Good weekend

[R7]

What a great weekend, finally perfect weather just about all weekend long. Little rain on Friday night but it wasn't to bad

I went into the weekend knowing i needed some fresh rubber but was hoping I could hold off until next weekend. After the practice sessions on Saturday morning, I realized pretty quick that I needed them before my races. I took Heaths advice and mounted a slick in the rear and a DOT up front. I was in race #3 and #5 and it was almost 11am when I decided to change them. Gotta give credit to the Dunlop garage for record tire changing times, I pick them up 10 minutes after I dropped them off
Big thanks to Sean and Bob for helping me get that done asap

Race #3 was a GT race, first time on slicks and first time starting a race on brand new rubber I had a pretty good grid, 1st row in the B possition. I got a OK start and went into 1 about mid pack and held the possition for most of the race. I had somewhat of a battle with a SV650 for a few laps until I figured out where his slow points were and made the pass I finished the race in 6th place earning 7 points. When I went to the media center to look at the results, I had to take a double look.. I dropped 2 seconds off my personal best lap time 1:26.5 , I know it's not real fast but the bike is 100% stock other than wheels and brakes. I do have a chatter issue coming out of 2 and 6 into 7 so I know I need to address some suspension issues soon. either way, I was pretty happy

I came in for a short 10 minute break and was off again for race #5 , 125GP. There were a lot of bikes in the race and all three groups started on the same wave. I again had a good grid possition, front row of my wave and in the B spot. This was the most insane race start I have ever been in. Bikes going 6-7 wide into turn one and bumping into each other. I didn't back off but certainly didn't push my way through the group as it was way to unpredictable. There was a 2 bike/rider crash just before 2 on the left whick spooked some more riders...
After a couple laps when things seemed to be settling down, I see Heath go down coming out of 12 and he sprints off the track just as his bike gets ran over. I don't think I ever seen someone run so fast... The rest of the race was uneventfull and finished 6th or 7th. The 125GP race is a good race for points because there are not many entries but I'm probably not going to run that one anymore. I seem to always get the most out of the GT races so I'm going to stick with that for the rest of the season

Big thanks to Bob & Nancy and Sean & Leah for the great company and keeping me from starving Also big thanks to those that stopped by to say hello and shoot the shit.
It was also cool to hang with Stoneman and his better half for some evening drinking and the great company during the day.. Good to see you'z there again

Next race weekend, I'm bringing some dirt gear. Sean and I decided to explore some trails Saturday after the races but we didn't have much more than a helmet and long pants for gear Needless to say we both had gravity problems and came out with some bumps and bruzes, was fun though

[Nazo]

That was a great weekend!
Obviously it had to rain at some point......it is Loudon after all.
I had a great time on the track and hangin with everyone having fun.
See you all in a couple weeks to do it again.

[Ken C]

Congrats on the 1:26, Mark.

That was my first time racing in 125 GP. I figured it would be a more relaxed race with the fast 125 guys taking off and leaving the rest of us to battle for the rest of the top ten.

Boy, was I mistaken. Eric Yoo grazed my left side into turn one taking third place from me and proceeds to go off track and come back across the track to take out a motard in 1a.

Turn 3 was three wide and fairings bashing. Once it settled down, I had a pretty good race after that with some decent lap times, finishing 8th.

I also raced in LW Sportsman, aka the melee. After the second restart there was a pile up in turn six. Luckily I was passing on the inside and avoided the mess. I finished 14th after finally getting by a slower motard.

[TTD]

Glad you all came out of the races safe!

Mark... Great job on dropping 2 seconds... that is HUGE!

Sounds like the 125 race was crazy at the start. I still question the logic of putting the 125gp bikes with the motards. They seem like complete opposites as far as how they go around the track.

125s: super high corner speed... no grunt

Motards: all grunt off the corners, but not the fastest things mid corner.

I remember not liking the 600cc races on my 250gp bike either. I'd always have to bonzai the brakes and corner to pass because the 600's would pull me out of the corner.

Oh well... just my observations.

[Nazo]

Yeah I've definately been able to really notice the difference in how the 2 strokes and Motards can handle the track when your actually out there battling them.
The 2 stroke's seem like they would be a blast out there!
High corner speed
I have mixed feelings on my 600.....this is my first year racing though, so I have alot to learn and decide for next year.
...Also, I was very excited about dropping 4 seconds from last month too! All that suspension and tire technical talk starts to matter I noticed as you get below 1:25 lap times. Huge difference from last month running around 1:28's.

[a13x]

Originally posted by Nazo
Yeah I've definately been able to really notice the difference in how the 2 strokes and Motards can handle the track when your actually out there battling them.....


All that suspension and tire technical talk starts to matter I noticed as you get below 1:25 lap times. Huge difference from last month running around 1:28's.

+1
+1

After this weekend I'm starting to become a little bit 'anti-motard'... I've just started to see too many instances where the complete difference in riding style and available line selection causes issues. Fact is on a Motard your racing line is 9 feet wide.. that's going to cause issue when out there with streetbikes who's line is 3 feet wide. In some of the races there are so many motards mixed in with the 'real' bikes that I completely lose interest in watching the race. Just looks silly..

That's nothing against Mark or Heath or people that chose to race them. I just think a better solution needs to be found.


Glad you had a good weekend Mark. Going to that slick really seemed to make a difference!

[R7]

Thanks for the compliments
I'm pretty sure at this point, i'll need some suspension upgrades to go much faster. I may just have to fight it the rest of this season though as the funds are tight this year I'm sure the motor will need some work as well...

That 125 race was to crazy at the start for me so there will be one less Motard (me) out there for at least the rest of this season.

I do like watching the Motards mixxed in with other bikes though, it makes for some exciting racing for sure Just to see these single thumpers being able to dice it up with bigger and more powerfull bikes has always amazed me

[bentbryan]

Good report, too bad you don't have any pics to post of that girl that walked by us on Sunday. Wowzers!!! I don't think I've ever seen so many people just stop what they're doing.


From now on lets keep that camera on deck! Hanging it off the bars was a good idea.


Oh yeah, racing was fun too.

[SVRACER01]

Originally posted by bentbryan
Good report, too bad you don't have any pics to post of that girl that walked by us on Sunday. Wowzers!!! I don't think I've ever seen so many people just stop what they're doing.


From now on lets keep that camera on deck! Hanging it off the bars was a good idea.


Oh yeah, racing was fun too.

i saw her then i saw her again before my Thunderbike race.............i almost didnt go out

[R7]

Originally posted by bentbryan
Good report, too bad you don't have any pics to post of that girl that walked by us on Sunday. Wowzers!!! I don't think I've ever seen so many people just stop what they're doing.


From now on lets keep that camera on deck! Hanging it off the bars was a good idea.


Oh yeah, racing was fun too.

The moment of silence that followed was priceless The camera will be on deck at all times from now on

[Hardcore]

Originally posted by R7
The moment of silence that followed was priceless The camera will be on deck at all times from now on

HELL YAA !!!!!