RSP # 816 race report - LRRS weekend 2
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Well, I accomplished two of my goals for this season:
Have fun, and actually write race reports. :p
Started the week off with a Tony's Track Days event on Wednesday, and found some time in between servicing Pirelli customers to get some laps in. Felt unusually comfortable on the SV, and really found myself enjoying riding it, which is a big win since I've struggled so much that. Huge thanks to Pang, Dave, and Brian for riding around with me in the Blue group, playing around a bit, and then boosting my confidence with some encouragement. Found out I ran a couple of 27's, thanks to Graham's Everylap lap timing system.
Fast forward to Saturday(after two days of installing Pirelli race tires for racers doing practices on Thursday and Friday). I skipped the first practice, as the tire business was in full swing and I had gotten a decent amount of riding in Wednesday anyways. Went out for second practice, felt comfortable again, recognized a couple of problem areas for myself, but didn't really have time to work on them. My clutch lever was sticking and didn't feel right, and when I came in and we tried to adjust it...the cable snapped. Big thanks to Keving and Pang, I went to see if Miles at Street & Comp had one, and by the time I got back with it, they had the bodywork off, and old cable out. Pang pretty much grabbed the cable when I got back to the garage, and they had it in in no time. Of course, it wasn't simple, because the adjuster was cross threaded to the perch, so it broke when we tried to screw it in. Luckily, I had an extra adjuster, and Dave was able to get the broken old one out. Thanks to him and Tony, who helped make the SV cable fit the adjuster from who knows what bike.
Entered Race 12(Lightweight Grand Prix). Didn't get a great start, but managed to get through turn 1 mid pack or so. I held my position in my class, and even worked through one or two of the Heavyweight Superbike guys in the first wave. Going into the bowl(major weak point for me right now), I got passed by another SV, and he carried a lot more speed through there than I did. However, I was pretty determined to get back by him, so I caught up a bit in T11, then held on to him a few bike lengths back down the front straight, and took an inside line in T1 to get in front of him. That lap, I actually went down the straight pointing at him vigorously, hoping the guys would notice and get a laugh out of it when I told them why after the race. Stayed ahead of him the rest of the race, got by a couple more HWSB guys, and finished 3rd. First "podium" position for me, after a rough 2009 race season. Again, 1:27 best lap in this race.
Sunday morning, again, skip first practice to get some tires sold, and go out in second practice. I REALLY wanted to work on T6, but had 3 laps in a row with a waving yellow coming up over the hill, because a guy crashed in the bowl. Came in on the checkered flag, not having really gotten anything out of the practice session.
Went out for Race 11, Lightweight Supersport. This race is actually 3 different races, that all go out in one wave. As it was LWSS was gridded up front, and Keith had grid position 1A, I was lined up in 1C with one bike between us. I actually almost MISSED the start, because I'm not used to being in the first wave, and still had the bike in neutral when the 1 board went sideways. Clicked into first and revved it up just as the flag dropped, which probably worked in my favor as there was no anticipation, just click, rev, go. Erik Boos(racer between me and Keith) bogged off the start, and I was alongside Keith, on the right, with my front wheel about center on his bike, length-wise. I planned to try and cut inside to get inside him for T1, but he was having trouble with his shifter, and I could see him trying to force the bike to upshift, so I stayed where I was and kept tucked in, and just out motored him to T1, taking my first ever "holeshot." I held the lead for 2-3 laps, and then had another bike in our race(#178 Ryan Nolin) pass me in T6. I tried to hold on to him for awhile, but the places where I was faster than him were slow corners, and the places where he was faster than me were fast corners, so he kept building a gap I just couldn't chip away at enough. I had no idea where Keith was though, so I kept pushing, because the last thing I wanted was to let Keith get by me in the last lap(like last year!). When I saw the (first)white flag(indicated the last lap), I saw the RSP guys and Tony signaling me that I had a gap, so I eased up a bit, but when I came onto the straight again, expecting a checkered flag, I got another white flag and signals from the guys to get it moving. Luckily, I hadn't let up on the throttle(although I was tired, so I went halfway down the straight in the same position I came out of T12 in), so I just tucked back in and went around for one more solid lap. Bunch of 27's, so I stayed consistent, and took 2nd place.
Overall, a very satisfying weekend for me, I struggled last year with not really feeling comfortable on the SV, and not really being excited to race. My relationship with the SV is improving, and I really did have a blast racing this weekend. Of course, a lot of that is thanks to my awesome teammates and our supporters. We really have a great group of people up there at the races, and that makes the whole experience so much better. Huge thanks to all our sponsors, MTAG Pirelli(duh!) and Tony's Track Days especially this weekend.
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Originally Posted by Mr. Kurtz
