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Saturday - Race 3 – my first GTL since my rookie season, my 4th EX race ever, and hopefully my first EX race where I won’t DNF or come in dead last. 18 people on the grid, I’m in 4A. GT races are 25 minutes now…ugh! AND we have a new starter.
I get a pretty good start, I think 7th into T1 behind 39 Chuck Boucher of ECK fame. I keep him in sight for a while, but I am exhausted by 9 minutes in. Eventually get passed by 201 Jake Vader (now sporting white plates and a new suit) after checking up slightly as Chuckles took the NASCAR 1-2, and later by 534 Steve Heider. Getting really fatigued now – and entirely screwing up my body position. I was carrying all my weight on my arms in the corners, and it was taking its toll. I became lap traffic for the top three riders (91, 6, 95) at some point. Eventually finish in 9th place – so I was pretty stoked about a top 10 EX finish. Laptimes were only in the 22s, but very consistently so – a 22 outlap, followed by six more 22s, a string of 22/23 mixes, and my final lap was 1:21.945 (because I was actively racing someone, instead of all alone like I had been most of the race). That’s always my problem – if I’m not racing anyone, I’m not actually getting better.
Race 8 – LWGP. Gridded in 5B out of 21 bikes. Get a good launch, but there are 1000 bikes going into T1 it seems! This meatgrinder was actually kinda fun thoughGet passed a couple times, and end up with a 15th place finish. Consistent 23s, with a best lap of only 1:22.837, which was two seconds behind Chuckles and anyone else that finished ahead of me. Again spent most of this race by myself, and with poor body position, so I wasn’t getting any better. Not upset at the finish, considering the top 13 finishers were all running laptimes faster than my own PB!
Sunday – Race 8 – LWSS. Gridded 3B, to RSP teammate Mike Kurtz #86’s right, and directly behind 2012 ROTY 820 Adam Butler. Green flag flies, I get a great jump, and immediately have to check up because Adam is riding the bull at a country bar. His wheelies touched all the available directions – forward, right, and left – so no pre-flag planning could have helped. After he tamed the beast, we tried catching the rest of the pack (I’m now dead last), and I shift directly into…neutral. And since I was focused on the rodeo I just watched, I had no wherewithal to realize what I’d done for about 2 seconds. I finally catch up to the pack in T1, and pass Adam on the brakes into T3, on either the first or second lap. Now I’m chasing that pesky #86. Some off-season training, a new front end, and some fancy GSXR bodywork seem to have given Mr. Kurtz some extra oomph. I gave him a colonoscopy for 6 or 7 solid laps, but could never complete a pass. Multiple times I pulled next to him in T1, T3, T4, T6, T9, and did my best to not rear end him in the front chicane, but to no avail. We even became lap traffic for some motards in the wave behind us – one passed under me in 6 but couldn’t get around Kurtz…I then passed him back, only to be repassed by #32 Alex Guilbeault (who ALSO could not defeat Kurtz’s masterful racecraft). In the end, finished 9th with laps in the 23s.
All in all, a good first weekend. The weather was great for April in NH (60s and 70s and sunny). I ran a ton of consistent laps, kept it rubber-side down, actually got to race people for a little bit today, and had a ton of fun catching up with friends and meeting some new ones. The awards ceremony Saturday evening was fun as always. The only negatives on the weekend were getting late starts both days, and the horrible traffic on 84 tonight (and, of course, some better lap times would be nice!).
Thanks to all my RSP Racing teammates – including those who came up just to support us in person and those getting live updates remotely!...all our sponsors Tony's Track Days / MTAG-Pirelli / Woodcraft / Dyno Solutions / Sport Bike Track Gear / Knox / Brunetto T-Shirts / 434 Racer Parts / Mad Monkey Motorsports / MOTUL / GMD CompuTrack…all the members of RSP Nation, our pit crew and fans that came up to visit, support, cheer, and help…and the ECK, G2, and LDR peeps, as well as all my/our other LRRS family for the laughs and support. Love being back at the track!
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Originally Posted by tsorfas
