Olympus Racing #508 LRRS Round 6 Report

[tsorfas]

oh man, WHAT A WEEKEND! I feel sorry for whoever missed on this one.
I arrived at the track friday night. Unpacked and chilled with everybody. Helped the new Rookie and friend Steph get her bike race ready.
Enjoyed some QT with Dove while watching on any sunday and went to bed after midnight.


Saturday:
I was not in a great mood. I didnt sleep well because Smutty was snoring and I received some bad news that put me in a bad mood all day.
I was up early and my mission was to find a bike eligible for Formula 300 in order to race that class again. That mission failed miserably. It is what it is i guess...

so i only had one race for that day. LWGP. I had missed the first round in that class due to a mechanical so in my head I had given up on that championship and I was treating it like a practice race for sunday. My good friend Kurlon was leading that class until his crash that caused him the rest of the season. With Josh out of the picture I went into this weekend in 3rd championship standing and hungry for the win.
Green flag dropped and I got an amazing start (possibly my best one this year) and went into T1 comfortably first. I made a mistake in T6 but nobody even showed me a wheel. i guess my good start had put my far ahead. after a few laps I looked behind me and Sam G. 228 was right there, by right there I mean I could probably reach out and touch his bike. I put my head down and we battled. Reached some EX and i managed to put one between us in T11 for me to increase the Gap a little bit and take 1st place. to give a better understanding of how close we were... my best lap was 1.:19.625 while Sam's was 1:19.697!
I have been having a great time racing with Scott Greenwood's son this year!

Finish: 1st Place
Best lap: 1:19.625
I am currently leading this class by 10 points from #551.

The rest of the night was pretty awesome. Few drinks, good times with everyone from the Center Garages. We kept getting information on Adam who had visited the hospital earlier and ended up staying there for 8 hours. Went to bed around 2...


Sunday:
This is my race day. I am typically hyped because I have visitors coming up but this weekend I had nobody planned. My cousins ended up surprising me and showing up. I was in a great mood and ready to rock.

Race #1 SuperTwins
I still love that race although there is no way I can win the class because typically it forces me to go fast racing against such bigger bikes.
I was gridded in 1B. I had an amazing start and got in T1 first. I was in the lead for few laps until Boosh#325 blew by me in the front straight. I tried to keep him in sight but I kept losing both the front and the rear constantly. It took most of my thinking but i could not stop it. I started thinking pressures? maybe suspension? I was in a comfortable second place until I lost the front completely coming out of T10. I managed to control the bike and saved a crash that could have been really bad. I ended up sliding coming out of T12 as well right after that giving the ability to 848 Dan Rossato to motor by me in the front straight and push me to 3rd place right at the checkered.. pissed off about the results I took my cool down lap in a bit of higher speed to check pressures.
Pressure was fine on both tires so Kurtz and I explored all the other options and most pointed at rider error. I went to wash my face and returned for race #4.

Finish: 3rd place
Best Lap 1:21.2
I am currently second in that class and that is mathematically impossible to change.


Race #4 LWSS
I was going to prove that its the bike's fault and not mine for the slides. I was gridded first. Great start and going into T1 first. That lasted only one lap. #551 came by me in T2 after a slide. I got him right back on the brakes at T3 for him to pass in the front straight.
I kept catching him until he put some NV traffic between in T11 (great move sir) and he opened the gap after that. I took my 2nd place in safe pace for the rest of the race.

Finish: 2nd Place
Best Lap:1:20.4xx
I am currently leading this class by 30 points. All i have to do is finish next race and I will win this one.


Race #6 Thunderbike
I was gridded in 1A. Easy race with nothing spectacular. Took the hole shot and nobody was even near me after 2 laps. Took my first place and went in to rest.

Finish: 1st Place
Best Lap: 1:21.1
I am currently leading this class by 24 points.


Race #11 LWSB
man this race was a struggle. Steve H had crashed in race 10 and we were all pretty stressed about him. Rain was going on and off making me questioning what tires I want to use. Mike W kept saying the track is dry so I went out on my Pirelli DOTs.
I was gridded in 1A. Got the hole shot and opened a comfortable gap. Mid race it started raining in the back section of the track T6-10 causing me to drift the entire 6 and 9. It was fun and controllable which made it even more fun for me. I kept experimenting without really pushing and I enjoyed a few laps of drifting a motorcycle. #551 had made some ground on me so on the last lap I pushed a bit hard to re open the gap and take the checkered for another 1st place this weekend.

Finish: 1st Place
Best Lap: 1:22.7 (yes that was enough given the weather conditions).
I am currently leading this class by 44 points so I have mathematically won this one.

I am also currently the overall top AM by 3 points

I want to thank all of you who made this a very special and fun weekend for me. I want to thank all the rookies who keep joining our racing series and making this fun and exciting. I really enjoy getting people into this and helping them get where they want. It was done to me by complete strangers that now I consider family (RSP ) I would like to thank the LRRS Officials and Track Staff for keeping us safe all weekend long and taking care of my friends that crashed. you guys ROCK! All my sponsors for believing in me since I was a clueless guy on a hawk, there is no way i would be here today without your support. My friends and family for their constant support. I have not spent a single weekend alone without at least one person coming up to support this stupid and crazy hobby i chose. All the girls who come up to see their boyfriends/husbands race, you ladies are amazing. You all are extremely fun (if you were at the cookout you know what I mean) and extremely polite. Adam's Wendy makes the best motherfucking cookies in the WORLD! Thank you for being part of our madness. Special thank you to the two amazing Mike's - Kurtz and Weyant. You guys are very patient with me, answering all my questions and constantly helping me. I would not even be racing if it wasnt for you guys helping me out. Words cant describe how thankful I am.

I did not make a shirt for this weekend like I did last october but this weekend of racing from me was dedicated to all these people who have or are currently fighting cancer. this horrible disease has taken some of the greatest people away and its threatening a very important person in my life once again. Hopefully he comes out a winner out of this on. I am making a pink shirt to show my support during the last round of the year.

Thank you all for reading and any feedback is more than welcomed. I appreciate every single on of you for being part (even via this forum) for the greatest thing I have ever done for myself,

Sav

[Trouble]

Good report! I'm confused though. You said you enjoyed riding on a wet track? Who is this and what have you done with Savas?

Well done!

[Dave603]

Great report Savas you bring so much positive energy to this place when you write about your races.

[maxim_X]

You're tearing it up like always! I was so excited to race beside you and the other fast amateur lightweights but you guys are on another level. Keep it up man. If you want that amateur overall championship come play in gtl next round for some extra points. Hopefully I'll see you in October.

[jasnmar]

You launch in LWGP was astounding. Nice work Sav.

[tsorfas]

Good report! I'm confused though. You said you enjoyed riding on a wet track? Who is this and what have you done with Savas?

Well done!

I think I have figured it out. Kurtz said it to me this weekend. Last year I was fighting myself and the bike so everything was tense and stiff. This year I ride a lot more relaxed and do things the way I'm supposed to (body position, bar inputs, etc) so I can actually ride in the wet. And the fact that it was THAT AWFUL before and now I win races in it makes it so much sweeter.

[tsorfas]

It might be early but I commit to doing GTL in October just for the heck of it. I will attemp to enter 10 races since it's the last weekend of the year.

[Kurlon]

Good report! I'm confused though. You said you enjoyed riding on a wet track? Who is this and what have you done with Savas?

Well done!

He wasn't on rain TIRES, that seems to be what throws his mojo off.

[k_cotter]

Good work sav. I like the non crashing version of you a lot better

[PainfullySlow]

Tremendous starts!!

As always it is a blast to share a garage with you. Sorry to hear you had some crap going on outside of racing, I hope that I wasnt being too heavy handed in my attempts to get you out of your funk.

Great results, keep kicking ass!

[Jim]

I am also currently the overall top AM by 3 points

noticed that this morning. nice job

[cdovego]

1 more round to go - you got this.

[tsorfas]

noticed that this morning. nice job

Let's bring some bling back from jersey now

[rolker]

I was up early and my mission was to find a bike eligible for Formula 300 in order to race that class again. That mission failed miserably. It is what it is i guess...

...

I am also currently the overall top AM by 3 points

... and I'm sitting in 3rd overall amateur. I'm sure you realized that was a big factor in my decision to not let you run my EX250 in the 300 race. Don't get me wrong, I'd happily lend a tool or a part to get you going in a legitimate race, but helping you go out and scoop up "free points" would have been silly from my point of view.

Otherwise, good job this weekend.

People are going to hate me for this, but I'm hoping for rain in October. It may be my only remote chance of trying to catch you in overall points!

[tsorfas]

No worries no hard feelings Roland. Correct me if I'm wrong but there is no payout in case you get top AM correct?
I will hope for dry weather and at least 6 wins in the last round.

[Kurlon]

There is a payout 'cording to the rule book, back to 10th place. There are also provisos on that like having entered every round for example (so I'm out no matter where I come out in the points) and you're only eligible for an AM payout once to prevent sandbagging, etc.

So, Roland, does that mean I can't borrow the B bike for the GTL at the last round?

[Jim]

top 10 Sav.
it's in the rulebook

[tsorfas]

Yes but Roland has finished top 10 before..? Or no

[Jim]

i need a bike that has 1-3 bikes per class so i can rack up points and trophies too

maybe request a new LRRS class called "Jim", where only Jim's can enter in it.

[tsorfas]

i need a bike that has 1-3 bikes per class so i can rack up points and trophies too

maybe request a new LRRS class called "Jim", where only Jim's can enter in it.

Or you can just finish at the top at the classes you enter...

[rolker]

There is a payout 'cording to the rule book, back to 10th place. There are also provisos on that like having entered every round for example (so I'm out no matter where I come out in the points) and you're only eligible for an AM payout once to prevent sandbagging, etc.

Correct. I finished outside the top 10 last year, but because not everyone in the top ten were eligible for money, I ended up getting a tiny bit of money anyway. That makes me a sandbagger this year and I won't get anything no matter where I finish. Sav, did you win something last year?

So, Roland, does that mean I can't borrow the B bike for the GTL at the last round?

Sure, it's even lighter than my A bike, it doesn't have a motor in it!

[lrrs398]

A rider that has more than 400 points the prior year is not eligible for the points money. I was third in the amateur points in 2013 but was given the first place money $500 as both riders ahead of me had over 400 amateur points in 2012. Sav had 398 in 2013 so he is eligible for the money in 2014.

[rolker]

Yes but Roland has finished top 10 before..? Or no

Kinda, so I'm only in it for bragging rights. That means you can sit out last round if you wish and I won't take any money away from you!

[tsorfas]

No I did not get any payout last year since I started as rookie. This is my first (and probably only) full year competing as an AM

[tsorfas]

Kinda, so I'm only in it for bragging rights. That means you can sit out last round if you wish and I won't take any money away from you!

Well the problem with that is that I actually want to earn both the pay and the title and I am also competing in every single class I have entered. So sitting out isn't an option.