So Thursday I headed up after work, stopped in CT to pic up the trailer. Passing through South Windsor I stopped off to see Jon at Advanced Traction to pic up my new TCX R-S2 EVO boots. More on those in this Thread… After a long haul and some closed exits I pulled in and got unloaded around 12:30am. I started working on my bike, need to replace my Start / Stop switch however I discovered the brand new K&S Honda replica switch I bought was horribly unreliable. So, frustrated I went off to bed around 1:30. After 5hrs of sleep I got up to try and tackle the switch issue finally giving up and sticking with the stock one but now relocated to the left handle bar (I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it there lol). Next up was installing my STM slipper clutch that I regret not putting in sooner. This was actually my first time ever installing / working on the clutch. Install was pretty straight forward and easy. To add to it my original clutch with ~30k miles of street, racing, and trackdays was still in spec! The slipper function is great and definitely takes a moment to get used to and have faith in. After using it I think the combination of the slipper and engine braking might be too much all at once. So I may eliminate / reduce the engine braking via the ECU. I will say it definitely is fun dropping two gears and flinging the clutch lever out. Then after a providing Jon of Advanced Traction a bunch of measurements, he found that my bike needed to have the forks dropped a little, so I made that adjustment. After all that I ran the bike over to tech as Im there the tech says “Hey your missing practice”. I completely screwed up my time management and missed practice

I set myself with two goals, for the weekend. After reading an article about the top 10 tips from former pros. Two tips stuck in my head and were my goals for the weekend. Chest to the tank and to ride “proud”……

Friday
Race 4 AM GTO
Grid 9B
Horrible start, bike misfits into second bouncing of the rev limiter causing me to be last into T1. Entering turn 2 I gained two positions, As I braked into T3 it was a sensory overload, utilizing the slipper for the fist time and how quickly the bike tipped in with the new adjustments to the front end. After a few laps I gained a few positions putting me in 10th overall.

Results 10 out of 18 - 1:22.393

Saturday
Race 2 AM Unlimited Super bike
Grid 9C
Horrible launch, shifting into second and bouncing of the limiter once again… I stayed with the tail end of the pack for three laps till we had a red flag with someone in 11a. After a hot 5 minutes in the pit we were sent back out. On the restart my hand slips off the clutch stalling me out… The lights started up so I threw my hand up, knowing I had a good 4-5 seconds I managed to get the bike started in the knick of time. Once I got it started I had a slightly delayed launch and was last into T1. By turn 3 I gained 3 positions. Unfortunately someone missed the riders meeting in this race because this individual made some abrupt moves 3 times in front of me when he incurred some mechanical issue, once particularly at WOT on the straight . After getting tangled up / delayed by him, I couldn’t gain any more positions once I got passed.

Results 28 out of 32 1:26.216

Race 4 AM Middleweight Supersport
Grid 9D

With a slow launch, I stayed with the tail end of pack for a few laps. Still just not riding ride or being constant…

Results 20 out of 25 1:24.565

Race 8 AM Middleweight Grand Prix
Grid 6A
Well they don’t call it a meet grinder for nothing. With a so so launch Im mid pack into T1 right next to Gino / behind Gary… I see the catastrophe in font of me unfold. Fortunately I was clear to the left of me and was able to check up and ride off to the side into the pit out
After a long red flag we went back out, Similar 1st - 2nd miss shifting issue followed by some less than stellar times though I ended in 34th

Results - 34 out of 43 1:25.271

Sunday
Holy rain! With the last race of the day and knowing (hoping) the track would be dry by then I decided to skip out on practice since my rain wheels were not available at the moment. So I made a Starbucks run and bummed around all day waiting for the last race of the weekend. Looking around I was even wondering if anyone even stayed to race in it, in the center garages I only saw one bike still on warmers ready to go.

Race 12 AM Middleweight Superbike
Grid 6C
I took off tailing the pack once again… I decided to focus all my time an energy on body positioning. My toes were on the pegs, feet were perfectly straight against the frame. My chest was flat too the tank, I finally found my perfect feeling and body positioning. I finally felt perfect on my bike for the first time this season and then the red flag came out ending the race and my weekend

Results 12 of 12 Ending under Red Flag 1:27.948

My awaited Factory Pro Shift Star finally got delivered on Monday, after this I hope it solves my shifting dilemmas…

Unfortunately Im a broken record saying the same things I said last round. I really need to get to some track days and just have some fun. Me and the kawi just aren’t gelling like we have in the past, she’s all gun hoe but the pilot is not lol. Im going to be focusing on getting more seat time in the coming weeks doing a few trackdays and racing in NJ for the first time. Im hoping to come back for Rd4 and be back where I should be!