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Friday:
Opted to reserve a spot in garage #22 (Thanks Mike! – Rambunctous on the board) to combat a later than usual arrival, electricity woes at NHMS and the crappy weather that was forecasted. Little did I know garage 22 was on the backside of Zip Tie Alley! Arrived on Friday and unloaded fairly quickly. I had a few things that needed to be cleaned up on the bike but got those out of the way in the early AM hours and proceeded to get my head in the game (or so I thought). Tech went smooth and I readied to be out there for the first practice in group three. Somewhere in group two the rain starts coming down. I took one look at my off-the warmer rain tires and decide to forego them. Mistake one. They call group three, I go out and proceed to tip toe around the track. Mistake two. Should have taken Boston Moto up on their offer to soften the suspension for rain riding. I take two wide.. extra cautious in turn three, slip a bit coming into bowl but no big deal. Coming back around I knew better than to take turn two tight but for some reason I found myself knee down about 6” off the curb. Mistake three. I remember thinking “that’s weird, it sounds like the motor is spinning up.” The next thought that went through my mind was something about “why the hell is my bike passing me” as I twisted the throttle which was no longer in my hand. By this time it had been pouring for quite some time. I slid harmlessly out to the wall and stood up. Ran back to the bike, cast a quick look over my shoulder to see an empty track and picking the bike up made a run for the inside grass/wall. Five fingers.. five toes.. hell.. I feel fine. Bike had a missing clutch lever and no shift lever. Shit. So I started running down to turn ten pushing the bike in the grass. Luckily traffic was light. Bill Tansey Sr. met me at turn ten, opened the gate and took the bike. It was a good thing because I was pretty knackered by then. I got back into the garage and Zip Tie Alley came over to introduce themselves. Met CEO, Coombs and a few others. Denno came by to offer his help in bending back the rearset and CEO left me a hammer to pry out the rearset bracket. I was damn grateful I was not only in the garage but had them as neighbors as well. Miles from Street and Comp had a new pedal and a new peg. I hammered the bracket back into relative shape and snagged one of the spare clutch levers I keep in the ambulance. Back up and running for the third session.
Third session was almost fully dry and the fourth session was dry. I focused on my turn in point for three, getting my a$$ off the seat better and not being too damn timid in two. Times were around 1.29.XX but I was having and continue to have some intermittent issues with the Starlane so I missed a few laps. Friday night I registered for LWSB and went through Tech. Todd caught a bolt I had missed and gave me a ration about my poor bending job on the bracket. Looking at it now.. it was pretty damn crappy on my part but functioned just fine. I also learned how to read a motorcycle tire thanks to Souhegan Valley Motorsports (very different from a car tire I might add). Rolled out the sleeping bag in the ambulance around 12:30 and was snoring by 12:32.
Saturday:
Morning practice went well. Open practice for session one with session two structured by class. 1:29’s again. Brakes felt great but the tires (120/160 Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa’s used takeoffs from 2008) were moving around on me something fierce. First the rear, then the front. Went to visit the gentlemen over at Boston Moto and they recommended I drop pressures a bit and gave me a spec sheet. Seemed to help. I wasn’t racing until race ten so I went to talk to the various manufacturers about slicks for the SV. Bridgestone appears pinched on the rear in a 165 but the price per set at $350 was hard to beat. I also swung by the Dunlop garage to chat them up about their slicks ($436 per set – ouch) but did manage to snag two rear and one front that was in good shape to try out. I’m hoping to choose a tire brand/model before the end of next weekend and stick with it for the season. Unfortunately there weren't too many takeoffs kicking around in Pirelli tent. Boston Moto’s been good to me and I want to try a set of Pirelli slicks used or new before I make my decision. Alex hooked me up with a rear tire to try out; I just need to find a front.
Race 10 came around )Novice LWGP) and I gridded in 4a. Rubbed Devo’s ears for good luck before I went out. Got a better start than Race weekend # 1 and went into turn 1 in fourth. Coombs and I were joking about how I was going to simply try to keep up with him during the race and he laughed about how the SV650 had so much more power than his bike. I entered turn 1 behind him and he gapped me by one bike length… then we exited turn 2 and he gapped me by another two bike lengths. Coming into three he braked early but I have an aversion to passing there. Told myself to stop being a pussy and passed him coming out of 4. Up to third place. Played with Mike (Rambunctous) for a bit. I passed him on the front straight… he outbraked me into 1…. Pass him coming out of 4 he outbraked me into the bowl… hmm.. he waved me by on the next straight though… good thing he realized I wasn’t in his class cause I sure didn’t. By then the front runners had pulled quite a bit and I don’t push too hard without something to aim for. Bike felt good and the tires felt panted. Rider felt tired. J Someone crashed out coming out of 12 and I bumped to second place. Not the way I want to move up in the standings but I’ll take it. Ran a few 1:30’s with a best of 1.28.XX and parked it for the day. Finished in second place.
Bailed Saturday night to make it to a friends wedding and prepare for mothers day.
Huge thanks to the Tansey family, Souhegan Valley Motorsports, CEO, Zip Tie Alley & Todd Babcock for all the advice. Thanks also to Boston Motorsports for the tire pressure information and Denno for offering to bend my rearset back.
Timeline:
Bought first real motorcycle in March of ’08.
Licensed at Penguin School in August of ’08. – First race weekend. Best Lap = 1:35:XX
Race Weekend #1 ’09 – Best Lap = 1.29.XX
Race Weekend #2 ’09 – Best Lap = 1.28.XX
Still a long way to go....
Fitz
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