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This race report will be a bit shorter than the past few; not a whole lot to report, my final weekend of 2012 and first weekend in the Expert class was rather uneventful.
Arrived Thursday afternoon, early enough to set up before dark, which was nice. Helped(supervised, really) Mike Weyant(434) install his flat slide carbs, then helped some friends with some last minute repair/prep for Friday, which had me up a bit later than normal. Returned to the trailer to find a deflated air mattress; waking up 4 times between 1-6am to inflate it was not a good start to my weekend(thanks Mike for picking me a replacement up Friday).
Peddled some tires and did practice Friday, doing all but one session on the Kawi. I brought up both my SV650 and Pang's EX650(which he loaned me for this race weekend). My one session on my SV saw me matching the times I was doing on the EX, even though I had been riding the EX exclusively for the past few days on track. With no clear advantage to riding the EX, I would be faced with a tough decision regarding which bike to race; the bike with better setup and thus more potential to go faster easier, or the lesser bike which I owned and would not feel restrained on. Tabled that internal debate and hung out Friday night.
Saturday practice; nothing to report, except I decided I'd be riding the SV for better or worse this weekend. Was reg'ed for Race 8 (Lightweight Grand Prix), and as it began sprinkling during the break between 7-8, I was optimistic. When it began pouring at the end of that break, I realized that I would not have time to mount my rains, and decided to sit this one out.
Saturday night was the most fun I've had at a race weekend all season(off the track). Started out with a BBQ in the RSP/ECK/G2 area of the Center garages, which saw the surprise arrival of Keith Draghi(769) with Emily Butler's surprise new Honda Hawk! Eventually we all suited up in our Halloween costumes and headed over to T1A for the Low Down Racing Halloween party. By this time I was draining my second Four Loko, so I have to take everyone's word for it when they say it was a fun time. My clearest memories of the night are rolling up in the van with the team and all our supporters in elf costumes in Bill's temporarily renamed "Free Candy Sleigh," and then being carted back to our garage in the Sleigh by Kristen Morey(thanks again!). Great times to cap off a great season!
Sunday morning brought reminders that I had made two bets regarding my two Sunday races; in Lightweight Superbike I wagered Chuck Boucher(565) of ECK Racing that I'd beat him; the loser would wear a t shirt over their leathers during LWSB in Round 1 of 2013 that said "I am _____'s bitch." I lost, and Chuck's lovely wife Annalisa Boucher will be making me what is sure to be a very classy and understated t shirt to wear in April. Finished 21 of 27 with a best lap of 23.0.Next up was Lightweight Supersport, where I had wagered Keith Draghi one US dollar that I would beat him. The specific dollar I wagered him is one I won in a bet with David Kagan a few years back, which I have carefully carried with me ever since. Keith got ahead of me at the start, and held that lead the entire race. Finished 11 of 13, best lap of 1:22.5, my slowest weekend best since Round 4.
All in all, my race weekend was not quite what I had hoped for, but I am lucky to share the paddock with some great people, and that always ensures a good time. With the 2012 race season now at an end, I'd like to thank everyone who helped make it a fun one: my teammates, my friends and fellow competitors, all their families, all our friends who come up to watch/cheer us on/help out. Even more so than the racing, you all make these weekends some of the best times anyone could ask for.
I've got a laundry list of repairs, upgrades and maintenance for my SV over the winter, plus I'll be continuing to train physically, so I'm looking forward to the 2013 season.
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