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Ok race fan: Long update time! This weekend was a double round, meaning all classes ran twice (except GTs). So essentially 2 weekend wrapped in 3 days including the Loudon Classic. So, there was a lot on the line in terms of championships.
I couldn't make Thursday practice, so I had one practice friday and then right into it! First up was GTU. I got an awkward launch with a couple of wheelies, but slotted into third. On the second lap the red flag came out. We had a long delay as both ambulances had to roll. When we came back they made it a 6 lap sprint race to get the packed schedule moving. The second start was a repeat of the first, and I slotted in behind Tyler Wasserbauer
with Alex G hot on my tail. We remained in tight formation the entire time with no one able to complete a pass. .3 seconds between each of us at the line. 3rd!
Next up was the first Michelin Motorace Dash for Cash. This was an 8 lap sprint with your fastest time serving as your qualifying for the main event on Saturday. My goal was to drop my personal best laptime and see where I landed. Another awkward start but I came out of T3 in second position. I laid down a really strong second lap and even though Shane Narbonne
RIPPED past me in T11, I knew I had a good time coming.
On lap three Kerry Smith
was giving me the signal that I had dropped a fast time. Sam Greenwood
muscled by into T1 and I tried to use him as a reference to set fast laps. I did four strong laps in a row and was holding down fourth place nicely before I made a few mistakes. Luckily I had a nice gap and was able to bring it home 4th.
That first flying lap ended up being a new PB at 1:13.9 Phew! Goal met! This qualified me in 4th on the front row of the Loudon Classic.
I also had 3 other laps under my previous best. I guess that's why Kerry Smith
was going nuts on pit wall the whole time!
MWF40 was a slower race for me as usual. I got behind Kip Peterson
and observed what a missile his R6 is for a while! I made a bold pass around the outside of 1 to the inside of 1a and carried on for a 2nd. Day 1 SUCCESSFUL!
Saturday broke to POURING rain. Practice was ungodly wet and sketchy. But by the time of the Classic the rain had stopped and the track was drying. I had 3 sets of tires ready to go, and I chose the Pirelli intermediates. We lined up and I saw everyone on different setups! full wets, front wets, full slicks! I felt confident, but I have never used intermediates before.
I got a decent launch, but got swamped by a few into T1. I was 4th or fifth out of T2. I made some very quick moves to get myself back into 3rd behind Scott Greenwood
. I knew he was on full rains and the track was too dry for him. He just doesn't make many mistakes and it took me 2 laps to get by. I was worried the rest of the pack was close and I tried to feel out the tires while setting a strong pace.
I ran in second for quite a while, but the track was drying fast and I knew the guys on slicks were getting up to speed. Sure enough, Tyler Wasserbauer
came by. I latched on to his wheel and tried desperately to hang on to third. I could see that Rick Doucette
was closing and fast. I did my best to get back by Tyler, but is wasn't happening. Ricky came through on the second to last lap, and then took 2nd on the last lap in an incredible ride. I ended 4th in the Classic. I learned a lot and am super happy with the results.
Sunday was cold an WINDY. MWF40 I got a good launch and slotted into second. As I came out onto the front straight and pulled the trigger the bike revved wildly straight through to 6th gear with almost no forward drive! Uh-oh! My clutch was done. I started nursing it around keeping the revs under 12,500 and just trying to use rolling speed and be aggressive in lapped traffic to hold my position. The clutch was getting worse and worse. I was only doing about 100 at best on the straight. But I managed to limp it home in 2nd for some important points. Phew!
Massive thanks to #mtagpirelli, #gmdcomputrackboston, #WoodcraftTechnologies, #ValleyMotorsports, #Tonystrackdays, as well as Kerry Smith
, Cathy Smith
, Kris Hopkins
, Tom Welch
and all my supporters.
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Originally Posted by MUZ720
