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First weekend in the amateur class, went in excited and a little bit nervous.
Got the NHMS Wednesday night, dragged out the camper(thanks Tony) and went to sleep. Spent Thursday and Friday up there attending to MTAG business and painting my number plates yellow(thanks again Tony).
Saturday:
Pre-registered for Race 8, lightweight superbike. Pang, Jim, Dave(on Noel's bike) and Brian are all in this race also. Morning practice went well, no noticeable difference practicing with the amateur and expert(combined) guys. I did go out in first practice and go at my last weekend's race pace without feeling "fast," so I thought that was a good sign.
Race time came around, and 5 bikes roll out of the RSP garage and onto the grid. That must have been a pretty amusing spectacle for anyone watching. I got a decent start in the race, and went into T1 in the top 5(grid of 17). Dave had ducked in front of me into T1 off the start, and then Brian got past me going into T3 on the first lap. My first lap entry into T6 was way off, which meant Jim was able to scoot right past me on the exit. Brian had some trouble and came in after a lap or two, and I tried to signal to the RSP guys watching from the wall that he was alright and had just pitted in. From there, I chased Jim around for the rest of the race, missing a couple of opportunities to try and make a pass. I learned another valuable lesson in this race; I kept telling myself I was going to try and get by Jim on the last lap in T11, to not give him a chance to step up and get back by me. However, on what should have been our white flag(last lap flag) lap, the expert race leader passed us feet before the finish line on his 8th lap, getting the checked flag and ending the race. As it was, I was happy with my finish and my race, I had a blast chasing Jim around, and felt good. I came in to find a new personal best of 1:24.2(which I'll be beating next time to help raise money for 446), every lap after lap 2 in the 24's, and 10th of 17 starters in my first race after bumping. I did finish ahead of a couple of guys who are typically faster than me, which was another high note.
Sunday:
I had so much fun Saturday, I decided to not only do Race 10(lightweight grand prix) which I had pre-registered for, but to sign up for Race 7(lightweight supersport). Keith also added a race, so R7 was going to be Brian, Keith and I, and R10 was going to be Pang, Keith and I.
Race 7 rolls around, and I get an awful start. My bike popped into neutral while the 1 board was sideways, so I had to pop the bike back into gear, and I bogged out pretty bad as the flag dropped. I tried to make it up by going diagonally for T1, but I went into T1 in 7th of 7. My screwy entrance to T1 affected me through 1-1a-2, and while I got by Brian on the inside on the drive out of 2, I ended up charging T3, blowing my entrance there. I got a little ground back, got close to Keith, and then Brian came around me a couple laps in. He got around Keith as well and went on to finish 5th. I followed Keith around the whole race, never quite able to get past him. As with Jim, I saw a couple spots I could have given it a go, but never quite stuck it in there. Ended up finishing 7th of 7, with Keith and Brian taking the two spots in front of me. Not exactly the position I wanted, but still a fun race. My times were all 1-2 seconds slower than Saturday's race.
Race 10 time comes, and Pang, Keith and I head to the grid. I'm thinking to myself that I beat Pang yesterday, and I have my sights set on Keith this time. Get a decent start, go into T1 4th of 8. Pang dove in in front of me, and I managed to hang onto him for the first lap, after that, he and the lead 3 guys disappeared. I held my position for almost the entire race, but on the last lap, I blew T3, which killed my drive up 4, and Keith passed me before the turn in for T6. From there, I only had half a lap to catch him, and tried for it in T11, but couldn't quite chop his front wheel off, so I backed off and he took the checkered right in front of me. Again, not where I wanted to finish, but I if you've got to lose to someone...eh, screw that, who am I kidding? I wanna beat my teammates!As I told Keith after the races, if I had my wish, we(RSP) would all win. However, if that can't happen, I want to win and I want them to lose. :p Next time...next time.
Overall, I had a good first AM weekend, and I'm really looking forward to the next race event. I think I put a few things together at the Monday/Tuesday TTD thanks to Tyler Henshaw(instructor) towing me around. I am definitely seeing a trend this year, every single weekend I do better on Saturday than I do on Sunday by a noticeable margin. I'm starting to think I may only race on Saturdays from now on.
I'd like to thank all of our sponsors, my teammates, Tony and Graham for their help, and all our friends who came up to watch & support us during the race weekend. We all appreciate the support from you guys during the races, and hope those of you who make it up are having fun!
Keep your eyes peeled for a post about next race weekend, there will be a cookout Sat night that will be an event not to miss!
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