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LRRS Round 2.... Lets do this. (interesting races, it's gonna be a long report)
Saturday Race 7, LWSB:
I threw a new sneaker on the back (Diablo Supercorsa SC1 (softest)) and lined up on the grid. Fast guys Mark Dages and Scott Mullin didn't come out to play so I had a pretty decent shot at a good finish. I took the green from the 2nd row and got good jump, but a medeocre start... I had a little trouble getting it into 2nd gear so I got a little swallowed up by the field as we approached the number boards, but I managed to edge out a couple of them into turn 1 to make up for the mistake.
Coming out of turn 2 I fell in line somewhere around 5th behind Bill Tansey. Bill was definitely finding the groove on his SV Superbike and I was having a helluva time trying to get by. This allowed Nate Mendell on his big bore Duc to catch up and pass me on the power. The three of us, with Bill at the front of the pack, had a good battle for a few laps with Nate passing me on the straight and me passing him back on the entry to T1 on a couple of occasions.
Finally, around mid-race, Nate and I were both close enough to Bill's rear tire at the end of the front straight that I knew something was going to happen... As we entered the number boards, Nate lined up a little bit on the inside of Bill and when Bill got on the brakes that held up Nate. I waited until I saw God before grabbing the binders and made a move around the outside of the both of them. I was trailing HARD on the brakes as I transitioned onto the apron and I felt the forks bottom out. The front pushed wide but that Pirelli held its grip. I threw it back over for 1a and put my head down to put as much distance as I could between myself & Nate. I knew he'd get past Bill, likely sooner rather than later and would try to hunt me down, especially after that double pass in 1 which I'm sure got his attention.
Soon after, I found myself chasing down experienced veteran fast guy, Brian Kent on his 650R. I caught up with a few laps to go and made a strong move to the inside as we entered the bowl. I took the angle, gave it a good point and shoot and held him off for the last few laps. I put JUST enough of a gap on him to relax a little on the white flag lap and take a third place finish - my first expert podium in the dry. I also got back down into the 18's for the first time this season, posting an 18.438.
GREAT RACE! Talk about amped up!
Sunday morning tire shenanigans:
After LWSB I noticed a little bit of odd wear on my rear tire... I talked to a pit mate and we suspected a possible suspension issue, so I made a small change on my rebound before first practice and took out a couple of clicks.... no dice, it got worse. I so I checked with MTag, Peter Kates & a couple of other SV gurus and they all agreed that I needed a little MORE rebound damping, a touch more compression, maybe a stiffer spring and maybe lower tire pressures. I made the rebound & compression change and dropped 2 psi to 27lbs off the wamers and went out for 2nd practice. Unfortunately that didn't work and after practice 2 the tire was pretty much toast with the left side was all sorts of torn up where I was getting on the power. I brought the pressure back up to where I had it for LWSS, kept everything else where it was and that proved to minimzed the damage after my races that followed, but by then the tire was too torn up to bring back to life.... I was able to leave it on there for the remainder of the weekend though as it still had plenty of grip left in it.
Sunday Race 7, LWSS:
Gridded on the 2nd row, I got another good jump and in the opening laps, I did my best to give Scott Mullin and his 650R a run but I was unable to keep pace with him and his 1:17's. A little after mid-race we started catching up to traffic from the first wave and he had a hard time getting by. This allowed me to do a bit of catch-up. As we approached turn 3 we caught a pair of experts, one on a 125 and the other on what looked like a Suzuki GSXR (?). Scott was able to get past both of them on the brakes, but I wasn't quite able to get past the GSXR.
As we climbed turn 4 I got a good run and tried passing the 600 on the outside as he was taking a conservatively tight line... but at the last minute, just as I reached his rear tire, he decided to use all of the track and I went motocrossing off into the dirt. I managed to keep it up and get back onto the pavement, but only in time for the edge of the track to take another turn, putting me back in the gravel for another bumpy ride down the hill into 6. I edged it back over with a little room to spare, put on the binders and threw it in for the left hander as I swore up a storm at the slower traffic.
I pushed my way back past the 125 that had passed me while on my little exporation adventure and caught up to the GSXR in turn one while on the brakes. I pulled along his left side and made a good pass in 1a and gave him a look back & a head shake as we exited turn 2. By then, Mullin was well on his way to a 4th place finish and I took 5th, posting a best time of 1:18.722 back on lap 3.
Sunday Race 10, LWGP:
Lined up on the first row in slot D, right where I like to be. I got a terrific launch & good quick shifts, staying right by Todd Babcock as we approached the number boards. I made my pre turn and Rick Doucette came up the inside as we tipped it in for 1, putting me back to third place and in a good spot for the opening lap.
As we approached turn 3, Young Gun Tyler Sweeny snuck up the inside and out-broke me on his motard. He put up a good fight and I was unable to pass for what seemed like FOREVER. This allowed Scott Mullin to edge me out along with Nate Mendel, both of which were able to get past Tyler w/o much effort -Mullin in the corners and Nate on the power, putting me all the way back to 6th. I finally made my move into the bowl, taking a page out of my LWSB race and worked my way past Tyler the same way I passed Brian Kent - up the inside on the brakes, point & shoot up to 7.
I still had Nate in my sights and tried reeling him in the best I could with what few laps remained. Nate caught up to some lap traffic, and although the traffic wasn't dense, it came with bad timing for him and good timing for me. He had trouble getting through and I was able to come within about a second of his rear tire. I wasn't close enough to make a move on the white flag lap, but he made a slight mitake in 11A and took a poor angle out of 12 and got a bad drive. I tride to square it up and got hard on the power, but I was gonna need a mis-shift on his part to edge him out... I wasn't that lucky and finished about half a second behind in 5th place but I posted a new personal best with a 1:18.205. ALMOST 17's, my goal for the SEASON.
Current LW Championship Standings after 2 rounds:
LWSB
1 6 Doucette, Rick 65
1 98 Babcock, Todd 65
3 187 Gaboriault, Peter 44
3 16 Kent, Brian 44
3 121 Mendell, Nathaniel 44
A THREE WAY TIE!
LWSS
1 6 Doucette, Rick 65
1 98 Babcock, Todd 65
3 454 Dages, Mark 52
4 24 Mullin, Scott 46
5 187 Gaboriault, Peter 40
5 16 Kent, Brian 40
LWGP
1 98 Babcock, Todd 70
2 6 Doucette, Rick 60
3 121 Mendell, Nathaniel 49
4 187 Gaboriault, Peter 44
5 745 Sweeney, Tyler 38
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Originally Posted by Pookie
