2
First one of these in a while since it's been a while. My bike is an '04 Aprilia RSVR. Prior to this weekend I had done 12 races as a novice and 2 as an amatuer, with most of them being in '08, and one race in '09. In August of '08 I fucked my bike up pretty good, and then stopped working for the family business two weeks later. In January of '09 I had a career change. It took me this long to get back on my feet enough to be able to feel good about racing. I've been thinking about it the whole time.
Saturday race 2 AM GTO.
25 minutes is a long fucking time. I'm gridded up at 9c (I think) and get a horrible start, which probably doesn't matter all that much because I'm starting from dead last anyway. I work my way up through the pack during the race and with two or three laps to go I get behind an expert with an amatuer leading him. I decide to finish off the race with them as I'm pretty gassed at this point and I don't want to do anything this late in the race to fuck anyone else or myself up for no good reason. I am totally relieved to see the checkered flag and roll back to the garage where everyone I'm pitted with is clapping and smiling and giving me thumbs up. It turns out I came in first in GTO and second overall, the amatuer I caught at the end of the race was first in our wave. Now I kinda wish I had pushed a little harder to get around those guys but whatever. A few minutes after I get into the garage a kid comes over with an ipad and shows me my fastest lap time of 1:17.301. Wholly shit! 1:16.8 is my PB I set in '08 when I stopped racing so I'm blown away. I was running 22's in practice so I don't know where the 17's came from. I pour some cold water on my head and try to chill out as much as I can before race 4, my next race.
Saturday race 4 AM HWSS.
I grid up a 9d (I think) and prepare for another horrible start, which I pull off like clockwork. I start working my way up through the field when we get a red flag around lap three and re-grid. I'm now in 7a having moved up a bit, but that doesn't matter much because I fuck this start up too and most everyone I passed gets me back. I work my way up again but am only able to get up to 8th place before the checkered. I am disgusted with myself for throwing away the start, but that at least helps me run a best lap of 1:17.025.
Sunday race 11 Supertwins. I grid up 11d (maybe?) and get one of my textbook shitty starts. I work my way up the field but it's a little harder than the last two races because there's some guys clumped up. I count a couple SV's and an 848 as I work my way up, and then another 848. I'm pretty sure I'm leading everyone in Supertwins at this point but I continue to push and hope to break into the 16's. That doesn't happen. On lap 6 coming into T1 my bike makes a terrible rapping after I grabbed two down shifts, and there is no engine braking. I wave my arm like hell and proceed around the Nascar oval as my bike stalls.
I figure my engine has blown up so I chill with the corner workers at T2 for a bit, but then decide to get the bike into neutral and start it to see what it does. It starts and sounds fine, so I go out to try and finish the race. I am a little spooked at this point but I want to finish and it's the last lap. I finish the race and after we get called into tech so they can check contingency or VINs or something. They tell me in tech I got 3rd, the two 848's take first and second. One beat me by a second and the other by ten seconds. In that race I run a best time of 1:17.757 and a worst of 1:48.748
I left the track a little bummed out. I guess I have no reason to be but after doing so well in my first race and then having the next two not come together very well just left me a little pissed at myself. I'm thankful my friends and I made it through the weekend without any crashes or injuries, and thankful to see some friends I haven't been able to hang out with for a few years.
Big thanks to Pete Woodward and Eric Shaw for welcoming me back and sharing their garage. Thanks to everyone around center garage 8 who was there to answer my questions. Thanks to the Penguin staff. Thanks to Mrs Burnham.
See you fuckers at round six.
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Originally Posted by k_cotter
Congrats and see you next round...
99 + 02 SV650 ex-race - 91 FJ1200 street - 03 KDX220R woods - 12 WR450F motard/ice
Tell these guys I said leave you alone!!!!!
