0
I'm grateful to have been able to race during the Classic weekend, and I had a good time overall... It was my first race weekend as part of Low Down Racing, so I wanted to get some good results for my team and I managed to pull it off, beating my personal best lap time in the process, and demonstrating to myself that my approach to progress is working. The races were Novice MWGP on friday, and Novice GTU on Sat.. I left the track early Sun. morning, skipping the Superbike race so I could be w/my kids on Father's day, but I must admit it was a difficult decision (more on that later)... So here's how it went down for me this weekend:
Group 8 practice (Fri):
I like the fact that I barely ride now in between races because it really builds up and I can't wait to hit the track. I went out w/some particular goals in mind, namely to pick up where I left off w/my progress in t1 coming off the straight, getting through 3 cleanly, and working on some of the back parts of the track like 9,10, and 11. It usually occurs to me each time on the track that I can go faster thru certain sections, and basically I just make it a point to see what I can do in each of those areas. So practice went as planned, and I was able to get even better into 1, and I got my knee down coming out of 10. I also had new gearing on my bike which too some getting used too, but ultimately it helped me once I adjusted my shifting points. So practice went well and I was able to pull off my fastest lap yet after getting thru some traffic w/a 1:23.3.
Fri Race 4 (nov. MWGP):
Man, I really wanted to win this race... after winning the 1st one, I kind of decided that I wanted to make the gp "my" race and take all the points. Then after crashing and taking 10th in the 2nd round, I just really wanted to come back and win. I was gridded on the outside, front row of the middleweights, w/the heavyweight bikes leaving on the 1st wave. I got a great launch but hit neutral when I went to shift into 2nd gear! I thought I was going to get rammed, but was able to get back into gear and charged down the straight. I made some traffic for myself by missing my shift, so the first half of the race I had to chase people down and get by them, which made for some interesting moments and some good excitement which has been missing from most of the races I've been in. Most of the time the passes were easy, but on a few the riders were unpredictable and I really had to just be really aggressive and go for it not knowing if they were going to change their line suddenly. The last middleweight I passed was Chris Bouchard on the Ducati 848. I came up on him in the bowl, saw that he was taking a tight inside line so I carried more speed around the outside and made the pass. Props to him for holding his line and being predictable. I managed to get by everyone including the 1st wave except for 1 bike who I chased down the front straight as we crossed the finish line. I wanted to see who it was and the results showed that it was a rider on a 600 who must have left in the wrong wave? I don't know what happened w/that, but I took 1st place in Nov. MWGP w/a best lap of 1:23.4 or .5? I can't remember, but it was slower than my fast practice lap by a few 10ths.
Sat. Race 6 (Nov. GTU):
Having done practice and the gp on fri., I decided to skip sat. practice and rest up for the gt. This would be my 1st gt on a dry track and it was hot! I hydrated myself and watched the tower for lap times in group 8. A couple
26's, a 25... no problem I thought... then, a 22.9! Who was this cat? It was a name I didn't recognize but I knew I would have my work cut out for me. I actually got excited because I feel like when there are people to chase or dice with, I'll go faster. I can race other riders better than the clock, just out of competetiveness I guess? So I got suited up, drank a lot of water, and when it was time I hit the track. I had no clue who this dude Mike Langlitz was but I wanted to beat him and improve my times doing so. After lining up in the wrong spot on the grid, I quickly corrected myself as the 1st wave(gto) left. I was again on the outside of the grid, and just got an awesome start... I drag raced someone the whole way when all of a sudden I heard him hit the rev limiter and keep it there... he disappeared behind me as I went into 1 in 1st place. I just focused on catching the 1st wave, and as much as I kept telling myself to pace myself for the 20 minutes, it just wasn't happening. I pushed harder and harder until I eventually passed all the gto guys. I never saw Langlitz, but later found out he lost some time in 3 when he almost lost it. Other than a few slides, including a scary one coming into 1 where it felt like my front tire slid at least a foot sideways, it was a pretty uneventful race. I just peeled off lap after lap as fast as I could go w/out trying to work on anything or change anything... My wife was watching for this one and I didn't want to crash again! I managed to win, and it felt great to have completed a gt on such a hot day. I proved to myself that I'm not in all that bad of shape, and I actually found some more areas where I know I can go faster. After checking times, I was a little dissapointed that it was showing a 24 as my fast lap, but now that I'm home the times show that I did 23's? I don't know what's going on w/that, but it was pissing me off at the track. I'm relieved to see I didn't go slower than friday!
So... No Sunday Race?:
Here's the deal... after our race on Sat. Langlitz came over and introduced himself and explained that he had an incident in T3 but was looking forward to racing w/me for sun. He was a really cool guy, very polite and sportsman-like, so I took his challenge seriously. I really wanted to race him today, but a few things stopped that from happening. For one, my teammates like to stay up late and make a bunch of noise so I got no sleep, but more importantly I was already thinking on sat. that I missed my kids and wanted to be with them on Father's day. If I stayed for race 9, I wouldn't get home before they went to bed, and then I'd be at work all day mon., so it was a hard decision. I told Mike Langlitz that I might not do the race, and he tried to talk me into it, so I considered it all night. In the morning my wife had to leave, and as she did she gave me some Father's day cards from my kids, and one had a voice recording of my 2-year old daughter and that just did it for me. I had no sleep, no more clean clothes, and I just wanted to come home and relax w/my kids. On the ride home I kept wanting to go back and just race, but I know I made the right decision... it's always that, "just one more... " that gets you, so I'm happy to have made progress, pick up 2 more wins, and to have found more spots on track to improve on.
I'd like to thank my team Low Down Racing for all the support, LRRS for not kicking me out Sat. night for being associated w/LDR!, and seriously... Rick Doucette donated some trophies so I actually had something to bring home and let my kids play with. I thought that was cool, and really appreciated it. See you all next round!
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Chippertheripper
there will always be one more; I made the same decision on Sunday, and it was a good one for me.
. I had a front row seat for Mike's incident in T3. ended up being pretty much nothing. kinda sucks cause I think the lap before that was my PB chasing him.
Re: #121 Round 3
Re: #121 Round 3
