[hessogood]

typed this up waiting for the admins to get my system up to par.



I arrived at the track late Friday afternoon, turned a few wrenches on the bike real quick then passed through tech inspection. I had the bike on rain tires at the time for transport since all my race takeoffs are on the street bikes or sold. It was quit hysterical getting the "why you got on rain tires, you know something we don't...ha ha ha!", I must say it got funnier each of the 40-something times it was said to me within about an hour.

So Saturday morning my tire distributor once again dropped the ball, leaving out the whole part that he would not be at the track, nor mentioning who would be there with my tires and support. After being up since 6:30 I finally tracked down the tires around 9 when someone said to me, I think I saw that brand over at Underground. I went over there and spoke with Rick who also was not informed of anything by our distributor, so we're both going to work on addressing that issue this week so we don't run into these problems yet again. Rick himself was a pleasure to deal with, changed the tires correctly, quickly and even set my pressures correctly and was sure to tell me where he set them and ask if I wanted them set at anything different. I'm not mentioning the brand of tires intentionally, since I'd like to have the problems corrected before I support a company, or more specifically a distributor who just can't seem to get his sh%t together.

After squaring away that whole fiasco, I had just enough time to get out for my second practice, good thing since it had been a while since I had seen the track and I couldn't make it for any trackdays, or Friday open practice. The bike, which was smooth as silk tearing around the north and south course at VIR was all over the place in practice, there was chatter hard on the breaks coming into the corners, the front was diving, the rear was way too soft, and the bike didn't settle down until far later into the corner entrance than I was comfortable with. I spoke with Peter Kates at GMD Computrack Boston at the riders meeting and had me bring the bike right over and made a bunch of adjustments to the suspension to get me through the weekend. Many thanks to him for all the time he spends helping me out, even when he's up to his eyes with work. At the end of the weekend I decided to finally send the bike home with him and get some real work done. I figured with him giving me such great support for free, I'll get something amazing for dropping him a few hundred bones.

Well after the lunch break and suspension adjustments I found myself on pre-grid. And I remembered just how much I missed this. This is my first season as an amateur and I've been very excited about it, hoping to win at least one championship. I've pre-registered for the whole season this year so I had great grid positions in all of my races. My first race, middleweight supersport went very well. I got a decent start as did Athena, I had to go far outside in turn one to try to get the holeshot but ended up on some very bumpy pavement and had to back off a bit through turn 1A. I followed behind her for a few laps running at a decent steady pace but with some speed to spare. Just about the time we started to catch site of an expert racer lagging behind their pack I was able to shoot by Athena in turn three and take lead of the race. I held first until a lap and a half from the checkered flag but was passed and was not able to pass back, for the win, but did stay right on that riders tail. On the last lap of the race Jeff Wood and Scotty Greenwood lapped by me at warp speed in turn 9 on either side. It was pretty amazing to see those guys go by just a few inches away from me, I still can't believe I'm out there racing the same track at the same time as them.

Got a quick break and it was time to get back out for my next race, heavyweight superbike. I got a great start and lead the race from for the first 4 - 5 laps. After two laps I could hear a racer close behind me and could see his shadow (or maybe it was mine?) out of the corner of my eye coming through a couple of the turns. Following me up past turn 7 I got spun up the rear tire pretty good, but the bike held it's line and stayed planted, thanks again to Peter Kates for those settings, and those great tires. Then he passed me, it was the same rider from my previous race. This time he was able to put a bit of distance on me, I think I may have backed off just a little after the slide, then got back up to pace. I ended up with a second place finish and a laptime of 1:19:30, only two tenths of a second of pace from my personal best from last season. He was running a pace somewhere in the mid 18's, though it may not seem much to some of you non-racers, one second or even half a second on pace makes a huge difference on the racetrack.

I got a nice long rest after those races before going out for the big race, the Dash for Cash, last race for Saturday, middleweight GP...'the money race'. I got another great start, took the lead in the race and was moving at a great pace. I lead the race for about 4 laps, when I was passed by that very same rider coming out of turn 12. Jim fish also pulled next to me but I was able to push by him down the front straight and put a bit more distance on him with some late breaking into turn one. I was on a great line and feeling very confident through the turn when I felt the rear tire sliding and spinning. The front tire stayed in line perfect and i was sure I could save it. I had my knee on the ground and was really pushing it hard to try to pick the bike back up but it just wouldn't grab traction and get back in line, then I heard some metal parts scraping and decided it'd be a good idea to let this thing go and take my medicine. I slid for a while on the asphalt which didn't bother me at all, but hitting the dirt pushed my bad ankle a little further than it liked and i ended up with some repairs to make and a very sore left side. When i picked up the bike I had a flat rear tire, and figured when I had the bike that low the bead eventually jumped off causing it to go flat, it turns out the next morning when I took the wheel off to get a new tire mounted I found a big hole clean through about the diameter of a pen cap. I must have picked up a screw or nail on the track unfortunately. That explains why I wasn't able to save the crash.

I got a fresh rear tire mounted in time to make my second practice session. I scrubbed the tire in at a pretty slow pace and my ankle was really sore so I didn't push a very fast pace. I decided right there to take it easy in may afternoon races. I got out for the heaveyweight supersport race started with a good grid but put in a horrible start. I was not in any condition to go out 100% and I didn't want to push past it and get myself or anyone else hurt. I went into turn one in about 8th place, and after a few laps i picked up a spot and worked on the next. I wasn't able to make a pass before the end of the race, another lap and I would have had it, but I was about a foot off of the next racers rear tire when we came across the finish line. I think I ended in 6th or 7th place, but in sub-par condition I was satisfied with that. Another quick break and I was back out on the grid for the unlimited GP race. I got a decent start, going into the first turn in 3rd place and made a quick move to get into second and give chase to the leader. He had a bit too much distance on me and continued to pull away, more so since I was off my pace and still not up for going close to 100%. I pushed that race at a safe and comfortable pace without trying to be a superhero and ended in second place by a longshot.

Overall it was a great weekend to kick off the season, and I'm happy with my performance, all except for the crash, which can't really be blamed on anyone. Great to see everyone up at the track, and great to be back out there racing. I'm off to deals gap in N.C. next week for vacation and then it's straight back to the track. I certainly have a lot of work to do at the gym, not having any free time over the winter with school I'm far out of shape and need to get back to the gym. Mostly upperbody which is extremely sore today, so hopefully I can get some training done on that, and get my ankle to heal up a bit so i can get out there hard at the next races and try to turn those second place finishes into firsts.

[OreoGitorio]

good read, bro... ya looked killer out there. It was great watching you battle it up in the money race from turn 3, it's a shame ya got a puncture but i'm glad you're pretty much alright.

[HBerry]

w00t

[gixxer6]

NEVER seen anything like that bro..that hole looked like it was made by a 1/2" lag bolt!!! Aaaah sooo...me get big hole in tiyaaaa....tiyaa go BOOOM!!! Jay go boom...

I think you left out the part where you slid on your knee trying to push the bike back up was actually a flat track maneuver you learned from James....hahahaa....thats classic...but hey, it worked for me...only I ran over my own stupid foot in the process...

[HBerry]

I still cannot grasp how you were able to run your foot over? Were you running behind the bike or what?

Oh and to answer your question, I checked on the way home and for the past 1000 miles I have been averaging exactly 28 MPG in my car.

[gixxer6]

Well, I came out of T12 way too slow, so I spun the rear..it lowsided but my knee was already dragging from the exit of the corner anyhow...my knee puck allowed my leg to slide between the front and rear wheels....the bike was still moving so when I cut the throttle to stand it up it ran my foot over...hehee...then it highsided and shot me upwards..I hit the seat facing straight and mashed the gas...end of story..

28MPG!!! YOU SUK..I got 11 last night with my trailer...

[a13x]

Damn flat tire!
Good racing man.

[Paul_E_D]

Tire failure is scary stuff. Glad you made out OK on that deal. Did the bike hit the curbing?

I sorta doubt there was a nail or screw on the track. They keep a pretty close eye on that. I guess it's possible, but you would likely have seen it before you hit it.

It seems more likely to have had a manufacturing defect, or damage during installation, or possibly damage after the crash. It's not likely to become clear, but again, glad you didn't get hurt too badly.

I watched a few of your races. Looking good.

[OreoGitorio]

for anyone that hasn't seen the hole in his tire, take a look if you can.... it's friggin unreal. It's like someone shot it w/ a friggin .50 cal

[hessogood]

The bike and i both missed the curbing, and there was no dirt or debris on the left side when the cornerworker and I picked up the bike. It was a pretty clean hole through the tire so I'm making the assumption I went over something either on the straight or coming into the corner, of course I have no way to be sure if that's the case, or what I may have hit. I'll snap some pictures when i get home later tonight.

This crash was a lot different from all the others I've had, it was clean and controlled, and I never paniced or tenseed up to push the front. It slid for a while and I tried to get it back in line, eventually the rear just gave out, I heard the rim scraping and let it go. Then Igot to stare at Jim Fish taking the turn....that would have been an awesome camera angle, gotta thank Jim for not running me over.

Felt good on the track but I'm still not consistantly on the lines I want to be and not riding quite the position I'm looking for in all the corners. Sometimes i get certain turns just perfect but I by the time I come around again, I can't pinpoint what i did to get the bike there. A little more practice and some more races and hopefully I can get on track and keep the times dropping.

[SVRACER01]

Originally posted by Paul_E_D


I sorta doubt there was a nail or screw on the track. They keep a pretty close eye on that. I guess it's possible, but you would likely have seen it before you hit it.

coulda picked it up in the pits and then came out on the track

[bentbryan]

We had a decent view of your crash Jay. Spectacular! I counted two flips for the bike and I think you musta rolled over 3 or 4 times! Glad to see you came out ok.

[hessogood]

Originally posted by bentbryan
We had a decent view of your crash Jay. Spectacular! I counted two flips for the bike and I think you musta rolled over 3 or 4 times! Glad to see you came out ok.

wow, I thought it was an easy crash. Felt like I was on teh asphalt forever, just never slowed down till I hit that damn dirt.