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RSP Racing #29 - LRRS Round 5, 2014

  1. #1
    You dont know slow... PainfullySlow's Avatar
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    RSP Racing #29 - LRRS Round 5, 2014

    Race Report LRRS Round 5, 2014
    RSP Racing #29

    This is going to be a long one, and for those who regularly read my race reports that should say something.

    I normally jump right in to the “what’s going on” part of things but this time around I feel that a different format is necessary. I am going to start by thanking everyone that helped this past weekend become a reality. You will all understand why in a bit.

    Scott Mullin and Souhegan Valley Motorsports
    John Tavolacci and Dyno Solutions
    Peter Kates and GMD Computrack – Boston
    Eric Wood and Woodcraft-CFM
    Mike Kurtz and MTAG Pirelli
    Lee Dutil and Skid Mark Racing
    SportbikeTrackGear, M4, Shorai Power, Motul
    Noel Guidone, Chris Handley, my teammates at RSP Racing, and all the kind souls that offered me help to get the impossible done.

    Most importantly, I would like to thank my wife Erin for seeing me through (and putting up with me during) the last two weeks of hell. She is, far and away, the best woman on the planet and has supported me unquestioningly even when I was questioning myself. Love you hun!

    Now, where to begin…

    Pre-Race
    Last round I attained what I thought was the impossible and hit the 1:15 lap time I had coveted forever. It was a huge weight off my shoulders but it also served to show me just where my shortcomings on the track were, and not all of them were the rider.

    It became apparent that if I was to truly progress and be more competitive that I would have to step up to a more competitive platform. I absolutely *love* my GSXR600 but the allure of something new, shiny, and more powerful was simply too strong to resist. Since I had already hit my goal for the year I thought that now would be the perfect time to do this as I would undoubtedly be slower on an unfamiliar bike. This would give me the 3 remaining rounds of the 2014 season to dial-in the bike and come out strong in 2015.

    I decided, in whatever part of my brain that thinks doing the near-impossible is fun (Cerebrum Moronicus?), that I was going to build a new race bike. This is all well and good except it was 2 weeks before the next race weekend and I was to spend 4 days of it out of state on business which left me a whopping 10 days to put this entire thing together. Plenty of time.

    What followed was a whirlwind of amazing teamwork, incredibly helpful and selfless people, a theft attempt, a broken window, and traveling to 3 states on 3 separate occasions during that time…

    Scott got me the bike, Pete got the boingers in place, John broke in the engine and tuned it, Noel chauffeured my bike around when I could not, Chris helped me slap parts together, Eric put up with my endless questions, Lee painted the bodywork, and the literally dozens of other people who helped out during this process of sourcing parts, getting things ordered and to their various doors on time. It was a highly coordinated orchestra of mechanical mayhem, and it was incredibly fun (and stressful).

    The end result? Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you my new Kawasaki ZX6R race bike…






    Friday Practice

    I arrived late Thursday night with the bike still in pieces and a fair amount of work yet to be done. I got the trailer set up, did some minor things to the bike, said “Hi” to the folks in the pits, and hit the sack. I hadn’t slept well for a few days and needed the rest. Friday morning I got to work on the bike around 5 a.m. which would continue until about 12:30 p.m.

    I was still missing one final part to make this bike complete: a steering damper which would not arrive until Saturday morning. Not wanting to scrub the entire day I went out for the afternoon practice sessions taking it very easy and just feeling the bike out since it was completely new to me. The bike felt very “nervous”, no doubt partially caused by the lack of a steering damper, but it was clearly fun and powerful!

    I felt like I was casually rolling around, just trying to get comfortable on the bike, focus on lines, and keeping a slow albeit steady pace.

    Friday evening I was joined by my wife and kids at the track. We socialized with the people in the pits for a bit and tried to make it an early night.

    Saturday Practice
    The practice schedule was very different this weekend due to the visiting ASRA series so there was only one practice session. I took it easy and managed to comfortably click off some low 17’s which was my goal for the weekend so I was very pleased.

    GTU
    My first race of the weekend and first on this bike. My steering damper arrived about an hour before this race which I rapidly installed and got mentally prepared for the 25 minute endurance race.

    I was in my favorite grid spot: front row, outside and was very surprised with my first race start on this bike. It pulls like crazy! I got a mediocre launch but the extra power kept me ahead and I went into the first turn in 4th place.

    The front three pulled away from me as I struggled with the new platform and discovered very quickly that this bike was exhausting to ride at pace. Being unfamiliar to me I was very tense which quickly sapped my reserves of energy. The race itself was very quiet for me and I never saw another expert from my wave during the entire 25 minutes so I dialed it back a bit to conserve energy and simply focused on forcing myself to acclimate to this strange new bike.

    I was very pleased to discover upon returning to the pits that I was only .4 seconds off of my personal best time which I hoped would mean that better things were coming as there was a lot of speed left on the table for me. I fully expected to be well off my pace for the remainder of the season while I adjusted to the new bike so this was very inspiring to me.

    Finish: 4th out of 9
    Outlap: 1:19.427
    Best Lap: 1:16.356


    Middleweight Grand Prix
    I was gridded on the 3rd row in B slot. Not my favorite place for sure. Still, the flag dropped and I got a killer start as the Kawasaki pulled hard from the line. I was shocked when I went into the first turn in 4th place but quickly lost it as I simply let off the throttle too early as I was amazed to be there and 3 riders took advantage of my mistake.

    I hung with the front crowd which seemed to be one big pack for quite a few laps as we powered through the track until we all began to spread out and fatigue was taking its toll.

    I was so exhausted and struggled simply to stay on my lines but my times were gradually slowing down as I simply did not have the strength left to push that hard and so it was on the 6th lap that I lost two positions to Tim Barber (#46) and Kristofer Knopf (#31) who went by me like I was going backwards in time. This spurred me on a bit but they cleverly threw Amateur traffic at me and I was forced to watch them speed away from me.

    I saw that my nearest competition was quite some distance behind so I went into self-preservation mode and brought both myself and the bike home safely. I had no idea what position I was in or what my times were like so I was shocked when I was called into the winners circle where they honor the top 8 riders in the Dash for Cash.

    I was even happier when I heard my lap times were well above what I could have expected. I had beaten my previous best lap by .4 seconds and had 4 other laps that were all better than my earlier best. Considering how uncomfortable I was on the bike this was simply staggering to me.

    I was so out of it that when I got my turn on the mic I forgot to mention both MTAG Pirelli and my wife! Thankfully I just pay for my tires and they shut up but I think I am going to be hearing about this from the wife for some time to come

    Finish: 8th out of 14
    Outlap: 1:18.988 (New PB!)
    Best Lap: 1:15.587 (New PB!)


    Saturday Night
    I don’t usually eat at all during race weekends but for some reason I was hungry and went out to dinner with a great group of friends. We had some good food, I had a much-needed Guiness, and made it to bed before 11!

    Sunday Practice
    It was damp and there was only one practice due to ASRA running so I skipped, opting to conserve my strength.

    Middleweight SuperSport
    I was in 2A for a grid and got a pretty decent launch, although I was struggling to keep the front wheel down and so I settled into 5th place on the first turn which I held for 6 laps until Justin Torres (#23) took advantage of my fatigue and passed me going into T11. We both hit some AM traffic but he was better about getting through them and I ended up crossing the line only a few bike lengths behind him.

    Finish: 6th out of 12
    Outlap: 1:19.235
    Best Lap: 1:15.599


    Formula 40
    1C was my grid position and I was happy to be starting from the front row. I had to battle with a wheelie for most of the straight but somehow ended up going into turn 1 in 1st place. My joy was to be short lived however as Dennis Levesque (#17) shot by me like a rocket on his big Ducati going into turn 3 and he quickly receded into the distance.

    I tried to just run my own race, thinking that I was comfortable in 2nd place however I had allowed my times to drop WAY off and I struggled to just stay on line. On the last lap I ran into some slow AM traffic and I checked up rather than executing the pass which gave John Van Lenten (#69) the opportunity to make a pass on me and I was pushed back into 3rd which is where I crossed the line.

    Finish: 3rd out of 7
    Outlap: 1:19.334
    Best Lap: 1:16.085


    Middleweight SuperBike
    This was a back-to-back race with Formula 40 so I came directly off the track onto hot pit where my wife was waiting with some much needed water. I chugged down some while Heath Smith tossed some fuel into my bike. Too quickly they waved us back out so I dumped some down my back in an effort to invigorate myself and off I went.

    I know that I was gridded in 2A but I was having difficulty staying focused. I remember very little from this race except that I was all over the place and unable to maintain my lines or pace. I dialed it way back and did my best just to get around the track safely so I hope that I did not screw up my fellow racers too badly. My only goal at that point was to finish the race on two wheels which I did manage.

    I discovered that I was seriously dehydrated which was the bulk of the cause of my troubles, something that I don’t intend on repeating in the future.

    Finish: 7th out of 9
    Outlap: 1:20.092
    Best Lap: 1:16.714


    In Closing
    Wow, what an event! I am enjoying the new bike although we have a long road ahead of us before I will be comfortable on her. Still, I am making progress at every turn and I am extremely pleased to see that it will not be months before I can get back to my previous pace. I have a lot of data to go over before the next event in only two weeks!

    So, again I must thank all of my sponsors, the LRRS officials, the friends, fans, and family that come up to cheer us on, my teammates at RSP Racing and friends from surrounding garages, and especially my wife and kids who support me through this crazy thing.

    See you all soon!

    7 Not allowed! Not allowed!

  2. #2
    Lifer nt650hawk's Avatar
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    Re: RSP Racing #29 - LRRS Round 5, 2014

    you da MAN, MAN

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    Gino
    HAWK GT Racer Expert #929
    2012 CCS LRRS ULSB Champion
    2012 CCS LRRS P89 Champion
    2008 CCS ULSB National Champion
    ECKRACING Bridgestone Street & Competition Woodcraft MOTUL On Track Media Pine Motorparts Vanson Leathers

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