5
for those who dont know this was my first weekend on an SV after picking one up and having been racing an EX500 all season.
Friday
I opted to go to Penguin practice to get some seat time on the bike and I am real glad that I did because in the first session of the day the bike felt horrible under me and I came in after 2 laps. I missed the next session while GMD tweaked my suspension for me. the third session felt exponentially better until the 4th lap or so when my throttle went slack coming out of turn 3. i managed to get the bike to the ambulance station between 4&9 to wait out the rest of the session and found that the throttle cable had come off at the carb end. while the bike was opened up for that issue i also ripped out the rear shock and handed it of to GMD for a rebuild. I managed to make it out for the last session of the day to finally link some laps together and felt great. all in all im really glad that I worked out the kinks before racing started on sat.
Sat Race 6 Formula 3
after a restart due to a crash off the start from the first wave i got a pretty decent start coming out of T2 in 2nd or 3rd not sure cuz i was just amazed with the start that i got and that i didnt have to fight thru traffic for once. i came across the line after the first lap in 2nd and made a pass for first somewhere in Lap 2 even more amazed cuz i was leading for the first time of my career. I managed to hang onto the lead until i crossed the line to start lap 7 with a red flag showing when someone from wave 1 crashed out in T2 and the bike was on the line. First Career win. even if it was a novice win ill take it
Sat Race 9 Formula 4
Got a clean start and went into T1 in 4th and managed to squeeze my way into second by the end of the first lap. Lap 2 i was hanging onto the leader and got an awesome drive out of 6 and managed to show him a wheel and squeeze thru the inside of 7 for the pass. at the end of lap 4 i got a bad drive out of T12 and he passed me back. I chased him down and hung on but while braking late and going wide to set up for another pass for the lead and to get by lap traffic into T1 at the start of Lap 6 I hit the bump and washed the front end out and went for a slide into the grass. it took a good deal of time to get the bike back together and ready for sunday but with some fiberglass work, some borrowed shifter parts and some ingenious work on repairing a broken fairing stay and help from a bunch of fellow racers it was able to be gotten done.
Sun Race 3 Starter 4
I woke up Sun Morning tired and worn out from working on the bike Fri and Sat and just wanted to get out there and not push it too hard. Managed 2nd place.
Sun Race 10 Rookie 4
After a long wait almost unbearable wait between races it was time for the last one of the weekend. I managed to get an early lead and led the entire race. managed to pass some Am lap traffic between T10 & 11 but an iffy drive again out of T12 allowed one of the AMs to catch up at the end of the front straight. He passed me on the outside but immediately made his preturn off the wall and clipped my front wheel with his rear and miraculously we both managed to stay up. he pulled far to the inside of T1 and slowed down to let me keep on my run to the finish.
all in all a very successful weekend for me even with the crash. a new PB of 1:25.1 and watching my email for a possible bump to AM. Huge thanks to John Linn (Trouble), Pete (Oreo), Mike Weyant for his help and guidance, Mike Kurtz and MTAG for a brand new set of Pirellis, my garage mates and their friends for their help with the Fiberglass repairs and everyone else who provided help and parts to get me back on the track