11
Amateur GTL
I haven’t been an Amateur very long so I had a crappy grid position. Got off to a good start and just forced my way forward as far as I could get early on. I was able to keep Ben Travisano (130) in sight and start slowly gaining on him. Just past the halfway point my rear tire stepped out pretty dramatically in turn 6 and that went to my head. I started to get uncharacteristically tired and then saw Jake Vader off in turn one. The ambulance rolled and I just went into preservation mode, maintaining my position and not crashing. I kept expecting Bill Morey (my current arch-nemesis, hah!) to pass me but I never saw him. I finished 3rd and was happy with that. I turns out Bill had a mechanical issue that shut him down shortly after the start.
Amateur P-89 Lights
It was raining for this race and I was the only one in my race that had rain tires. No sense pushing it more than necessary, especially because someone else needed some parts from my bike for an upcoming race.
Amateur UL Superbike
Skipped this race so a friend could use the wheel, axle, spindle and rotor from my bike to win his first Amateur championship. Totally worth it.
Amateur LW Superbike
The Hawk was still missing the back end of the bike so I raced my SV for the first time. I made a few passes, was passed a few times and generally had a blah race. Nothing to write home about except that racing the SV helped me finally make the decision to get rid of it. It doesn’t fit my riding style as much as the Hawk and it’s just not as much fun for me. Time to pass it along to someone that will actually use it.
Overall it was an emotionally exhilarating weekend with less than stellar racing on my part. I walked away from this season without injury and having a renewed interest in racing. I’d like to thank Tony’s Track Days for the gobs of track time and the one-on-one instruction (go Gino go). Working with the staff at Tony’s has pushed me to up my game, analyzing the nuances of riding and becoming more proficient at communicating those skills to other riders. The team (family?) at Tony’s has been amazingly fun, helpful and supportive. Running Pirelli tires for the last few weekends has helped to renew confidence in my bike. The guys at Low Down Racing have been as close as family to me. I can’t thank them enough for all of the help, support and laughter. Heath, Adam, Bill, Brett and Joel you guys are awesome. Thanks to all of my fellow racers and track day riders for helping me have a wonderful season!