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Showed up Wednesday evening so I could get plenty of track time Thursday and Friday afternoon. Ran some laps in the 31's , beating my my PB!
Saturday, 3 of us signed up for race 8's novice 125GP class. My start isn't as bad as it was last race weekend, but I still end up last going into one. #925 is in first and #512 is in second, so I focus on getting to 2nd spot for now. I keep #512 in sight as I get closer to him, but slowing down a bit for yellows, waving yellows and the ambulance flag make it hard for me to catch up to him. To make it even harder for me, he keeps on throwing obstacles at me by passing EX500's. At one point, two bikes are between me and #512 so I charge in deep in 1 to try to get by both of them, but only get by 1. I get by the other one going into the bowl. I finally am able to focus on getting by #512. I gradually get closer to him at 9, again at 11, but he still gets a good drive out of 12 and I'm not close enough to be right behind him down the front stretch. He probably has at least 20 bike lengths on me as I tuck in as much as possible, and go though all the gears hoping he will brake a bit early into one. He pre-turns, and a bit later gets on the break. I'm determined to not get on the brakes before I'm by him. As soon as I fly by him, I get on the brakes hard and kill my corner speed going into one. I get back on the throttle as soon as I can and hope it's soon enough for him not to re-pass me. I finish the lap without any signs of him challenging me. White flag comes out and I push hard to make sure I stay in front of #512. #925 is nowhere in sight so I goal is to preserve 2nd place. I complete the last lap without incident and finish 2nd!
When I checked my times, I did a 1:29:192 beating my PB by 2 seconds!!!
Met many of my goals this race:
- To not finish last
- To break the 1:30 barrier
- To complete 8 laps without getting lapped by the faster classes in my race