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This weekend was phenominal. Between the outstanding clean racing (only ONE red flag all weekend?!?!), the amazing generosity of the racing community for Chris, the perfect weather and the finishes that I was able to pull outta my arse, I can't think of many ways this weekend could have gone any better.
Lets get to it...
(EDIT: zomg, this ended up being long)
Saturday
Race 7, LWSB:
Following a great start (with the exception of a couple of misshifts), I tucked in behind Scott Mullin & Rick Doucette for the first few laps. I did my best to keep up but they slowly puled away. About mid race Rick Breen motored past me on the straight away like I was standing still just after the start/finish line, but I was able to get underneath him and make a solid re-pass on the brakes entering turn 1. One lap later he got me in the same spot and I almost pulled off the same maneuver but wasn't quite able to get it done. I kept him close for the remainder of the race but couldn't reel him in so I backed off a notch and took home a 4th place finish.
Sunday
Race 6, Pirelli Diablo 600 Challenge
Sunday morning I took a look at the entries and saw only a handful of people signed up for the Pirelli Challenge... I decided to throw my name in the hat and take a crack at nabbing some of that awesome prize money... and I'm glad I did! I entered a little too late to make it out there for the qualifying session but I wasn't too worried about it as there were only 4 other entrants. I got a good start from the second row and found myself in 3rd place entering turn 1 behind Wojciech Kasperuk and Kristofer Knopf with fellow NESR member and RSP racer #748 Kevin Russel behind me on his Ducati 748. I let the two riders in front of me set the pace for a few laps as I tried to make a plan for when/where I would overtake them. Just before mid race I took Knopf into turn 3 and a couple laps later I took Kasperuk on the outside of turn 6. I put my head down for a lap, gapped out a bit, then settled into a good rhythem and took 1st in front of Kaspuruk and Kevin Russel. Good job, Kevin and thanks MTAG!
Race 7, LWSS
Immediately following the Pirelli Challenge I went right back to the starting grid for LWSS. Stu (aka "Blacklightning") and his daughters Alex & Courtney were nice enough to be there on stand by with fuel, water and an umbrella for me and get me taken care of. Thanks guys!
I found myself in 4th place going into turn one behind the lean mean green machine of Scott Mullin, who was followed by Rick Doucette and Mark Dages. Scott set a good pace and we all set down a string of mid 1:17's which was fast enough to pull away from the rest of the pack but still keep us tightly packed together. It was an absolute FREIGHT train for the majority of the race with each of us getting some good peeks at eachothers lines, sizing eachother up. Rick eventually made the pass on Scott for the lead, I think up the inside of turn 3, which left Mark in a position to pounce on Scott's green machine. Scott rode a great race with good lines and Mark wasn't quite able to make a pass, however on lap 4 or 5 I was able to power my way to 3rd place on the front straight and take a crack of my own at taking second. On the subsequent lap, once again I motored way through on the front straight again and took second. Towards the end we started running into traffic which definitely made things interesting for the last couple of laps, but I made my way through cleanly, put a couple of lappers in between Scott and Mark and took home 2nd. My first LWSS podium of the year. PUMPED!
Race 10, LWGP
LWGP was a pretty quiet race for the most part. I got a solid start and found myself in 2nd place behind class points leader Rick Doucette. Rick quickly gapped out a bit and I found myself with a LOT of clear track. A couple laps later I took a peek over my shoulder going up turn 4 and saw the 132 of young gun Alex Guilbeault hunting me down on his Honda RS250. I probably should have been able to hold him off but I was running out of steam a little bit and let him catch me. We had a nice little back and forth and I rode defensively but not defensively enough. He was the stronger rider that day and made a spectacular pass going into turn 1, carrying a TON of cornerspeed through to the apex. I stayed with him for the next few laps but was never close enough to think about getting him back so I played it safe and settled into 3rd place to take home a trio of podium finishes on the weekend.
So yeah. Like I said, the weekend couldn't have gone much better than that. Great weather, great racing, great (and generous!) people and I "batted the cycle", taking home a 4th, 3rd, 2nd and a 1st. Awesome stuff.
Current championship standings (adjusted, with lowest finish dropped):
LWSS
Doucette, Rick 170
Mullin, Scott 135
Dages, Mark 125
Gaboriault, Peter 118
Cucinotta, Chris 101
LWSB
Doucette, Rick 170
Mullin, Scott 26 138
Gaboriault, Peter 116
Cucinotta, Chris 106
Babcock, Todd 100
LWGP
Doucette, Rick 165
Gaboriault, Peter 131
Guilbeault, Alex 119
Babcock, Todd 105
Fogg, Douglas 104
Landau, Victor 104
Pirelli Challenge
Kasperuk, Wojciech 139
Gaboriault, Peter 100
Hillsgrove, Jason 77
Holcomb, Zachary 70
Kagan, David 61
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Originally Posted by Pookie
9 Tenths off your PB? That's insane, where'd you find it?
