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I'll try to keep this short.
Thursday: Arrived at the track later than I wanted to, with just enough time to get the camper out before dark(thanks Tony) and start setting up the garage. Head to bed early, for an early morning Friday.
Friday: Do some tire business, hang with the early bird LRRS crew, wait for my teammates to arrive at night, and hang out with them til bedtime.
Saturday: Wake up early, so I can get both morning practices in. I had just mounted up a fresh set of Diablo Supercorsa DOT race tires. Went out in practice, got one or two full laps in, and didn't do anything special. Gridden up for Lightweight Grand Prix(my only race for the day) alongside my teammates and fellow competitors, and knew I'd need to get a good start. I had seen them all out in LWSB earlier, and they were def bringing their A game today.
Got a pretty good start, with only David Dayon(611), RSP Racing David Pang(910) and Lorn Murphy(817) getting out in front on the drag to T1. I was able to get around Lorna on the brakes, and followed Pang into T1. At lap 2, RSP Racing teammate Keith Draghi(769) was able to slip by me on the outside into T3. I hung with him and Pang for most of the race, then on lap 6 I was able to slip by HIM into T3, to get a shot at Dave P. Pang made a mistake and ran wide in T3 on the final lap, and I was able to capitalize and get next to him going up the hill, where his error put him slightly off the line and let me outdrive his 650R up the hill. I was worried he'd fight back, so I put my head down and crossed the line in 2nd place. First AM podium spot this year, so I was psyched.
Video from LWGP
Sunday: Lightweight Supersport was the name of the game today, which is, in theory, the class my bike is "built" for(very limited modifications). Originally it was just going to be RSP teammate Keith Draghi(769), Keith Beauvirgageocswemoivwe(aka KB)(aka Jump-Start)(889) and myself, but two late entries were added to the grid. I saw KB come in after the warmup lap, and while I hoped he had just run out of gas and would make it back out(we had been talking a bit of smack back and forth), it turned out he had motor issues and was unable to start. I'm sure he'll be back for Round 5, and I'm sure he'll be looking to put me in my place. :hide: :thumbup:
I got a good start again, and launched ahead of everyone...and then a bike on the left motored by me. After a quick double take, I realized he was on an 03-05 R6, which definitely should not have been in my class. Regardless, I put my head down and got past him on the brakes into T1. From there, I just kept running, and while I didn't see anyone else for the remainder of the race, I knew from my teammates at the wall that someone was close behind me, and I knew from the frantic gestures of both "you've got a big lead!" and "the guy behind you is gaining on you!" that it had to be Keith. I didn't let up, and was able to cross the line in first, having led the race from flag to flag. I also set a personal best lap for this season, of 1:22.5, only half a second off my career best of 22.0. Bet your ass I'm chasing that 22 flat down in August, and I plan to give it the finger as I go past it and into the 21's.
As usual, I'd like to thank my RSP Racing teammates, all my LRRS friends and competitors(usually one and the same!), Tony and Graham form their help throughout the weekend and for making running a business and racing at the same time possible,Dyno Solutions for giving me a well tuned and smooth SV650, Sportbike Track Gear most recently for the Vesrah brakes which actually STOP the motorcycle, MTAG Pirelli for the new rubber(confidence is king, I wish I could run every weekend on fresh tires), and all the rest of our RSP Racing sponsors. I'd also like to extend a special thanks to my 2004 Yamaha R6, for lending me the ASV brake lever it was sporting until Thursday afternoon, which happens to fit my SV, and which happens to allow me to actually reach the brake lever. I seriously give that all the credit for my better starts this weekend, the stock lever at it's closest adjustment was just too far out for my abnormally small hands to reach when I'm rolling the throttle, and I'm too short to hold the bike at the clutch engagement point without the front brake.
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Originally Posted by Chippertheripper
