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Well, it’s been a while now, and I didn’t have a good recollection of the races right after they were over, but here it goes with the help of a couple notes I took at the track. This was my first round as an amateur after two rounds as a novice. During those novice rounds, I didn’t face much traffic aside from lappers...which are inherently pretty easy to pass. So, when I came into this round I knew I’d have to get to learning racecraft, but it was worse than I thought.
GTL:
Since it was my first round as an AM, I had no points and was gridded in the last row. Worse, I was gridded on the inside of the last row. When the flag dropped, I got past about 5 or 6 peoples off the gate. But, that’s where I ran out of talent. I got stuck behind people running 26s and 27s for six laps. Talk about frustration...2 to 3 seconds off my normal pace and I still can’t get around the dudes safely. Anyway, I eventually find a spot and start pulling 24s and 23s and find my way to the young gun Jake Vader. We’re dicing it up a bit, and I continue to pull him on the straight into one, passing him early in the braking zone, but he holds out longer and gets back in front of me. That happened for a couple laps. Somewhere in this race, I nearly highsided in four, ended up going off into the dirt, but managed to get back on track only losing one place. Another interesting moment was when an expert was trying to pass me in 2 and lowsided into the wall. Welcome to racing. Anyway, I ended up in 10th after making some passes later in the race with a best lap time of 123.799. Pretty close to my PB at the time.
When I got off the track I was thinking to myself...track day hero, racing zero. Not being hard on myself, just being honest that I had a ton to learn if I wanted to win RACES. But, I had a blast and my legs were good at the end of the 15 lap race. Fitness, check.
LWGP:
This race was a bummer. I got a good launch, but had to let off becaase there was a wall of slow starters in front of me and I didn’t have the skill and know-how to get around them. That left me in a pack of slower starters, which as it turns out, were slower riders as well. Still not possessing any ability to pass, I got stuck behind 26ers for five laps when the race was red flagged. Ended up in 11th with a best lap of 126.863. Ouch! After that race, I decided I need more track time to ramp up and signed up for LWSB on Saturday.
LWSS:
This was an AWESOME race. I had such a blast. I’m gridded in the third row...inside. But, Mike Kurtz (816) was just ahead of me as was Billy Cool (447). Both dudes I know can make their way off the line. So, I have a good shot of getting in with them and making some moves. Off the line, I get past Kurtz and am with the traffic coming into one, Kurtz uses his years of experience to show me I got off the gas too early and passes me into 1. I got hard on the gas again and snuck by him again on the inside of 2. Here is a cool photo in the middle of that exchange somewhere that Marco D (swbrdr435) took. Dude has some serious skills by the way.
I got behind a couple slower people, but eventually broke through and put my head down. I got into a groove and when I saw Brady Ward (122) in front of me I was stoked...I know Brady is a solid rider who runs a good pace, so I was excited to see him. That helped me wick it up a bit more and I eventually snuck by Brady (somewhere). On the last lap, I got a glimpse of KB (889) and that gave me another surge cause I know KBs a fast mofo. I passed him on the brakes going into the bowl and was able to make it stick. My last battle was Aaron Wolfe (115), who I believe is a first round AM as well, but can RIDE. Luckily for me, he blew his line going into 11 and 12, and missed a shift (I think) coming out of 12 onto the straight. I put my head down, took a tight line out of 12 and ended up below him, side by side, to the finish line. Turns out he beat me there, but it was sooooo close. A matter of inches. Very exciting. So, I took 7th of 14 crushing my PB with a best lap of 122.427. That put a smile on my face.
LWSB:
After the great LWSS race, I wanted to just relax a bit, and pick up some racecraft. I wasn’t in this race to place well, and didn’t expect to since many of the machines in this class are built, but once the flag dropped I kinda forgot about the relaxing part. I had a good agressive start, passing a dude on the outside only a few inches from the wall. I ended up getting caught for a bit with some slower folk, but got by them and was in the middle of groups at that point. I had a huge lead with respect to the people behind me, but was too far behind the others to make a hard run. Anyway, finished in 8th out of 20 with a best of 122.641. Happy to click off a couple more 22s.
Well, it was a killer weekend. My goal was to get into the 22s, so I was happy with my results. I had a blast with everyone at the track, especially my garage 2 mates, the ECK boys, the RSP crew, and Jay’s buds who came to visit. Big thanks to my garage mates, Boose for the pit hands, and Wendy for some good eats. Also, thanks to my wife for staying at the track for five nights straight and the support.
Here are some cool photos that Marco took, it was great watching my bud Jay kill it in the SM race:
My bud and garage mate Adam railing:
And badass David Olivares' bike just a few hours before being stripped of red and white to prep for AM status:
Would also like to thank my sponsors, Woodcraft for the speedy bits, Armour Bodies to kep my beast pretty and aerodynamic, Dainese for protecting my ass, MTAG Pirelli for the killer rubber, Tony’s Track Days for all the instruction and help along the way, and Mad Monkey Motorsports for the lap timer!
Can’t wait for Round 4!!!
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Originally Posted by CBR929RE
