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Well I went into Round 7 with a freshly built and dyno'd motor in the SV that was making more than the 40HP that I had been swinging with all season. I came into this season with a PB of 1:25.1and a goal for myself of hitting low 1:22's and up until now that goal looked like it wasnt going to be reached. I arrived at the track Thurs night and got set up in the garage and in the infield for the tent. I found Mike Kurtz and Tony in the Pirelli garage. Kurtz was loosing to Tony at chess,badly(again!). I happened to have a deck of cards in my bag and we dug up some valve stem caps for chips and along with Dave Pang proceeded to drink and play Poker. Tony won that too!
Friday morning was warm and inviting and I was anxious to see what I could actually do on the SV with 70+HP took the first session easy. getting aquainted with the bike. the second session I went out with no plan, just rip on it and see what happens. it felt amazing! It pulled like I had been dreaming about all season although it did have a stumble in 4th 5th and 6th gears. It wasnt until lunch was almost over that I remembered I had been running my QStarz. I wasnt gonna pull data but for shits and giggles I decided to check it out and found that I had run a new unofficial PB lap of 1:21.16 among a multitude of other 21's and 22's in the second session! I was vindicated and my goal had been achieved, sort of. I was happy but wouldnt be content until this time was official. the rest of the day was pretty uneventful. some troubleshooting for the stumble and some pretty mellow afternoon sessions. I cant wait till racing begins tomorrow!
Sat came with the expected rain. Rain tires went on and I went out for first practice only to find that my front rain wheel had a bend in it. back to the garage. fortunately my teammate Dan was coming up and was bringing his rains in case anyone needed them. phew just in case Kurtz was awesome to swap my rain onto the wheel my DOT was on so I could make 2nd practice. In second practice I turned the fast lap in Practice with a 1:27.16 wow this is gonna be a good day. My only race was LWGP. Still on rain tires with a mostly dry racing line hoping for a downpour. I got what was probably the best start of my AM career with a bit of a wheelie and went into T1 in 5th place and picked off Dave Pang on his Monster. Got a solid drive low out of T2 and picked off Hildebrand and then got around Greenwood around the outside thru T3. By the time I was coming out of T6 I was firmly planted on Sav's ass just waiting to get around him. I got the fast line thru 12 and attempted to get on the throttle early to get by him into T1 and my rear end stepped out and I highsided. I managed to get the bike back up and after a quick assessment I continued on and managed to finish the race, in dead last, but I finished. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWjc...Y_QCkZY8aCKMsA minor repairs were needed and the bike was GTG for Sun. Sat night was a blast with the antics of the pit bike race followed by the Butlers Center Garages BBQ, Thanks again had a blast!!, followed by the antics of the LDR/T1A Halloween Party and a way too convincing cross dresser. Everyone seeemed to have a blast, I know I did!!
Sun morning I woke up a bit sore but ready to go. It was warm and sunny and DRY! after what I had managed to do yesterday before I crashed I was really excited for what this day could bring. My parents and a couple friends who had never been to the track were all coming up today to watch and this prob gave me some push to put on a good showing. Practice went well I started out slow and pushed harder with each lap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW_9...Y_QCkZY8aCKMsA Sundays races were a blur beginning with LWSB I got another great start and came out of T2 in 4th place behind Sav Harlan and Sam and managed to hang on with them until late in the race where between lap traffic and some pretty ballsy passes when I was able to pass them and cross the line in 2nd behind Sav with a best lap of 1:21.8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCfL...aCKMsA&index=3
Next up was LWSS and it was oddly enough almost a carbon copy of LWSB working my way from 4th off the start up thru Sam and Harlan to a 2nd place finish with my new current official PB of 1:20.6! even better than my unofficial best 1:21.1 from friday.
Thunderbike was my last race of the season and I got held up behind a couple of ducatis between myself and Sav but again late in the race some lap traffic and late on the brakes passing got me by and thru and I had almost caught back up to Sav for another 2nd place finish. If only there had been 1 more lap...lol
This was quite an up and down season for me from 4 Nov wins in April and May get me a bump to AM to spending the next 4 rounds chasing the back of the pack on a bike with 40 HP to making a solid comeback in Round 7 to end the season.
Over all I finished 38th of 122 Amateurs for the season
LWGP I am tied for 9th with 72 points for the season
LWSS I finished in 4th with 85 points
LWSB I finished in 7th with 76 points
Thunderbike I finished in 6th with 66 points
4 top 10 finishes for the year is amazing considering that I was chasing the back of the pack for 4 out of 5 rounds that I was an AM! I cannot wait for my first full season as an Amateur in 2015 and certainly have my sights set on some hardware and hopefully a championship or 2.
Huge thanks to all of the Staff, Cornerworkers, Safety crews and the racers of the LRRS! I got tons of support and encouragement from all of you this season and from friends and family and I just cannot thank you all enough. Thanks go out to all of my sponsors listed below for their support as well and I hope to see alot of you all next year for some more amazing Northeast 2-wheeled action!! dont slip and fall on ice and dont blow your backs out shoveling and Ill see you in April.
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Originally Posted by csmutty
