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Well here goes, cliff notes at the bottom.
First weekend as an AM (my bike looks killer with yellow plates), signed up for Super Singles and ULSB on Friday and LWSB and Motard on Saturday.
First round of practice I was scraping hard parts everywhere. I chalked it up to being lazy and poor body positioning and really wasn't feeling that fast at all.
First race was Super Singles, there were only four of us in the race which was kinda sad, but oh well. Went into t1 in second behind Chauncey. I stayed on his tail for 3 laps or so and tried to pass in 3. I made the pass, went wide, and he took me on the inside of 4. I never got another chance after that, as he very slowly inched away for the rest of the race. But I set a new PB of 1:23.390, down from 1:24.293 the weekend before.
Second race was ULSB. Went into t3 behind Vader and Tom Barry. I watched Vader and Barry swap it out for a few laps. Lap 3, I passed Vader into 3. Lap 4, I passed Barry into 3. This is where things got interesting. Right after that pass coming down into the bowl all of a sudden right before tip it I feel something on my front wheel and my bike stood up. Barry was coming in on the right trying to pass, and had turned in before I was even on the brakes. I didn't notice him until we touched, and I immediately got on the brakes, and so did he, unfortunately is was not early enough for him and he went straight into the gravel, and got catapulted over the wall and his bike all tangled in the pads. I barely, and I mean barely stopped before the gravel. Vader got by at this point, but I didn't care I was an emotional wreck. I kept on going and now I see the ambulance is on the track. This was the first contact I've had on the track and the only thing on my mind was that he was seriously hurt and my head was out of it. I backed it off a notch and stayed on Jake's tail for the rest of the race. I had chances to try a pass but couldn't get myself to do it. After the race I got pulled into tech for a random gas check and I was losing it. Gino was there, and I was noticeable shaking, and just an overall wreck thinking I may have just been involved in a serious injury. When I finally got back to my garage, my friends told me him and his bike got dropped off and I went to check on him. As soon as I told him who I was and how freaked out I was, he told me he was relatively okay and was pissed I didn't win the race. He said it was just racing and a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders seeing that he was both alright and not bitter about anything as it truly was an accident. Either way, I guess Jake jumped the start and penalized and I got my first Amateur Win! Not the ideal way to take it at all but I'm pumped I got one of the awesome classic trophies.
I was super excited for the motard race. Motard practice/qualifying was a blast. It was a combined amateur and expert race, with 18 entries. I qualified 7th over all and was happy with that, especially since only 4 of us were amateurs. Even happier I finally got to "turn some laps" with Shane, Eric, Trevor, and the rest of the fast motard guys for the first time. I have some good dirt experience so I felt pretty confident. I'll get to the actual race later...
Practice the next day was terrible. I felt okay for the first practice but ran out of gas the second practice after 2 laps....cause I'm an idiot.
LWSB I was gridded dead last in a 21 person field on the inside, which I hate. I practically got stuffed into the barrels at the end of the pit wall and then pushed onto the curbing in 1, so I started in almost dead last. I picked away at the field and finished 12th, which I was okay with as every bike out there had motor on me. If I got a better start I know I would have fared a lot better, so I'll get em next time. I ticked off a couple 24s during the race, but nothing in the 23s.
Motard, here we go, I was so pumped especially after watching the classic and seeing the crowds there! I was ready to put on a show. Just a line of wheelies down pit road on the out lap having a blast. Gridded up, and got a decent start. Lost my rear end super hard coming out of 2 but kept it together. I went over the hill in about 7th place I believe. Once we got into the back dirt section, Zach clipped me in the rear and he got the pass to stick putting me into 8th. He would pull away in the dirt and then I would reel him back in on the pavement. Finally, I said screw this and went balls to the wall on the pavement, braking deeper than ever into 3 and making a ton of time up on the brakes everywhere. I realized he was killing me on the dirt, which got me mad cause I am a pretty good dirt rider and finally, last lap decided to step it up. In the last lap I made the pass into 1 and took back 7th. I then crushed it even harder in the dirt and kept my position until the checkered. 7th place out of 18 running with mostly experts, I was so pumped and only 1 place out of money. Then, once I took a look at the times, my out lap was 2:05. My next laps were 2:04, 2:03, 2:02, 2:02, 2:01, 2:01, and then my last lap was a whopping 1:56...I took a look at the fast guys lap times, I had the fifth fastest lap time and was only 2 seconds off of Eric Wood's fastest lap! I know that doesn't mean anything at all, but it felt like a huge accomplishment. What a race, the most fun I have ever had. How can we petition to do this race every weekend?!
No races Sunday, I was a spectator.
Big thanks to my garage 2 guys: Adam, Lou and Dave and their families. Great weekend for us all, but I'll let them share their stories! Marco for the awesome shots as always and help in the garage. As always glad to be garaged next to the ECK and RSP guys. Nice meeting you KB and Brett. Christian thanks for another box of CRF parts, I owe you big time! Pete, as always thanks for all the pointers. Our conversations always start about what I think is a little problem and I end up needing a notebook for all the knowledge you drop on my ass.
God, why can't it be the classic every weekend. The packed stands, bigger grids and just the overall atmosphere was awesome!
Cliff notes:
Super Singles: 2nd, new PB of 1:23.390
ULSB: 1st
LWSB: 12th
Motard: 7th
Just one pic for now...