5
I went down to Souhegan Valley Motorsports Friday morning for a dyno run. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t running too lean and after some adjustments I’m not. It’s the first time since I owned the bike that it’s been on a dyno and I’ve always been curious of the horsepower. I was suitably impressed to find out that it’s cranking out a solid 68.3hp. I tinkered with the bike in the afternoon and then at tech it was noticed that my steering bearings/races had become slightly ovaled. Pain in the ass! Nobody carried the bearings so we disassembled, cleaned and re-greased the bearings. It helped enough to get me through tech but I’ll have to replace them this week. MTAG mounted up a fresh set of Pirelli rain tires for me. I’ve never ridden on rains that were less than 10 years old so this’ll be a treat when I finally get to use them.
Saturday morning came and practice went OK. Nothing to write home about except that I decided the rear tire that I was hoping to race on all day was cooked. I dashed back over to MTAG for yet another tire.
AM GTL
I was going to just survive in this race. I don’t need the points and really didn’t need to risk anything. I followed Mark Fox (413) for a few laps and then finally decided to abandon my plan. I wasn’t going to end the season like that. Mark and I dueled back and forth for a few laps for second/third places and then Sam Witham (215) crashed out. Mark ran out of energy toward the end of the race and I held onto first for the rest of the race.
AM P-89 Lights
I wasn’t expecting too much trouble in this race so I tried to give Savvas (508) a tow.
AM Ultralight Superbike
Scott Settino (231) was back for his last race on the monster Harley. I knew I was going to have my work cut out for me. I got a crappy start and went into turn one in fourth. I picked off the two motards between Scott and I as quickly as I could but it gave him a really large lead. I turned up the throttle and did everything I could to close the gap hoping he’d get mired in traffic. He got through the traffic smoothly and that pushed me to do the same. As the end of the race approached I knew it was going to be tight. I saw him glance over his shoulder so I knew he was aware I was closing in. I knew I'd be lucky to get one chance to pass. The white flag came out and I had finally closed the gap. I made a half assed effort going up the inside into turn 1. It seemed to mess with his lines in 1a and 2 so I tried to monopolize on that and go for my one chance at a pass going into turn 3. I made it past him but overcooked 3 and he pulled past me into 4. I was tight on him looking for another chance but he knew I was there and held me off for the rest of the race. I was totally psyched to find out that every one of my laps was either a 1:20 or 1:19. Yeah, that’s right. 1:19. I had two laps in the teens with the fastest one at a 1:19.764!
After the race I dashed over and had yet another set of fresh tires mounted up in preparation for racing in Daytona. I felt like I was racing a middleweight or something based on how much rubber I purchased this weekend. Thanks a bunch to Tony and Mr. Kurtz for all the help! The Butler Barbeque was epic as always and the Turn 1a Halloween party was epic (what I can recall anyway). Thanks to my teammates/family at LDR. You guys kick total ass and I wouldn’t be racing if it wasn’t for you! The same goes for my TTD family. I’ve learned so much this year as a control rider and then instructor. That is reflected in my times and, more importantly, consistency and comfort on the track. Oh yeah, it’s been a whole lot of fun too! I’ve had some great duels on track this year with other fantastic riders. There are too many to list them all by name but Brady Ward, Scott Settino, Mark Fox and Sam Witham all come to mind as some of the competitors that have given me a run for my money this year. I hope I can buy you all drinks at the banquet! And to all the “haters”, yes I’m done sandbagging. I’m coming for all of you next year with white plates and a vengeance!
I had a few goals this season. My racing season isn’t completely over yet but I’m feeling like there is a level of closure already as I’ve done my last Tony’s Track Day and raced my last LRRS race of the season so I think a recap is in order. I didn’t think any of my goals would be particularly easy but I figured a couple of them would be damn near impossible. In no particular order:
- Win an Amateur championship: I’ll be getting three of them!
- Become a TTD instructor: I had an awesome season with Tony’s and was promoted to instructor!
- Hit the teens: On my last race of the season!
- Drag elbow: Yeah right. Maybe next year I’ll be as cool as Jake. Gotta work on that.
One last thank you. Thanks to all that have supported my upcoming trip to Daytona. I’ll do a more complete thank you on that race report but the level of support has been phenomenal and very touching in some cases. I’ll do my best to make you all proud!
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