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Man... First thing's first: it felt DAAAAMN good to be back up at the track w/ everyone. Missed all of you guys a ton & wish I coulda spent more time hangin out with everyone, but my this new work schedule definitely took a toll on me. I was in bed by 9 Saturday night.
No Saturday races for me (this year?), so I got to the track on Saturday morning just before the Rider's meeting and spent the day hangin out with the boys, helpin out in the pits & cheering them on. It was great to watch Jake, Gino, Chuck & Christian all get right back into the flow of things and turn out some great laps and race results. Good on ya, boys!
Sunday started early, but not as early as I would have hoped. I was hoping to make it out for first practice but it was just so damned cold that my race battery wasn't enough to get my bike fired up to make it over to tech... had to put it on a charger. Oh well, no biggie, it was frigid out anyway so first practice very likely would have been more uncomfortable than productive.
Practice 2 went alright, I got out there, shook out the cobwebs, skuffed the pucks and started picking up the rhythm of things. The back section looked CRAZY different and I almost went off track on the inside a few times before I got my timing back.
Race 3 - LWSB
The wind... DEAR GOD, THE WIND!!! Holy hell did it beat me up. I was gettin pushed all over the place. I got a good start and settled right back into my usual spot behind Mullin and Doucette by T1. Heading into T3, my back tire came WAAAYYY up & sideways, but it sorted out & I tipped it in. I tried catching a tow from the guys in front, but watched them slowly work their way off into the distance while #111 Sean Byrnes and #60 Bill Tansey battled it out a few seconds behind me. Eventually Sean worked his way clear of Bill and MAN did he catch up quick!He absolutely motored past me down the front straight around lap 6 or 7 and, although I stayed somewhat close, I just couldn't get close enough to even attempt a re-pass and that's where I would finish - 4th with a best lap of 1:20 flat.
Race 8 - LWSS
Ahhh, my beloved holeshotGot a great jump and took the lead into T1. Scott was the first to make his move on the inside of the chute to T3 and Rick, not wanting Scott to pull a gap went RIGHT around the outside as we headed up turn 4. I damn near got blown right into him by a strong gust, but we came out of it safe & sound without making any contact. A couple of laps later, Chris Cucinotta was on my rear tire and a mistake entering T1 threw me off for 1a and 2 which allowed him to pull along my inside entering T3. He executed a nice block-pass and although I made a good run up T4, I was unable to get him entering the bowl. I stayed on his rear tire, studying his strengths and weaknesses and finally tried making my move on the white flag lap. I went for an inside pass in T3, but there was a pretty big gap between us so I really had to dive in hard and late. I didn't even pull along side him until we were both damn ready to tip in, so to make it as safe as possible I had little choice but to take a VERY narrow entry. I tried parking it as hard as I could to keep from running wide, but he saw what I was up to early enough and put himself in position to make an immediate re-pass down on the flat. I tried putting right back up the inside of him in T4, but he was able to keep the advantage entering the bowl. I was hoping to making one last ditch effort in 11, but Chris was able to put some lap traffic between us late in T9 and I wasn't able to get around them until the exit of T10 which meant I wasn't close enough to make a move in 11 before the checkered. Finished 4th, best lap time 1:19.4.
Sooo yeah... a bit off pace and still shaking out the cob webs. Hopefully I'll be more up to speed in three weeks. I want to at LEAST get back down into the 18's but preferably the 17's.
Anyway, it was SO awesome to see everyone again. Huge thanks to everyone that stopped by Center Garage #1 to say hi, it's always a pleasure having guests & cheerleaders. Gotta thank everyone who cheers us on & helps us out - Tony's Track Days, Woodcraft, Pine Motor Parts, MTAG Pirelli, On Track Media, Street & Competition, Aesthetic Rain, Motorcycles of Manchester and everyone else who's helped me out over the years (this is my 7th! Holy cow!).
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One of my mentors is back!
Originally Posted by PPS26
No worries, bro.
BTW, some guy I've never seen came by our pits & asked if we knew where you were pitted. He ever find you? Older guy, kinda small, think he had glasses? I told him you were probably pitted with Ricky in the North garages by tech.
