly creeping away from me. I got hung up trying to make a pass and #657 pulled away. I stayed in 10th for about half that race with no one around me. It was sort of like having an open track. I'll take a top 10 finish with a best time of: 1:21.809. I have to say that was probably the hardest I've ever ridden my bike around Loudon. A lot of that was due to me still being stiff on the bike and not riding smooth. I could feel that I was fighting the bike and my line through 6 (the bowl) was just horrible.
Sunday: (Practice) My goal.....loosen up and be smooth. I went out first session and definitely felt better than Saturday but still not as loose as I'd like to be. By the end of the second practice I definitely felt a lot better than Saturday.
Sunday Race#3 Middleweight Superbike: I get gridded up for this race pretty much dead last. I'm not that great at launching my bike but practice makes perfect. I get a decent launch and I'm probably running with the top 5 guys. I was able to keep them in sight for a few laps but I started to fall back and a couple of faster guys got by me. I tried to push a little harder but I just couldn't make up any ground on the guys out in front. I ended up placing 8th in this race with a new personal best time: 1:21.116.
Sunday Race#13 Middleweight Supersport: This is the race that sticks out in my mind.....I grid up mid pack wait for the green flag to drop.....Get a pretty good launch realize from my last two races that I've been giving up way too many positions early on. I'm not so much getting passed as I'm just not being very aggressive with passing. This has been the hardest transition yet. I'm pretty relaxed at trackdays so I have to get out of this mindset. I come down into T1 and there are bikes all around me I have 1ft to my left, some dude comes flying up on my right on the outside but I'm not going to give an inch this time! I keep my elbows out and stay on the gas. I see some famililar bikes around me and pick out the fast guys right away. At this point I think I'm running around 9th place or so. Not as good as I had hoped but I'll try my best from here. Once again there is a pack of about 5 guys that just pull away and leave the rest of us behind. I've yet to get close enough to them off the start to see if I can actually hang with them. A lap or two goes by and I get passed by #180. He's about my pace so I tag along and see where I am stronger. I'm defintely stronger in T1 and on the brakes into T3......next lap I'll make my move. We come down into T1 and I feel like I'm coming in pretty hot.....I'm watching #180's line to see if I can squirt passed but I see he's going wide......oh shit.....so am I! Stop looking at him!! #180 goes off track in 1a but decides to come back on right in my path. I have to check up a bit but go around him. He's quickly back right on my tail chasing me again. He gets passed me up around 7 if I remember correctly. I follow him down into 12 as he blows that turn and goes through the grass. At this point I want nothing to do with him because he's obviously riding on the ragged edge. I put my head down and realize there is a guy about 2 seconds or so ahead of me. I am consistently gaining on him in T1-T3 but staying about even with him in the back section. Another two laps go by and now I'm getting close enough to make a move. As I'm coming down the straight I notice we're catching another guy thats up ahead. I'm really close to these guys coming into T3 on the brakes. I'm trying to decide how I can pass them both.....do I wait for one of them to make a mistake....do I try and pick one off and risk getting passed back?? I follow for antoher lap as I can't get around them without making a banzai pass. The 3 of us are coming up T7 into T8 as we come up on a slower rider from a different wave.....first guy gets around no problem 2nd rider checks up for a split second then darts around the lapper.....DAMN!!! Now this guy goes wide in T9 and kills my opportunity to pass. I drop back a little to get a good drive out of T10. By this point the two guys ahead have a nice gap on me. I come out of T12a onto the straight thinking I really really have to push to try and get these guys soon this race is almost over. I come across the finish line and what do I see....Jay (Marshdrummer) giving me the signal that someone is on my ass! DAMN!! double pressure. So I really pushed and tried to catch the guys in front of me and I closed the gap down quite a bit by T10 but I'd have to get a perfect drive out of 12A to have ANY chance of beating them to the finish. Setup for T11, T12, T12A.....miss shift......<_< I held the dude off behind me but didn't catch the two guys in front of me. I finished 8th once again which should have been a 6th. I did beat my personal best once again though. 1:20.307 I actually just realized this while typing and it really pisses me off. I'm pretty sure if I didn't miss that shift coming out of 12A I would have been in the 19's or pretty damn close.
HUGE THANKS to all the people who came out to support the RSP team this weekend! You guys are awesome! I couldn't imagine trying to rush around getting my warmers off, getting the bike off the stands, and everything else a minute before 3rd call.
Sorry if there are typo's I just got back from Loudon and I'm beat. A positive to that is I did got two extra days up at Loudon with Tony's Trackdays to figure out some stuff. I think I know where I can pick up some time for August. Hope to see you guys up there!
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Originally Posted by JRide
