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Race Report – RSP Racing #29
LRRS Round 4
Arrival
This was going to be an interesting weekend. I had made some changes to the bike after last weekends crash, including a gearing change however I had a friend’s wedding to attend on Friday so I wouldn’t be able to do practice. I drove to the New Hampshire and dropped off the trailer and bike, drove to Maine for the wedding (congrats Judi and Travis!), and drove back to New Hampshire for 1am Saturday morning in hopes of getting the remainder of the work done to the bike.
Saturday Practice
Saturday morning saw me tearing down the bike again to install a new clutch as I was still fighting some issues with it that have plagued me the entire year. I got the new clutch installed about 10 minutes before first practice so I ran to my trailer to gear up while my teammate Adam Butler (#820) buttoned up the bike (thanks Adam!). I discovered as I got ready to go out that in my haste I did not check my front warmer and it wasn’t on. Thankfully after last round I now check the warmers by hand every time I go out so at least I was prepared.
I couldn’t really push so instead I rolled around for a few laps, trying to get a feel for the clutch, and did three practice starts where I discovered that the clutch was slipping under heavy throttle. The cable needed adjustment.
Back to the pits and made the adjustment in time for 2nd practice. I turned some decent laps and noted that the “slipper” part of the clutch was now working properly upon downshifts, but the clutch was still slipping under power in 1st and 2nd gear. Well, no time to worry about that now, my first race wasn’t that far away.
GTU
Started in the front row, outside. My all-time favorite starting position. The slip in my clutch made starting challenging and I wasn’t as quick as my normal starts and so went into T1 right where I was gridded; 4th place behind Alex Guilbeault (#32).
The front two moved off into the sunset while I was all over the back of Alex’s wheel as he seemed to be struggling for grip. I finally seized my opportunity to make a pass stick going into turn 6 on the 3rd lap which moved me up into 3rd. Other than passing some Amateur traffic the rest of my race was pretty uneventful. The race ended early due to a red flag at the mid-way point. I did manage to lay down a new personal best lap on lap 4 after I got clear of Alex but still the 15’s eluded me!
Outlap: 1:21.293
Best lap: 1:16.003
Finish: 3rd out of 7
MWGP – The Dash for Cash
Gridded in 3D. Not great but at least I was on the outside which I prefer. I got a mediocre start and went into T1 in 9th place which I held until Tim Barber (#46) took me on the outside of T11 of the first lap. Serves me right for leaving the door open.
I watched with dismay as every time we got to a straight, my tired GSXR would lose ground to the faster bikes. I managed to stay with Tim for quite a few laps but he would gain a couple of bike lengths every lap under power. I had begun to reel him in and was only 4-5 bike lengths behind him on lap 7 when the race was ended due to a red flag. I can’t honestly say if I would have gotten around him as he was riding very well today and he is extremely capable of riding defensively if I show my hand and let him know I was there too soon.
Outlap: 1:20.241
Best Lap: 1:16.160
Finish: 10th out of 16
Saturday Night
My usual time with friends was a bit rushed as I got the family to dinner with some of the team and friends and then went into Concord to visit my friend and fellow racer Chuck Boucher (#39) at the hospital as he had a bad crash earlier in the day. He was in great spirits and his wife Annalisa was there to keep him company so I said my farewells and went back to the track to get some much needed sleep.
Sunday Practice
Not much to report except that I made both practices and despite dealing with the slipping clutch issue I still managed to click off some low 16’s which is great for me in practice. I was feeling very positive however the weather would have other ideas.
Middleweight SuperBike
Mother nature came down with a vengeance about an hour before we were to start racing with some torrential rain. Race control made the wise decision to put all racing on hold, pending weather.
I had already made the decision to not race in the rain as I wasn’t in this bracket for points and I had races later in the day that would require my full attention so instead I busied myself helping others getting their rain tires on (and off, and on, and off). Finally, after a 3 hour delay the weather broke and the track sent out the jet dryer. They gave us a 20 minute warning and since the sun had already peaked out and there was a good breeze I made the gamble to race and go out on DOT tires. I am very glad that I did!
There was already a dry line in most spots on our sighting lap and I looked at some of the other bikes on the grid with rains mounted and felt some pangs of sympathy.
Gridded in 2A, again my slipping clutch yielded a mediocre start and I went into T1 in 5th. Everyone was a bit tentative as there were still some damp and outright wet spots on the track. Riley Rodgers (#48) got around me on the outside of T11 (ok, enough of that. Adjusting my line and brake markers) and I was pushed back into 6th where I would stay for the remainder of the race. The good news is that despite my inability to drive forward under power, 3rd through 6th place were only a few bike lengths apart when we crossed the finish line.
Outlap: 1:25.484
Best Lap: 1:17.422
Finish: 6th out of 18
Middleweight SuperSport
Gridded in 2C I had another poor start and went into T1 in 5th right behind this weekend’s nemesis; Riley Rodgers (#48) and Tim Barber (#46). I managed to keep both of them in sight despite being horribly gapped on every straight but I am sad to say that I never presented a real threat to either as I was doing all that I could just to make up all the ground I was losing under power. Thus I was incredibly surprised to hear upon returning to the pits that after over a year of striving, I had finally made it into the 15’s! A new PB which I actually hit 3 times during this race.
Outlap: 1:20.471
Best Lap: 1:15.922
Finish: 5th out of 11
Formula 40
Gridded in 2A again I got a decent start and slotted into T1 in 3rd place which I felt was decent considering most bikes are 1000cc here. I managed to get around Jim Rich (#62) going into T3 on the 2nd lap and immediately put the hammer down trying to catch up with race leader John Van Lenten (#69) which I managed to do by the end of the same lap.
I stayed with him in the turns and was right on his rear wheel and planning my assault when it began to rain. We had just crossed the half-way mark when I got sideways coming out of T2 and nearly highsided.
Dennis Levesque (#17) was behind me and had the same troubles and unfortunately a little further back, Jim Rich (#62) did highside in that same spot causing a red flag which ended the race.
I feel confident that I could have pulled off a win in this race however as it was already the last race of the day and raining, I was happy to take my 2nd place and not have to risk going out in the terrible conditions. Thankfully Jim’s injuries seemed to be minor.
Outlap: 1:21.339
Best lap: 1:16.354
Finish: 2nd out of 7
In Closing
What an incredible weekend! Finally getting into the 15’s feels like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. I know that there is more time to be had but I have serious concerns over my underpowered GSXR. I spend a lot of time each lap trying to make up ground that is lost under acceleration; a situation that was amplified by my slipping clutch this round. Still, I will take my victory and smile since it was a long time coming.
I would like to take a moment to wish well all of the racers that had incidents this past weekend. For some reason Saturday was filled with crashes (we actually had to halt racing at one point because we were out of ambulances on site). Speedy recoveries to all my friends and fellow racers!
My most heartfelt thanks go out to my team, friends, sponsors, and family for your support. Having you there to share with my joy means the world to me. Special thanks to my wife Erin who continues to put up with me on a daily basis
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