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First, thanks to all that helped me out this weekend. Peter Kates from GMD Computrack for some new fork seals and valving (worked GREAT), Mike Kurtz and crew from MTAG Pirelli for a new rear tire, Jimmy Folan for hookin me up with a garage spot on this HHHHHOT race weekend, all the rest of the ECK Sponsors for helping me out and the supporters who came up to visit. Mucho thanks, everyone.
Saturday:
LWSB
I got a great jump but the bike popped out of gear on my 1-2 shift and I entered turn 1 in 2nd place behind Scott Mullin. I put my head down, ran some solid laps (mid-high 17's and a couple of 18's) and kept Scott's bright green 650r in my sights but was never close enough to try for a pass. About half way through, Rick finally caught up and made the pass, putting me back to 3rd. Then he got Scott and found himself where he always seems to be, in first place. With only a few laps left, Rick Breen powered right past me on his new superbike SV on the front straight with ease and shortly after was able to get past Scott as well, puting us both back a spot. On the white flag lap, with no chance at getting Mullin I took a peek behind me on the last lap, saw that I had plenty of room behind me so I throttled back a bit and took home a solid 4th.
Sunday:
LWSS - a hard fought battle!
Similar to SuperBike, Doucette got out front early and I latched onto the rear tire of Scott Mullin... Only this time I was able to keep him MUCH closer as I really let it all hang out, stayed RIGHT on his tail for the whole race and posted a new personal best lap of 1:17.263. I had a couple of fleeting opportunities to pass but Scott rode some great defense and I wasn't quite close enough to take advantage. As the race neared the end, we caught up to some traffic and we had a really tough time getting by, which allowed Mark Dages to catch up. On the final lap, while entering turn 11, Scott and I got tied up behind a slower rider and as my knee was in the grass I saw an awful lot of Red and Blue enter into my peripheral vision. DAMN! I knew right away it was Mark and that he was going to take my line for 11a. I was right on his rear wheel as we flipped over for the right hander, but I was too close and had to momentarily close the throttle which immdediately gave him about a 20 foot advantage. I got a much better line out of 12 for the checkered, however and made a STRONG run at a re-pass by the finish line to a ridiculously close photo finish where neither one of us knew who got 3rd. Fortunately for Mark, the official results verified my hunch and he got me by 5 THOUSANDTHS of a second. Helluva finish!
LWGP
Pretty quiet race... I got an awesome start, took the holeshot and immediately started gapping out on the rest of the field with a 1:21 flat out-lap, followed up by a pair of low-mid 17's. I led the first 4 laps while Rick Doucette worked his way through some traffic and he finally blew past me down the straight on his Superbike SV. From there on out I just cruised to a solid 2nd place to finish out the weekend.
Best out-lap: 1:21.039
Best Lap - 1:17.263
Current Championship Standings (prior to dropping the lowest):
LWSB
1 6 EX Doucette, Rick 165
2 187 EX Gaboriault, Peter 111
3 24 EX Mullin, Scott 108
4 98 EX Babcock, Todd 100
5 65 EX Fogg, Douglas 88
LWSS
1 6 EX Doucette, Rick 165
2 24 EX Mullin, Scott 132
3 187 EX Gaboriault, Peter 107
4 454 EX Dages, Mark 104
5 98 EX Babcock, Todd 100
LWGP
1 6 EX Doucette, Rick 160
2 187 EX Gaboriault, Peter 126
3 98 EX Babcock, Todd 105
4 827 EX Landau, Victor 97
5 26 EX Connolly, Eric 95
Pirelli Diablo 600 Challenge
1 53 EX Kasperuk, Wojciech 109
2 724 EX Hillsgrove, Jason 77
3 79 EX Holcomb, Zachary 70
4 187 EX Gaboriault, Peter 65
5 535 AM Kagan, David 61
Last but certainly not least, my thoughts and prayers go out to LRRS #446 Chris Denoia, his friends & family. Heal up quick, Chris.