Olympus Racing #508 NJMP CCS/AMA round 3 race report

[tsorfas]

I'll share details and my thoughts later but here are the cliff notes.

CCS LWSB 2nd
CCS LWGP 1st
CCS LWSS 3rd
CCS SuperTwins 1st
CCS ULSB 4th

AMA LWSS 3rd
AMA LWSB 2nd

Best lap Saturday 1:34.711
Best lap Sunday 1:33.958

[03Worc9R]

Looking good. Congrats.
My buddy Vega was at my house yesterday and he was telling me how good you've been doing.

[tsorfas]

Looking good. Congrats.
My buddy Vega was at my house yesterday and he was telling me how good you've been doing.

Come on you friends with Anthony? That's my dude. Awesome guy.

[03Worc9R]

Funny part was my other friend "Ski" was like oh you guys know Sav too?
LOL, doesn't everyone!

[tsorfas]

Funny part was my other friend "Ski" was like oh you guys know Sav too?
LOL, doesn't everyone!

Hahahaha ya actually ski and I go way back. Like to my illegal drinking age haha

[TTD]

Very impressive, Sav.... Especially considering how little time you have on that track.

[tsorfas]

Very impressive, Sav.... Especially considering how little time you have on that track.

One TD with you last years Labor Day on the 1000 prior to this weekend tony. Haha. It was a good practice for Daytona.

Something crazy about turning the bike while on 5th gear wide open.

[MaRce1o]

[PainfullySlow]

Very impressive, Sav. That is one hell of a run.

[loudbeard]

Sav was awesome this weekend. He almost didn't have room in the ambulance for all the trophies.

[GixerJockey]

I want to have your babies...

[cdovego]

Never doubted you, nice work.

Tossing it in pinned in 5th is a glorious feeling, knee on the deck - rear spinning through the corner! You're ready for Daytona now.

[loudbeard]

Sav you know who was taking photos there?

[catahoulabuldog]

Nothing to say but GREAT FUGGIN JOB!!!

[tsorfas]

Sav you know who was taking photos there?

He said he didn't have any business cards when I asked him. And I was in such a rush to leave I forgot to stop by to pick up my CD. Blah

[Mr. Kurtz]

Great job dude.

[tsorfas]

ok so here we go with some more details.

I left my house Thursday around noon. Stopped in CT and had lunch with some RSP brothers. it was a long and lonely drive and I hit some traffic in NYC but nothing really bad.

Cruise Control at 55-60mph in the ambulance got me 21mpg total for the trip. Somewhere near the jersey border a truck passed me and someone's ass was hanging out the window Hey Jim! LOL
We arrived at the track around 730pm. Unpacked, unloaded and set everything up. It was Jim, Duncan and me. We went to buffalo wild wings for dinner and came back to the track.

Cost info: Electric was $15 per day, camping was $20 per day and the gate fee is not waived even though I prereg a month in advance. Also if you have a pit bike it is $25 per bike, unlees it is plated/registered.

Friday:
I had been to jersey only once before and that was over a year ago and on my 1000. I didnt even remember which way the track goes. So I decided to sign up for the absolute TD/Racer Practice, yes they consider it exactly the same there...
The day with absolute was supposed to be $180, when i went to register however they gave me a new price of $200. Luckily I knew one of the instructors and he hooked me up with $100 pricing.
That was the most interesting riders meeting I have attended in my life. Half the people did not show up. the advice in case of a crash was to get up and go pick up your bike because other ways it takes too long to clean up the track and they have to red flag the session. the group caterogired in a way that made no sense to me and I thought i just did not understand. i spoke with Duncan later and we both agreed that the groups made no sense. My first session I just made sure bike is working 100% and I am made mental notes about track marks in my head. my seconds session was delayed 50 minutes because the experts decided to have a crash fest right away. 3 crashes in the same lap and oil from t5-10. AWESOME!!!
Whatever got out there and turned few laps. Using the Qstarz Jim loaned me I managed to turned some 37s and one or two 36s and see a top speed on the SV of 139mph. Temparature was above 100 and Duncan and I were pretty exhausted by the end of the day. I dont remember much more of that day because we went for dinner and pretty much straight to bed to get up early. Frenchy and Marcelo also showed up...

Saturday:
They announced very late Friday that there will be no tech friday night. Also in NJMP CCS because they are 50 years behind even if you prereg you have to go registration and get your reg info. that is because they legit use pen and paper still. You can prereg ONLY via mail or fax, NOT ONLINE. That results in mistakes, like it happened in my case and instead of AMA LWSS they registered me for AMA 1000. Luckily the staff is extremely friendly and I was able to resolve this. Friday night we spend at least half hour at the pre reg line to get our info. Tech opened Saturday morning around 630-7am. You have to take your bike, and all gear, which I actually like as an idea and they tech gear while you are waiting in line so it actually does not take any extra time at all. Tech was kind of a joke, I was asked if my bike was safety wired, I said yes and I got a sticker... LOL!
While waiting in tech I noticed that almost every bike around me was on Pirellis. That made me very confident and happy for my choice of tire and how popular this brand is even outside LRRS.

I think thats because there is two people to tech 100+ bikes in 2 hours.
I skipped first practice like a boss and went out on the second one to turn some good and solid laps. I only had 2 races on Saturday and thank God for that becasue the temperature was 100+ again and being on the infield instead of a garage sucks in these temperatures.
I will not give extreme details on my races because I simply do not remember.

My first Race was CCS LWSS and I came 3rd and my second race was AMA LWSS where I came second as well. I turned my best lap time in Jersey during the AMA race 1:34.7
I was killing these guys in the starts (which also made me feel good that I am good at this even outside of NHMS) but I just couldnt keep up. there were guys in AM running 30s... I managed to keep the lead in the AMA race for 2 laps though (aka PB)

AMA held a nice award ceremony and we all got to thank whoever we wanted. CCS does NOT do awards there on either day.

After the races we went to the track restaurant which is great and reasonaly priced and it has a POOL! something I would love to bring back to NHMS...
We ate and called in an early night once again since we were all exhausted.



Sunday:
I had preregistered for 3 races. CCS ULSB, CCS LWSB, and AMA LWSB! I decided to add a few more since I dont know when, if ever, I will race Jersey again and we were already there.
The CCS Staff is extremely friendly there but the lack of technology makes things a little harder. I had to do all the run around, aka take this paper and go up to the tower and ask that guy, then he approved, I went back down to registration paid and brought my receipt back up at the tower. Not extreme but a computer and phone call would make all this a lot easier. a very nice gesture I saw there was that they had a bowl of fruit and water around for the racers and nice note that said thank you for racing CCS.


Same story as Saturday but with better results. I won superwins (race 1), came 4th in ULSB (race 6), I came second in AMA LWSB (race 11), won LWGP (race 14) and 2nd in CCS LWSB (race 17). shitton of red flags and crashes on Sunday as well... AMA held another awards ceremony on Sunday as well. during that AMA race I was able to do my best time in jersey ever 1:33.9

Overall it was a great experience. Things are different down there and NHMS and LRRS have spoiled me for sure. I have to give a huge thank you ti Jim, Duncan, Frenchy and Marcelo for letting me pit with them and being a great company. Great things to bring the LRRS family mentality, helping each other out and having people you know. GAME CHANGER! Duncan also let me use his Grom whenever I needed a pit bike during the weekend which was amazing. You cannot be in jersey without a pitbike... My RSP Bros!!! Constant support via texts. Advice, positive energy, checking up on me. It was like they were tehre with me. Thank you guys so much. All my sponsors who allowed me to afford this trip. I hope I made it worth it via my performance and some national level recongition (thank you AMA for being there). Friends and family who support all the crazy/stupid ideas I have.

Thanks bro!


Pirelli Domination: I was able to talk with a lot of people there about tires. and there is no doubt Pirelli is considered the best tire down there. Even the people who run dunlops admitted that they do it because dunlops pays but pirelli is a better tire. I personally was a fan of pirelli long time ago but it was good to get confirmation in another track from other people as well. ALL THE WINNERS (top 3) in the LW classes ran Pirelli. I think that was the case in the HW classes too. MW was split.


Overall: NJMP Thunderbolt is a great track. It has flow and it is fairly easy to learn. Only the double apex section is tricky and hard to master (I still didnt, thats where I was losing the top runner in my races). It is high speed, majority of the track I was in 4th gear and coming into the front straight at full lean, wide open in 5th gear is an amazing feeling. The garages there are lame, they dont work right and nobody was using them. Next year if I go, garage will be a must! Facilities were ok, cannot compare them to NHMS, but I will say they were pretty good for not having something like NASCAR to bring massive revenue. CCS and AMA staff 10/10! AMAZING PEOPLE. very friendly, very helpful great to deal with. Registration closes at 10 and runs open during practice there, LRRS should really consider adopting that! LRRS is a family and you cannot find that there. I offered spares to a competitor who crashed and they looked at me like I was out of this world (which I am LOL). They dont mind helping you, but they wont help you if you can beat them. Thats what i observed at least. It was also weird to me that although everyone garages outside some basic things dont happen. Dogs were free to roam around, wheelie competitions up and down the pits. two idiots even jumped on the track on their dirt bikes during a clean up just to dick around...
Also they recently built an MX track right next to the front straight of Thunderbolt. As a results dust and other crap from the dirt track fly into the race track, causing accidents and few delays for clean ups.
I Might sound like I am complaining but I am not. I love LRRS and NHMS, LOVE! NJMP was a good experience and I had fun. I did better that i thought and I am prepared for a high speed track that I have not ridder before, cough dayton cough... Would I go again? Yes, but I would do a few things different.. I am forgetting details and such but I am really tired. IF i remember anything important I will make sure to add.. Thanks for reading!

[maxim_X]

Great write up! It's good to hear how well you did out there. White plates for sure next year.

139mph!?! What do you have done to that old girl?

[tsorfas]

Great write up! It's good to hear how well you did out there. White plates for sure next year.

139mph!?! What do you have done to that old girl?

I saw above 140 (don't remember exactly what) on my qstarz which is older than Jim's.
Motor is bone stock. I was running 15-44 gearing. I think 15-45 would have been perfect though.

[THE STUFF 187]

Nice job buddy Congrats!!!!!

[maxim_X]

I saw above 140 (don't remember exactly what) on my qstarz which is older than Jim's.
Motor is bone stock. I was running 15-44 gearing. I think 15-45 would have been perfect though.

Geezuusss. My bike gets about 120 flat out. I wouldn't be surprised if there is something in that motor of yours.

[tsorfas]

Geezuusss. My bike gets about 120 flat out. I wouldn't be surprised if there is something in that motor of yours.

I seriously doubt your bike stops at 120. I would be willing to test it too. Unless you mean 120 at NHMS. Don't forget jersey straight is massive and you already come in at 5th.

- - - Updated - - -

Nice job buddy Congrats!!!!!

Thank you Justin

[Mr. Kurtz]

Yeah, an SV should be good for more than 120 if given enough runway. Sav was hitting some impressive speeds, and I attribute it more to his entry speed onto the straight and brake points for T1 than anything else...since he has no aerodynamics to speak of.

[tsorfas]

Yeah, an SV should be good for more than 120 if given enough runway. Sav was hitting some impressive speeds, and I attribute it more to his entry speed onto the straight and brake points for T1 than anything else...since he has no aerodynamics to speak of.

For the record very few times I had to switch to 6th gear even at jersey. 15-44 must be very tall gearing for a stock SV

[Jim]

Sav, tenting at NJMP is $5/day. if you're in an RV, it's $20/day. Electric is $15/day, but you can split it with another bike.
when they ask for camping, you have to specify tent camping.