0
EDIT: Holy crap, this turned out to be long!!!
Well I haven't done one of these in a while now as I haven't had a whole lot of exciting stuff to report, other than switching to the SV.
But this weekend.... well, this one was a little different. Musta had somethin to do with my beautiful blond good luck charmNothing exceptionally spectacular happened... no photo finishes, no insanely fast times, no historic battles, just solid riding and some great (and unexpected) finishes
Saturday:
Practice went well... but my oil change didn't cure my shifting issues (VERY hard to shift gears... may be a bent input shaft or something). Other than that everything was running like clockwork.
After practice it looked as though my weekend would start off smoothly... but just before the riders meeting I went to adjust my clutch lever and upon trying to LOSTEN up the bolt on the clutch perch, it decided to snap.We go to the rider's meeting and after a quick bite to eat I come back to work on the bolt... The thing was a bitch... wouldn't drill out from either side and time's just ticking away.... While I'm frantically running around trying to something to get this bolt out, Jenni grabbs Gino as he's walking by... GO GINO, GO!!!
During a red fag stoppage in Race 1, he's able to get it out and finds a replacement bolt in his trailer
Race #2, GTL
After a mis-cue, I ended up having to start from hot-pit. (Couldn't hear the announcements and thought the Race 1 re-start was gonna last longer... still, my fault).
Kathy brings me out to hot pit for my start, gives me the usual briefing ("watch me, not them") and as the 1 board is turning for my wave she just kind of.... walks away
I put my head down, charged hard and was passing as much as I could w/o riding like an ass. I passed a solid chunk of the field and about 5-6 laps in, just before the 1/2 way point I was lapped by expert Brett Guyer. I get the 1/2 way flags and just as I reached turn 1 the red flags come out.... CRAP... I hope they re-start! Sure enough, not the entire field had gotten the 1/2 way flags yet so they send us back to pre-grid.
They call out the new grid positions & I end up on the 2nd row, lane DAs they're calling out the rest of the grid, they call out 10 more riders, meaning I passed 10 bikes in 10 minutes
The re-start went great... I get a good jump, decent launch and pass a nice group of riders going into turn 1. I come out of turn 2 in 4th
Here's where things got messy... As it turns out, because I got lapped by Brett before the red flags, even though I'm not racing Brett, I end up getting recorded as being a lap down... well it didn't affect ME much (I went from a 4th place finish to a 5th place finish), but it DID screw over Scott (SMF). He also got lapped by Brett while in 3rd place just before the red flags came out. After the re-start he was able to pass the two guys in front of him and THOUGHT he WON the race by a mere .17 seconds, but because he was ALSO recorded as being a lap down, he ended up getting 4th
Anyway.... Good race, despite that whole business.
Race #6, LWSS
ANOTHER mis-cue (this one by LRRS as they forgot to pre-reg me in this race) put me on the back row of the grid... Oh well, no biggie.
I end up lining up 3rd row of my wave along the wall behind Dan (Mongoose). The green waves & I get a great launch and try to squeeze past Dan along the wall but Dan gets a bad jump, then gets pushed up to the wall by Cynthia Bisagne.... which in turn pinches me... I had to roll off the gas about 3 times to avoid getting sandwiched against the wall, but by the time we get to the 4 board Dan is able to peel away from the cement and I passed him and a handfull of others around the outside entering T1.
I put my head down & work my way past a couple of riders in an attempt to reel Cynthia back in... but she lays down a 21 on lap 2 putting me 5-6 seconds behind her right off the bat.
I have an OK race, had little battle with Lorna Murphy and Shane Lewis.... cross the line & don't think much of my finishing position as I thought I was out of the wood... later in the day I check the standings.... I ran consistent 23's with a couple 22's at the end and finished in 3rd place and a new BP lap time!
Race #12, Lightweight GP
Little hot & tired, got a medeocre start. Coming through turn 7 I was behind David by a few bike lengths... and flipping for turn 8 I closed RIGHT up to him and tried for an outside pass coming up to the treehouse.... well he ran a wider line than I do as he drifts out to mid-track, pushing me FAR to the left of the track which butchers my entrance to 9. I get on the brakes hard, grab my downshift and let him lead me into the turn... but his arms give up, he isn't able to get it turned over, runs it wide, grabs a fist full of binders and goes off track. I was worried that he went down in the meat grinder that is the turn 9 run-off, but he was able to keep it upright & gets back to the pits on his own.
I ran almost all 23's and finished 6th (out of 12).
Sunday:
1st practice sucked... my transmission problems caused the shift lever to wear a BIG ole sore spot on my toe which made up-shifting very painful. After first practice I went to the med center & taped the living crap outta my toe. 2nd practice was a little more comfortable, but still not great.
Race #4, Lightweight Superbike
My only race of the day and my Parents came up to watch with Jenni so I had my own little fan club... I put a piece of card-board in my boot over my taped up toe and that helped quite a bit w/ the pain.
I got a respectable jump off the green flag, but a GREAT launch from the 2nd row, outside. I float the front wheel in the first 2 gears, something I haven't done since I got rid of the EX. (the friction zones between the two bikes is like night & day... the SV has a much wider friction zone so I have to be much more agressive releasing the clutch lever). I drag race a guy on a KTM to Turn 1 and I wait for him to roll off... he rolls off, I slip ahead, close the door, nab the holeshot AND go on to clock off my best out-lap ever w/ a 1:24.563!
Half way through lap 2 I see Scott hunting me down when the red flag comes out...
We get back to pre-grid, I line up on poll where I THINK I'm gonna be re-gridded, but they keep the same grid positions which puts me back to the 2nd row, lane D... no biggie, I'd rather be row 2 on the outside than row 1 on the inside any day.
On the re-start I get a GREAT jump, GOOD launch, but my stubborn transmission rears its ugly head again & I couldn't get it into 3rd gear
I throw a lasso around him for a tow and with his help I clock off a handfull of 22's and was able to stay ahead of Cynthia for a 2nd place finish.
Sooo that's about it... Had a great weekend and as always it was great to see everyone and minimal injuries
SEE YOU GUYS IN SEPTEMBER!
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Pookie
I didn't see him on the grid and then he passed me (I think around turn 5) and I couldn't keep up past 9. 
great racin' man! well done... you were haulin on lap 2 in LWSB. I was trying to figure out who the hell you were when we were going through the back section, didn't recognize the leathers. red flag came out, we pit-in. I look over and was like 'oh... duh!'... congrats!!! 
as of yesterday I've got my 13 AM races so yep. soon. but not b/f daytona 
I was afraid he wasn't going to make it out for his first race. Go Gino Go 
