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Now that it's almost Friday again, I'm sure I've forgotten many details about last weekend, but I'll do my best. Next season I need to bring my laptop each weekend and write these reports Sunday night!
Friday
So my final race weekend of the season was much anticipated, as I had to miss Round 6 due to a wedding - meaning I hadn't ridden Loudon since sometime in August. I was rather miffed, then, that despite getting into work early Friday, I had to stay late...causing me to not get to the track till after 10. Set up shop in the camper and garage, swapped my race rubber back on, and had a couple drinks and laughs with the gang till after midnight.
Saturday
7am came way too early for putting the wheels back on, reg, and tech. First practice had me feeling all kinds of wrong, and culminated on lap 3 when I tore off my left puck on the T7 curbing. I got it back though, and will certainly be fixing it for use next year Big thanks to 559 Kevin Russel for letting me use a spare puck for the rest of the weekend!!! Second practice felt a little better, but not much.
LWSB - My start sucked, and I was 6th I believe into T1. I stayed right with the pack though, passing 449 Kevin Fogg on the brakes in T3...but I braked too much, and he passed me back in T4. Still staying with the pack, we tip in to 11 and just as I'm about to go around Fogg on the outside, I see 769 Keith Draghi fall off his bike in front of Fogg and both he and bike begin spinning into my path as I stand it up to avoid Fogg, who's checked up in front of me. Thankfully I avoid Keith, but in doing do lose touch with the first four bikes. I keep them largely in sight for the rest of the race, but am unable to catch them due to being off pace and sloppy. Finish 5th, with a fastest lap of 1:23.631 (~.5 seconds off my PB).
LWGP - Again a poor start IIRC, and I wasn't able to quite stay with the pack as much as in SB. I did, however, get the holeshot over 816 Mike Kurtz and managed to keep him behind me the entire race despite many errors on my part:
- nearly riding over the T2 curbing
- false neutral before T3 tip-in
- near highside in T4 (different lap)
- ran wide exiting T10, all the way to the runoff pavement (which is way more wavy than the Chute!)
If I could've rode smoothly and consistently in this race, I'm fairly confident I would've hit 22s...but at least I beat KurtzFinished 7th, with a fastest lap of 1:24.098.
Amongst Saturday evening's shenanigans, I was invited to join RSP Racingso I'll be sportin' the orange, black, and green next season!
Sunday
Both practices felt WAY better than Saturday, and my practice starts were getting back to normal as well.
LWSS - This has been my 3rd and final race of the weekend since bumping to AM. I've been avoiding the GT races due partially to cost, and partially to the fact that I haven't been working out lately (so I question my endurance). Anyway, I get a KILLER start and take T1 right behind 501 Brian Cooner. I never see Cooner in a race past T3 or so, and certainly have never been on his tail, so I was wicked psyched to stalk him so closely for so long. I heard 769 Keith Draghi stalking me, and he showed me a wheel a couple times, but I was able to fend him off until I blew the entry to T6, taking a wide line and allowing Keith to make an excellent pass under me at the exit. (Hopefully such racecraft/passing, which I've seen Keith do before, will come to me with more experience). I kept Keith in relative sight, but was unable to catch him. Finished 3rd, 1:24.816. My 2nd AM podium, and first in the dry!
Thunderbike - Since all the RSP guys and 565 Chuck Boucher had signed up to bust Kevin's cajones, I decided to join in the fun, having an inkling that I'd not get another chance like this most likely if I cheaped out and saved 60 bucks. What a BLAST this race was! All the Thunderbike racers were very tightly packed together, and since there were four waves running at the same time, we got to "play" with other groups as well. I was battling (for nothing, lol) with a MW bike for 2-3 laps even...and very pleased with myself that I had him evrywhere but the straight! I again beat Kurtz and 910 Dave Pang...but I'll give Pang a bye on this one, since he'd raced for basically a full 60 minutes already this weekend. Finished 4th, 1:24.053.
All in all, I'm unbelievably happy I decided to race this year. I've done the typical motorcycle path - I only need to ride street....ok, everyone's doing track days, let me try just one...ok i'm a track junkie, but i dont need to waste more money racing...ok everyone's racing, let's try it once...holy SHIT this is awesome! Racing really is more than I thought it would be, both on and off the track. I've met some great people, strengthened and created friendships, increased my skill level, and had a ton of fun in the process. It really is addicting...and frustrating...and exciting...and nerve-wracking...and I can't wait to get back there next year.
Thank you to everyone who's given me all kinds of advice this season, shared food/supplies/gear/lodging/laughter, and otherwise helped me...especially the RSP Racing crew, Tony's Track Days for pushing the crack that's helped get me to this point, the ECK Racing boys, Palm Bomb, Snowman, my new sponsor before joining RSP - Mad Monkey Motorsports, and certainly some other people that I'm forgetting right now.
How many days till 2012 Round 1?!?!
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