What a mixed bag of emotions this weekend ... almost hard to be excited about personal accomplishments when sure a tragic event happens. Although I did not know Scott, it does hit home, and makes you think. Thoughts and prayers to his loved ones through this difficult time.


Friday:
Got up to Loudon, bought new boots (Sidi Vertigo Corsa), got gas, set up pit and started getting ready for practice. I have several goals this practice, with number 1 being getting a good drive down the straight and hit 5th gear, and carry more speed through 1. In the riders meeting we heard about torn pavement in 11a, which was patched ... but "i wouldn't go over it" says Eric and Jerry Wood ... haha, great!

I started out with short shifting on my exit of 12 to get used to down shifting twice into turn 1. This took a couple laps to get used to. Once I got that down and comfortable, I started to increase my drive out of 12 and shift as normal but forcing myself into 5th gear, which pushed me past my comfort break marker. All was good, I survived each time and got more comfortable. I started to feel like I was carrying more speed into 1, still not amazing, but better.

Saturday:
Practice:
Just worked on getting close to race pace ... this is important for me. I want to be able to be close to my pace in practice, just as if it was a race. I was over a second off, but getting closer.

GTO (6th/8):
After the third restart we were able to finally get the race started. This was a tough one to get into for me, after 2 restarts I was kind of taken out mentally. Came up on two accidents in turn 3, on two seperate starts, plus the wait on pregrid ... just took me out of it. I got an ok start, and soon lost some ground. I kind of rode around in the front of a group for a while, then they started picking me off on the last couple laps. I had free track for the last two and clicked off 1:21s. .006 apart ... small victory. Another small victory was that I was able to put a pass on someone on the outside of 8. This is strong part of the track for me and I catch alot of people here, but don't go by. When I got behind this person through 6 I just kept telling myself pass him in 8, almost yelling at myself, I said "Pass him in 8!", so I romped on the throttle out of 7 took the outside line and went by so quick ... I even said "woo wee!" in my helmet as I went by!

MWSS (12th/23):
I believe I was 3rd going into turn 1, but got over taken in 2 ... once again. I was able to drop right into the 22s on my 2nd lap, which I am happy about. I was able to see the front group for a couple laps, which is getting better. I got passed in 2 and up 4 a couple times, and its also where people pull on me .. ugh, very frustrating! Ran in consistent laps, 22s, low 23s, 22s, then a 21 at the last lap. If I can improve my first lap (currently 26s), and be more consistent with my times I would have much better finishes.

After my races, I watched the video erin took of me in turns 1, 1a and 2. Not too bad through the first section, but holy cow ... my drive out of 2 is AWFUL! Too see it on tape made me cringe. You just see EVERYONE catch me, or pull from me there. It was good to see, never thought it was THAT bad. The same goes for turn 4, as Arcy has been telling me. So Sunday morning, new goal ... drive out of 2. We went over turn 2 and watched the MWGP (Dash) from there ... what an education!!! To watch the fast guys drive out of there gave me much more knowledge and confidence on how much throttle you can really give through there.

Sunday:
Practice:
This is the one long practice day, so this is my only chance to work. I get my warm up lap done, and put my head down. I continue to work on my enterance to turn 1, making sure I carry speed, and continue the momentum through 1a into 2, and getting on the gas sooner and more aggressively. This feel much better, better corner speed in addition to sooner and harder throttle application. I focus on that for about 5 laps, then start to focus on turns 3 and 4. I worked on this, but still couldn't get consistant with my throttle application up 4, it felt good when I did it right, but couldn't do it every lap. I also worked on my none existant line through turn 6 ... felt like I made progress per my conversation with Dave about what to look for. I came up on traffic near the end and was able to practice some passes. I was third fastest in practice ... this was a personal best and ran a whole ton of 23s less then .5 seconds apart. Very pleased with this for being a 8am practice.

Best quote of the day:
Me: "Hey Erin, how did I look through 1, 1a and 2"
Erin: "You could be faster"

hahahhah


MWSB (8th/22):
Top ten! Yay! First lap a 25.8 ... getting better! Jumped into the 22s again on lap 2 then the 21s (less then .5 apart) for 4 laps! This was a lonely race for me, the front group got off good from the start. I never got passed in turn 2 at the start though! I think I maintained 6th for alot of the race. Got passed in 6 and out of 10, and finished up in my 8th place. I'll take it. I was consistent and didn't get passed in turn 2!

HWSS (8th/15):
Gridded 8th .. 8th into turn 1. I get a 21.9 on my 2nd lap (yay!), but a 27 on the first lap (boo!). I get passed and I follow Christian Cronin (225) around and just can't get around him ... very defensive lines. Dan Martin (486) gets by me on lap 4 and now its a 3 way fight for 8th. Dan and Christian swap positions a couple times and I look for my window. We all come into 3, and Dan and Christian try to out break eachother, Dan gets pushed wide and I dive up the inside. He catches me into 6 and I follow him around and make chase down the front straight. We all head into 1, and I set up and make an outside pass in 1a on Dan, and get a good drive out of 2 and chase down Christian. I follow him up for and through the back half, we come out of 10 and I set up to get him in 11. I zap him just before the entrance to 11a, and put my head down for lap 6 to put as much distance as I can. I don't look back, just kept going I think I went through 3 faster than I ever have before, including my drive up 4. Came around for lap 7, still in 8th. Shane zapped me in the entrance to 11, which spooked me alittle, but i got back into it to end the race in 7th, Christian was close behind though. I ended up hitting a 1:20.9 on lap 6 ... new personal best! Yay, exciting, but not as exciting as the 21s from the race before, or the 21 in lap 2.

This was another good weekend for me, and I'm starting too see more clearly points of improvement instead of just needing to improve everywhere. I feel like I can see 19s, I just need to work out a couple more places. I feel like I'm on the edge of seeing a 19 (and running 20s). Just need to put in some more work into my exit of 4, entrance to 6 and 11. The best part about this is that I don't feel out of control and that every corner I might crash. I am trying not to worry about my fastest lap, but making sure than when I get to a new time, I stay there ... thats the most important. Consistency wins, right?

It was GREAT to have Erin back up for the races this weekend as she is my corner stone in the pits! Love you hun!

Thanks to my folks who also made the trip to see me race on Saturday, your support means alot!

3 weeks until the June weekend!