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Race Report – LRRS Rd3 – 6/14/13
The 90th Loudon Classic
Pre-Race
I flew into Connecticut on Wednesday night intending to get straight to the track to attempt to fix my poor SV which was left in a wrecked state after round 2’s huge crash. This was not to be as my youngest son had a school play and since I miss 80% of his life at this point there was no way I was going to miss it. The play was great but I got home late and simply went to bed.
I was going to leave first thing in the morning on Thursday but FedEx had other ideas and did not deliver the Yoshimura R-77D exhaust that I needed for my SV on Wednesday like they were supposed to. I ended up getting to the track around 5pm and spent the next 10 hours frantically throwing parts at my SV in an attempt to get it road-worthy in time for Friday’s racing. Normally I would have an extra day however the races start on Friday of the Loudon Classic and run for 3 days.
There was a further sense of urgency because we were intending on using my bike for the 3 hour team endurance race which was to take place Friday afternoon.
Through a minor miracle and HUGE efforts on the part of my teammates from RSP Racing and our very own Pit Boss Eric Reiter, we were able to get the SV into some semblance of running at around 3am on Friday. I went to bed and grabbed a few hours of much needed sleep.
I should add that I am still recovering from a fractured wrist incurred at the last race weekend which would play a major part in my weekend.
Friday Practice
Not much to report here, I was simply feeling out the bike to make sure that everything was working properly. I managed to click off a low 1:19 which I thought was pretty good considering I only had time for 3 laps and my overall physical condition was poor. This was the first time on a motorcycle since my crash last round and I discovered two very important things about my right wrist: I was unable to rotate the throttle to full open in a single move. I had to rotate, readjust my grip, and rotate the rest of the way which meant it took a full second to reach full throttle every time I wanted to twist the grip, and also that after approximately 5 minutes of riding my right hand went completely numb. This would make for some interesting racing…
GTL
I was gridded in 2C, got a decent start and made it into T1 in 6th place. I passed someone on the outside of T1 and moved into 5th, right into the pack of front runners with Glenn Coolbeth (#95) right in front of me. I knew that I was off pace due to injury but if I could stick with Glenn he would drag me back into the 17’s. I stuck with them for the entire first lap until the exit of turn 12 (going back onto the straight) where I nearly highsided. Correction: I highsided, I just happened to land back on the bike and was able to keep going but not before it cost me a ton of time. I was so far off the bike that my helmet hit my front number plate, feet above my head.
This reminded me that I needed this bike to run the endurance race and I dialed it back to make sure that I didn’t cost my endurance team their shot before we even got started.
I did get to dice with Chuck Boucher (#39) for quite a bit who tried three times to take me in the chute of turn three. Each time I went back up the inside and kept my position. This was fun, but exhausting and my wrist was killing me. Still, I made it to the end and all things considered I am happy with my finish.
Finish: 7th out of 17
Best Lap: 1:19.226
Outlap: 1:24.398
Endurance Race
This was a new event for the classic, and something that I have wanted to do since I began racing years ago. This was to be a team event; we were told 4 riders which they changed to three the day of the race. Rather than complicate matters we decided it would be much more fun to stick with our original team. Each team was required to have at least one Amateur rider as well which really added some spice to the mix.
Our original team was to be myself, Mike Kurtz, and Bill Coolahan of RSP with an Amateur to be announced however the day before the event, Bill Cool managed to break his ankle so we had to find a replacement. We decided to pick up friend and fast guy Chuck Boucher (#39) from ECK racing and for our Amateur we chose Savvas Kosmidis (#508) who was pitting with us this round and was running his very first weekend as an amateur.
We were also allowed a pit crew which was not only awesome and fun, we had some amazing people to help out: Eric (our Pit Boss), Heath, Mike Randi, Josh, and Brian. We set up an EZ-UP on hot pit, rolled a bunch of tools, water, C12 fuel, and a spare wheel/tire and prepared to race.
Each rider had to do a minimum of 30 minutes of seat time so it was decided that I would start things off to try to build us a lead. I got a great start and very quickly discovered that the resident fast guy teams were running stock bikes for this so I had a horsepower advantage which was a very pleasant change from my normal runs. I was thrilled to pass ultra-fast guys Rick Doucette (#6/#1) and Seth Hahn (#91) on lap 2 so I put my head down and just concentrated on running smooth and predictable laps. We weren’t really pushing at all since the race was so long, the key was steady laps at a moderate pace.
That was the plan anyway, until I crashed out of first place on lap 4 in turn 9. I washed the front, I can only assume that I was heavy on the bars with my numb right hand (I couldn’t tell, couldn’t feel anything). I went down hard, crashing on my left side and slid down the rocky hill in T9. Utterly pissed that I cost my team the event on only the 4th lap I hauled the bike up from the dirt (later discovering I screwed my wrist further), got it fired up and rode it dirt-style up the hill and back onto the track. I couldn’t shift so I ran it to the pits as quickly as I could and handed the bike over to our pit crew.
These guys were AMAZING and utterly saved the race for us. They got a new rearset and shift lever on, fixed the clutch and bars, and got me back out on the track in less than 10 minutes.
I went out for another 20 minutes, rolling around in the 1:20s and came in to swap with our other riders. Three hours later, after some FANTASTIC riding by the entire team to make up for my mistake, we finished the race in third which considering we lost 10 minutes due to my crash was simply amazing. Savvas had never ridden a SV before and no one had ridden my bike before. Chuck also had to deal with some rain while on slicks and he managed an excellent ride and kept it upright. Kurtz was a machine, putting down very steady laps which made up much needed time against our competition.
I ended up running the last 25 minutes to try to make up some laps but I wasn’t able to close the deal. With three laps to go my seat dropped a few inches after hitting a bump in T10. The rear got squirrely (I must have goosed the throttle with my numb hand but I had no idea) so I was wondering if I blew a shock seal and had oil on my rear tire. All I needed to do was finish the race to secure third so I rode the remaining three laps entirely on the pegs in the mid-20’s. It turns out that I snapped the sub-frame, causing the seat to drop.
All in all, I can say that I think this was one of the most fun races I have had to date despite my crash. I was battered and utterly sore but grinning from ear to ear. This is definitely a race I will be doing at every opportunity. HUGE THANKS to my teammates and pit crew. Third place was entirely their doing.
Saturday Practice
The SV was broken, I didn’t have a spare subframe available and it would have required a ton of reworking of my current configuration anyway. I ended up having to take a mechanical and withdraw from my remaining lightweight races for the weekend.
I did a little practice on the GSXR, just enough to make sure that I could still ride it since I hadn’t been on it at all. I turned some 1:17s in practice which I thought was great and put it away until the last race of the day.
Middleweight Grand Prix (The Loudon Classic)
This was the premier event of the weekend and had been increased from its normal 12 laps to 20 laps for the day.
I was gridded somewhere in the back but got a fantastic start and ended up going into T1 somewhere in the top 10. I stuck with a bunch of fast guys for a bit until the race was red flagged. We sat on the grids while they sorted things out and went out again for the restart. We didn’t even make it one lap and the race was red flagged again. Third time was the charm and we got going for the duration. I actually got a pretty good start and did my best but the GSXR is so much more physically demanding than the SV, my fitness was rapidly becoming an issue as was my inability to reach full throttle quickly which absolutely killed my lap times. I wasn’t able to get below 1:17 so I just did my best to make it through the race.
I did this, although I cant say I am pleased with my performance I was pleased and relieved to make it through the event. My right hand was so swollen from this I thought I was going to have to cut my glove off, I had to wait a few minutes for swelling to go down before I could remove it.
Finish: 17th out of 25
Best Lap: 1:17.328
Outlap: 1:23.617
Sunday Practice
Three whole laps. Low 18’s. Yippee.
Middleweight Supersport
I don’t remember much of this race other than I had fun and was very thankful it was an 8 lap sprint. Even so, we had two red flags early on. I diced with Christian for a little bit as we were both held up by someone who escapes me at the moment. Christian got past him and checked out, I was unable to in my current condition.
Finish: 11th out of 16
Best Lap: 1:18.715
Outlap: 1:21.203
In Closing
This was a very bittersweet weekend for me. My physical condition prevented me from reaching any new goals, it was all I could do to finish races. I have to hope that my wrist will continue to heal as I cannot take time out of the season for surgery. The endurance race was awesome beyond words which only adds to the bittersweet revelation that I simply do not have the time to run two brackets, especially with a bike that requires constant attention. Flying in the day before the event, fixing a bike, racing, trashing a bike all over again simply cannot continue.
It is with that in mind that I have decided to give up my lightweight campaign for 2013. It is a very difficult decision as I love my SV and I am far more competitive on it than I am on my middleweight, however the ease of showing up and turning a key to race needs to take precedence at this point with the limited time that I have to invest in bike wrenching.
I am hoping that my situation will allow me to pick up Lightweight again in 2014, we will have to see.
I am hoping that at some point during my 2013 campaign I will actually show up to a weekend and be physically fit and have a working race bike. So far I have not had much luck.
As always I have to thank my sponsors listed in my sig below, my race team, friends, family, and fans who showed up to watch the spectacle. Huge thanks to my wife who was up there to support me despite the fact that it was her birthday! Best wife ever!
Pictures from the race weekend can be found here.
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99 + 02 SV650 ex-race - 91 FJ1200 street - 03 KDX220R woods - 12 WR450F motard/ice
