0
I always say I'm going to write these reports as soon as I get home Sunday...this Round I actually brought my laptop, thinking I would write part of the report each day...before I forgot most of the details...apparently I failed...
Thursday
I signed up for my first Friday Practice ever, so headed up to the track Thursday after work. I arrived around 1030p to a very sparse paddock, a locked garage, and a serious lack of Casa de RSP in the infield. A quick call to 816 revealed that no one knew I was coming Thursday nightLuckily 434's camper had an extra bed, so I didn't have to sleep in the car...
Friday
Practice felt surprisingly good, with my laptimes slowly dropping. Only managed to get into the 25s though...so that was disappointing seeing as how my PB is 1:23.0xx. Regardless, it was great to be back experiencing post-track activities Friday night.
Saturday
Was coooooooold and windy. I waited until "2nd practice" to go out, and again was in the 25s/26s. Not pleased, but I felt decent out there. I was gridded 2nd from the wall, 2nd row, in my LWGP wave...got an OK start - but so did everyone else! If I remember correctly, 769 and I fought several times for 4th/5th until the 3rd lap...and that was the majority of the activity for this race. Keith got a lead on me, and though I kept him in sight, I couldn't reel him back in. I did pass 1 or 2 experts in the wave in front of us, so I was happy about that, and was reeling in a final expert for the last lap or two. I finally planned my attack for the exit of 12, put my head down, and motored past him about 20 feet from the start/finish...and about 5 feet later saw 226 Brett Larson somehow sneak between me and the wall and somehow motor past me, taking my 5th place by about a wheel. Final: 6th in LWGP, best lap in the 25s I think.
Sunday
Less wind = good. Practice felt better; even clicked off a couple high 24s. I was in Races 9 and 11 - hanging around all day not racing sucks... Race 9 LWSS is one I was looking forward to all winter, as I did relatively well there last year, and 769 and I usually have some good battles. I get what I thought was an awesome start, took the holeshot, but didn't accelerate as quickly as I could have through 1A and 2. As I exited T2, 769 and I made contact and I went down (T2 hates me, really). Bike spun forward, I went lateral into the airfence (which landed on top of me somehow). Though only going 50mph, my bike somehow took Kurtz's lower off before it hit the wall at nearly 10g's (thanks Qstarz for that data). Once I was sure I had stopped moving and no bikes were coming at me, I got up, saw the field of scattered debris, and just began picking up parts. Once the corner worker got my bike, I tried to re-grid...but due to the impact I couldn't move the shifter. DNS for LWSS.
Got back to the garage and the RSP and ECK guys went to town on assessing and fixing my bike as I blew off steam (wub you guys, thanks again). I had to get it tech'd again, as I was now the only person registered for AM Thunderbike --- and though I didn't want my first AM win to be due to lack of registrations, I certainly wasn't going to give up my first AM win due to a shifter! Two trips through tech and a rearset stolen off 769's SV got me on the grid for TB. I only "planned" to do a lap and a half, as that was all that'd be required for me to technically complete the race, and I was missing a windscreen and fender w/a borrowed rearset and tweaked forks...but once I got out there a switch flipped in my brain and I had to complete the race. I wasn't going to "win" my first race by bitching out - if the bike would ride w/o being dangerous, I was going to do it. So, I pressed on, actually keeping up with the back of the MW wave in which they placed me...and once I decided to not pit in I put my head down and passed the back MW bike. So technically I think I still wonBest lap in the 26s, and my first trophy.
End
After coming in from LWSS, I was literally ready to give up racing. After 20 seconds in Thunderbike, I was planning how to be ready for Round 2. This racing thing really is like some kind of sick fetish, even for the "thrifty" ones among us. Though I have plenty of crap to do otherwise, I've already spent 4 hrs working on the bike trying to get it ready for Round 2.
THANK YOU to my RSP Racing teammates, the ECK boys as well as those noobs a couple garages down...all my sponsors below, especially Tony's Track Days for the training, Sportbike Track Gear and Knox for the stuff that kept me safe, and Mad Monkey Motorsports for the awesome laptimer that allowed me to understand why my forks and fairing stay are tweaked. See yall in a couple weeks!
Reply With Quote
.
Originally Posted by brady
We'll catch up this month hopefully!
