Goodbye Novice

[McBiggity]

Sorry Conor- you'll have to find a way to catch up to Pete and Clayton to get some good close racing. I'll be chasing down your dad next weekend, hopefully chasing and passing.

[OreoGaborio]

I only got ONE :24... and Clayton didn't get a 24 in that race, he fell asleep

he DID whoop my ass w/ a 24.1 in LWSM though ... 1:24.1!!! daaaaamn!!!

And Biggity... I'll see you there

[zx1012r]

I personally can't believe you guys are getting into the 24's in your first year! It's gonna be an awesome field next year when you move to Expert! I hope you guys stay with it!

[OreoGaborio]

Thanks Mark, I personally can't believe it either My goal at the beginning of the season was to be in the 25's by the end of the year and that in itself was setting the bar pretty high, but here I am creeping into the 24's & bumping to AM just over 1/2 way through the season. I'm definitely pumped to say the least, but I want more.

I don't see myself bumping to Expert till at LEAST the second weekend of next season & even that would be very tough... but I think expert plates sometime in '07 is very possible if I make the commitment, I'm just not sure if i'll be on an EX or not... we'll see.

As for the Amateur class, I've been looking at this season's results so far, trying to figure out what classes under the AM schedule I can be at least close to the top 1/2 by the checkered flag. If i remember correctly, there's 6 races that I could do & be top 1/2 if i drop another 2-4 seconds off my times & get into the 21-22 range... but that's asking a LOT of me and my current equipment I'm not gonna say it's impossible, but those kinda times sure look it from where I'm at right now. It's a lofty goal, but I set lofty goals for myself since the beginning & I've met em... so lets set the bar even higher, shall we?

For now I'm gonna stick to my old routine & stick w/ LSPM and PTWN to try & keep my index decent. Maybe later I'll jump into GTL, LWSS or ULSB. It's too bad LWSB is right before PTwins cuz that'd be another possibility.

Anyway, that seems to be my strategy for the rest of the season & looking into next year... just kinda figured I'd share & maybe get some discussion flowing.

[OreoGaborio]

btw... I just got a reply from Don... It's official... yellow plates for me

[zx1012r]

That's awesome! Congrats! Pick some of the expert guys in the red practice that are running slightly faster times than you and stick with them! That's the best practice! Watch out following Curt Lavoie, though! That boy can fly!

They have an Amatuer acheivement award for the most points earned in a particular class. You should be in good standings for the Ptwins! It includes a plaque (what else?) and a free entry for 1 event in that class next year. The points are accumulated between Novice and Amatuer races in the same year.

I think by the end of my first year I was maybe running 25's with a high 24 the last weekend. The equipment doesn't seem to matter much, I've seen people running top times on zip tie EEX wonders!

[tjspeed3]

Congratulations Pete!

Wow, Now we'll definitely have a second row on the grid. Maybe even a third by middle of Sept.

Tom
#703